Gov. (Rick) Scott's power grab goes after (FL) tourism

[Roland99]

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/os-cfb-kassab-rick-scott-visit-florid20110410,0,7273504.column

Not only does Gov. Rick Scott's plan to seize control of the state's economic development dollars put him in charge of a super-sized pot of money to dole out to companies in exchange for creating jobs, but it also is riling the state's biggest industry: tourism.

Proposals in the House and Senate rob Visit Florida of its autonomy by rolling the quasi-private tourism marketing group into a mammoth state agency.

...

The measure goes hand-in-hand with a plan that gives Scott control of more than $400 million to hand out to companies he is trying to recruit with little oversight from the Legislature.

That is also intended to "streamline" the process so that companies receive a quicker response on whether Scott is willing to offer incentive dollars.

Related article on the power grab:

Scott remakes Governor's Office to focus on jobs
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/politics/os-scott-agenda-progressing-20110410,0,7048163.story

Republican lawmakers are abolishing the governor's office overseeing drug control. Even as Scott has tried to appear proactive on combating Florida's "pill-mill" image, he's fighting the central tool his predecessor's Office of Drug Control had lobbied to create for years: a prescription-drug-monitoring system intended to crack down on abuse.

And they are advancing plans to pack Florida's tourism, space and business-recruiting arms into one goliath economic-development bureaucracy run directly out of Scott's office, which would steer hundreds of millions in tax dollars to corporations willing to create jobs.

...

The new agency would gobble up three existing state agencies: the Agency for Workforce Innovation; the governor's Office of Tourism, Trade and Economic Development; and the Department of Community Affairs, which oversees growth management.

The agency would also run Florida's public-private job-creation organization, Enterprise Florida, merging it with the state Sports Foundation, the Black Business Investment Board and tourist-promoting Visit Florida. The governor would appoint a new governing board that would take over Brevard-based Space Florida, which oversees aerospace recruitment.

Yeah...this is going to go well....

[madrchsod]

1. this is walker`s plans on steroids...

but the unions in flordia are`t as powerful as wisconsin`s. i`m not sure if the majority of the people of florida really give a dam.

[QC]

2. Scott's administration is nothing but a smash and grab robbery.

Everything he has done is carefully calculated to benefit him financially. Everything. It's the one thing we can count on from him.

[louis-t]

3. When repugs use words like "streamline" and "flexibility"

Floridians would do well to hang on to their wallets. So, as I understand it, repugs think you have to bribe companies to create jobs? Is that "free market"?

[lector]

4. Here they

call it the old boy net work.If you don't pay nothing and I mean nothing will get done.

[EC]

5. Is his pharma company still in the family?

This is getting pretty close to out and out look like graft...isn't it time for the Attorney General to start looking at some of this?

[Roland99]

8. If you mean the FL Attorney General...fat chance! She's the lead attorney in repealing "Obamacare"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pam_Bondi

[starroute]

6. This is just asking for incredible abuse and corruption

When one person of questionable ethics is given a $400 million slush fund to hand out as he pleases, that's an open invitation for kickbacks, bribes, and every other sort of corrupt dealings.

The only real question is how long it will take the graft to catch up with him -- and how much damage he will be able to do before it does.

Oh -- and what friendly nation will be willing to take him in when he has to catch a quick flight out of town.

[Roland99]

7. Oh, I bet Rubio has some contacts in Cuba to help him seek safety there.