Enterprise Florida claims that the Legislature’s failure to fund it this year will cost the state 50,000 jobs.

State’s economic chief warns it will cost 50,000 jobs

TALLAHASSEE — Florida’s budget battle turned into a heated war of words Saturday, as the state’s top economic development chief accused the Legislature of costing the state 50,000 potential new jobs.

House and Senate leaders agreed Friday to eliminate incentive funding for the Quick Action Closing Fund, a program run by Enterprise Florida, the state’s public-private economic development arm. Its goal is to use taxpayer dollars to lure businesses to relocate or expand in the state.

Bill Johnson, Enterprise Florida CEO, sent a letter to local governments and economic development boards across the state saying the lack of funding means the state will lose out on 277 projects currently in negotiations.

“With today’s actions by legislative leaders, there is no longer any funding for incentives at Enterprise Florida. As a result, there are 277 projects Enterprise Florida Inc. is actively competing for, that are effectively lost. This means the Legislature’s actions will result in losing the creation of approximately 50,000 jobs,” Johnson’s letter states.

There was no guarantee, however, that the companies involved in the projects would have expanded or moved to Florida.

Rep. Clay Ingram, R-Pensacola, said there are no plans to revisit the decision. Ingram is the chairman of the House committee that oversees economic development projects.

Gov. Rick Scott had asked lawmakers for $250 million in incentives — a five-fold increase from the current year funding — to create a new Florida Enterprise Fund, and named it as one of his top priorities for the legislative session.

The money was to last for three years and come with reforms that ensured money wasn’t distributed to companies before jobs were created and there was a return on investment for taxpayers.

Scott pushed lawmakers hard for the incentives and his other main priority, $1 billion in tax cuts mostly for businesses. He ran television ads and consistently urged business executives to lobby lawmakers for

money he said is essential to diversifying Florida’s economy.

But on Friday, House and Senate leaders agreed to zero out the incentive funding and set aside just $400 million for tax cuts, undercutting much of Scott’s agenda.

The battle waged as lawmakers engaged Saturday in budget talks to work out the remaining details of a budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1.

One key agreement reached by budget negotiators is designed to prevent an increase in property taxes for homeowners.

House leaders agreed to a Senate plan to use more than $432 million in general revenues to reduce an expected 5.8 percent increase in property taxes dedicated to education.

“We felt that it was very important, not only to send a message but also to have ... the factual reality of property tax relief at a time when Florida taxpayers and property owners don’t need to pay more in taxes,” said Sen. Don Gaetz, R-Niceville, a top education budget writer.

The latest House education budget proposal included $20.2 billion in K-12 school funding, the highest ever and a 2.3 percent increase on the current year. That comes out to $7,179 in per student funding, an increase of $71 on the current year.

The total final budget is likely to be more than $80 billion, a slight increase on the current $79.1 billion spending plan.