Despite Gov. Rick Scott's monthslong campaign to drum up support for Florida's marketing arm, lawmakers said that the state's final budget will include only $25 million for Visit Florida.
The final budget is due May 2, and the Florida legislature is expected to finalize details this weekend, but already said the House and Senate had reached a budget deal that would allot only a quarter of the $100 million Scott had requested for Visit Florida last week, and just 33% of its 2016 budget of $75 million.
"Lawmakers cannot be shortsighted at the expense of Florida families by cutting funds for tourism marketing and economic development. I would be absolutely shocked if politicians in the Florida legislature put their self-interests before the interests of our families and small businesses," Scott said in a statement this week.
Visit Florida's fate has been murky since February when the state's House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly to cut its budget by 67%. Scott campaigned aggressively to try and convince Florida lawmakers as well as residents of the organization's value and how much tourism contributes to Florida's coffers. The state set record visitation numbers for the past five years, and in 2015 it became the first U.S. state to welcome more than 100 million visitors in a single year.
"Despite the obvious benefits of public funding for tourism promotion, Florida's legislature has chosen to risk the jobs of 1.4 million Floridians for meager savings now," said U.S. Travel Association CEO Roger Dow in a statement. "A number of states have made ill-advised cuts to their tourism offices -- the economic consequences of this risky, discredited experiment are swift, severe and can take decades to recover from."
Dow, a Sunshine State resident, had also campaigned to keep Visit Florida well-funded, and said, "We hold out hope that the waning days of this legislative session yield a solution that would prevent the severe effects such cuts would have on Florida's economy, jobs and tax revenues."
The marketing organization became embroiled in controversy last year when it was revealed that it had paid the rapper Pitbull $1 million to promote the state, leading to the resignation of Visit Florida's CEO in January.
Florida House speaker Richard Corcoran, a Republican, called for axing the group, but the final bill that passed the House kept Visit Florida alive, but with several new transparency rules and the reduced budget.
Scott, also a Republican, has the ability to veto the entire state budget, or specific parts of it, potentially setting up a showdown with both chambers this summer.