June 26, 2015 - 3:45pm
Gov. Rick Scott has been keeping busy this week in Florida, swiftly signing the state's budget into law Tuesday, but Scott also has Connecticut on his mind these days, setting his sights on luring businesses located there to head south to the Sunshine State.
Scott visited Norwalk, Conn., Thursday and Friday in an attempt to convince business leaders to pack their bags and head to Florida.
Scott's pitch to Connecticut businesses is pretty simple: When it comes to states best for businesses, Florida is the place to be.
But why Connecticut of all places?
Scott says it's simple: Connecticut is raising taxes, and that's bad for business.
"I called all over the country but right now there’s a big opportunity in Connecticut because your governor and Legislature is raising taxes on everybody, on families, on businesses, on everybody, and you can’t pay for it," he said.
In a sharp contrast, Scott explained, Florida has cut hundreds of millions of dollars in taxes in recent years. On top of hefty tax cuts, the state has created nearly 900,000 jobs since he took office at the end of 2010.
It's a familiar pitch for Scott, who largely ran his re-election campaign on an economic platform. Scott repeatedly emphasized positive job growth as part of why he still had what it takes to be governor.
Although he's not running for office at the moment, Scott still hasn't lost sight of the message which has largely defined his last four years as governor.
Even so, Scott didn't waste time in an aggressive pursuit to nab Connecticut businesses and bring them to Florida. Scott has also been on similar "job hunting"-style trips to California and Pennsylvania this year.
Scott took to Twitter to repeatedly send the message to Connecticut Gov. Dan Malloy.
"While CT is raising takes, Florida has cut over $400M in taxes THIS YEAR," he tweeted at Malloy.
Scott also pointed to rankings which have found Florida the second-best state nationwide for businesses while Connecticut falls at the tail end of the spectrum, ranking 45th.
A quarter-million people moved to Florida just last year, an indicator to Scott that the state is the place to be.
Scott furthered his position on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" Thursday, saying Connecticut might be beautiful and may have wonderful people, but that didn't mean the state was set up for success.
"Your children and your grandchildren, when you have them, are not going to be able to get a job, because they're ruining the business climate in Connecticut," he said.
Reach Tampa-based reporter Allison Nielsen by email at allison@sunshinestatenews.com or follow her on Twitter: @AllisonNielsen
