Sens. Arthenia Joyner, Thad Altman sue Gov. Rick Scott over high-speed rail

[Sancho]

Source: St. Petersburg Times

TALLAHASSEE — Barely two months after taking office, Gov. Rick Scott's increasingly tense relations with the Legislature landed him in the Florida Supreme Court on Tuesday when two state senators filed suit arguing he has overstepped the limits of his authority by rejecting federal money for high-speed rail.

Thad Altman, R-Rockledge, and Arthenia Joyner, D-Tampa, contend Scott violated the Constitution when he rejected $2.4 billion for a Tampa-Orlando line after the Legislature had already voted to move ahead with the project.

"This is not a monarchy. He is not a king," Joyner said. "This is a democracy. There are three co-equal, independent branches of government and it is necessary for them to be respected."

Within hours, the Supreme Court responded to the bipartisan lawsuit, issuing an order requiring Scott to submit a response by noon today. Altman and Joyner then have until 4 p.m. to reply.

Read more: http://www.tampabay.com/news/localgovernment/article1154516.ece

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The craziest governor ever!

[liberal N proud]

1. K&R

[The Wizard]

2. Scott is a Medicare thief

who got away with a major fraud committed against the people of Florida and the United States. Now he believes his own bullshit.

[lib2DaBone]

3. Kick. Let's hope there is still life. This will provide thousands of jobs in Florida...

This is nothing more than a political move by PRick Scott to make the Dems look bad. No rail.. no jobs? See.... it's all the Dems fault.

This rail will connect the cruise ship port of Miami with the Orlando tourist center and the Tampa business center.

It will relieve pressure in the I-95 Miami corridor and the I-4 Orlando corridor.. 2 of the most crowded and dangerous in the state.

The thousands of new small business.... restaurants, hotels, taxi service, etc... will create thousands of jobs.

[panzerfaust]

4. K&R: Because it is important

[Overseas]

5. K&R. I hope they succeed and get a vote.

Then get any and all Republicans who agree with Scott on record as turning down a great project with lots of jobs for Florida.

[Dappleganger]

6. Good for them, time to wake up and take out the trash!

[MasonJar]

7. How soon can Scott be recalled? I've read Wisconsin has to wait a year.

I am glad for Florida that this is a bipartisan suit. That may help get a win. The logic also seems sound.

[lonestarnot]

10. 1 yr and 1 day for signatures. Any sooner signatures void is what I have read.

[bluevoter4life]

21. Though there is pending legislation

The current law here does not allow Floridians to recall state-elected officials. We are allowed to do it on the local level, as is the case right now in Miami-Dade county, but we cannot recall the governor, members of the legislature, or any other state official.

[1monster]

22. Florida does not have recall provisions for the Governor. Recall law in Florida is

limited. We're stuck with him for the entire four year term, barring any unexpected events, i.e., impeachment, resignation, mental or physical impairment or illness that would keep him from being able to carry out his duties as governor.

The recall of local elected government officials in Florida is governed by Fla. Stat. Ann §100.361. This statute applies to "cities and charter counties whether or not they have adopted recall provisions."
Charter counties

Florida's recall law says that the law is applicable to Florida's charter counties, regardless of whether the county has specifically included a charter provision in its county charter governing recall. Florida has 67 counties, and as of 2010, 18 of these counties were charter counties. The counties that are charter counties are Alachua, Brevard, Broward, Charlotte, Columbia, Duval, Hillsborough, Lee, Leon, Miami-Dade, Orange, Osceola, Palm Beach, Pinellas, Polk, Sarasota, Seminole and Volusia.

Who may be recalled?
According to Fla. Stat. Ann §100.36(1), "Any member of the governing body of a municipality or charter county, hereinafter referred to in this section as “municipality,” may be removed from office by the electors of the municipality."

According to Fla. Stat. Ann §100.36(1), "Any member of the governing body of a municipality or charter county, hereinafter referred to in this section as “municipality,” may be removed from office by the electors of the municipality."

http://ballotpedia.org/wiki/index.php/Laws_governing_recall_in_Florida

[Roland99]

23. Any word on the Solantic scandal?

[1monster]

25. Not a word since just before the election...

[Roland99]

27. Well, Scott forcing the state ombudsman for nursing home care to resign sure was interesting...

http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/02/25/2085459/advocate-for-fla-nursing-home.html

[drm604]

29. Wow.

This guy is definitely no good. Florida needs to get rid of him somehow.

[young but wise]

41. +1

[DirkGently]

32. Saw that. Sounds like Scott may have broken the law in the process. Surprise!

http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2011-02-26/health/os-state-ombudsman-firing-20110226_1_ombudsman-nursing-home-kate-ricks

Under the federal Older Americans Act, first passed in 1965, each state must have a long-term-care ombudsman program separate from the agency that licenses the facilities. In Florida, Lee, a $78,000-a-year state employee, led a largely volunteer army of about 400 ombudsmen throughout the state. Their job, according to federal law, is to identify, investigate and resolve residents' complaints.

