Gov. Scott going to California on jobs-hunting trip

TALLAHASSEE — Gov. Rick Scott's job hunting trip to California next week will not yield much in the way of high-paying job opportunities for Floridians, California economic council officials said.

With California recently adopting a plan to increase the minimum wage to $15, Scott's efforts could likely result in businesses moving lower-level, lower-pay jobs to Florida, said Micah Weinberg, president of the Bay Area Council Economic Institute in San Francisco.

"If companies in California want to move jobs, it's normally those lesser, customer service or call center positions that they'll establish outside the Bay Area," Weinberg said. "But those higher end employees they're going to keep here because of proximity."

But Scott said he only pursues opportunities when he sees them. For instance, he offered Yale University a chance to move to Florida in March after Connecticut lawmakers made a failed bid to tax the school's hefty endowment fund.

"I think it's about the opportunity," Scott said. "When the governor of Connecticut says he wants to tax the endowment fund at Yale, I take the opportunity to encourage them to try and come to Florida.

"When (Connecticut) raised the income tax, I saw opportunity."

The latest opportunity is a deal California Gov. Jerry Brown struck that will increase California's minimum wage to $15 by 2022. Scott said he's happy with Florida's current minimum wage of $8.05, and increasing it would force companies to move jobs out of state. He launched his latest job hunting campaign April 20 with an announcement that he planned to visit an undisclosed number of companies in Los Angeles, San Jose and San Francisco. Scott's trip starts in Southern California on Sunday and also includes taking part in a panel discussion at the Milken Institute Global Conference in Beverly Hills.

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As with previous job hunting missions, Scott preceded his California trip with a series of radio advertisements placed by Enterprise Florida, the state's private-public economic development partnership. The ads that played around Los Angeles and San Francisco last week depict two women who fret over California's minimum wage increase. They also discuss a study performed by the right-leaning American Action Forum that found the wage increase could lead to 700,000 lost jobs.

The dialogue between the two women is followed by a narrator inviting them to Florida.

"Ready to leave California?" the narrator says. "Go to Florida instead — no state income tax and Gov. Scott has cut regulations. Now Florida is adding 1 million jobs, not losing them."

One noted Florida economist believes California's minimum wage increase could present an opportunity for strong job growth in Florida. The Washington Economics Group founder Tony Villamil said California's heavy regulation on businesses, high taxes and increasing cost of living would make Florida seem like corporate paradise. Also, Florida's 15 ports offer opportunities for California businesses to already-forged relationships with countries in South America.

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"If you want Latin America you can look to PortMiami, Palm Beach or Jacksonville," said Villamil, who served as one of Gov. Jeb Bush's top economic advisers throughout his two terms in office. "And Tampa's port is the top place for any of the Mexican states along the Gulf of Mexico."

Villamil, who also served as U.S. undersecretary of commerce for economic affairs under President George H.W. Bush, said Scott will likely be on the hunt for health care businesses that can adapt to the growing industry in Florida. There's also plenty of opportunities in the agricultural and prepared foods sector, he said.

"The big issue here is our manufacturers," Villamil said, pointing to the recent elimination of the tax on manufacturing and retail businesses. "We've got a lot of assets to market here."

Weinberg said no cities in Florida have earned the prestigious title of Innovation Center like Seattle, Boston and Austin, Texas, have. The common denominator in those cities is its abundant roster of educated professionals, Weinberg said.

"It's the level of education that companies are looking for, not taxes," Weinberg said. "Taxes and regulation explain nothing about economic development when you look at them on an objective level."

This will be Scott's second job hunt in California. He visited the Golden State in April 2015 as West Coast dockworkers were embroiled in a labor dispute. The trip netted a deal with Nestle USA to use Jacksonville to take shipments from Puerto Rico. He visited Kentucky in September, where he announced a company there would expand its existing factory in Miramar, yielding 40 jobs. He also took part in a mission to New York but that yielded no announced results.

Scott promoted his latest trip to California with an announcement that Bethlehem, Pennsylvania-based B. Braun Medical would build a factory in Daytona Beach, creating 175 jobs. Scott said he forged a relationship with the company during a February 2015 mission visit there.

Scott's trip to California will be his first without the Enterprise Florida incentive fund he used to lure businesses to the state. Scott previously used the incentive money, known as the quick-action closing fund, as leverage during faced-paced negotiations with companies looking at several states to relocate. Scott's request during this year's legislative session for $250 million in taxpayer money for the incentive fund was denied by House leaders who referred to it as corporate welfare.

There are other ways that Enterprise Florida can help businesses — funding to assist in relocation, tax credits and professional advice — but the lack of incentive cash places the state at odds with others that offer it.

California offers a tax credit incentive program governed by benchmarks that a company must hit before it receives them, said Brook Taylor, a spokesman for the California Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development.

Without the incentive cash, Scott warned Enterprise Florida board members the agency would be in for significant cuts. Enterprise Florida President Bill Johnson resigned from his position two weeks after the legislative session ended in March. His departure was followed by a cost savings audit performed by former Florida Department of Children and Families Secretary David Wilkins.

Scott said he asked Wilkins to find ways to save $6 million from Enterprise Florida's $23.5 million budget. Wilkins will unveil his suggestions May 11 during an Enterprise Florida board of directors meeting at the Naples Beach Hotel and Golf Club.