Moving quickly, an appeals court has scheduled a hearing next week in a public-records lawsuit about whether Gov. Rick Scott should be required to turn over his calendar to an organization locked in a battle with the state about Medicaid contracts.
The 1st District Court of Appeal has scheduled arguments Oct. 10 in the dispute between Scott and the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, according to the court’s website.
Leon County Circuit Judge Charles Dodson ruled Sept. 5 that Scott was required to turn over his calendar --- including information about fundraising events and where the governor will reside at night --- to the group.
Scott appealed, and the 1st District Court of Appeal said it would expedite the case. The AIDS Healthcare Foundation filed the lawsuit in July after the Scott administration did not provide the requested calendar information in response to a public-records request.
The request was made after the state Agency for Health Care Administration did not renew a five-year Medicaid contract with the foundation’s subsidiary, Positive Healthcare, to provide Medicaid services in Broward, Miami-Dade and Monroe counties.
The Scott administration and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement argued that releasing the information could jeopardize the governor’s safety, but Dodson disagreed, noting it “simply is information regarding the governor’s travel schedule.”
