Veto Hits Bike Trail
Gov. Rick Scott vetoed more than $368 million in spending from the Florida's 2013-14 budget, using his line-item authority to strike out scores of projects ranging from a $50 million coast-to-coast bike trail to tens of millions in college and university tuition.
Scott's extensive veto list is more than twice as large as his list last year, and his largest since his first year in office. It slashed state spending from $74.5 million to $74.1 million.
One of Scott's largest veto items: $50 million for the state's Coast-to-Coast connector, a bike trail stretching from St. Petersburg to Titusville. Scott said his Transportation Work Program already includes more than $57 million in statewide funding for transit greenway projects, and that the connector could be completed over time.
"The worthwhile project contemplated by the Coast-to-Coast connector," Scott wrote, "can be built incrementally and consistent with a prioritization of gaps in the existing trail system."
Extracted from tampabay.com