Gov. Rick Scott signs tax cuts, including shorter back-to-school holiday

Gov. Rick Scott on Wednesday signed a trimmed-down package of tax cuts that will permanently eliminate a sales tax on manufacturing equipment and set up a three-day tax "holiday" for back-to-school shoppers. See a summary of the legislation, HB 7099, here. The tax holiday runs Aug. 5 through Aug. 7. During that weekend, shoppers won't pay sales tax on clothes worth $60 or less and on school supplies worth $15 or less. More from Florida Politics, the AP, and the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.

Florida lags in Chinese investment

Chinese direct foreign investment in the U.S. hit a record $15 billion and grew by 30 percent last year, but the Sunshine State attracted a little more than $1.1 billion in investment from Chinese companies from 2000 to 2015. More from the South Florida Sun-Sentinel and the Miami Herald.

As minimum wage marches toward $15, small businesses adapt

In the aftermath of California and New York becoming the first states to raise the statewide minimum wage to $15, some small businesses with hourly workers are rethinking how they can absorb the increase. Some options are thinking of cutting staff, and others are raising prices. [Source: AP]

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» Opinion: Raise the wage floor for Florida state employees?

Summer gas prices will be the cheapest in 12 years

With the U.S. starting the spring and summer driving season with gasoline inventories nearly 15 million barrels higher than last year, the U.S. Energy Information Administration estimated that for all of 2016, the average household will save about $350 on gasoline compared with last year. [Source: South Florida Sun-Sentinel]

Americans overseas face big Tax Day burden -- more paperwork, rules

An estimated 8 million Americans who live and work abroad have good reason to dread Monday's tax deadline. They have to wade through more paperwork, more confusing rules and possibly more fines than in the U.S. — even if they don't owe Uncle Sam any money. [Source: KHOU]

ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:

› Workers to strike at Venice nursing home [Sarasota Herald-Tribune]
For the first time in the nursing home's history, nurses, food service workers and housekeeping staff at Bay Breeze Health and Rehabilitation Center in Venice plan to strike from 7 a.m. Thursday to 7 a.m. Friday.

› Gov. Scott planning trade trip to United Kingdom [AP]
Florida Gov. Rick Scott is probably going to be heading abroad on a trade trip. Enterprise Florida officials announced Wednesday Scott is expected to attend an international air show in the United Kingdom this July.

› Florida's computerized testing runs smoothly so far [Tampa Bay Times]
Students across Florida began taking their computerized state math and language arts tests this week, with significantly fewer problems than occurred a year ago.

› Disney Springs' Town Center to debut May 15 [Orlando Sentinel]
A new surge in shopping at Disney Springs will begin May 15. That's the day stores will begin opening in the new Town Center area of Walt Disney World's remodeled retail center.

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› Lakewood Ranch set to expand southward [Sarasota Herald-Tribune]
Delayed by nearly 15 years of political and legal battles, efforts to get the design and building regulations in working order and an economic recession, Schroeder-Manatee Ranch — developers of the 48-square-mile Lakewood Ranch — broke ground Tuesday on its long-anticipated villages development.

› Hundreds of baby dolphin deaths tied to BP’s Gulf oil spill [Miami Herald]
Researchers looking into the largest dolphin and whale die-off on record in the Gulf of Mexico following the 2010 BP oil spill have tied a spike in the number of dead babies and stillbirths to the massive spill.

› South Floridians shell out up to 44 percent of their income on rent [The Real Deal]
Rising rents have made South Florida one of the country’s most expensive regions to find housing, and a new report shows that trend of unaffordability has grown even worse in recent months.

› St. Petersburg's America's Auction Network may lay off 192 employees [Tampa Bay Times]
St. Petersburg's America's Auction Network this week filed paperwork with the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity, indicating it may lay off all of its 192 employees on June 8.