Gov. John Bel Edwards’ administration says Florida Gov. Rick Scott would be best served by staying in Florida after Scott announced on Twitter today that he will lead a domestic trade mission to Louisiana “to show how Florida is making it easier for families and businesses to succeed.”
“Louisiana leaders don’t understand raising taxes hurts job creators & families. In Florida, we have cut taxes 50 times & saved taxpayers $5.5 billion,” Scott tweeted.
The Florida governor took his criticism of Louisiana elected officials even farther.
“While we are fighting everyday to grow jobs in Florida, Louisiana elected officials are clearly not focused on creating new opportunities,” Scott tweeted.
It’s unclear what prompted the Florida governor’s tweets or what the specifics of Scott’s “domestic trade mission” are. Scott’s office said it will send out details of the trade mission when it has them.
Florida, along with Texas, topped Chief Executive magazine 2016 ranking of the best and worst places to do business, according to CEOs. Louisiana, ranked No. 7 overall last year, tumbled 30 spots to 37 in the ranking.
In a statement, Edwards spokesman Richard Carbo accuses Scott of trying to distract from the what he calls Scott’s “disappointing economic development initiatives.”
“While he supported Bobby Jindal’s plans that have crippled our state and led to two credit downgrades, Gov. Edwards has worked night and day to stabilize our state from the reckless policies Gov. Scott’s coming to promote,” Carbo says. “He’d be best served staying in Florida to tend to the business of his own state. Louisianans and Floridians would prefer productive dialogue over more gimmicks from slick-talking politicians.”
