Bradenton state Rep. Jim Boyd says he'll 'keep fighting' for Enterprise Florida funds

MANATEE -- State Rep. Jim Boyd, R-Bradenton, promised the Manatee County Commission on Tuesday morning to keep fighting for Enterprise Florida funding after his bill to regulate its state funding died in the Senate this year.

Boyd and state Sen. Bill Galvano, R-Bradenton, leaders in their respective chambers of the Florida Legislature, appeared before the Manatee County Commission to give a review of the latest legislative session and state budget.

It was a relatively calm session compared with last year, when the House ended session three days early in the midst of budget arguments, effectively killing a large amount of bills and necessitating a special session on the budget, in addition to two other special sessions on redistricting. Boyd and Galvano both expressed relief at being home and staying out of Tallahassee until elections in November are over.

Neither one sponsors many bills personally, since Boyd is the vice majority leader and majority whip in the House

and Galvano is the majority leader in the Senate. Their separate talks focused more on the budget than individual bills, with the exception of Boyd's bill on Enterprise Florida, which would have given $250 million out of the state budget to the public-private partnership meant to draw more businesses into Florida.

"There's this dynamic tension between what tax dollars should be doing and what they shouldn't be doing, and I certainly get that and appreciate it, but with accountability, with transparency, no money is changing hands until certain guidelines and standards have been met," Boyd said. "I still believe there's a place for that in limited form."

The funding was a priority of Gov. Rick Scott, who is famously focused on bringing as many jobs to Florida as possible. The fund has come under scrutiny in the past for not having enough accountability and allowing the CEO to stay at expensive hotels and eat at lavish restaurants. Stephen Lawson, spokesman for Enterprise Florida, said costs of hotels and restaurants were funded with private money and did not use state funds.

Boyd said he was in favor of increasing accountability in his bill.

"I certainly wasn't one to say, 'Well, hey, let's just give taxpayer money away,' absolutely not," Boyd said. "But there is a component of when there's a good project, make sure they deliver on what they suggest they're going to deliver, and then fund a portion of that effort."

Commissioner Betsy Benac said the commission supports Enterprise Florida as long as the system is accountable and only awards money after new businesses are in place.

Boyd's bill died in a Senate committee and the funds did not make it into the final state budget. Boyd said that won't stop him from continuing to fight for the bill next year, when he hinted he expects to be in the leadership again under new House Speaker Richard Corcoran, R-Land O'Lakes.

Corcoran was vocally against the Enterprise Florida funding at the end of session, which both the House and Senate chose not to include in the budget in favor of a broad tax-cut package by the House.

Boyd is running unopposed for re-election to his seat and, if he is re-elected, it will be his final two-year term in the House.

"I think Manatee will still be well represented at the leadership table," Boyd told the commission.

Galvano said he is glad Manatee County remained in his district during Senate redistricting, which switched Galvano from covering several central Florida counties to Manatee and part of Hillsborough. Galvano is also running for re-election unopposed and is slated to become Senate president in 2018-20.

"Having you in a leadership position in Tallahassee is really going to make a difference," Benac said.

Galvano said he would continue to make an effort to be as available as possible to constituents and the commission despite holding time-consuming leadership positions.

Commissioners asked questions about money available to relieve traffic issues as well as money for more law enforcement officers, both partially due to increased tourism in the area.

"If there's any way we could increase law enforcement for the coastal communities that are providing tourism, to help, I don't think that's a misuse of funds, truthfully," said Commissioner Carol Whitmore.

Boyd said he was happy to look into those issues next session, which he and Galvano are both happy to know is another year away.

Kate Irby, Herald online/political reporter, can be reached at 941-745-7055. You can follow her on Twitter @KateIrby

This story was originally published March 22, 2016 at 11:05 PM with the headline "Bradenton state Rep. Jim Boyd says he'll 'keep fighting' for Enterprise Florida funds ."