Gov. Rick Scott’s desire to have control over up to $300 million for economic development won’t fly in the Florida Senate, according to President Mike Haridopolos.

“The constitution’s pretty clear. It’s a check and balance. So I’m pretty sure we’re going to keep that check and balance,” Haridopolos, R-Merritt Island, told reporters at his weekly Q-and-A this morning.

Currently, the governor has to get the Legislative Budget Commission to approve the pay-outs when he makes a deal with industries giving them tax credits or other incentives in exchange for bringing or expanding jobs to the state.

Scott objects that the process sometimes takes too long but Haridopolos said that system works fine as it is.

A month after firing his predecessor, Gov. Rick Scott on Monday named a Mississippi economic development executive to lead the public-private partnership, Enterprise Florida.

“Bringing new energy and expertise to Florida’s economic development activities is an ideal task for which Gray Swoope is well suited,” Scott said.  “I am excited to have him leading the job creation and economic development mission in Florida.”

Scott last month abruptly fired Enterprise Florida’s CEO, John Adams, shortly after concluding the agency’s annual meeting. Scott gave no reason publicly. But the new governor clearly has ideas about how the state’s job recruitment should be conducted — beginning with his proposal to establish an economic development agency controlled by his office.

How Swoope figures in those plans wasn’t clear from Scott’s announcement Monday. But Scott may have hinted he plans to maintain a commanding role in bringing industries to Florida when he concluded that Swoope “will be a tremendous complement to my efforts as governor.”

In Mississippi, Swoope worked for Gov. Haley Barbour, and is credited with having helped woo such manufacturers as Toyota and GE Aviation to the state. Swoope also was part of a redesign of Mississippi’s package of economic incentives and help cut the workforce and budget of the Mississippi Development Authority, sure to draw raves from his new Florida boss.

After chairing the Enterprise Florida board meeting in downtown Tallahassee this morning, Gov. Rick Scott quietly fired the public-private economic development agency’s president John Adams, the governor’s office confirmed.

Adams, who earned $293,400 last year, was hand-picked for the job five years ago by then-Gov. Jeb Bush.

Scott’s move, which will require some action by the board but which his office will take effect immediately, took Enterprise Florida Board member Hal Valeche by surprise.

“I’m shocked. That’s just completely out of the blue,” said Valeche, president of York Street Capital Advisers, who served on Scott’s economic development transition team. “Wow. Boy. When I left the hotel, he was still there. I said goodbye to him and nothing had happened.”

Valeche said severing Adams’ contract was not discussed during the board meeting.

“It just seems very odd,” he said.

Florida TaxWatch CEO Dominic Calabro was also unaware of Adams’ firing, but it would not be an unusual move for the new governor.

“He’s going to be the chief economic officer. So it stands to reason that he should feel comfortable with the CEO of Enterprise Florida or whoever’s going to serve in a similar capacity,” Calabro said. “I’m not saying I agree with it. I don’t know enough. I think John’s served well in the area of economic development for the past four years.”

Gov. Rick Scott proposes the creation of a new Department of Commerce coordinate the state’s economic development efforts, the new governor told a meeting of the public-private Enterprise Florida this morning.

Scott was skimpy on details but said that the economic development czar would work in his executive office.

The new department would be a combination of the Agency for Workforce Innovation, Enterprise Florida and the governor’s Office of Tourism, Trade and Economic Development, Scott said.

Scott’s indicated he’s intent on shrinking state government, proposing to slash the state’s workforce by 5 percent and combine or do away with certain agencies altogether.

A Commerce Department isn’t a new idea. Back in 1996, the legislature canned the department and merged it into Enterprise Florida. Jeb Bush once led that agency under former Gov. Bob Martinez.

Unlike some previous governors, Scott stayed at the Doubletree Hotel in downtown Tallahassee for the duration of the three-hour meeting, drawing kudos from the crowd.

Read Aaron Deslatte’s Orlando Sentinel blog for more on Scott’s proposal.

Golf legend Jack Nicklaus met with Gov. Rick Scott to discuss how the Golden Bear can help the new governor turn the state’s economy around.

Nicklaus, the golfer-turned-businessman and philanthropist who lives in North Palm Beach, and Scott stepped outside the governor’s office to answer a few questions from The Palm Beach Post but remained tight-lipped about any potential economic development plan, other than it would involve…golf.

