Gov. Rick Scott’s administration pushed back Wednesday against the U.S. Department of Labor over the federal agency’s finding that 2011 changes to the state’s unemployment compensation system discriminate against minorities and the disabled.

The state’s Department of Economic Opportunity wrote to U.S. Rep. John Kline, a Minnesota Republican who chairs the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, calling for an investigation into what it claimed is the “potential politicization” of the Labor Department.

The letter from Robert Sechen, DEO’s general counsel, concluded that Labor investigators “collaborated with the political group that filed the complaint” over the state’s requirement that those seeking benefits file online and complete a skills test.

In April, the Labor Department reached an “initial determination” that the state effectively violated the civil rights of laid-off workers by installing a system difficult to navigate.

“In this case, this flawed process has resulted in a federal agency recklessly maligning the reputations of hundreds of hard-working state employees, who come to work each day to fulfill a mission of helping unemployed Floridians get back to work,” Sechen wrote Wednesday.

The DEO move seems partially inspired by the increasing focus on other agencies under President Obama, including the Internal Revenue Service, accused of political activity for targeting conservative organizations for closer scrutiny. The U.S. Justice Department also is under the microscope for seizing phone records from the Associated Press.

In the Florida case, the The National Employment Law Project, Florida Legal Services and Miami Workers Center challenged Florida’s law in 2011, charging that sweeping changes to how Florida workers must file claims denied unemployment checks to thousands of eligible Floridians.

Critics also said that workers’ frustration with the system could be aiding Scott’s goal of reducing unemployment. Some workers may abandon their job search or just leave the state, falling out of Florida’s labor market.

The state in recent weeks entered into negotiations with the federal government to reach voluntary compliance with the ruling. It also put in place remedies to make unemployment insurance available to job-seekers unable to complete online claim requirements.

But Sechen on Wednesday said Labor officials have since been trying to “coerce” the state into acknowledging “each and every finding in USDOL’s flawed investigation.” Sechen said it was time for Congress to investigate the agency he accused of using tactics ”improper, retaliatory, intimidating and…far below acceptable standards of conduct.”

Val Greenfield, an attorney with Florida Legal Services, said Wednesday that her organization has had limited contact with Labor Department investigators. Since the April finding, negotiations have been conducted solely between the state and federal officials, she said.

“We were very surprised by this letter,” Greenfield said. “We are completely unaware of any bias in this investigation. But this action is very disappointing for Florida workers.”

The role of Gov. Rick Scott’s jobs czar is fast becoming one of Florida’s high-turnover careers — with Hunting Deutsch’s resignation Tuesday coming less than a year since his predecessor, Doug Darling also stepped down.

Deutsch quit the Department of Economic Opportunity following reports by the Florida Current, an online news service, that he had received $275-a-week in unemployment benefits for 20 months after losing his banking job when the institution failed.

During the time Deutsch collected between September 2009 and May 2011 he traveled in Europe even though state law requires that those receiving benefits be available for work.

In resigning, effective Dec. 14, Deutsch told Scott the “current media focus on my personal matters (was) a distraction to the agency and your administration and believe it best for me to leave.” Deutsch earned $140,000-a-year in the job.

Scott has made job creation his signature issue.

But he has struggled to keep someone in the executive director’s post at DEO, which now has a turnover rate rivaling that of the hospitality industry, one of the state’s most frequent job-changing careers.  Darling left in January after feuding with then-Scott chief-of-staff Steve MacNamara.

Scott said, “Hunt did the right thing by resigning from DEO. It is important that nothing interfere with our mission to create more jobs and opportunities for Florida families.”

The former head of Florida’s jobs’ agency has announced her resignation, the latest departure from the new Department of Economic Opportunity created by Gov. Rick Scott.

Cynthia Lorenzo, chief operating officer of DEO, said she was leaving July 6 to spend more time caring for her two young sons. Lorenzo had been head of the former Agency for Workforce Innovation under ex-Gov. Charlie Crist, and continued in that role in the early months of Scott’s administration.

Scott, however, got the Legislature to reconstitute AWI as the new Department of Economic Opportunity, naming Doug Darling as the jobs’ agency’s head. Darling lasted six months — exiting soon after he acknowledged that Florida over the years had paid tens of millions of dollars to lure companies to the state for jobs that were never created.

Lorenzo briefly served as DEO’s interim director after Darling left. Hunting Deutsch, is the current executive director.

Florida’s unemployment rate fell to 8.7 percent in April, it’s lowest level in three years. But the state’s unemployment compensation system — recently renamed ‘reemployment assistance’ — is being investigated by the U.S. Labor Department following a complaint by workers’ organizations that claim the state’s new online system of filing for benefits creates too many hurdles for out-of-work Floridians.

Critics have said frustration with the system may be aiding Scott’s goal of reducing unemployment. Some workers may abandon their job search or just leave the state, falling out of Florida’s labor market.

Unemployment benefits are paid by employers, and the changes approved in 2011 were pushed hard by the state’s largest business associations.

State officials say the changes have saved businesses millions of dollars and have helped spur Florida’s job growth.

