Jim Rosica
The next head of Enterprise Florida, the state’s public-private economic development organization, will no longer report directly to Gov. Rick Scott, according to a new Governor’s Office organizational chart.
The chart, first unearthed Wednesday by Associated Press Capitol reporter Gary Fineout in his The Fine Print blog, had been quietly posted on the Governor’s Office official website, www.flgov.com.
It shows Enterprise Florida has been stricken as a separate heading and converted into a subhead under Deputy Chief of Staff Frank Collins, whose portfolio includes Space Florida, Visit Florida, the Department of Economic Opportunity and others.
Previously, EFI’s President — who also holds the title of Secretary of Commerce — reported directly to the governor.
“Job creation is the Governor’s top priority,” Scott spokesman John Tupps said in an email. “This organizational chart represents our office at this time.”
Current agency head Bill Johnson announced he was stepping down after the Legislature refused to fund Scott’s proposed $250 million business incentives program. Scott has recently said he is considering overhauling the agency and its mission.
In a Wednesday conference call, the organization’s vice chair defended its ongoing work.
“Yes, we do have some challenges,” Alan Becker said. “But we have so many other advantages to sell and so many other tools to use. We may suffer on some of the bigger, high-profile projects, but we’re doing a good job with what we’ve got.”
The organizational chart also shows some deputy chiefs of staff have had responsibilities shuffled among them. Here’s Fineout’s analysis on the big picture:
Why is this chart important? Because it shows the names of the people inside the governor’s office who have direct responsibility over various functions in state government. These are the people who work day to day with agency heads and serve as the liaison between them and the governor. And they are the ones that lobbyists generally turn to when they have a problem or issue with a particular agency head. (Emphasis added.)
You can view previous charts here, here, here and here.
Jim Rosica ([email protected]) covers the Florida Legislature, state agencies and courts from Tallahassee.
