It's a familiar promise: If lawmakers do something to bring a new business to Florida, the new enterprise will generate thousands of jobs, and boost Florida's reputation as business-friendly.
Eight years ago, lawmakers were considering whether to spend money to lure Scripps Research Institute into opening a Florida campus, hoping to mimic the biotechnology success that Scripps brought to San Diego.
A controversial decision this month by Gadsden County, allowing voters to decide whether to have slot machines at the new Gretna horse race track, has prompted several copycat efforts in other counties, despite questions over the legality of slots.
The only winners so far in the effort to allow luxury resort casinos in South Florida, which has widespread implications for every form of gambling in the state, are lobbyists.
Gambling groups from across the nation have spent millions on outside lobbyists since July in preparation for a legislative session that will be dominated by the debate over "destination" resort casinos and their impact on everything from Internet cafes topari-mutuel race tracks,video gaming vendors, and the Seminole Tribe's casinos.
Desperate for money after years of budget cuts from the state, universities are increasingly turning to out-of-state and online students to bring in more revenue.
Through a pilot market-rate tuition program, universities are able to charge different tuition rates for online and continuing education master's degrees and certificate programs. In most cases, this means a higher tuition rate than what was charged before. Money from this tuition is used to help support other college or university programs.
At the urging of Gov. Rick Scott, the governing board for the State University System is considering a plan to track performance of universities, reward good professors and encourage more graduates in science, technology, engineering and math.
Some of the same accountability measures that were introduced in public K-12 schools over the last decade could be coming to the state's juvenile justice facilities.
Under a proposed law (SPB 7016) that will be considered Wednesday in a Senate education committee, school districts and the private companies involved in educating youth in the state's detention centers, residential treatment facilities and prevention programs would be subjected to a three-tier performance rating, from "failing" to "high performance."
After two universities pitched a plan in September to open new dental schools in Florida, the unsatisfied governing board for the State University System told the universities to come back in two months with more information.
Their main critique was that neither plan sufficiently addressed the problem of how to bring more dentists to underserved, rural areas. A recent Department of Health study said the existing dental schools in Florida sufficiently meet demand and that dentists are needed primarily in rural areas.
Public schools have enviously watched the rapid rise of charter schools in Florida, with over 500 charter schools statewide and dozens more poised for approval.
The main complaint is that charters have been able to operate with more flexibility than school districts. For instance, charters can use longer school hours, don't have to bargain with unions on teacher pay and have relaxed standards on class-size requirements.
As the head of Florida's state university system, Frank Brogan will be integral to Gov. Rick Scott's efforts to implement higher education reforms.
The good news for Scott is that Brogan agrees with some of his critiques of higher education.
Brogan said the governor has made it clear he wants to start conversations about how to change higher education, and that Scott wants to "start them in a way that will assure there is change that comes as a result."
When Texas Gov. Rick Perry defended his state's policy on offering in-state tuition to illegal immigrants at a debate in Orlando, it highlighted the stark differences between the immigration policies of Texas and Florida, where a similar proposal has failed year after year.
