Governor tours Jacksonville manufacturing company to talk job growth

Scott addresses government shutdown

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – From parks to charities, the federal government shutdown is affecting northeast Florida. Politicians across the country are speaking out about the shutdown, including Gov. Rick Scott.

Scott was at Cecil Commerce Center in Jacksonville on Tuesday touring a manufacturing company, continuing to focus on job growth.

"Families want jobs," he said. "We had a big turn around in our state the last two and a half years. We went from losing jobs before I became governor. Companies like Saft have added a lot of jobs -- 365,000 private sector jobs."

Scott toured Saft America to highlight the removal of the tax on manufacturing equipment.

"Other states raise their taxes. It's great for us," he said. "A company will say my customer is not willing to pay more money because I pay higher taxes."

Scott signed off on the sales tax exemption for manufacturing equipment in 2012. It'll take place in 2014.

While the governor was in Jacksonville to talk about the elimination of the manufacturing tax, he was also asked about the government shutdown.

"They need to balance a budget, reduce regulations, do the same things we're doing in Florida," Scott said.

He said he understands how difficult it can be to balance a budget, but that it can be done.

"Our state agencies are working with them to deal with those issues," Scott said. "It's very frustrating. I walked into a job with a budget deficit. I had to compromise. I had to negotiate, and we balanced our budget. We reduced taxes."

Although the governor can't control the situation in the Capitol, his personal goal for the state this year is to reduce taxes.