Chinese company’s move to Jacksonville brings jobs and for Rick Scott, maybe profit

TALLAHASSEE — Courting a Chinese company to open its first solar panel manufacturing plant on Jacksonville’s west side, Gov. Rick Scott praised the promise of 200 good-paying Florida jobs.

But JinkoSolar’s soon-to-debut facility also could pad Scott’s vast, personal bottom line. He’s an investor in a subsidiary of NextEra Energy, the parent of utility giant Florida Power & Light.

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And NextEra has said it plans to buy 7 million solar panels from JinkoSolar over the next four years.

Entering the final days of his bid to unseat three-term Democratic U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, Scott has been dogged by questions stemming from recently revealed details of his financial holdings, which he was forced to disclose at length as a Senate candidate.

Scott’s personal wealth continues to power his political career — with finance reports showing the governor having put $62.3 million of his own money into his Senate race through Oct. 24, representing 79 percent of all contributions to his campaign.

Scott doesn’t take a salary as governor and flies on his own aircraft to state and campaign events. He also spent $86 million of his family’s money in winning two elections as governor.

“Gov. Scott has never made a single decision as governor with any thought or consideration of his personal finances,” said Chris Hartline, a Scott campaign spokesman.

But Scott’s Senate disclosure shows the governor and his wife, Ann, have a number of investments — some disclosed for the first time — that could be affected by his administration’s policies.

Earlier this year, GateHouse Florida newspapers reported on the couple’s holdings in Gilead Sciences, a pharmaceutical company whose drugs are widely used to combat Hepatitis C cases, which have swelled during the opioid crisis.

The state has spent millions of taxpayer dollars in Medicaid costs to buy Gilead drugs and was ordered by a federal judge to spend $21.7 million this year for medication to treat prison inmates suffering from the illness.

The Miami Herald also reported that the Scotts have invested in a credit fund run by the parent company of All Aboard Florida, which is building the Brightline railroad from Miami to Orlando.

“As we have told multiple (media) outlets multiple times, the governor does not discuss the First Lady’s investments with her or her financial advisers,” Hartline said.

A very public role

In the case of JinkoSolar, the governor played a very public role in bringing the company to Jacksonville. According to the Senate disclosure of his investments, Scott owns as much as $250,000 in NextEra Partners stock, and his wife has holdings up to $500,000.

The couple’s net worth, based on financial ranges reported to the Senate, is $254.3 million to $510 million.

“Today’s announcement means that 200 more families in Jacksonville will be able to find a great job,” Scott said in March, when the JinkoSolar deal was finalized, with the jobs expected to carry an average salary of $46,000 annually.

“We will continue working nonstop to make Florida the number one destination of job creators,” he added.

With China the dominant global supplier of solar cells and modules, JinkoSolar focused on Jacksonville soon after the Trump Administration imposed stiff tariffs on imported panels.

Having a U.S. production plant is seen as allowing JinkoSolar to produce panels that will be cheaper than imported units subject to the tariff. That could give the company an edge over other Chinese competitors, whose panels could be as much as 30 percent more expensive under the tariff.

A company spokesman this week said JinkoSolar expects to begin production in Jacksonville by the end of this year. City and state incentives for the plant at Cecil Commerce Center totaled $4.2 million.

Scott, who has cut a TV ad for his Senate campaign touting his support for President Donald Trump, had worked the administration on the tariff issue.

“I’ve talked to the U.S. Trade Representative, Bob Lighthizer, and I’ve always tried to make sure that Florida is treated well and we have the opportunity to grow,” Scott said in April. “I think we have four of the fastest growing seaports, so trade is very important to us — but it has to be fair.”

As Florida’s two-term governor, Scott gave only occasional glimpses into the scope of his financial holdings — the last time in 2014 when he was preparing to run for reelection.

His state financial disclosure — filed in June — showed that Scott had a personal net worth of $232.6 million, up 56 percent from a year earlier.

No details, however, were provided on assets included in the blind trust that Scott at the time said accounted for $215 million of his personal net worth.

The trust is managed by a financial adviser Scott has worked with for years. But the governor said he personally plays no role in deciding how his money is invested.

Still, the federal disclosure — submitted in July — revealed those assets, which include the NextEra investment. Also, Ann Scott’s holdings — not in a blind trust, but including investments in many of the same companies as her husband — consumed two-thirds of the 125-page disclosure filed by the governor.

The state’s blind trust law was created in 2013 by the Republican-led Legislature, largely for Scott, who saw it as a way to avoid allegations that his holdings allowed him to profit from public policies enacted while in office.

“The rules of the blind trust prevent any specific assets or the value of these assets within the trust from being disclosed to the governor, and those requirements have always been followed,” Hartline said.

A lawsuit by Tallahassee lawyer Don Hinkle, a major Democratic fundraiser, contends Scott has been violating state disclosure law by using the blind trust and failing to fully report his assets, as required by the Florida Constitution.

The case is pending in the 1st District Court of Appeal in Tallahassee.

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