Rick Scott Not Helping With The Gender Gap

by Stuart Shapiro

Florida is, as always, a key state in the November elections.  As Governor Romney attempts to secure more female votes, he could certainly use fewer stories like this:

On April 17, smack in the middle of Sexual Assault Awareness Month, Gov. Rick Scott vetoed $1.5 million for the Florida Council Against Sexual Violence. The Legislature allotted the funds to the organization in order to support 30 rape crisis centers as they face impending reductions in collections, which currently is the bulk of their budgets.

Scott’s spokesman argues that the funding (passed by a Republican legislature no less) was duplicative.  Steve Benen (quoting a member of the Florida Council, Jennifer Dritt):

Dritt responded by pointing to the waiting lists at rape crisis centers: “Survivors are having to wait weeks, sometimes six weeks, in some programs three months to be seen. We included quotes from the programs about the waiting lists and what services they weren’t able to offer because of a lack of money. There is clearly an unmet need.”

The check from the Obama campaign is in the mail, Governor Scott.

By: Stuart Shapiro

Stuart is a professor and the Director of the Public Policy
program at the Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers
University. He teaches economics and cost-benefit analysis and studies
regulation in the United States at both the federal and state levels.
Prior to coming to Rutgers, Stuart worked for five years at the Office
of Management and Budget in Washington under Presidents Clinton and
George W. Bush.