Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam, widely considered a GOP gubernatorial frontrunner, is warning Florida lawmakers not to scale back marketing efforts.
House Speaker Richard Corcoran wants to dramatically slash Visit Florida, but Putnam says it’s a bad idea for a destination state with an image problem.
“Florida should market Florida. In a year when we’re coming off of two hurricanes, Zika, which disproportionately impacts young families and expectant mothers, the core of the visitors that come to our state, why would we stop selling Florida?”
Governor Rick Scott is locked in a bitter feud with Corcoran over Visit Florida funding and Corcoran’s proposal to eliminate Enterprise Florida, the state’s business recruiter.
What Corcoran calls corporate welfare, Scott calls job creation.