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Friday's Daily Pulse
What you need to know about Florida today
In latest GDP growth by states, Florida lands in middle of the pack
Florida's real GDP ranked 29th among U.S. states in the third quarter of 2016, growing 3.6 percent — a hair above the national U.S. growth in real gross domestic product of 3.5 percent. See full statistics from the Bureau of Economic Analysis, here. Also read more at the Tampa Bay Times.
Bill would kill Visit Florida and Enterprise Florida
As the Republican governor sharpened his criticism of the Legislature for threatening to cut tourism marketing spending and job incentive programs, the Florida House retaliated Thursday by proposing a bill that would completely eliminate entire agencies charged with carrying out Scott’s goals. See the full 172-page proposal here (PDF). Also read more at the Miami Herald, the Orlando Sentinel, and the Palm Beach Post.
See also:
» Rick Scott defends legacy as House Republicans push to abolish two key agencies
Port of Alabama signs agreement with Cuba that Florida ports can't
Alabama officials were in Tampa Thursday to ink a trade agreement with Cuba, one that Florida ports cannot. Seaports in Mobile and Havana are agreeing to do business in the future in a deal similar to one that had been between three ports in Florida. That is until last week, when Gov. Rick Scott threatened to pull funding to ports shipping to Cuba. More from Alabama Today, FOX13, and the Tampa Bay Times.
Private insurer could take Citizens policies
Southern Oak Insurance has been approved to take on 15,000 residential policies on April 18 through what is known as the "takeout" process, which has been a key part of Citizens' strategy to move policies into the private sector, reducing the state-backed insurer's risks. See the list of all approved Citizens "take outs" for 2017, here. Also read more at the Sarasota Herald-Tribune and Florida Politics.
University of Florida Celebrating a Century of Citrus Research
Once upon a time, a group of Polk County citrus growers raised money to buy land for a research station. Many moons later, the University of Florida/Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) is set to commemorate the 100th anniversary of its Citrus Research and Education Center (CREC). Full story here.
› Florida governor heading to Argentina for trade mission
Florida Gov. Rick Scott is heading off to Argentina for another trade mission. Scott is scheduled to take a five-day trip in late April to Buenos Aires. This is Scott's 13th trip abroad since he became governor in January 2011.
› Wonderful Citrus buys Florida’s largest citrus marketer, exporter
Delano, Calif.-based Wonderful Citrus has acquired Fort Pierce, Fla.-based citrus marketer DNE World Fruit, citrus exporter DNE International and the assets of World Pack Cold Storage, a division of DNE Imports.
› Florida land-buy advocates face powerful industries
Legislation to reduce Lake Okeechobee discharges pits Florida Senate President Joe Negron and the bill’s supporters against powerful detractors: the sugar and agricultural industries.
› One-third of latest Lockheed deal to be done in Orlando
Lockheed Martin has landed a $166 million contract and officials expect more than one-third of the work to be done in Orlando.
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