A.G. Gancarski
On Monday morning, Florida Governor Rick Scott appeared in Jacksonville for one of his favorite occasions: a job creation event.
After his remarks, Scott took some questions.
One of which, from this outlet, involved whether or not he felt like a “lame duck”, in the wake of a difficult session for his initiatives, including a House defeat for his Enterprise Florida push, a priority of the governor’s that involved trips throughout the state and lobbying of all manner of local and state elected officials to offer support.
Scott focused on the positive, which involved “$400 million in tax cuts… this session.”
“Look at what’s happened,” Scott said, citing that the current round of tax cuts is in accordance with cuts made “50 times before.”
Scott also kept his comments anodyne regarding the local priority for Jacksonville officials: the Discretionary Sales Surtax bill, which is on the Special Order calendar in the Senate at this writing.
“I haven’t seen the final bill,” Scott said, hewing to his usual talking points on it.
Scott also said very little regarding his decision not to endorse in the March 15 primary, saying that he “trusted voters” when he ran, and believes in them now.
If the Governor is looking at a 2018 Senate run, deliberate neutrality in the 2016 Presidential race is likely the best policy.
The reason Scott was in Jacksonville: the City Council job creation package, “Project Revere,” involved an addition of 250 FIS jobs, after that company’s acquisition of Sungard.
This package will bring 250 new full-time IT jobs to Jacksonville, at an average wage of $49,340. But it comes at a price.
For starters, QTI local support of $250,000 & a state match of $1,250,000. Additional incentives: half a million state dollars for a training grant, and up to $80,000 in property tax breaks. These incentives, with a total value of just over $2 million, will mitigate the impact of the $2.2 million in capital costs FIS is obligated to.
Jacksonville City Council President Greg Anderson pointed to this as evidence that “Jacksonville is doing very well right now.”
Jax Chamber Chair Audrey Moran likewise was appropriately positive, saying this is yet more evidence that “we come out on top again and again,” due to advantages in workforce, educational quality, a strong government, and being a business friendly city.
