Originally published Aug. 15, 2019
Florida is about to give more than $500 million to some of its biggest corporations.
That’s enough to more than double state funding for pre-kindergarten, where Florida currently ranks in the bottom 10 in the country. It’s more than the state will spend this year combating toxic algal blooms, fighting the opioid epidemic, buying conservation land, subsidizing adoptions and rebuilding beaches -- combined.
The mammoth tax cut is a result of an obscure law passed by the Republican-controlled Florida Legislature last year amid lobbying by companies such as Anheuser-Busch InBev SA, Comcast Corp. and the Walt Disney Co.
Lawmakers said at the time that the tax cut probably wouldn’t amount to much.
“It’s very unlikely that it’s going to be anything substantial,” Rep. Paul Renner, a Republican from Jacksonville who sponsored the legislation, told fellow House members just before they approved it.
Read the rest of the story here.
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