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House Speaker Says 'Tension' Is A Good Thing In Tallahassee

House Speaker Richard Corcoran speaks at the Sarasota Yacht Club
Steve Newborn
/
WUSF News
House Speaker Richard Corcoran speaks at the Sarasota Yacht Club

With the start of Florida's Legislative session just days away, Florida House Speaker Richard Corcocan traveled to Sarasota Thursday, offering a preview to members of The Argus Foundation at the Sarasota Yacht Club.Corcoran is optimistic his high-profile proposals to eliminate Gov. Rick Scott's most prized programs will hold up. He says Enterprise Florida, which tries to get businesses to relocate to Florida, and Visit Florida, the state's tourism marketing arm, are examples of bloated government.  "When you're going against that entrenched status quo, I think my number one goal is for the House, is to succeed," he said. "And so we're going to put ourselves in the best possible position going over to the Senate to succeed in eliminating what we believe is government waste."While the House has backed off eliminating all of Visit Florida's budget, Corcoran says his tussle with the Republican Governor is healthy. "In fact when we don't have that, I will tell you - that's when we should worry," he said. "When all of a sudden when we're all up there, and we're all of the same party and we're all agreeing, that's when the largesse and the lack of philosophy lead to our ultimate demise."   

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Steve Newborn is WUSF's assistant news director as well as a reporter and producer at WUSF covering environmental issues and politics in the Tampa Bay area.