New York Post
Op-Ed: Sen. Rick Scott
June 11, 2020

Recently, Gov. Andrew Cuomo used one of his daily news briefings to attack me. He’s been doing that a lot lately. And again, he begged for a bailout from the federal government to fund his years of fiscal mismanagement. He argued that his state gives more to the federal government than it gets in return and that Florida gets more than it pays in. Therefore, Floridians should be sympathetic to his demand for a bailout.

There is just one problem with the governor’s line of argument: It’s a bald-faced lie.

The Empire State doesn’t give more money to the federal government than it receives. And the Sunshine State doesn’t receive more money from the feds than it puts it. Let’s break it down, so Cuomo can understand.

When you get a paycheck, the feds take part of it to fund Social Security and Medicare, along with your portion of the federal income tax. Individuals with higher incomes, such as those who work on Wall Street, will pay more to the federal government than those with lower incomes. This is called a progressive tax system.

If you live in a state that imposes its own income tax — Florida is one of the few that doesn’t — more of your income will be taken out of your paycheck. Later in life, when you are eligible, you can withdraw from the federal Medicare and Social Security programs you paid into.

State governments have nothing to do with these federal taxes. There are no net-giver states, and there are no net-taker states; there are individuals who pay more taxes or receive more benefits, but their state of residence is irrelevant. The money going to the feds belongs to individuals, not New York state.

So when Cuomo says New York is subsidizing Florida, he’s actually criticizing federal tax and spending policy. As I’ve said before, he should take that up with Sen. Chuck Schumer, who’s been writing federal tax and spending policy for decades.

If Cuomo believes that this breakdown in federal taxes and benefits is a problem, the solution would be to cut taxes for the wealthy in New York, or to cut Medicare and Social Security benefits for seniors in Florida. That would be an odd position to take for a Democratic standard-bearer.

Here’s what’s actually happening.

When New Yorkers get sick of paying not just their federal taxes, but the high state and sales taxes Cuomo loves, they move down to Florida, where the state taxes are low. If they are eligible, like the millions enjoying retirement in Florida, they collect from Social Security and Medicare after years of paying into those federal programs while living in New York. They may have had a high-paying job in New York and finally wised up and realized they could save a lot more of their own money if they lived in Florida.

The result: Cuomo is now facing a massive shortfall in revenue. Because he didn’t plan for emergencies and use state tax dollars wisely, he wants to put every American on the hook, including those who fled his state, to bail him out. Other states like New Jersey, Illinois and California are doing the same thing.

Responsible budgeting is hard work. To pay down debt and maintain an emergency fund, you have to make tough choices. When I was governor, I paid down one-third of our state debt and helped Florida achieve the best credit rating possible, and I did it with a budget half the size of Cuomo’s, even though I had 2 million more people to serve.

In December 2019, before the novel coronavirus ravaged New York, the state’s comptroller stated clearly: “New York is not adequately prepared” for an economic downturn. The Rainy Day Fund was critically below its normal levels, and it was below the national median for most of the past two decades.

Instead of preparing and budgeting wisely, Cuomo has consistently misused taxpayer dollars and refused to ever cut government waste. Out-of-control-spending deals with labor unions, for example, result in New York tunneling projects costing three to four times more than those in Europe.

Cuomo has labeled my stand for fiscal responsibility “un-American.” But I think fighting to preserve a fiscal future for the next generations is the most American thing I can do.

Rick Scott represents Florida in the US Senate. Twitter: @SenRickScott