109 Facts About Rick Scott

1.

Richard Lynn Scott is an American attorney, businessman, and politician serving as the junior United States senator from Florida since 2019.

2.

Rick Scott defeated Bill McCollum in a vigorously contested Republican primary election, and then narrowly defeated Democratic nominee Alex Sink in the general election.

3.

Rick Scott was reelected in 2014, defeating former governor Charlie Crist.

4.

Rick Scott was barred by term limits from running for reelection in 2018, and instead ran for the United States Senate.

5.

Rick Scott won the 2018 US Senate election, defeating Democratic incumbent Bill Nelson.

6.

The recount showed that Rick Scott had won by 10,033 votes; Nelson then conceded the race.

7.

Rick Scott took office following the expiration of his term as governor of Florida on January 8,2019.

8.

Rick Scott was born Richard Lynn Myers in Bloomington, Illinois, on December 1,1952.

9.

Rick Scott was raised in North Kansas City, Missouri, the second of five children.

10.

Rick Scott graduated from North Kansas City High School in 1970.

11.

Rick Scott attended community college and enlisted in the United States Navy in 1970.

12.

Rick Scott earned a juris doctor degree by working his way through Southern Methodist University.

13.

Rick Scott was licensed by the Texas Bar to practice law on November 6,1978.

14.

Rick Scott made his first foray into business while working his way through college and law school, initially buying and reviving a failing doughnut shop by adding workplace delivery instead of relying on foot traffic.

15.

Eight days after the initial raid, Rick Scott signed his last SEC report as a hospital executive.

16.

Rick Scott was paid $9.88 million in a settlement, and left owning 10 million shares of stock then worth more than $350 million.

17.

In February 2005, Rick Scott purchased Continental Structural Plastics, Inc in Detroit, Michigan.

18.

In May 2008, Rick Scott purchased Drives, one of the world's leading independent designers and manufacturers of heavy-duty drive chain-based products and assemblies for industrial and agricultural applications and precision-engineered augers for agricultural, material handling, construction and related applications.

19.

Later that same year, Rick Scott became majority owner of AHN.

20.

In 2006, Rick Scott said that his plans for Solantic were to establish a national brand of medical clinics.

21.

Rick Scott founded and managed Naples, Florida-headquartered Novosan, marketer of the Viosan Health Generation food supplements, which have been criticized by alternative medicine critic and Quackwatch webmaster Stephen Barrett for being promoted with non-explicit suggestions that they could cure various diseases in violation of federal law.

22.

In February 2009, Rick Scott founded Conservatives for Patients' Rights, which he said was intended to put pressure on Democrats to enact health care legislation based on free-market principles.

23.

The Fort Myers News Press quoted Rick Scott as saying he spent roughly $78 million of his own money on the campaign, although other figures indicate he spent slightly over $75 million.

24.

Rick Scott took office as the 45th governor of Florida on January 4,2011.

25.

In October 2011, Rick Scott announced that he would run for reelection in 2014.

26.

Rick Scott refused to take the stage for seven minutes because Crist had a small electric fan under his lectern.

27.

Rick Scott signed a repeal of Florida's 1985 growth management laws, reduced funding for water management districts, reduced oversight at the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, and supported increased funding for Everglades restoration.

28.

Rick Scott supported permanent tax cuts and "focused on job numbers rather than on running state agencies or making sweeping policy changes".

29.

Rick Scott supported the overturning of Roe v Wade in June 2022, saying that Roe v Wade was "flawed legal reasoning" and that the Supreme Court had defended "human dignity" and federalism.

30.

In 2013, Rick Scott signed the Timely Justice Act to overhaul the processes for capital punishment in Florida.

31.

Rick Scott chaired a pro-Trump super PAC in the 2016 election.

32.

Unlike many other establishment Republicans, Rick Scott praised Trump as tough on terrorism and as an outsider during the 2016 Republican convention.

33.

When Trump "sparred with the Muslim father of a slain US soldier", Rick Scott said "I'm never going to agree with every candidate on what they're going to say".

34.

In June 2011, Rick Scott signed a bill requiring those seeking welfare under the federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program to submit to drug screenings.

35.

The Rick Scott administration declined to appeal the decision to the US Supreme Court.

36.

PolitiFact rated this a "Promise Kept" due to Rick Scott's push to expand school choice as governor.

37.

School choice legislation signed by Rick Scott includes the creation of the Hope Scholarship Program, which subsidizes the cost of private school or allows a transfer to another public school for students who were bullied.

38.

In December 2012, Rick Scott announced a plan to encourage students to pursue majors in engineering and science by reducing tuition for some majors.

39.

In 2016, Rick Scott signed a bill allowing parents to pick any public school in the state for their children, regardless of traditional attendance lines or county boundaries.

40.

In 2017, Rick Scott signed a $419 million public school bill that included charter school expansion.

41.

Rick Scott rejects the scientific consensus on climate change, saying "I'm not a scientist".

42.

