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Gov. Scott Requests $100M For Visit Florida

Governor Rick Scott.
The Florida Channel

Florida Governor Rick Scott is now calling for $100 million dollars in tourism money—almost 25 percent more than he outlined in his spending plan early this year.  

Scott contends his new ask is just a small part of the budget.

“We’re talking about spending $100 million out of an over $80 billion budget," Scott says.  "So it’s not a large part of the budget.  So we have the money to do it.  I’m thankful that the trump administration worked with us with regard to the Low Income Pool money—it frees up some other money.”

The low income pool helps compensate hospitals for treating poor Floridians.  Since federal officials agreed to fund the pool to the tune of 1.5 billion dollars, Scott has unveiled new spending.  In addition to 100 million dollars for tourism, he’s also asked for 200 million to repair a Lake Okeechobee dike.

Nick Evans came to Tallahassee to pursue a masters in communications at Florida State University. He graduated in 2014, but not before picking up an internship at WFSU. While he worked on his degree Nick moved from intern, to part-timer, to full-time reporter. Before moving to Tallahassee, Nick lived in and around the San Francisco Bay Area for 15 years. He listens to far too many podcasts and is a die-hard 49ers football fan. When Nick’s not at work he likes to cook, play music and read.