Doug Darling, the head of Gov. Rick Scott’s “Department of Economic Opportunity,” is leaving the post six months after the governor appointed him to lead the newly-created agency at the end of July.

Agency for Workforce Innovation chief Cynthia Lorenzo will fill in as interim director beginning Wednesday, Scott said in a statement announcing Darling’s resignation. Darling, who cited “personal reasons” for his departure in a letter to the governor dated yesterday, will stay on the job until Tuesday but pledged to help with the transition for another month.

“I am incredibly grateful for Doug’s 15 years of service to the State of Florida and the contributions he has provided to numerous state agencies and my office. I appointed Doug in July to lead the new agency, and I thank him for his invaluable efforts in getting DEO off the ground. He has been a tremendous asset during these first months of the agency and has been instrumental in promoting Florida as the top place to do business,” Scott said, wishing Darling “the best in his future endeavors.”

Darling was forced out as a top aide to former Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink – who lost her bid for governor to Scott by a hair – over an audit that found his division lacking in internal controls. Darling also served at the departments of Environmental Protection and Education.

Darling generated some controversy in the fall when he revealed that Florida has paid tens of millions of dollars to lure companies to the state for jobs that were never created. After Darling initiated a review of the economic development incentives, his office later backed away from his critique of the jobs return on the tax breaks, saying the situation wasn’t as bad as it first appeared.

Even as Gov. Rick Scott’s administration acknowledges it needs to improve oversight of job-creation money, a national report Wednesday graded the state’s incentive programs as average in terms of tracking the dollars and creating jobs which bring decent wages.

Scott is seeking $230 million in next year’s budget for incentive dollars for his newly created Department of Economic Opportunity, more than doubling the cash available to lure businesses to relocate or expand in Florida.

But lawmakers have questioned just how well the state can vouch for the $739 million in incentives it has spread across some 1,600 contracts since 1995.

The report by Good Jobs First, Inc., a non-partisan, nonprofit based in Washington, D.C., gave Florida a C grade for its ability to follow the dollars and turn them into jobs.

 ”With unemployment still so high, taxpayers have a right to expect that economic development investments create significant numbers of quality jobs,” said Greg LeRoy, executive director of Good Jobs First. “The days of ‘no strings attached’ are largely gone, but the fine print in many states is still full of gaps and loopholes.”

 Good Jobs’ review found Nevada, North Carolina and Vermont did best in applying job standards to their major subsidy programs. The District of Columbia, Alaska and Wyoming rated worst.

Oversight and performance of Florida’s big five economic development programs placed the state eighth best on the national survey.  Although laws governing four of the five subsidy programs set some kind of wage standard, none require employers to provide health benefits to workers, analysts said. 

“This study provides a roadmap for Florida legislators and economic development officials as they attempt to require more accountability from corporations receiving job subsidies,” said Alan Stonecipher, a spokesman for the Florida Cetner for Fiscal and Economic Policy, which co-released the Florida findings.

The report is here: www.goodjobsfirst.org

Gov. Rick Scott signed into law Tuesday legislation that reshuffles the state’s economic development agencies, while eliminating Florida’s lead growth management department.

Scott signed SB 2156 into law while meeting with Enterprise Florida business leaders in Orlando. The head of the public-private Enterprise Florida, Gray Swoope, who Scott recruited from a similar post in Mississippi, becomes Florida’s secretary of commerce, under the legislation.

The legislation also consolidates much of the state’s economic development efforts under a new Department of Economic Opportunity.

“In today’s globally competitive marketplace, Florida must be able to respond quickly and decisively when business opportunities come our way,” Scott said. “The bill I signed today provides us flexibility to seize opportunities created by developing markets and effectively respond to the changing needs of the businesses that grow our economy.”

Scott wanted to command the state’s job recruitment efforts from his office, and be given virtual complete control over millions of dollars in incentive money formerly steered by the state’s Office of Tourism, Trade and Economic Development.

The legislation eliminates OTTED. But lawmakers were reluctant to give Scott all the authority he wanted. Instead, Scott was given the go-ahead to approve incentive awards of less than $2 million without legislative approval, while a simple notice to legislative leaders is needed when the governor puts as much as $5 million on the table for any company or industry eyeing Florida.

Awards topping $5 million require approval from the 14-member Legislative Budget Commission.

Scott campaigned for governor with the pledge that he would create 700,000 jobs in seven years. He has touted his efforts as helping reduce the state’s unemployment to 10.8 percent, still among the highest rates in the nation.

Environmentalists had urged Scott to veto the legislation, since it abolishes the Department of Community Affairs, which they say threatens future state oversight of development projects.

Scott’s early efforts at luring companies to Florida also have proved uneven, according to many analysts.

Last week, Scott used a trade mission to Canada to announce the decision by Garda Worldwide Security to relocate its U.S. headquarters to Boca Raton from California, bringing with it 1oo jobs. Palm Beach County officials said the move was agreed to months ago, clouding Scott’s role in the development.

Meanwhile, Scott signed a $69.1 billion state budget last month that is spawning thousands of job cuts in school boards, health and social service providers, and in many state government agencies. 

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