As the Florida gubernatorial races moves towards November, Gov. Rick Scott and likely challenger Charlie Crist are focusing on jobs and education.
Scott is pledging to permanently eliminate manufacturing equipment sales taxes and create new incentives to encourage more science and engineering graduates.
He plans to highlight his "Jobs for the Next Generation" proposals during campaign stops over the next two weeks. The first stop is Monday in Pompano Beach.
Florida legislators in 2013 agreed to temporarily exempt state sales taxes on manufacturing equipment purchases. If re-elected, Scott wants to make permanent the exemption of more than $100 million a year.
Scott also wants more graduates in science, technology, engineering and math fields. He is proposing incentives to state colleges that come up with low-cost degree programs in those areas.
The governor also wants stipends for teachers so they can spend time with high-tech companies during the summer.
Meanwhile, Crist says in order for the state to become more business friendly, it needs to be more fair to the middle class.
Crist said the state has to make it easier for businesses to thrive in Florida, regardless of the size.
The state's former governor, Crist said he would work with the Legislature to create a new initiative to reduce the cost of higher education for students studying the STEM fields.
Complaints tossed out
Since March, supporters of both former Gov. Charlie Crist and Gov. Rick Scott have filed a long list of complaints with both the state's ethics commission and the panel that deals with election law violations.
Public records from the Florida Elections Commission show the commission has already rejected two complaints filed this past spring by Republican Party of Florida executive director Justin Johnson that targeted Crist. Both were deemed legally insufficient by commission officials.
The complaints contended Crist got an illegal campaign contribution because he appeared on billboards and in television ads paid by the Morgan & Morgan law firm that included Crist. Crist joined the firm after losing his bid for the U.S. Senate in 2010. He is now running for governor as a Democrat.
State law limits how much a person, or corporation, can donate directly to a campaign. The current limit is $3,000 for a statewide race.
One of the complaints was thrown out for technical reasons. But commission records show that investigators stated the other complaint was based on a "faulty premise" because the law firm ads had no political purpose and could not be regulated.
Complaints filed by Florida Democratic Party chairwoman Allison Tant against Scott and his political committee Let's Get to Work have also been thrown out.
Those complaints maintained that the Scott campaign broke the law when it transferred nearly $27.4 million from one type of campaign account to another. Shortly after the money transfer Let's Get to Work started paying for television ads that have largely criticized Crist.
If the governor's campaign were found to have violated the law, it could have been subject to a fine up to three times the amount of the contribution, or about $82 million.