The links superstar is the head of an exclusive golf course design company that’s launched more than 350 courses throughout the U.S. and in nearly three dozen other countries.

Scott and Nicklaus, whose flight arrival was delayed more than an hour because of fog, met for about 30 minutes before stepping into the governor’s waiting room to answer a few questions from a reporter.

“I invited Mr. Nicklaus , the greatest golfer ever, to come and give me his ideas on economic development in the state. He’s lived here since 1962 and clearly cares about the state,” Scott told The Palm Beach Post.

Nicklaus said they had “basically a general conversation about how we can help and how golf can be involved.”

Scott said the talks were preliminary.

“We’re the number one golf state, the number one tourist destination in the world. So we started the conversation to see if there’s any ideas,” he said.

“It’s obvious golf can help the economic growth of the state,” Nicklaus added. He said he and Scott discussed how “somebody with my age and experience…with all the years of playing golf, how that can apply to what’s going on here.”

Scott’s staffers, clearly impressed by Nicklaus, took turns posing for photos with “The Golden Bear” inside the governor’s office before Nicklaus and his entourage left the Capitol.

Scott said he plays golf but “not well,” prompting Nicklaus to downplay his current prowess on the greens.

“Everybody’s wanted to play golf like I did. Now they can,” he joked, pausing before helping out a reporter clearly baffled by his meaning. “I’m 71 years old. I don’t play like I did when I was 45.”

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State Rep. Carl Domino, R-Jupiter, has asked Gov. Charlie Crist’s office to stop payment on a $20 million cash incentive awarded to an animation company hoping to open a Port St. Lucie studio, according to a letter obtained Thursday by The Palm Beach Post.

Domino, an investment manager, said the state’s money was at “significant risk” with Wyndcrest Holdings, the parent company of Digital Domain, a private California-based studio that specializes in movie effects.

Domino lost money in an investment deal with Wyndcrest CEO John Textor about 12 years ago, but Domino said the letter to Crist was not retribution. He also acknowledged he had not read the company’s application for the money. While the records are confidential, lawmakers can receive a briefing about specific economic development projects.

Rest of the story here.

Domino’s letter is here. The full response from Wyndcrest Holdings, the company that was awarded the money, is here.

Republican Gov. Charlie Crist released a memo Tuesday showing he approached Republican leaders in the legislature, including Senate President Jeff Atwater, R-North Palm Beach, before approving $20 million in cash incentives for a Port St. Lucie animation company.

Crist did not have to brief the leaders, but the governor said he was uncomfortable with the legislature’s decision in the frantic final days of the lawmaking session this year to remove the few restrictions on the state fund that provides economic incentives to private businesses.

“I regretted that,” Crist said of removing oversight. “It’s important to have both branches involved.”

Rest of the story here.

Read his memo to Atwater and House Speaker Larry Cretul here.

The press release from Wyndcrest/Digital Domain, the company that received $20 million in incentives, here. And the memo from Port St. Lucie attorney Roger Orr regarding the company’s potential land is here.

And even more background on the issue here.

TALLAHASSEE — Two safeguards on a secretive process that turns tax dollars into cash incentives for private corporations were quietly removed in the final days of the 2009 legislative session to help a Jupiter Island investment manager quickly secure $20 million for his digital animation company.

An amendment gave Gov. Charlie Crist’s office, which helped craft the language, sole authority to award $42 million in economic development money. As a result, nine companies, each identified only by a code name, were awarded shares of the money within a week this summer. One $7.4 million project in Taylor County was never discussed in public.

Nearly half of the summer’s total went to Project Bumblebee – a proposal from John Textor, who is targeting Port St. Lucie for a spinoff of Digital Domain, a visual effects company he owns with Hollywood blockbuster producer Michael Bay.

Textor has promised that the spinoff, Wyndcrest Holdings, will create 500 jobs by 2014, and the recession-ravaged city is considering a separate incentive package worth $10 million in cash, land in Tradition and additional stimulus money from the city and St. Lucie County for a building.

But while the city considers its offer, the last-minute state budget amendment has already benefited the election campaigns of Crist and state Reps. Kevin Ambler, R-Tampa, and David Rivera, R-Miami, whose support was critical for the amendment.

More here.