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Governor Rick Scott has used just about every speaking opportunity to push lawmakers for a billion dollar tax cut and 250 million dollars for economic development. But as Mike Vasilinda tells us, lawmakers are responding with a resounding NO.

Rick Scott pushed his tax cuts and incentive money at this Capitol rotunda event  in early February.

“We’ve got to keep putting money in Enterprise Florida” Scott said that day and likely every day since.

And the Governor’s Let’s Get to work committee has spent just over a million dollars since the first of the year on TV with this message.

“Attract businesses to move to Florida.”

But lawmakers are saying no. Scott is getting none of the 250 million to lure businesses, and less than half of the tax cuts he has been seeking. Rep. Clay Ingram (R-Pensacola) and Chairman of the Appropriations Committee that handled the tax breaks says s decision as made early on not to find the  incentives package.

“We stand at the House position of zero dollars for the quick action closing fund, the enterprise fund” says Ingram.

Enterprise Florida is already saying that fifty thousand jobs won’t be created because of the decision. But lawmakers aren’t buying it.”

Lawmakers are also pushing back by refusing the Governor’s request to use local property taxes to fund an increase in school funding. Senator Don Gaetz was the first to propose cutting property taxes instead of corporate taxes.

“There are over eleven million property tax payers, i’m told, in the state of Florida. So when we can give tax relief to eleven million people, that’s better than giving it to a handful of corporations” Gaetz told us.

Right now, the so called required local effort costs property owners four dollars and ninety five cents for each one thousand dollars of taxable value.

“There will be literally a decrease in the required local effort down to I think about 4.6 mills.”

Scott was out of the Capitol Monday morning.  His office declined an interview when he returned at midday.

By requiring the required local effort property tax levy, the owners of a home valued at one hundred fifty thousand dollars should see about a three hundred fifty dollar reduction in their property taxes next year.