State law mirrors national legislation in expressly mandating that the ombudsmen are to operate "without interference by any executive agency."

Further, the laws "prohibit retaliation and reprisals." The goal, advocates say, is to ensure the residents have someone free of influence to address their complaints — which in Florida last year numbered nearly 10,000, a record.

[Roland99]

35. Yeah, but wish us luck in being able to really use that against him.

He'll put in some crony and live out the full length of his corporate whore term.

[drm604]

30. Is that constitution based or is it something the legislature can change? n/t

[Pacifist Patriot]

40. The Florida state constitution probably runs to several hundred volumes by now...

but the legislature routinely ignores it anyway. :eyes:

Not sure what the answer to your question is, but I'm sure the answer screws Floridians.

[lark]

34. Well, damn. What about impeachment?

Can he be impeached and what is the standard for this? Do you know?

[1monster]

37. Overwhelmingly Republican State Legislature. But... Scott is ticking off

Repubs and Dems alike.

Wouldn't that be something!?! To have the Repubs impeach a Republican gov? That would be a :woohoo: for sure!

[Sancho]

42. Thanks...it may come in handy..

I'd love to recall some folks around here.

[BenzoDia]

8. K&R. No matter what the outcome, it's important for the country to see what kind of man Mr. Scott

is. Cold and heartless as they come.

[florida08]

9. thanks for posting

He thinks he's the CEO of Florida. This is the 3rd republican governor to overstep his authority by ignorning the legislature. But that's how they roll

[The Backlash Cometh]

11. It would be great if they prevail.

Send a message that Florida does not follow the CEO format of business.

[patrice]

12. Kick

[myrna minx]

13. Thank god people are standing up to these tea bagger loons. K&R n/t

[groundloop]

14. Not to be a downer, but how is his rejection any different than a veto?

I too think high speed rail would be great for Florida, and I too believe Rick Scott is an arrogant ass. However, in this case is not his rejecting it nothing more than a veto of the legislature's decision. In that case isn't the required course of action for the legislature to override his veto? Or is there something else to this?

[drm604]

19. According to the article the legislation was already approved under a prior legislature and gov.

In effect, the petitioners argue, Scott is attempting a line-item veto of a law and appropriations approved "under a prior Legislature and a prior governor."

[groundloop]

26. Thanks for the clarification. In that case he's totally screwed.

Doesn't sound like he has a leg to stand on in this matter. I'm thrilled that there's a "bipartisan" lawsuit filed against him, as it will highlight what an egotistical maniac he is.

[efhmc]

15. Don't you just love how the repukes use their power to

harm the people instead of helping them?

[Lastactiongyro]

16. In China they would excecute people for things like medicare fraud.

Here we make them governor. Sigh.

[EnviroBat]

17. I'd like to see the same damn thing happen here in Ohio!

This fuckwit Kasich fancies himself quite the dictator.

[DainBramaged]

18. Rick Scott sucks donkey balls

As do the members of the Westboro Baptist Church.

:mad:

[drm604]

20. Interesting.

Arthenia Joyner is a Democrat, but Thad Altman is a Republican.

[1monster]

24. Rick Scott sold three state airplanes that were used mostly by the State Legislature in

traveling on state business. This was one of his first actions as governor; Scott did this without the necessary approval from the legislature, which is predominately made up with Republicans.

Scott has his own private plane which he uses for state business traveling, so he had no need of the state planes. The Legislature had already provided budget funds for the operation of these planes before Scott took over as governor.

Needless to say, this did not go over well with the Legislature. Also, the Florida government (which means Republicans) worked very hard for years to get the high speed transit system in the state. With the federal government picking up 90% of the cost, Scott's action in canceling the the federal grant has seriously angered Republicans and Dems alike.

[drm604]

28. It really doesn't sound like he has a leg to stand on with this.

The guy apparently thinks he's some sort of dictator.

[DirkGently]

36. He seems to believe he was elected King of the Tea Party & thus accountable to no one else.

[Pacifist Patriot]

38. Thad Altman is my senator and our sons played football together.

He's actually a nice guy. Even though we have different political philosophies he is always willing to discuss issues calmly and in depth.

I can't bring myself to vote for him because of his party affiliation, but he's one Republican I would be really and truly surprised if a skeleton came dancing out of his closet.

I have long wondered why that man shares a party platform with idiots like Haridopolos and Posey.

[DirkGently]

31. Scott's sure racking up the lawsuits. Redistricting. Pill Mills. High-speed rail. True multi-tasker.

[fatbuckel]

33. I wish someone would do something like this in Ohio.

[Pacifist Patriot]

39. Perhaps he'll be sporting a glass eye and a shower cap one of these days.

Nah, he'd never be that cool.