Enterprise Florida faces more fallout

CEO quits as agency endures legislative battle

TALLAHASSEE — Chris Hart resigned as CEO of Enterprise Florida on Monday, leaving the embattled jobs agency in the middle of a fight for its life with the state Legislature.

Hours after Hart resigned, a House panel passed a bill, HB 7005, that eliminates Enterprise Florida and several other tax incentive programs aimed at luring companies to the state. The panel also passed a measure, HB 9, that imposes strict oversight measures on Visit Florida, the state’s tourism marketing arm.

“Enterprise Florida does not hold all of the business handles of the state of Florida,” said Rep. Jose Oliva, R-Miami, chairman of the House Rules committee that passed the bills. “The state of Florida has done it because people have wanted to live here. How many incentives could have gotten people to live here prior to air conditioning?”

In a resignation letter to Gov. Rick Scott and Enterprise Florida board members, Hart said he couldn’t come to an agreement with Scott on the future of the department.

“I have come to realize that Governor Scott and I do not share a common vision or understanding for how Enterprise Florida Inc. can best provide value within his administration. This difference of opinion is of such a critical nature that I no longer believe I can be effective in my position,” Hart wrote.

The news was first reported by Politico Florida.

Hart was hired Nov. 30, after the agency spent five months looking for a replacement for Bill Johnson. But Hart never signed a formal contract with Enterprise Florida. His threemonth tenure leaves the department without a leader as it battles with the state House, which is pushing a bill to eliminate it.

The move caught Scott off-guard.

“It is odd that Chris Hart never shared any differences of opinion or vision with the Governor until we first read that he had them in his resignation letter,” Scott spokeswoman Jackie Schutz wrote in a statement. “The future of EFI and its role in creating more jobs in Florida as we compete with other states is more important than one person’s sudden change of opinion or position, no matter how surprising.”

Hart is a former state House member who worked as head of CareerSource Florida, a state-run job training agency, under the Scott administration before moving to Enterprise Florida.

Scott is engaged in a battle of wills with House Speaker Richard Corcoran, R-Land O’Lakes, over a House plan to kill Enterprise Florida and clamp down on Visit Florida.

Corcoran has said he believes Enterprise Florida’s incentive programs that give tax breaks to businesses that create highwage jobs are “corporate welfare.” He also sued to unveil Visit Florida’s secret $1 million contract with rapper Pitbull to promote the state and has bashed its spending on marketing deals with an English soccer club and a race car team.

Scott, though, has put Enterprise Florida and Visit Florida at the forefront of his economic agenda, saying increased funding for the groups is vital to keep the state’s economy growing.

Scott has toured the state hosting meetings with tourism industry and business executives and employees, calling out House members who voted against him.

The move by the House committee tees up both bills for a vote on the floor of the House later this week, as lawmakers will begin the 60-day legislative session today.