Staff Reports
Americans for Prosperity-Florida (AFP-FL) is again denouncing Gov. Rick Scott for his latest plan to fund what they call “corporate welfare.”
“Here we go again,” said AFP-FL state director Chris Hudson in a statement.
On Thursday, Scott said he would ask lawmakers for $85 million in 2016-17 for Enterprise Florida for business incentives. The governor also said he plans to push legislation to restructure the public-private jobs organization.
Last session, the agency’s proposed $250 million incentives fund failed to gain support.
“Enterprise Florida has proven to be a failure at all levels,” Hudson added, referring to state’s public-private economic development organization. “They were supposed to be a partnership between taxpayers and the private sector, but the program resulted in funds coming almost exclusively from taxpayer dollars.”
“They promised to help create jobs, but have failed by coming up short of their job creation goals by nearly half and have ultimately yielded a negative return on investment for taxpayers,” he said. “EFI was supposed to serve small businesses, but the truth is that they have mostly served well-connected insiders to prop up private companies on the backs of Florida taxpayers.
“The legislators that stood against this corporate welfare slush fund this year did the right thing by not expanding this failed program,” Hudson said. “Lawmakers should be finding ways to cut spending, not take away valuable resources that would better serve Florida families.”
