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Scott back in Washington — albeit briefly

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WASHINGTON — Gov. Rick Scott’s pro-tourism tour landed him briefly in Washington today, where he addressed about two dozen curious onlookers on the National Mall who listened to Scott extol the virtues of Florida vacations while volunteers handed out oranges.

Afterward, Scott (spurred by reporters who had little interest in Florida vacations — at least for other people) reiterated his belief that the rail project would bust its budget and that Florida taxpayers ultimately would have to pay for it.

“As you know, I represent the taxpayers of the state and I have not been convinced that that project is not going to result in cost overruns that our taxpayers will be responsible for,” Scott said.

Instead, he said he would rather have $2.4 billion to upgrade the state’s ports. “Here’s what we need — we need ports. We need an expansion of the ports,” said Scott, who identified Miami and Jacksonville as harbors that need upgrades in advance of an expansion of the Panama Canal.

That’s expected to increase the number — and size — of ships traveling through the Western Hemisphere; the new governor has made this a pet issue early in his term.

Scott, however, barely spoke to the legal challenge to his rail decision. When asked whether his office could meet Wednesday’s noon deadline set by the state Supreme Court, Scott simply said, “we will respond” before walking off.


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