Global Courant 2023-04-25 06:52:39
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ global trade mission this week is being funded by an organization that fellow Republicans have been trying to take down, raising questions about whether at least some taxpayer money will be used for his ambitious trip around the world to Japan. South Korea, Israel and the United Kingdom.
Founded in 1996, Enterprise Florida is a public-private government agency that aims to attract businesses to the state and promote them for economic development. It’s been controversial for years — and it became a sticking point between Florida House Republicans and former Governor Rick Scott, who viewed it as an effective way to create jobs. At the time, Enterprise survived Florida, but with less money. Private donations have usually paid for the costs of previous trips.
DeSantis continues to travel extensively outside of Florida in anticipation of a possible 2024 presidential bid, and he has drawn some criticism, including within the GOP, for his foreign policy statements.
Donald Trump raised the funding issue in a post Monday on his Truth Social platform, saying DeSantis would use taxpayers’ money for his “emergency round-the-world … to up his game and see if he can take the stain off his failed campaign can remove” .”
“Maybe he can, and maybe he can’t, who really knows, but he’ll have plenty of time to think as he sits alone, in his taxpayer-funded plane, takes it off and thinks WHY??? ” Trump added about his likely competition in the 2024 presidential race.
In 2019, DeSantis traveled to Tel Aviv and Jerusalem with a delegation of nearly 100 people as part of a trade mission organized by Enterprise Florida.
“Like the last one, (this trip) is not being paid for at taxpayer expense,” Bryan Griffin, the governor’s spokesman, told NBC News.
But according to Florida’s News Service, taxpayers appeared to have paid at least part of the cost of the previous trip, citing documents released by the state’s economic development agency. The six-day trip totaled $442,504and private donors paid more than two-thirds of the bill, the documents showed, but Florida taxpayers paid about $131,000, the news outlet reported.
That included lodging, airfare and other travel expenses for several state officials, as well as the security provided by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. Florida’s News Service also reported that a major source of the funding came from 12 private donors, including legal and lobbying firms, according to the same documents.
This time, too, private donors will pay at least part of the trip through Enterprise Florida, which has not disclosed exactly where the money comes from.
An Enterprise Florida spokesperson declined to comment on the trade mission, referring instead to the governor’s office.
For years, some Republican lawmakers have railed against Enterprise Florida, arguing that the agency gives tax breaks to big companies that really don’t need it and would have come to Florida anyway. Critics of the agency have said it picks winners and losers unfairly – and that the money earmarked for it could be better spent elsewhere.
Florida Republican House Speaker Paul Renner reiterated his desire to eliminate Enterprise Florida in an interview last week.
“I don’t believe that taxpayers’ money should be used to finance corporate welfare,” he said. “We don’t need to spend tax dollars that could (instead) be spent on K-12 education or higher education.”
A bill introduced last month, HB 5, proposed transferring Enterprise Florida funding to the state Department of Economic Opportunity. Renner has said $13 million in funding this year for Enterprise Florida could be better used in other areas.
On Friday, the House Appropriations Committee voted 19 to 7 to pass the bill, which would also rename the Department of Economic Opportunity to the Department of Commerce. The bill would task the Secretary of Commerce with recruiting companies.
Renner said he opposes Enterprise Florida because of the tax breaks it offers only a few companies — for example, using taxpayers’ money to put on an Amazon headquarters in 2017. enough to attract businesses.
For some critics of DeSantis, the timing of the trip is suspect.
“It doesn’t add up,” said Representative Fentrice Driskell, the state House Democratic leader, adding that it was her “strong suspicion” that at least some taxpayers’ money would be used given the number of government officials making the trip. next to the governor’s security detail. Driskell wonders why the Republicans aren’t opposed to DeSantis traveling with an agency they want to dismantle.
“It’s very hypocritical,” she said. “They like to change the rules when it suits them.”
In his interview, Renner defended DeSantis’ busy travel schedule in the middle of the legislative session.
“This is a governor who gets things done,” Renner said. “And the fact that he can get things done and still travel out of state — I’m sure it’s frustrating for people, but it doesn’t change the fact that this governor is totally involved in the people’s problems and affairs in Florida.”
