A report released today by a Washington DC-based government watchdog group harshly criticizes public-private economic development partnerships across the nation, including Florida’s. The report by the group called "Good Jobs First" looked at eight states and concluded that money is often wasted by job-creation partnerships such as Enterprise Florida.
The report found that money often goes to bonuses, hefty executive salaries and pay-to-play incentives for the private side of the partnerships.
Dan Krassner is the executive director of Florida-based accountability group Integrity Florida, which contributed to the report. Krassner says taxpayers aren't getting a fair deal when private companies get government subsidies before any jobs are even created.
"Floridians want actual jobs, real jobs now", said Krassner. "We have more than 600,000 out-of-work Floridians who are tired of the IOUs. They’re tired of the promises and the ribbon-cuttings. Bring the jobs here now."
Responding to the criticism from the national group, Enterprise Florida released a brief preview of its annual report on Wednesday. It will be presented to the Enterprise Florida board October 31st in Miami.
It's expected to claim that the public-private agency was responsible for more than 35,000 new and retained jobs in Florida last year, with just under $2 billion in capital investments by private companies.