From the Blogs

The latest stories from the Florida blogs...

Progress Florida (Ray Seaman): A Government of the Wealthy

Why Now?: He Didn’t Get The Memo

Eye on Miami (Gimleteye): Former State Senate President Ken Pruitt to become a lobbyist

Video from the Session

Dan Gelber:



Shorter version: We aren't done with the session until we do the people's business -- the budget.

Dave Murzin:



Shorter version: People hate taxes but love government services.

Jim Waldman:



Shorter version: At least we stopped the Republicans craziest stuff.

Carlos Lopez-Cantera:



Shorter version: I got mine.

Dave Aronberg:



Shorter version: The lack of money made everything tougher.

Ron Saunders:



Shorter version: The stimulus money saved us on education, Republicans refused open government.

Paula Dockery:



Shorter version: I hate saying I "killed" the CSX proposal, but I killed the CSX proposal.

Lee Constantine:



Shorter version: The bad economy killed the CSX proposal.

What's Going On: Legislative Round-up

The Spencerian: A Horrible Legislative Session Part II: "Spicy"

The Spencerian: A Horrible Legislative Session: Elections

Rick Kriseman: In the last days of Florida’s legislative session, it’s ‘Government Gone Wild’

madfloridian: Texas oil execs in Florida to push 3 mile offshore drilling. Ain't it amazing?

FLA Politics (dantilson): Florida Republicans hold legislature hostage

Blast Off!: Republicans actively oppose education ... AGAIN

Progressive Pensacola: Double dipping loophole closed

Can't Keep Quiet: FL lawmakers marginally increase school funding

Pushing Rope: Steve Wise's Idea of Reform

Natch Greyes: And Check...The Florida Senate Makes A Move

Pushing Rope: Other Bloggers On Faith In Teaching

Florida Netroots: Legislative Update and other news

Eye on Miami (Gimleteye): Republicans in Florida Legislature: dumber than dirt

Progress Florida (Ray Seaman): Lending An Ear To Our Legislators

Natch Greyes: Florida's Inability to Seperate Church & State

Ybor City Stogie: Florida Republicans Turn Down Stimulus Money For Unemployment

Pushing Rope: Offshore Drilling Dead

Florida Netroots: Legislative Update and other news

Pushing Rope: Faith In Teaching is A Paper Nonprofit

Natch Greyes: Florida's Legislative Debacle Continues

Eye on Miami (Youbetcha): The State Legislature: By the Numbers

Avery Voice: Government in the Sunshine it's NOT!

Progressive Pensacola: Our Crazy Legislature, Week 8

Gelber's Latest Legislative Updates

The latest news and views from State Senator Dan Gelber on Florida's legislative session, coming from tonight's conference call.

The call started out discussing the potential budget deal. Others will probably touch on that a lot, so I'll focus on the other top issues that Gelber discussed.

Other than the budget, one of the top laws up for debate right now is the property insurance bill that would allow Citizens, the state-run insurer of more than one million Floridians to raise rates for policyholders. The Senate has proposed moderate increases, but Gelber said that it is likely the final bill will contain increases in the range of 10-15%. As usual, Governor Charlie Crist is coy about the bill and his support or opposition to it.

Much less important is what Gelber calls the "license plate wars." As most readers know, Florida has an endless variety of specialty license plates for automobiles, the proceeds of which go to designated organizations. Two plates have come up this session that have explicitly Christian messages -- one with a cross, the other with a massive picture of Jesus. Gelber points out -- as is consistent with my understanding of the First Amendment -- that these plates would violate the federal establishment clause. Gelber adds that they would likely violate the state version as well. Similar plates in other states have been ruled unconstitutional and the same thing would likely happen here. Gelber thinks these two plates will eventually be left out of the final Senate bill, but he says the hours wasted debating these bills are silly when Florida is facing such serious issues. There is also some serious question as to where the money from these plates goes and who is behind the push for them.

Gelber said the card check bill, designed to kill the power of the national Employee Free Choice Act, has passed the House and is headed to the Senate. Florida is already one of the worst states in the union in terms of how we treat unions/workers, and this bill would attempt to keep Florida that way, regardless of what Congress does. Such a thing would likely be unconstitutional under the supremacy clause, but why test it. The current proposal would make it a constitutional amendment that would have to go before the voters, 60% of whom would have to approve. Gelber thinks that the misleading wording of the proposal would likely get the 60%, since it makes voters think they are protecting the secret ballot in all elections. The secret ballot is already protected, of course -- including in union elections -- and the EFCA wouldn't change this at all, but that doesn't stop Republicans from lying about it.

Unemployment modernization is another hot topic in the legislature right now. Under the stimulus plan, Florida is eligible for $450 million to modernize the system for citizens applying for unemployment benefits. Almost every other state has already done this modernization. Florida hasn't and is still working with the system put in place (including the technology) from the 1940s. This old-fashioned setup lessens the ability of people to get into the system. Republicans have effectively rejected this money, despite the fact that Florida needs it probably more than any other state because of our antiquated system and our extremely high unemployment rate.

Gelber tried to get at least $150 million of the unemployment modernization money by limiting the scope, since he knew the overall money wasn't going to be approved, but his proposal was rejected on a voice vote, almost certainly along party lines. Governor Crist says he'd like to have the money, but Gelber says Crist isn't doing anything to get the money. Big business lobbyists oppose the bill, despite the fact that it would benefit them by covering their payments to the unemployment compensation trust fund for a year. Gelber has been pushing for this for years, but the Republicans are stopping it.

Now that the end of the legislative session is near, Gelber says the last-minute vote-trading will begin. Logrolling will begin and we're entering a dangerous time, when bad bills and amendments could sneak through. Gelber suggested two such issues could revolve around oil drilling and the voter suppression bill, both of which were thought to be dead at this point.

