02 05 13 swoope letter to integrity florida

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  • 7/29/2019 02 05 13 Swoope Letter to Integrity Florida

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    The Atrium Building, Suite 201 325 John Knox Road Tallahassee, Florida 32303 T 850.298.6620 F 850.298.6659

    GovernorRick Scott, Chairman Brett Couch, Vice Chairman Gray Swoope, President & CEO

    February 5, 2013

    Integrity Florida

    Thank you for taking the time to meet with the Enterprise Florida team yesterday.While we appreciated the opportunity to hear from you in advance of the release of

    your report, we are disappointed that the report was released without any responsefrom our organization (or without even receiving an advanced copy, which you saidwe would be provided during our meeting). We requested that the information wediscussed yesterday be released along with your report in order to provide much-needed clarification and context.

    Additionally, we were deeply troubled yesterday when you told us that this reportwas funded by Americans for Prosperity, a group who publicly opposes allincentives - an economic tool provided in Florida law to help our state compete forbusiness investment across the country and around the world. This group has beenoutspoken in their campaign against economic incentives for job creation. In fact,

    Americans for Prosperity-Florida recently posted on Facebook, Enough is enough!Florida needs to get out of the business of trying to pick winners in the marketplace,and just promote free market policy instead.On June 23, 2012, Sunshine StateNews reported that, Americans for Prosperity-Florida wants to replace the stateemployee pension system, eliminate corporate income taxes and it wants Florida tostop giving tax credits to attract businesses.

    Integrity Florida has claimed to be a non-partisan, non-profit organization with nopolicy agenda. However, a report on economic incentives for job creation funded bya group that so publicly opposes these incentives is deeply troubling.

    Due to our increased concerns about the independence and balance of youranalysis of our economic development tools, we are requesting that you publiclypost and distribute our response to your report in the same manner that you havepublicized your initial report. This response will include information left out of yourreport, including the aggressive actions the state has taken (and is currentlyundertaking) to pin down bad actors and ensure they are prosecuted to the fullextent of the law, where laws are found to be violated. Digital Domain, for example,is currently under review by the Inspector General, following Governor Scotts call

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    for a review of how the company received incentive funds after being declined bythe states vetting process. It appears that this project was brought back to life and

    funded in another way that effectively circumvented the process we have in place torecommend or decline projects.

    We feel just as strongly about our mission of job creation as we do our commitmentto safeguarding taxpayer funds. We look forward to your response to this importantrequest, which will best ensure a transparent, balanced and non-partisanconversation about the important subject of job creation tools in our state.

    Sincerely,

    Gray SwoopeSecretary of CommercePresident & CEO, Enterprise Florida Inc.