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FL Governor, House Speaker At Odds Over Incentives

Nick Evans

House Speaker Richard Corcoran and Governor Rick Scott are in a stand-off when it comes to incentives.  After Tuesday’s Cabinet meeting the governor defended using public money to boost business in the state.

First, Speaker Corcoran threatened to sue Visit Florida to release the details of a promotional contract with the rapper Pitbull.  Corcoran got his way, and heads rolled at the agency.  More recently Governor Scott’s political committee paid for a poll suggesting a majority of Floridians support the state’s economic development agency Enterprise Florida.

“It’s very important to me that Visit Florida, Enterprise Florida—any of these organizations that we give money to—there’s a return for us the taxpayer,” Scott says.  “It is somebody’s dollars we’re taxing our citizens to do these things.”

Scott wants about $85 million for the agency this year, but Corcoran appears resolute in his opposition.  In a public statement the speaker says House policies will “be driven by principle not by polling.”

Nick Evans came to Tallahassee to pursue a masters in communications at Florida State University. He graduated in 2014, but not before picking up an internship at WFSU. While he worked on his degree Nick moved from intern, to part-timer, to full-time reporter. Before moving to Tallahassee, Nick lived in and around the San Francisco Bay Area for 15 years. He listens to far too many podcasts and is a die-hard 49ers football fan. When Nick’s not at work he likes to cook, play music and read.