Small businesses only received 11 percent of Florida’s economic development dollars.
Does Florida give too much money to big businesses at the expense of small businesses?
According a report by Good Jobs First, a Washington, D.C.-based economic development subsidy tracker, the state’s Qualified Target Industry Tax Refund program administered by Enterprise Florida delivered 77 percent of awards and 89 percent of funds to large companies.
During the state’s legislative session, Gov. Rick Scott requested $250 million in such funding, but lawmakers balked at funding Enterprise Florida.
“Slicing the Budget Pie for Big Business,” found that states such as Florida, Missouri, and New Mexico favored big businesses to small businesses in economic development funds in two-thirds of cases.
“There’s a galling mismatch between how governors and other state officials characterize their support for small businesses and what they actually spend,” said Good Jobs First Executive Director Greg LeRoy.
