With Zika bill done, Scott has wish list for Washington

WASHINGTON - Now that Congress has approved $1.1 billion in Zika money, Gov. Rick Scott has a wish list for Washington: 10,000 Zika prevention kits, accelerated testing of potential Zika cases, an epidemiologist to advise the state on the disease and increased guidance for Miami Beach in dealing with active Zika transmission.

Oh, and it would be nice if the Obama administration also reimbursed Florida for at least some of the $61.2 million the state spent on anti-Zika measures while lawmakers in Washington dithered over a funding deal, he said.

“It’s great that Congress finally passed a Zika bill,” the Republican governor told reporters on a conference call Thursday. “What was frustrating is, everybody said they were for funding (yet) nothing happened time and time again. It was the craziest thing. It just shows you why people are so frustrated with the incompetence of Washington.”

The House and Senate approved Zika funding Wednesday as part of a stopgap spending bill that will keep the government open through Dec 9.

The approval came more than seven months after President Obama first asked for $1.9 billion to fund vaccine research, distribute testing and prevention kits, and finance mosquito control efforts.

Federal health officials pushed back on Scott’s claims. An epidemiologist has been on the ground since Sept. 19, there is no backlog of testing kits, and the state has drawn down only about $2 million of the $35 million available in federal aid so far, the Health and Human Services Department said.

No state has been suffered from Zika than Florida, which has registered 932 cases of the mosquito-borne illness that can cause paralysis and severe birth defects. The tally includes 92 pregnant women.

“In my own state of Florida, we have been so severely hit,” Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., said on the Senate floor after Wednesday’s vote. “But now at least the cavalry has arrived and we have the money to now proceed with trying to stamp out this Zika virus.”

Scott, who visited Capitol Hill twice to lobby for Zika funding, has been particularly critical of Nelson. When the governor ticked off a list of Florida lawmakers he thanked for helping broker a Zika deal, Nelson’s name was conspicuously absent.

Earlier this month, the governor said Nelson “turned his back on Florida citizens” by joining other Democrats in blocking a Republican Zika funding bill that included unrelated provisions they oppose. Nelson responded by slamming the governor for engaging in “partisan politics.”

Scott’s Zika-related requests include a federal government match of the $25 million Tallahassee has authorized for vaccine research. That seems an easy goal to meet considering the federal government already has spent $168.1 million to develop a vaccine.

Scott said he’s not worried even if the state doesn’t get the reimbursement he feels is due.

“I allocated the money not believing the federal government is going to reimburse us because I know it’s important to my state,” Scott said. “We’re the tip of the spear. We’re basically dealing with an issue that can impact our entire country if we don’t get a vaccine and figure this out.”

Contact Ledyard King atlking@gannett.com; Twitter: @ledgeking