Don’t take aim at Space Florida

Taking a page from the president-elect’s playbook, new Florida House Speaker Richard Corcoran is shaking up the status quo in state government. That includes threatening to defund two economic development agencies, Enterprise Florida and Visit Florida, because they don’t match his vision for limited government.

Corcoran’s campaign has also raised questions about the future of Space Florida, another economic development agency. But the speaker’s gripes with the other two agencies don’t apply to Space Florida. First, a little background. During the 2016 legislative session, Corcoran led the opposition to Gov. Rick Scott’s request to give Enterprise Florida $250 million for incentives to companies that relocate or expand in the state. This year, Scott has scaled back his request to $85 million, but at more than three times the current allocation, the governor’s represents something of a poke in the speaker’s eye. Unless you believe government should pick winners and losers in a free market, you should agree with the speaker, who promises no “corporate welfare” in the House’s budget.

This month, Corcoran similarly took on Visit Florida, which spends tens of millions of taxpayer dollars a year marketing the state to tourists. He filed suit after the agency refused to divulge the terms of its promotional contract with Pitbull, a Miami rapper paid $1 million to produce a video called “Sexy Beaches.” In the ensuing uproar, the governor forced out the head of Visit Florida, but continued to defend the agency against calls to reduce or eliminate its funding. Though Visit Florida’s budget has ballooned in ways not fully understood, no one should lose sight of the fact that advertising works. It would be penny wise and pound foolish to stop advertising our state to world markets.

Finally this month, a Space Florida board member warned his colleagues that they should expect similar pressure from critics. “We have not had a target on our back, but I promise you ... the target will be on our back,” Jason Steele said.

Steele offered his admonition during discussion of another $1 million deal — between Space Florida and an unnamed company planning to manufacture fiber optic equipment in orbit. Last week, Florida Today reported that the company is Made in Space, “a Silicon Valley company with a growing Florida presence.”

Visit Florida’s $1 million deal with Pitbull was a payment for services. Space Florida’s $1 million deal with Made in Space is a loan for space-based manufacturing equipment. The company has put up its equipment as collateral for the loan, and that collateral is insured.

Unlike Enterprise Florida, Space Florida doesn’t dole out tax incentives. As a one-stop resource for spacerelated companies looking to set up shop in Florida, it may help steer them to other sources of incentives. It may also assist in providing financing for infrastructure and other investments — again, with the expectation that it will be repaid.

Space Florida’s $17.5 million in state funding this year is fraction of the $78 million for Visit Florida. Space Florida also draws income from leases on facilities it owns.

Space Florida has been guiding the state’s space industry through the challenging transition from largely depending on business from NASA and the Air Force, to now succeeding in a freer marketplace led by private players. In the past couple of years, Space Florida has spearheaded fruitful efforts to persuade some of the world’s top space companies — including Blue Origin and SpaceX — to locate or expand their operations on the Space Coast. Agency leaders say more are on the way. And space jobs, unlike most tourism jobs, pay higher-than-average wages.

Space Florida isn’t perfect. We’ve been critical of its executive pay and bonuses. Like all state agencies, it has an obligation to operate as transparently as possible. If it spends money irresponsibly, it needs to be held accountable. But it’s worth noting than an independent audit conducted earlier this year gave Space Florida high marks.

It would be foolish and self-defeating to punish Space Florida for the excesses and missteps of different economic development agencies. It may be open season in Tallahassee on Enterprise Florida and Visit Florida, but Space Florida is a different animal.