Florida Gov. Charlie Crist’s separation from the Republican Party to run for Senate as an independent is turning more and more into a messy divorce, with the newest item being the feuding over Crist’s line-item vetoes of the state budget.
On Friday, Crist vetoed $371 million in spending from the state budget, with the biggest item being $160 million from the state transportation fund. He also vetoed $39.5 million in construction projects for Florida International University — which is the alma mater of state House budget head David Rivera, the House budget chief and a close ally of Republican Senate candidate Marco Rubio. He also cut $45 million for the University of South Florida polytechnic campus in Polk County, which is located in the district of state Senate budget chief J.D. Alexander. In response to the sum total of cuts, the Republican state House Speaker threatened to sue.
Yesterday, Crist said he could also potentially call the legislature back for a special session — in which he would propose that a state constitutional amendment be put on the November ballot, to ban offshore drilling in Florida waters: “I think that it probably wouldn’t be until a little later in the summer, that would be my best guess.”
