JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Gov. Rick Scott announced Wednesday that more jobs coming to the Sunshine State, but opponents say the job announcements are nothing more than IOUs for hundreds of thousands of Floridians.
"We've had the second biggest drop of unemployment in the country in the last two and a half years and we're adding jobs each and everyday," Scott said.
In north central Florida, the governor announced a biopharmaceutical company will create 150 new jobs. A news release said the announcement was due to multiple agencies, including Enterprise Florida, where the governor serves on the board of directors. Now, opponents say the organization is plagued with cronyism.
"Corporations pay $50,000 for a seat at the table on the board of Enterprise Florida and then they get subsidy deals and vendor contracts worth millions in return," said Dan Krassner, of Integrity Florida.
Additionally, opponents say instead of creating what they call ‘real jobs,' the state is really providing the unemployed with IOUs.
"More than 600,000 Floridians who are out of work right now are hearing a lot of jobs promises, but they're not seeing real jobs delivered," Krassner said.
Even though hundreds of thousands of Floridians remain unemployed, the Florida Chamber of Commerce supports Enterprise Florida and the governor, saying both are creating more jobs.
"Other states are modeling their economic development efforts after Florida," said Mark Wilson of the Florida Chamber of Commerce.
The Chamber also says with more jobs, more people are moving to Florida.
"Try telling the people that are relocating to Florida because of these high wage, high paying jobs, that they don't have real jobs," Wilson said.
Opponents argue a partnership between public agencies and private businesses are a conflict of interest and result in the misuse of taxpayer dollars.