TALLAHASSEE – Taking aim at a top priority of Gov. Rick Scott, the House on Thursday filed a bill that would eliminate both Enterprise Florida and Visit Florida.
The measure was revealed as Scott spoke at an Enterprise Florida board meeting in Orlando where the governor stressed the need for funding the agency that uses taxpayer dollars to entice companies to expand in the state.
The proposed legislation, which will get its first committee hearing Wednesday, also would do away with Visit Florida, the state’s tourism marketing group.
In Orlando, Scott said if the state kills Visit Florida, “There will be jobs lost.’’
“Can you imagine if you opened a store, and once you were successful, you decided to stop marketing yourself?” Scott asked. “Anybody that doesn’t understand that we’re competing, that we have to market ourselves, doesn’t understand business.”
The bill puts House Speaker Richard Corcoran, R-Land O’Lakes, on a collision course with Scott. Corcoran has adamantly opposed public funds for private companies, calling it “corporate welfare,’’ and wants the state to stay out of the free market.
But the measure also faces fierce resistance in the Senate.
“If that’s the case and (the bill) eliminates them and doesn’t replace them, that’s the dumbest idea I’ve ever heard in my 15 years in the Florida Senate,” said Senate budget chief Jack Latvala, R-Clearwater.
“To do away with them basically leaves us naked in the effort to compete with other states and that’s just dumb,” he added.
Scott has consistently pushed for increased funding for the two groups as a part of his plan to create jobs. But last year lawmakers zeroed out funding for a key incentive program used by Enterprise Florida after Scott had asked for $250 million.
Visit Florida received $76 million this year, but the shock of a $1 million contract with the rapper Pitbull to promote the state uncovered after a lawsuit filed by Corcoran has led to greater scrutiny of the agency. Corcoran on Tuesday likened it to turning on the kitchen lights at night and finding “cockroaches.”
Scott now is pushing for $85 million for Enterprise Florida and $76 million for Visit Florida for the budget year that begins July 1.
Scott on Thursday implored Enterprise Florida board members to put pressure on lawmakers ahead of the legislative session that begins March 7. Efforts to get companies to come to Florida shouldn’t slow down just because the economy is doing well, he said.
“You’ve got to recruit these companies when they’re ready to be recruited,” Scott said.
Staff writer Paul Brinkmann contributed to this report. grohrer@orlandosentinel.com or (850) 222-5564
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