Jerry Brown's office mocks Rick Scott trip to California

BY THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA

California Gov. Jerry Brown's office is sarcastically welcoming Florida Gov. Rick Scott's upcoming business-recruitment trip to California. "As one of the millions of tourists flocking to the Golden State this time of year, we'd like to extend a warm welcome to the governor," Brown spokesman Evan Westrup said in a release Tuesday. "We can understand why he's coming back --- there's lots to do and plenty to learn. In fact, since his last 2,000 mile cross-country jaunt, California has added twice as many jobs as Florida, while paying down debt, building a robust rainy day fund and taking bold action on issues Gov. Scott continues to ignore, like climate change and poverty." Scott, whose trip will start Sunday, visited Los Angeles last May as part of a series of economic-development missions that included trips to Connecticut, New York, Kentucky and Pennsylvania. Asked if he was ignoring climate change and poverty by taking such trips, Scott told reporters Tuesday that he got elected on a campaign to get Florida back to work. "We're going to continue to recruit companies here, and I look forward to going out there," Scott said.

On Monday, Enterprise Florida, the state's business-recruitment arm, started running a radio ad in Los Angeles and San Francisco attacking a deal that will increase the minimum wage in California from $10 an hour to $15 an hour by 2022. Scott said Tuesday the minimum wage hike will hurt California's economy. "The way you get a wage increase is you have job openings, where people have a demand for labor," Scott said. "People are moving here because they know they can get a job." Florida's minimum wage is currently $8.05 an hour. Meanwhile Tuesday, state Rep. Jose Javier Rodriguez, D-Miami, criticized Enterprise Florida for spending money on the radio ad. "Earlier this year, Enterprise Florida and Gov. Scott lost their legislative battle for increased funding and reduced oversight of the agency --- but don't appear to have gotten the message about streamlining the operation and ending the inappropriate use of taxpayer dollars," Rodriguez said in a release. "It is outrageous that the agency would use public funds meant for economic development to run what sound like political ads in another state."