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By ALISA ULFERTS, Times Staff WriterA draft version of a bill needed for the deal with the institute calls for Florida to get some of its investment back - but not for years.
TALLAHASSEE - Florida might get back some of the millions it would invest in an expansion of the California-based Scripps Research Institute into Palm Beach County.
Gov. Jeb Bush's office late Wednesday released a draft of the legislation needed for the Scripps deal that calls for the institute to eventually repay up to half of the state's $310-million investment.
But the state would have to wait for a while.
The draft bill would require Scripps to pay Florida up to $155-million by returning to the state up to 15 percent of a portion of its net income each year after 2011. The state would pay Scripps $310-million for equipment, salaries and other expenses over seven years before the institute would start repaying any money.
Scripps spokesman Keith McKeown said it was too soon to comment on the payback provision. "We need adequate time to review the draft legislation and do our due diligence," he said.
Bush proposes setting up a private, nonprofit corporation - not a government oversight board - to administer the contract with Scripps. A five-member board of directors, of which Bush would appoint three members and Senate President Jim King and House Speaker Johnnie Byrd each would appoint one, would govern the Scripps Florida Funding Corporation.
Under Bush's bill, the corporation would negotiate a contract with Scripps and then dole out money as the contract specifies. Each year, Scripps would have to report to the corporation how many people it hired and how much it spent.
The state Office of Tourism, Trade and Economic Development, which falls under the executive office of the governor, would have to sign off on the Scripps contract.
The corporation would automatically dissolve in 2011.