Fact-checking Rick Scott at CPAC

Gov. Rick Scott made his speaking debut at the Conservative Political Action Conference this month, sticking to his favorite topics of less government and more jobs.

Scott said Florida’s economy was on the mend, throwing out this statistic: “In my first year in office, unemployment has dropped more than 2 percentage points, down from 12 percent to 9.9 percent, the second-largest drop in the nation,” he said.

He also said he was working hard to reduce government. 

“My administration eliminated burdensome regulations to make it easier to do business in Florida,” he said. “And we’re poised to get rid of over 1,000 more regulations in 2012.”

We wanted to know if Scott had his numbers right: Is Florida in second place for a dropping unemployment rate? And are there 1,000 regulations realistically facing repeal?

Scott was right on this one, so we rated his statement True.

Scott also said he was poised to repeal 1,000 rules.

We looked at the numbers and saw he’s around where he said was, at 926 rules repealed this year or set to be repealed. But a good chunk — 270 — would come with the help of the Legislature. We rated this Mostly True.