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Florida Democrat Seeks to Eliminate Urban Job Tax Credit Program 

Posted on Feb. 8, 2021

A Florida Democrat has introduced a bill that would repeal the state’s urban high-crime area job tax credit, saying that the program has become a permanent subsidy for Universal Studios in Orlando.

H.B. 6043, introduced January 25 by Rep. Anna Eskamani (D), would eliminate the tax credit, which is available for businesses located in high-crime areas and that create new jobs. The credit varies from $500 to $2,000 per job and can be carried forward five years.

In a release, Eskamani said the tax break was designed more than 20 years ago to lure investment to poverty-stricken communities, but “has instead become a permanent taxpayer subsidy for Universal Studios, the Orlando resort that is owned by Comcast Corp. — one of the world’s biggest and most profitable corporations.”

Comcast could not be reached for comment by press time.

The Orlando Sentinel reported last year that Universal and its hotels had claimed nearly $17.4 million in tax credits through the program, or half of the $34.8 million awarded since the program’s inception.

“Florida is suffering through a deadly COVID-19 pandemic that has been disastrously mismanaged by our leaders in Tallahassee. Working Floridians are struggling to stave off evictions and foreclosures, small businesses are fighting to keep their doors open, and some of my colleagues are talking about cutting desperately-needed aid programs because they say we don’t have enough money,” Eskamani said in the release. “Floridians need help, and we need to deliver it to them. And one of the ways we can do that is by eliminating wasteful corporate tax breaks like this one that do nothing but pad the profits of politically influential corporations and instead use the money to deliver real relief to real people.”

Meanwhile, a report issued last year by a task force from the taxpayer group Florida TaxWatch said the tax credit should be temporarily expanded to help businesses affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The report said that the annual cap on the program should be increased; retail businesses, including restaurants and bars, should qualify; and the credit should be available for jobs retained during the pandemic.

Task force members included representatives from Walmart Stores Inc., Publix Supermarkets Inc., the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association, and the Florida Retail Federation.

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