TALLAHASSEE --- Senate President Kathleen Passidomo lent support this week to the latest House effort to close the doors of the business-recruitment agency Enterprise Florida.
The Naples Republican said aspects of Enterprise Florida could be folded into the Department of Economic Opportunity, such as trade missions, but that the public-private agency overall “just doesn't seem to be as effective as we would like.”
"I think we could create, you know, a continuous state partnership with the business communities through DEO (the Department of Economic Opportunity), and I think moving the staff, the people who work for EFI (Enterprise Florida) to DEO might be a good way to do it," Passidomo told reporters after a Senate floor session Wednesday.
A House bill (HB 5) proposes shifting funding and programs from Enterprise Florida, such as the Florida Sports Foundation, to the Department of Economic Opportunity. The proposal comes after House leaders in past years have targeted economic-development programs.
House Speaker Paul Renner, R-Palm Coast, told reporters last week that people and businesses have come to the state without needing incentives from Enterprise Florida. He said $13 million provided this year to the agency could be better used in other ways.
“The idea that it has delivered on its promises I think, in my opinion, is just not the case,” Renner said. “Do we really need a separate board, with people who are there, or can we more streamline what we’re doing and really not waste taxpayer dollars?”
Renner used part of his session-opening speech March 7 to call for eliminating Enterprise Florida. Since then, the agency has highlighted its work to bring new jobs to Miami and to attract more economic activity from Brazil.
In separate news releases, Enterprise Florida touted a trade mission to Intermodal South America in San Paulo, Brazil, and said $6.8 million from the state’s Quick Response Training grant program has resulted in Kaseya, an information-technology management software firm, promising to create 3,400 jobs in Miami over the next three years.
MORE SLEEP, LESS PHONE
Renner thinks a pair of bills advancing in the House will improve student attention.
Speaking at a Florida TaxWatch event, Renner highlighted a proposal that calls for a later start to school days (HB 733) for many high-school and middle-school students and a bill (HB 379) that would prohibit the use of wireless devices during classes, including allowing teachers to take students’ devices.
“I know I sound like an old guy here, but I'm going to say it anyway. Social media and these video games or whatnot have been sown with the seeds of addiction on purpose: Just like tobacco or crack cocaine or anything else,” Renner said.
“Our kids have a lot of stress and pressure that we didn't have,” Renner continued. “And so, in addition to universal choice, we're going to do school start times. We're going to restrict tech in the classroom so they can focus on actually learning and not being on social media. It’ll be cheered by parents and teachers and hated by the students, but we're going to do it.”
The change to school start times would prevent public middle schools from starting before 8 a.m. and public high schools from starting before 8:30 a.m.
The bill targeting social-media use, in part, would prohibit the social-media platform TikTok from being accessed on devices owned by school districts and require middle- and high-school students to receive instruction about “social, emotional, and physical effects of social media.”
Gov. Ron DeSantis previously expressed a desire to take phones out of the hands of students during instructional time.
“I think a school district would be totally within their rights to say, ‘You know what, leave your phone in some cubby or something, go sit in class, learn, and if you get it at recess and you want to text people, fine,’” DeSantis said Jan. 23 while in Jacksonville. “But they should not be always on their phones being distracted from the lessons.”
BENCH BUILDING
The state Republican and Democratic parties offered different takes in celebrating local election victories Tuesday.
The Republican Party of Florida laid it on thick in highlighting wins in Democratic strongholds, with John Brodie landing on the Coconut Creek City Commission and Ocoee Mayor Rusty Johnson being re-elected alongside two newcomers to the city commission.
“Big wins and we’ll take a moment to celebrate the hard work done by the grassroots,” state Republican Chairman Christian Ziegler said in a statement. “But there is still more work to be done to fire every Democrat at every level of government in Florida and to ensure that their radical and failed ideologies are eradicated from our great state.”
Florida Democrats highlighted wins in Palm Beach, Broward and Pinellas counties.
“Tonight’s victories show how Florida Democrats can win in every corner of the state when we organize and stand united,” Democratic Party Chairwoman Nikki Fried said in a statement. “As we look ahead to the next elections, tonight’s wins cement the importance of showing up and engaging with voters in our local communities because all politics are local.”
TWEET OF THE WEEK: “It appears to me that @GovRonDeSantis is violating the Florida state law that requires a state elected official to resign before running for federal office” --- Political operative Roger Stone @RogerJStoneJr