Gov. Rick Scott calls for $100 million for Visit Florida

Florida Gov. Rick Scott is calling on the Florida Legislature to not just restore all funding for Visit Florida, but also give the embattled agency another $24 million for next year.

"My goal is to spend $100 million to market our state," Scott said with Visit Florida CEO Ken Lawson standing at his side. "When we invest in Visit Florida it helps us grow our economy."

If the state spends that much money, Scott predicted the state would have another record tourism year. Scott's call for more spending comes a day after he called for $200 million for repairs to the dike around Lake Okeechobee. Last week the federal government announced it would send the state $1.5 billion additionally for hospitals to handle low-income care costs. That funding could free up state funding for other priorities like what Scott outlined over the last two days.

Never mind that his requests comes a week after the House and the Senate both passed spending plans that give less to Visit Florida. The Florida House passed a budget with just $25 million for Visit Florida. The Senate proposed $76 million.

Visit Florida has been under scrutiny for controversial marketing plans, including one that paid Miami pop music star Pitbull $1 million to promote Florida as a "Sexy Beaches" destination. Florida House Speaker Richard Corcoran initially called for killing the agency's funding completely for its past spending habits, but eventually relented to give the agency $25 million but with new restrictions to rein in travel expenses, cap management salaries and prevent future contracts like Pitbull's without the Legislature signing off.

The House and Senate are now left trying to negotiate a resolution to their $51 million divide in order to pass a state budget that both chambers can agree to.

This story was originally published April 18, 2017 at 4:31 PM with the headline "Gov. Rick Scott calls for $100 million for Visit Florida."