Gov. Rick Scott
Florida Gov. Rick Scott is becoming increasingly politically schizophrenic as he faces re-election in 2014. First, he
reversed course and tried to get his state legislature on board with Medicaid expansion. Then, last month, he
signed legislation reversing the voter suppression measures he championed last year. All of this must have made his tea bagger base very, very unhappy and they must have communicated that unhappiness to him. There really can't be
any other explanation for this.
TALLAHASSEE — Gov. Rick Scott on Tuesday vetoed a bill that would have allowed children of illegal immigrants to get temporary Florida driver's licenses, a decision that may bolster his standing among immigration hard-liners but could hurt him among Hispanic voters.
The vetoed measure, informally known to supporters as the "Dream Act Driver License" law, passed the Legislature by a nearly unanimous vote. It would have applied to young people covered by President Barack Obama's 2012 policy affecting noncitizens brought to the U.S. illegally as children, which suspended any deportation action against them for a two-year period. [...]
The bill sailed through the Senate, 36-0, and the House, 115-2. Scott never publicly raised objections about it during the recent legislative session.
The bill wouldn't be a sweeping change in the law, because it only would have added a deferred action application to the list of materials that people seeking driver's licenses can use to prove their identity. Non-citizens can also obtain driver's licenses in Florida if they have federal work permits. But now Dreamers won't be able to, because Rick Scott decided politics required this bit of dickishness.
Florida Democrats were quick to criticize the veto, both because it's gratuitously punitive and because it's absurd. Via email, the sent a release including this statement from Rep. Jose Javier Rodriguez (D-Miami).
"The deferred action program is about bringing our dreamers out of the shadows so that they can participate in and make greater contributions to our community. Now dreamers in Florida with no criminal history will have work permits but won’t be able to drive to school or to work—that is nonsense. Today our governor showed us that he lacks the courage to confront the most extreme elements in his party, the same elements that have held up immigration reform at the national level."
Scott's veto is certainly not going to do much to help
his pathetic poll numbers. Maybe he thinks he can avoid a primary challenge with this completely baffling swerve right. Because it sure isn't going to help him with the state's Hispanic community. By the way, that community swung for President Obama
60-39 in 2012, according to exit polls.