Drew Wilson
Miami made the cut when Amazon announced its top-20 shortlist for its second headquarters Thursday, but Americans for Prosperity Florida says the retail giant shouldn’t get any state incentives if it chooses to set up shop in South Florida.
“Miami would be a fantastic choice for Amazon’s HQ2, but not if it means having taxpayers fork over hundreds of millions of dollars for the supposed privilege. Instead of focusing on what Florida’s taxpayers have to offer, Amazon should look at what our skilled workforce and pro-growth economic environment can provide,” said AFP-FL Director Chris Hudson.
“Thanks to the leadership of free market champions like Speaker Richard Corcoran, Florida has shown how implementing free-market principles can help our state become more competitive and business-friendly, and we should not stray away from that by enriching private corporations at the expense of taxpayer money. Amazon is a private business that does not deserve taxpayer handouts.”
The AFP-FL statement comes after Corcoran and Gov. Rick Scott gave differing opinions on how the Sunshine State should go about courting the Seattle-based company.
“The way I always look at any incentives we give, we’ve got to get a good return for taxpayers. That’s what I’ve done at the state. I’m going to continue to talk to companies around the world to try to get them to come here,” Scott said Friday.
Corcoran on the other hand, told News Service of Florida the state should focus on other priorities that would improve the state which could also attract companies without the use of incentives money.
“Here’s what we ought to do as a state. I’ll say it until I’m blue in the face,” Corcoran said. “There are five things that site selectors look at. The most important being having a great educational system.”
“If you have low crime, low taxes, low regulation, a good infrastructure and you have, more than anything, a great educational system, we will not have a single problem luring all the businesses and all the people in this country here,” Corcoran added.
Amazon HQ2 will be a complete headquarters for Amazon, not a satellite office, according to the company. The company reported it plans to invest over $5 billion and grow this second headquarters to accommodate as many as 50,000 high-paying jobs. In addition, the company projects that construction and ongoing operation of Amazon HQ2 is expected to create tens of thousands of additional jobs and tens of billions of dollars in additional investment in the surrounding community.
Amazon said it expects to pick the city for its HQ 2 later this year.
