Florida Gov. Rick Scott is rejecting a proposed deal to bring major Internet retailer Amazon.com to the state.
Scott rejected an agreement that would have led to the construction of Amazon warehouses in Florida. The warehouses could have created up to 2,500 jobs in the state.
Amazon's arrival in the state would have meant that Floridians would have paid sales tax on Internet purchases made through the company. Amazon wanted to defer collecting those taxes until next February or when the warehouses were open and occupied.
A spokeswoman for Scott iinitially refused to say why the governor rejected the deal, but later released the following statement:
"Amazon officials discussed building a facility in the state by the end of 2015 if the Department of Revenue could reach agreement on their sales tax collections. We were not able to reach an agreement in those discussions. Governor Scott does not want to raise taxes in Florida, and we are confident Amazon will invest in our state because of our low-tax, pro-business jobs climate."
Scott's decision comes at a time Congress has been debating whether to allow states to collect sales taxes on Internet purchases their residents make with out-of-state companies.
The measure passed the U.S. Senate but it has been opposed by leading Republicans including Florida Sen. Marco Rubio.