The Florida Legislature's $82.4 billion budget was delivered to Gov. Rick Scott Tuesday, Capitol sources say, thus beginning a 15-day period during which the governor can choose to veto all or part of the spending plan.

  • Gov. Scott gets Florida budget 
  • Can sign, line item veto, or veto whole budget
  • Scott upset at lawmakers for defunding job incentive program
  • RELATED: Budget Allocations, County-by-County (.PDF)

While it appears unlikely Scott would reject the entire budget, he may be unsparing in using his line-item veto pen for at least one reason: the legislature's Republican leaders all but rejected his top priorities.

"As you know, the governor has lots of opportunities," Scott told reporters last month, shortly before the budget was finalized. "I'm going to look at all my opportunities. I'll go through the budget, I'll do whatever is best for the citizens of this state. But I can tell you what, I ran on jobs. I'm clear what I'm going to do. I'm going to do everything I can to fight for more jobs in this state."

For Scott, fighting for more jobs has meant demanding robust funding for business incentives and tourism promotion. On both counts, he's suffered defeats: the budget zeroes out the incentive program overseen by Enterprise Florida and cuts Visit Florida's funding by two-thirds.

The reductions were engineered by House Republicans in the wake of revelations of questionable spending by the agencies.

"There's cockroaches everywhere," House Speaker Richard Corcoran (R-Land O'Lakes) declared in January.

The governor could use his line-item veto authority to retaliate, slashing hundreds of millions of dollars worth of local projects that lawmakers like to hold up to their constituents as shiny objects representing their work in Tallahassee, particularly during election season.

Scott could also choose to veto HB 7069, a bill containing surplus K-12 education funding. That funding includes $200 million for Corcoran's signature 'Schools of Hope' program to build charter schools in areas served by failing public schools. Beyond serving as a way for Scott to get back at the speaker for defunding incentives, a veto could also ingratiate Scott to a growing chorus of critics of the bill.

"According to all reports, major education policy decisions included in HB 7069 were largely decided in secret by a small number of legislators," First Amendment Foundation President Barbara Petersen wrote to Scott in a Tuesday letter urging him to veto the legislation.