When questioned by the press on March 9,2015, in Hialeah, Florida, Rick Scott did not say whether he believes global warming is a problem or whether Florida's Department of Environmental Protection has made or is making preparations for its potential consequences.

43.

In March 2015, accusations were made that Rick Scott's administration had instructed Department of Environmental Protection officials to avoid the terms "climate change" or "global warming" in official communications.

44.

Rick Scott cut $700 million from Florida's water management districts over his tenure as governor.

45.

In 2017, Donald Hinkle, a Democratic activist and lawyer, filed a lawsuit claiming that Rick Scott had not disclosed sufficient information about his wealth and holdings and may have underestimated his net worth.

46.

Rick Scott appealed to a three-judge panel of the First Circuit Court of Appeals.

47.

On June 9,2017, Rick Scott signed an expanded version of Florida's stand-your-ground law into law.

48.

In February 2018, after the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Florida, Rick Scott stated his support for raising the minimum age to purchase a firearm from 18 to 21; at the time of the shooting, 21 was the minimum age to buy a handgun, but rifles could be purchased at age 18.

49.

Rick Scott announced his support of a ban on bump stocks.

50.

Rick Scott said, "I want to make it virtually impossible for anyone who has mental issues to use a gun", requesting $500 million in funds for mental health and school safety programs.

51.

Rick Scott has been a harsh critic of the Affordable Care Act, but in his 2018 Senate campaign stopped harshly criticizing the bill.

52.

In June 2018, when the Trump administration sought to remove provisions of Obamacare protecting people with preexisting conditions, Rick Scott declined to criticize the administration, saying he did not know enough about it to comment.

53.

Rick Scott has taken a number of positions on Medicaid expansion.

54.

Rick Scott has been accused of having fueled an HIV epidemic while governor, by ensuring that Florida returned $54 million in unspent federal HIV-prevention grants and blocking $16 million in CDC grants to Miami-Dade and Broward counties.

55.

Rick Scott has opposed most federal grants due to his fiscal conservatism.

56.

An investigation by WFOR-TV found that after Hurricane Irma, Rick Scott ignored existing debris removal contracts and instead issued emergency contracts for hurricane clean-up efforts.

57.

In 2010, Rick Scott ran for governor as an immigration hard-liner.

58.

In 2011, Rick Scott opposed giving in-state tuition for illegal immigrants, but reversed course in 2014 and signed a bill giving DREAMers in-state tuition in an effort to place limits on how much state institutions can raise tuition each year.

59.

In 2013, Rick Scott vetoed legislation that would have given DACA-eligible immigrants the ability to obtain temporary driving licenses.

60.

In June 2018, Rick Scott opposed the Trump administration family separation policy, which involved separating children from their parents, relatives, or other adults who accompanied them in crossing the border, sending the parents to federal jails and placing children and infants under the supervision of the US Department of Health and Human Services.

61.

Rick Scott's administration awarded Comprehensive Health Services, Inc a tax incentive package of $600,000 to expand in Cape Canaveral, Florida.

62.

On September 3,2020, the Tampa Bay Times released an investigative report into Rick Scott-appointed Pasco County Sheriff Chris Nocco's "predictive policing" program, which relies on unproven algorithms.

63.

In February 2011, Rick Scott withdrew a request to the United States Department of Justice to approve these amendments, which, according to The Miami Herald, might delay the implementation of the redistricting plan because the Voting Rights Act requires preclearance of state laws likely to affect minority representation.

64.

Rick Scott said he wanted to make sure the redistricting was carried out properly.

65.

On February 16,2011, Rick Scott rejected $2.3 billion in federal funding to develop high-speed rail between Tampa and Orlando.

66.

Rick Scott cited California's experience with high-speed rail, namely much lower than expected ridership and cost overruns that doubled the final price.

67.

On March 1,2011, two Florida state senators filed a petition with the Florida Supreme Court to compel Rick Scott to accept the rail funds on the grounds that he lacked constitutional authority to reject funds that had been approved by a prior legislature.

68.

In March 2011, Rick Scott moved to have the Florida Department of Transportation amend its work plan to include $77 million for dredging PortMiami to a depth of 50 feet.

69.

In 2018, Rick Scott reversed course and supported a high-speed rail project between Tampa and Orlando when the company All Aboard Florida sought to get taxpayer-backed funding from state and federal governments.

70.

Rick Scott argued that new budget surpluses following the recession could help fund the project.

71.

Rick Scott frequently sought to implement voter IDs as governor, with numerous courts ruling against him in voting rights cases.

72.

Rick Scott signed into law bills that created barriers to registering new voters, limited early voting, ended early voting on the Sunday before Election Day, and restricted the ability of ex-felons to restore their voting rights.

73.

In 2012, Rick Scott attempted to purge non-citizens from voter rolls just before the election; a court stopped him from doing so, and it was revealed that legitimate voters were on the voter rolls.

74.

In 2016, Rick Scott refused to extend registration deadlines after ordering evacuations due to Hurricane Matthew; courts ultimately extended the deadline.

75.

