Fight over business incentives turns into war of words

In state government terms, Christmas comes when the governor signs the annual budget. And this year, Governor Rick Scott has been clear there are two things he wants to see under the tree. One billion dollars in tax cuts, and another quarter billion in Enterprise Florida funding. He may be disappointed. More from WFSU, Florida Politics, and the News Service of Florida.

Obama pushes plan to close Guantánamo prison

President Barack Obama on Tuesday sent Congress his proposal for shuttering the U.S. military prison for alleged terrorists at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, and aides expressed confidence that Republican lawmakers will be willing to negotiate with the administration. [Source: McClatchy]

See also:
» Florida GOP Senate candidates blast Obama's plan for GITMO

What can employers learn from the NFL draft?

In a new study published online by the Journal of Applied Psychology, business researchers examined what factors coaches and managers took into account when deciding which players to draft and how much to pay them, plus how those factors predicted later performance. [Source: Chicago Tribune]

Fintech could be bigger than ATMs, PayPal, and Bitcoin combined

Are you ready for the brave new world of financial services? We’re about to enter the most profound era of change for financial services companies since the 1970s brought us index mutual funds, discount brokers and ATMs. [Source: Business Insider]

State workforce down by under 7,000 under Scott

A new state report indicates that Gov. Rick Scott has overseen a major decline in the size of state government — as he said he would when he ran for the governor’s office six years ago. [Source: Tallahassee Democrat]

ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:

› Florida adds 29th case of Zika virus infection [Palm Beach Post]
Seminole County has become the 11th Florida county to report a case of Zika virus among its residents, the Florida Department of Health officials said Tuesday.

› Jacksonville-based Stein Mart to open 12 new stores this year [Florida Times-Union]
Stein Mart plans to open at least 12 new stores in 2016, including five next month. Opening on March 10 are stores in Florida, Colorado, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Delaware.

› MasterChef calling for cooks in Orlando [Orlando Sentinel]
MasterChef has slated Orlando for an opening casting call on April 16 for season 8 of the cooking reality show on Fox. Orlando is one of 11 locations where MasterChef is sifting through auditions for impressive culinary artists.

› Office Depot's sales down 10 percent in 2015 [South Florida Sun-Sentinel]
Office Depot saw sales decline by 9 percent for the fourth quarter and 10 percent for the year, the Boca Raton office-supply company said Tuesday. Annual sales missed analysts' estimates by $80 million.

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› Mental health providers decry lack of state funding [Sarasota Herald-Tribune]
Thanks to a legislative priority of tax cuts over social services, the state-funded mental health system is capable of serving only a fraction of the estimated 4 million Floridians with mental health challenges, primarily those with severe and persistent illnesses who are in crisis.

› Central Florida hotels expected to outpace national forecast [Orlando Sentinel]
Orlando-area hotels are expected to outperform the industry's national growth in 2016, according to data from STR, Inc., a company that globally tracks the industry.

› Lawsuit targets Duke Energy Florida, FPL over higher rates for nuclear power projects [Tampa Bay Times]
A class action lawsuit was filed against Duke Energy Florida and Florida Power & Light alleging the monopoly electricity providers force millions of Florida customers to pay unlawful charges in connection with their electricity rates to fund the companies' nuclear power plant projects, some of which have been abandoned.

› Huge cruise company to renovate one of its biggest ships [South Florida Business Journal]
Carnival Magic, one of Carnival Cruise Line's largest "fun" ships, is about to get a lot more fun with the addition of three bars and two restaurants.