Shots fired: Rick Scott teases governors on tax ratings
Gov. Rick Scott reacts Thursday, Jan. 18, 2018 during the Cabinet meeting at the Capitol in Tallahassee, Fla. (Photo by Phil Sears)

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He’s no Donald Trump, but Governor Rick Scott is beginning to peek out of his Twitter shell.

Three consecutive tweets fired off from the Governor’s state account Tuesday (he has a campaign one, too) mark a break from Scott’s online persona of unflinching positivity. His digital activity is usually reserved for highlighting progress or appearances across the state — but this time the Governor had some fun.

Following a study from WalletHub that showed Florida had the fourth lowest tax burden, Scott dished out comments to leaders of three of the better-ranked states via Twitter.

The remarks are competitive, but they’re by no means aggressive. And with Scott’s clout, they should warrant some interesting responses, especially because two of the other governors aren’t Republicans. 

Subtle shade was thrown at Alaska Governor Bill Walker, a former Republican who was elected as an independent candidate in 2014. Scott “congratulated” him on keeping taxes low for a small population (talk about a backhanded compliment):

Delaware Gov. John Carney, a Democrat, got a friendly lesson from Scott: There’s no personal income tax in the Sunshine State:

Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam, a Republican, was reminded that Florida is dead set on keeping taxes at bay:

Scott’s Twitter fingers are itchin’ — and it’s no surprise the uptick in digital activity comes after his entrance into the U.S. Senate race.

Though the term-limited Governor has made a point of flexing on other states in the past, touting Florida’s fertile business climate in attempts to convince companies to relocate.

He told businesses in Connecticut last year to “give up” on the Nutmeg State, and in 2016 made headlines when he suggested Yale come to Florida. In October, he brought a similar message to Chicago, Illinois.

The WalletHub rankings were released on April 9, the day Scott launched his bid to unseat incumbent Democrat Bill Nelson. Scott wisely released the Tweet assault on Tuesday, as it’s the federal deadline for reporting 2017 income.

Per WalletHub, “To determine the residents with the biggest tax burdens, WalletHub compared the 50 states across the three tax types of state tax burdens — property taxes, individual income taxes and sales and excise taxes — as a share of total personal income in the state.”

Danny McAuliffe

Danny is a contributor at floridapolitics.com. He is a graduate of Fordham Law School and Florida State University, where he served as the editor of the FSView & Florida Flambeau. Reach him at [email protected].



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