Florida’s Historic Capitol and Florida State Capitol, Tallahassee / Michael Rivera, Wikimedia Commons

TALLAHASSEE — Gov. Rick Scott's request for a massive increase in business incentive funding could be in competition with his call for a substantial tax cut.

Senate Appropriations Transportation, Tourism, and Economic Development Subcommittee Chairman Jack Latvala on Tuesday put Enterprise Florida executives on notice that they have just a few short weeks to provide a plan detailing Scott's $250 million request for business incentives along with proposed changes to the incentive process.

"This is a complicated, major deal and we need to have a specific proposal in front of us that we can all work on and have a lot of meetings on and flesh out," Latvala, R-Clearwater, told reporters after the meeting.

Latvala said that, while he supports Scott's overall goals, the governor's proposal — which would provide three years of incentive funding in one lump sum — is triple what the committee was able to allocate from non-recurring funds for the current fiscal year.

"So somebody is going to have to make the decision if we want to spend it on that (incentives) or tax cuts," he said.

Earlier this year, Scott asked lawmakers to set aside $85 million for business incentives. The final budget for the fiscal year that started July 1 included $53 million — $43 million for incentives and $10 million for marketing — for Enterprise Florida.

Scott, who has said he intends to ask lawmakers for a larger tax-cut package in 2016 than the $673 million he sought this year, is seeking the $250 million to replace the Quick Action Closing Fund, which he claims is "nearly bankrupt."

Scott also wants the House speaker and Senate president to be able to sign off on deals that top $1 million, instead of waiting for the Joint Legislative Budget Commission's approval as now required.

And Scott is asking lawmakers to create a trust fund that would keep designated incentive money in the state treasury until companies reach job-creation goals. Currently, money the state promises to businesses relocating to Florida or expanding in the state is placed into low-yield commercial escrow accounts. Payouts are made when promised new jobs and economic-development performance measures are met.

Members of the Senate have questioned the use of the escrow accounts, which have about a 0.25 percent return for taxpayers. According to Enterprise Florida, putting the money into a trust fund would earn a 1.4 percent return.

Enterprise Florida Chief Operating Officer Crystal Sircy said the proposed changes would make Florida more competitive with states such as Texas, Georgia, New York and South Carolina.

But Sen. Nancy Detert noted that South Carolina has $58 million available for economic incentives and Georgia has $46 million on hand. Detert wanted to know why Florida can't manage with $150 million to compete with those states.

"It still puts us in the same financial ballpark that they're playing in," Detert, R-Venice, said.

Using the proposed incentive money to reduce the sales tax on manufacturing and on commercial rents --- proposals that Scott has endorsed --- could be just as beneficial for Florida's economy as the business incentives, Sen. Jeff Brandes, R-St. Petersburg, told Sircy.

"It takes both," she replied.