Gov. Scott heading to California in jobs push; mum on 'climate change' ban

Florida Gov. Rick Scott is hitting the road again in his quest to lure businesses from other states, planning an April trip to California.

The Republican governor sent a letter Thursday to shipping companies. Scott is urging them to shift their business to Florida after labor disputes in California ports.  Scott's letter takes shots at what he calls California Gov. Jerry Brown's "tax and spend administration."

"The goal is, we should be the shipping capital of the United States," the governor said during a stop in Central Florida to announce 20 new jobs coming to Seminole County. "There's a lot of reasons for them to move here, besides how our ports are doing. We have lower taxes. We have less regulation."

While visiting Sanford on Thursday, Gov. Scott announced that Hernon Manufacturing, a local sealant company, will build a brand new 27,000-square-foot addition to its local operations facility.

"The Orlando area has now seen unemployment come down to five percent," Gov. Scott added.

During Thursday's stop, reporters pressed Gov. Scott about accusations that he has banned state employees from using the terms "climate change" and "global warming."

"Is there any policy on the use of those words?" asked WMFE FM correspondent Amy Green. "No," the governor replied.

Former officials interviewed by The Associated Press and the Florida Center for Investigative Reporting said they were told not to use those specific words.

"Governor, those employees were afraid to say those words. Do you think they are afraid of you, and should they maybe be?" asked FOX 35's Mike Synan.

"You know what I focus on, what I ran on in 2010 and 2014, is jobs, and that's what we are doing. We are adding jobs, 728,000 jobs. Unemployment is down from 10.7 to 5.7 and that's what we are going to focus on," Gov. Scott answered.

"That's not even remotely close to an answer," said Synan.

The governor responded, "That's what I am going to tell you."

Scott, who is skeptical of climate science, has previously denied banning the terms.