A proposed Florida law, HB 7117, has passed both houses of the legislature and was presented to the governor for his signature on March 30. It provides millions of dollars in tax subsidies for private firms that create “green” forms of energy.
The following statements from Florida-based experts at The Heartland Institute – a free-market think tank – may be used for attribution. For more comments, refer to the contact information below. To book a Heartland guest on your program, please contact Tammy Nash at [email protected] and 312/377-4000. After regular business hours, contact Jim Lakely at [email protected] and 312/731-9364.
“The energy bill just presented to Gov. Rick Scott goes against just about every tenet of sound business practices: It uses government to confer an unfair advantage to certain industries over others, it increases costs, decreases efficiency, pilfers $80 million in tax revenue during projected budget shortfall years, and opens the door to more taxes to fund subsidies.
“With Floridians reeling from ever-increasing energy and utility costs, the legislature should be making it easier for all sources of energy to enter the state – not just the expensive and unreliable kind that Charlie Crist used for photo-ops. When government tries to pick winners and losers, the taxpayers always lose. Governor Scott should veto this bad piece of legislation.”
Christian Cámara
Director, Florida Insurance Project
The Heartland Institute
[email protected]
305/608-4300
“Floridians already pay much higher electricity prices than consumers in any other state in the region. The primary reason for this is Florida uses less coal and natural gas than any other state in the region. It is costly and counterproductive to enact any legislation that imposes still more obstacles on inexpensive coal and natural gas while handing over still more taxpayer dollars to Solyndra-style wind and solar boondoggles.
“The best way to create jobs and wealth in the state of Florida is to bring our energy prices more in line with those of neighbors, not to make it still more expensive for people to live and do business in Florida.”
James M. Taylor
Senior Fellow for Environmental Policy
The Heartland Institute
[email protected]
941/776-5690
The Heartland Institute is a 28-year-old national nonprofit organization with offices in Chicago, Illinois and Washington, DC. Its mission is to discover, develop, and promote free-market solutions to social and economic problems. For more information, visit our Web site or call 312/377-4000.
