Gov. Rick Scott on Wednesday announced his plans to boost manufacturing in the state by eliminating the sales tax paid on purchased equipment by manufacturers.
He made the announcement as ACUVUE brand contact lenses were produced at Vistakon, the Jacksonville-based division of Johnson & Johnson Vision Care Inc.
"Manufacturing is a vital part of Florida's economy and companies like Johnson and Johnson play a vital role in building the economy," said Scott.
"Manufacturing is a key to the future of this state. In the upcoming legislative session we will push for legislation that will build up legislation for Florida," said Scott.
He said to do that, "any and all barriers" to manufacturing investment must be eliminated, including the sales tax on the purchase of manufacturing equipment, which would encourage companies to grow.
According to the News Service of Florida, there already is a sales tax exemption for new equipment but to qualify, companies must prove they've increased their "productive output" by 5 percent after buying the equipment.
Until Jan. 1, they had to show they'd increased output by 10 percent, but lawmakers reduced the requirement during last year's legislative session at the urging of Scott. He said Wednesday that even the requirement for showing a 5 percent increase in production is too much of a burden for businesses and that other states don't require that.
Scott said he would ask legislators to eliminate the requirement entirely.
He said his goal is to have laws in place to boost manufacturing growth by July 1, and he assured the crowd of about 100 employees and guests that the elimination of the tax would be offset by mounting budget surpluses.
"We've balanced the budget, we've reduced taxes, we've paid down debt and now our state is growing again. Because of that we are projected to have a budget surplus," said Scott.
He estimated the surplus to be about $1 billion.
Scott also plans to spend $12 million on "Quick Response Training" grants to assist manufacturers. Administered by Workforce Florida, the grants provide funding for customized training to new or expanding businesses.
Scott announced in late November in Jacksonville his plans to double the amount of money for the program, from about $6 million to about $12 million.
State Rep. Lake Ray (R-Jacksonville) attended the Vistakon announcement and said he plans to work with Scott to help the industry.
"There are three different avenues" to address the issue, he said.
"I can introduce a bill, a committee can introduce a bill or it can be part of the budget. We'll have to see how it is going to work out," said Ray, who is president of the First Coast Manufacturers Association.
"This issue is not about an individual. It's about what is good for the state of Florida. One manufacturing job creates three other jobs, be it raw material producers, shippers, retailers, if we can increase the number of manufacturing jobs, it benefits everyone," he said.
The Manufacturers Association of Florida presented Vistakon with its "2012 Manufacturer of the Year" award in the category of more than 300 employees. Vistakon has about 1,800 employees in Jacksonville.
"The governor wanted to come to No. 1 to announce his plans to boost the manufacturing industry in Florida," said Tim Ryan, Vistakon general manager.
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