None of your business (incentives)

Gov. Rick Scott has decided to plant his flag this session on defeating a House drive to do away with business incentives.

That added drama to the governor’s State of the State. In the speech, Scott lashed House Speaker Richard Corcoran, R-Land O’ Lakes, and others who refer to business incentives and tourism marketing money as “corporate welfare.”

“For our state to simply say, ‘We are not going to compete with other states, we are not going to make it easier to incentivize job creators to grow in Florida’ — that’s just a big mistake for our state and for our families,” Scott said. “Incentivizing businesses to grow and create more and better jobs is not welfare.”

The House pushed through bills that would eliminate Enterprise Florida and overhaul Visit Florida, which markets the state’s tourism industry.

In a pair of votes that scrambled the usual partisan alignments, the bill on Enterprise Florida (HB 7005) passed 87-28; the Visit Florida tweak (HB 9) was approved by an 80-35 margin.

“We also have a budgetary obligation, and I think the statement has been made today, by a wide margin, by Republicans and Democrats, that this is not where we should be spending other people’s money,” said Rep. Paul Renner, a Palm Coast Republican who sponsored both bills.

By then, the new head of Enterprise Florida had already bolted in one of the more bizarre twists in the monthslong battle over incentives.

On Monday, Chris Hart abruptly resigned as president and CEO of the agency, claiming differences of opinion with Scott.