Florida's public finance laws ("derided as welfare for politicians") will make Attorney General and GOP gubernatorial candidate Bill McCollum eligible for taxpayer funds matching dollar-for-dollar what his richer opponent, Rick Scott spends over the $24.9 million limit, which could happen within the next week or so.
That's the law, though the multimillionaire Scott did say when he got into the campaign that he wouldn't spend more than $24.9 million limit.
But now that he's leading in some polls and starting to enjoy the rigors of a campaign, he's determined to do what politicians all across the country have done, which is to spend as much cash as he has to win office.
People may not like it, but it's allowed.
What isn't allowed is to stop his opponents from then being able to exploit the state's election laws to get matching funds, specifically a dollar-for-dollar match on everything Scott spends past that $24.9 million limit.. But somehow, Scott doesn't like that part of the law, claiming that it's an unconstitutional violation of his constitutional rights.
Despite Scott's lawsuit, the suddenly cash poor McCollum is still slated to get more than $2 million under a separate law that awards matching funds of up to $250 for each individual contribution he gets from a Florida voter.
On Wednesday U.S. Judge Robert Hinkle is scheduled to hear Scott's request.
