‘If we don’t get new business, good night. That’s how our state survives…’
(Ben Sellers, Liberty Headlines) It’s long been a tradition among some New Yorkers to seek refuge in Florida due to the warm weather.
But increasingly, as New York’s oppressive taxes and cost of living price them out, more are moving away for economic reasons.
Even the mother of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio–Cortez, D-NY, headed due south in search of more affordable living.
Now, after the socialism-spouting freshman congresswoman helped kill a $3-billion tax-incentives deal with Amazon to relocate its headquarters in the Big Apple, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, has been actively working to entice many of the state’s technology and financial industries to a more corporate-friendly climate.
After a meeting with New York business leaders on Monday, DeSantis issued a statement taking the liberal heavy-hitter to task while touting the “many advantages and benefits available to businesses” in his own state.
DeSantis said discussions with the industry leaders included the additional steps he is taking to deregulate and promote investment in Florida.
“In contrast to New York and other high tax states, our welcoming regulatory environment and top-ranked university system make Florida the ideal setting for new and growing businesses across a range of industries to be able to succeed,” DeSantis said.
“I want the financial, technology and banking sectors to see the Sunshine State as a place where their business can thrive without being impeded by high taxes, burdensome regulation or political demagoguery.”
The blog Flapol said DeSantis’s publicly released agenda for Monday included six business development meetings. He was accompanied on the trip by Jamal Sowell, president and CEO of Enterprise Florida, Inc.
DeSantis previously met with several major New York financial leaders, including TIAA and JPMorgan Chase, in late February, two weeks after the failed Amazon deal.
That visit seemed to be targeted toward openly undermining the efforts of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo to persuade Amazon to come back.
Cuomo and state business leaders orchestrated a campaign, including a full page ad to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos claiming that New York was not the hostile environment it had been painted as.
“If we don’t get new business, good night,” Cuomo told WNYC. “That’s how our state survives.”