Gov. Rick Scott signed a quartet of bills Wednesday that were part of his jobs-creation package that is as much about crafting a positive perception for the business community as it is about providing tax breaks and reducing regulation.

“There is not a single bill that we can pass that will drive unemployment to zero, but we can create an environment that sends a signal of stability and predictability to job creators so they can continue Florida’s economic recovery,” said House Speaker Dean Cannon, R-Winter Park.

Cannon noted that the House Republican majority worked as a willing partner with Scott to create the four bills signed Wednesday -- HB 7023, HB 7027, HB 7029 and HB 7087.

Highlights include changing the focus of unemployment compensation to a re-employment assistance program and putting an amendment on the November ballot that eliminates tangible personal property taxes for businesses with less than $50,000 in property such as real estate or production equipment.

Scott said business owners view taxes as one issue, not the only issue.

“With this plan, our unemployment rate will continue to go down, job creators will experience tax relief, job seekers will have a better path to get back to work, more companies will want to do business in Florida,” Scott said.

State business leaders were quick to praise the bills for what the legislation is expected to accomplish as well as the message they believe the bills deliver.

Mark Wilson, Florida Chamber of Commerce president and CEO, said the goal of the jobs package is to “send a message to small businesses that it’s safe to get back into the water” in terms of hiring and expansion.

“I know everybody wants to know what one bill matters the most, but it’s not about one bill or one tax or one regulation,” Wilson said.

“While other states are raising their tax rates, Florida is lowering its tax rate. While other states are looking at new regulations, Florida eliminated or reformed 270 regulations this year. 

“The goal going into session was to send a strong message to the private sector that this Legislature, this governor, these state agencies are going to honor job creation. We’re going to make decisions that are in the right direction of growing the private sector.”

The unemployment compensation change is expected to save small-business owners an average of $50 per employee.

Bill Herrle, executive director of the National Federation of Independent Business/Florida, said the figure may appear small, but will keep about $400 million a year from moving to a state trust fund.

“If you look at it on a macro scale, for any individual small business, it’s not going to add up to much,” Herrle said. “But small businesses know that we’re a small-business economy and (when) you spread that out across all of them, we’re going to have job creation.”

Dominic Calabro, president and CEO of Florida TaxWatch, said the jobs agenda is a sign that Florida is aggressively attracting private capital and businesses.

“This is a nice little victory, but there is so much more to accomplish,” said Calabro, who favors the complete elimination of the tangible property tax.

Tom Feeney, president and CEO of Associated Industries of Florida, said in a release that the bill-signing made Florida “a brighter place to do business.”

“Critical tax relief and reforms contained within this package will enable Florida employers to make investments in their businesses that pay dividends for the whole state, including new jobs for out-of-work Floridians,” Feeney stated in the release.

A look at the bills:

HB 7023: Regional Workforce Boards

Designed to restore accountability and credibility to Florida’s workforce boards by giving Scott more power to hold local workforce boards accountable.

HB 7027: Unemployment Compensation

Reforms Florida’s "unemployment system" to create an "employment system" and makes Florida the first state in the country to change from an unemployment compensation system to a re-employment assistance program.

Focuses on providing free job-skills training to Florida’s out-of-work citizens and provides unemployment compensation tax relief to Florida businesses.

HB 7029: Repeal of Administrative Rules

Eliminates hundreds of state rules and regulations, and expedites the rule review and elimination process.

HB 7087: Economic Development

The corporate income tax exemption is doubled to $50,000, representing a 66 percent reduction in total payers since Scott began eliminating the tax.

Florida manufacturers will now be able to more easily qualify for a sales tax exemption on machinery and equipment by lowering the required increase in output from 10 percent to 5 percent.

The bill also includes a small-business tax relief amendment that will go on the November ballot. The amendment would eliminate the tangible personal property taxes for businesses with less than $50,000 in such property.



Reach Jim Turner at jturner@sunshinestatenews.com or at (772) 215-9889.