VisitFlorida move causes flap

Update: The House Select Committee on Government Reorganization approved Senate Bill 2156. The bill's next stop is the Florida House Health & Human Services Committee.

The Florida Tourism Industry Marketing Corporation, better known as VisitFlorida, would be melded into Jobs Florida Partnership, Inc. as part of a Florida Senate bill combining several economic development and workforce agencies into the not-for-profit corporation focused on job creation.

The Division of Tourism Promotion would be created within the corporation.

Tourism officials from 71 agencies around the state held a conference call this week and unanimously oppose combining VisitFlorida with four other state agencies. The group fears that $26.5 million from two funds used in the past for tourism promotion may end being spent to recruit new businesses.

A separate approved House bill combines several economic development-related funds into a $427 million pool — the State Economic Enhancement and Development Trust Fund — to provide more flexibility in funding job-generating projects.

Additionally, Senate Bill 2156 combines the functions, duties, and programs of Enterprise Florida, Inc., the Florida Sports Foundation Inc., the Florida Black Business Investment Board, Inc., and Space Florida into the not-for-profit corporation.

The measure also folds certain programs of the Agency for Workforce Innovation, the Department of Community Affairs, and the Office of Tourism, Trade, and Economic Development into a new department to be called Jobs Florida.

The Senate bill approved Thursday, with several amendments, was amended by the House later in the day and is now being negotiated by a conference committee.

Earlier this morning, Gov. Rick Scott visited the House Select Committee on Government Reorganization to defend the proposed changes. Scott referred to the new plan as "the framework we need," arguing that eliminating duplicative agencies would increase efficiency. As one example, Scott said funding applications could be processed much more quickly, turning a six-week process into a 10-day waiting period.