Florida Legislative Black Caucus Chair Senator Arthenia Joyner responds to Governor Rick Scott’s 2013-2014 Budget Proposal
Submitted by Miriam Marlow
TALLAHASSEE, FL – State Senator Arthenia Joyner (D-Tampa), Chair of the Florida Legislative Black Caucus (FLBC) recently released the following statement on the 2013-2014 state budget proposal from Governor Rick Scott: “It was good to see that the Republican Governor has embraced many of the constituencies and causes championed by Democrats for many years and appears willing to finally fund them. But his sudden discovery of the importance of public education, teachers, the environment and our universities doesn’t undo years of neglect these areas have suffered at the hands of the Republican leadership and continued under Governor Scott’s watch. “I am appalled, though, at his stubborn resistance to fully implement ‘Obamacare’ and commit the dollars to expand Medicaid in Florida. With one of the highest number of uninsured in the country, his cavalier attitude toward the majority of Floridians embracing Medicaid expansion is deeply troubling. He seems to forget he is the governor of all the people, not just the tea party faction. As the budget hearings begin in the Legislature, the members of the FLBC remain committed to re-mind him of those voices he re-fuses to hear.”