Scott Can’t Change the Facts: He Left Washington Early Without Securing Disaster Relief

Last week, as Hurricane Helene was on course to ravage Florida’s Gulf Coast, Congress passed a government funding bill without critically needed supplemental disaster relief funding. But Rick Scott didn’t lift a finger to fight for it. Instead, Scott opposed including supplemental disaster relief funding and left Washington early. 

“Floridians desperately need disaster relief funding to rebuild from Helene, but Rick Scott chose to put politics over people. Instead of fighting for the disaster relief his constituents would need, Scott skipped town without getting the job done. Nothing he says now can distract Floridians from his failure,” said Florida Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried. 

See below for coverage of Scott opposing disaster relief funding before Helene struck: 

Politico: Lawmakers Stunned as Disaster Funds Left Out of Stopgap Bill

- The funding omission was made all the more striking by the fact that lawmakers were leaving Washington two days ahead of schedule, in part because of the hurricane. And some members, like Sen. Rick Scott and Rep. Matt Gaetz, both Florida Republicans who have opposed efforts to preemptively appropriate disaster dollars, either voted against the CR or skipped the vote to be in Florida ahead of Helene’s landfall.

- “The right-wingers here, the MAGA crowd, even after disasters happen, they have opposed disaster aid for communities in need,” said a frustrated Rep. Kathy Castor (D-Fla.). “I’m fearful of it because we’ve lived through it a number of times,” she added. “Even members from Florida after a disaster have opposed initial aid going in, and it’s not the way to have a government function, or FEMA function. It’s not right.”

- Part of the resistance comes from some Republican lawmakers, including Scott of Florida, who say they prefer to wait until after disasters occur to pass new disaster funding so that they can have a better picture of the costs.

- Republican Sen. Marco Rubio disagreed with his fellow Florida senator Wednesday, telling reporters that action to refill federal disaster coffers was long overdue. “We’re gonna continue to have more potential natural disasters between now and December or into next year,” he said. “Even this may not be enough, but it should have been done months ago.”

South FL Sun Sentinel: As Helene threatened, Rick Scott returned to hurricane mode. Is it substance or show?

- Scott decamped from the Capitol before the Senate was done with its work for the week. As a result, he didn’t cast a vote on the measure keeping the government operating until December and avoiding a shutdown.

- The spending bill didn’t include billions in supplemental disaster funding sought by Democrats and Republicans. Florida Democratic Party spokesperson Alex Wood faulted Scott.

- “Floridians won’t get the resources needed to recover from Hurricane Helene because Rick Scott left Washington without lifting a finger to fight for disaster relief funding. Instead of photo ops, Rick Scott should do his job,” Wood said in a statement.