Rick Scott signed legislation into law that rejected mail ballots where signatures on the ballot envelope did not match signatures in files; in 2016 a court struck down the law.

76.

In 2014, Rick Scott blocked a request by the city of Gainesville to use a facility at the University of Florida as a site for early voting.

77.

Rick Scott rolled back automatic restoration of rights for nonviolent crimes, giving former felons a five- to six-year waiting period before they can apply for a restoration of voting rights.

78.

The percentage of blacks among those whose voting rights were restored was the lowest in more than 50 years, and Rick Scott restored a higher share of Republican voting rights than Democrat voting rights than in almost 50 years.

79.

Rick Scott defeated Rocky De La Fuente in the Republican primary.

80.

Rick Scott responded with ads accusing Nelson of having cut Medicare benefits and stolen from Medicare; fact-checkers found that both of Rick Scott's assertions were false.

81.

Rick Scott sought to avoid mentioning Trump and at times criticized or distanced himself from actions of the Trump administration, whereas in the past he had used his friendship with Trump to boost his profile and had been an early and vocal supporter of Trump in 2016.

82.

On December 4,2018, Rick Scott's office announced that he would finish his term as governor and not resign early.

83.

Rick Scott attended the ceremonial swearing-in of his successor as governor, Ron DeSantis, on the morning of January 8,2019, in front of Florida's historic Old Capitol.

84.

Rick Scott left the ceremony early to fly to Washington, DC, and was sworn in to the Senate by Vice President Mike Pence later that afternoon.

85.

In January 2019, Rick Scott encouraged Trump to declare a national emergency to build a border wall if Congress would not give him the funds to do so.

86.

In February 2019, when Trump declared a national emergency, Rick Scott applauded the decision.

87.

Rick Scott called on the US to position its military assets to be prepared to respond to events in Venezuela.

88.

In May 2020, Rick Scott voted for an amendment co-sponsored by Senators Steve Daines and Ron Wyden that would have required federal intelligence and law enforcement agencies to obtain federal court warrants when collecting web search engine data from American citizens, nationals, or residents under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

89.

In March 2021, Rick Scott voted against the American Rescue Plan Act; after it passed, he called upon Florida and other states to reject federal assistance from the package.

90.

In May 2021, Rick Scott voted against creating an independent commission to investigate the 2021 United States Capitol attack.

91.

On March 10,2022, Rick Scott was one of 31 Republicans to vote against a $1.5 trillion spending bill that included $13.6 billion in military assistance for Ukraine's defense, arguing that it was filled with lawmakers' "pet" projects.

92.

On November 14,2022, Rick Scott announced he would attempt to challenge incumbent Mitch McConnell for the position of Senate Minority Leader in the 118th United States Congress, the first challenge McConnell had faced for the position since winning it in 2006.

93.

Rick Scott said, "the status quo is broken and big change is needed" and that Senate Republican leadership needed "to listen to [Republican voters'] calls for action and start governing in Washington like we campaign back at home", in the wake of the party's failure to gain Senate seats in that year's elections.

94.

Rick Scott received 10 votes to McConnell's 37, with one senator voting "present".

95.

The vote was held by secret ballot; senators who publicly confirmed voting for Rick Scott included Mike Braun, Josh Hawley, Ted Cruz, Ron Johnson, and Lindsey Graham.

96.

Rick Scott expressed support for "automatic" capital punishment of school shooters in the wake of the Covenant School shooting in Nashville.

97.

Senator Ron Johnson said he supported Rick Scott for releasing his platform and agreed with most of it.

98.

On June 8,2022, Rick Scott released a revision of the plan that replaced the income tax proposal with a proposal not to provide government assistance to "able-bodied Americans under 60 [without] young children or incapacitated dependents" who are not working.

99.

Rick Scott added a 12th point containing various tax proposals and clarifying that the plan "cuts taxes", in response to Biden's criticisms of his income tax proposal.

100.

Rick Scott has served or is serving on the following committees:.

101.

Early in his gubernatorial tenure, Rick Scott said he created a blind trust for his holdings to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest.

102.

In October 2018, The New York Times reported that the trust in question was blind in name only, and that there were various ways in which Rick Scott could know what his precise holdings were.

103.

The holdings in question included investments in companies and funds that Rick Scott could have had an impact on through his administration's policies.

104.

In February 2019, Rick Scott announced that he would no longer keep his holdings in a trust.

105.

The financial statement said that the assets were held in a blind trust and a 2018 campaign spokesperson said Rick Scott did not have a role in selecting particular investments.

106.

In 2018, Rick Scott supported the efforts of the company to build the rail and get taxpayer-financing.

107.

Rick Scott had previously, early in his tenure as governor, rejected $2.3 billion in federal funding to develop high-speed rail between Tampa and Orlando.

108.

Rick Scott stated the original project was fiscally irresponsible given the recession, and he supported a public-private partnership approach when the state's finances were in order.

109.

On November 20,2020, Rick Scott announced he tested positive for COVID-19 and was experiencing mild symptoms.