The voter bill was pulled out of its last senate committee, so it could, theoretically, be brought to the floor, rather than dying in committee. Most experts think this bill would be overturned as unconstitutional, but that's a bit much to leave up to chance. People concerned about the voting bill should contact the Senate president, who may drop the bill if he's pressured enough.

It's possible, Gelber thinks, that the proposal to allow offshore drilling within three miles of Florida's coast could be trade bait as well. This proposal came up late in the session with a huge financial push. We really should look into finding out who is behind the proposal, something sofar unknown. Who is behind the push and what is their real agenda?

Gelber noted that, in all likelihood, the governor wasn't going to get involved in any of the hard decisions the legislature has to make this session.

State Senator Alex Villalobos is looking, once again, to pass his bill making witnesses before the legislature testify under oath, making lying while under oath a second or third degree felony. Gelber supports the bill and thinks it will pass the Senate, but that, once again, the House will kill it.

Gelber also noted that the education waiver for stimulus funds was finally submitted and he thinks we're likely to get it, particularly with the close relationship between Crist and Barack Obama.

Interesting Contrast

From the Orlando Sentinel:

Rep. Dean Cannon, R-Winter Park, sent us this message this weekend: "As President (Jeff) Atwater and Speaker (Larry) Cretul indicated, talks aren't over. Folks are continuing to run numbers this weekend and I anticipate that they'll continue talking on Monday.

"Right now all the discussions are at the presiding officer level, and I know they are both doing their best to come to a resolution."

From the indictment of Ray Sansom:

"Further, Your Grand Jurors find that the appropriation process that gives unbridled discretion to the President of the Senate, Speaker of the House of Representatives and Appropriation Chairman needs to be changed. This State should be guided in openness and transparency. The procedure currently in place requires that our elected Legislators vote on a final budget that they have no knowledge about because it is finalized in a meeting between only two legislators. This process allows taxpayers money to be budgeted for special purposes by those few legislators who happen to be in a position of power."

...

"Further, far too much power is given to The Legislative Leadership on these budget issues which led to this appropriation that was voted on basically hidden in a huge budget. Regular members has no idea that they voted to build an aircraft hanger for a college that owned no aircraft and funded a building on land that the State does not own. Your Grand Jurors recommend to The Legislature that it clean up this process and that the State of Florida become an example to the Nation as a State that works for the people and not the special interest of those who have money to influence The Legislature."

Good to see that Cannon, Cretul and Atwater have learned from the mistakes Sansom made.

(h/t FDP)

Republicans In Trouble

The Miami Herald catches on to the fact that the Republicans in Tallahassee have no idea what they are doing and that it could hurt them electorally.

Republicans Crafted a A Bad Elections Bill That Would Stifle Voting

From the House Dems:

Florida House Democrats say:

· The Legislature should make it easier for citizens to vote instead of stifling citizen activism and participation in elections.
· Shame on Republican legislators for trying to suppress the vote with a self-serving rewrite of elections law that failed to stand up under scrutiny!
· Embarrassed by the exposure of their self-serving power grab, Republicans now must accept a severe neutering of House Bill 7149 (formerly known as PCB EDCA 09-08).

Read what news organizations have written about the Republican voter-suppression legislation:

· Orlando Sentinel, April 23, 2009
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/orl-editorial-voting-assault-042309,0,4626719.story
“The Republican majority has sucker-punched Floridians with a last-minute plan that would throw new obstacles in the path of citizens registering to vote, casting their ballots and amending the state constitution.”

· Ocala Star-Banner, April 22, 2009
http://www.ocala.com/article/20090422/OPINION/904221001/1008/OPINION?Title=-65279-65279-Embarrassed-on-elections-again
“The thinking behind this bill is inexplicable.”

· The New York Times, April 18, 2009
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/19/opinion/19sun2.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=elections,%20florida&st=Search
“Florida legislators should not need a court to tell them not to interfere with the right to vote.”

· St. Petersburg Times, April 19, 2009
http://www.tampabay.com/opinion/editorials/article993149.ece
“Republican legislative leaders have lost all sense of shame with their 11th-hour bill to roll back voting rights in Florida.”

· The Miami Herald, April 21, 2009
http://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/editorials/story/1009469.html
“The sweeping rewrite of Florida's election laws by the Republican majority last week is a flagrant example of power politics at its worst. Here we have legislation authored in secrecy and haste, which has been bereft of meaningful public input or comment.”

· SUN Newspapers (Southwest Florida), April 24, 2009
http://www.sunnewspapers.net/articles/edStory.aspx?articleID=436162
“There is every reason to increase Florida’s efforts to extend the voting process and make it as accessible to as many people as possible.”

· The Gainesville Sun, April 23, 2009
http://www.gainesville.com/article/20090423/OPINION01/904231015/1076/OPINION?Title=Editorial-A-bad-election-bill
“This legislation is shadowy and shameful.”

· Daytona Beach News-Journal, April 22, 2009
http://www.newsjournalonline.com/NewsJournalOnline/Opinion/Editorials/opnOPN40042109.htm
“This legislation is especially puzzling because Florida, after a long history of troubled elections, had seemed to finally get it right. There were very few problems with the 2008 election -- and neither House nor Senate version of the legislation would solve 2008's biggest problem: Long lines at early-voting stations around the state, which forced many voters to wait for hours to cast their ballot.”

· (Sarasota) Herald Tribune, April 21, 2009
http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20090421/OPINION/904211031/2198/OPINION?Title=Why-rush-to-change-election-laws-Legislature-should-shelve-a-troubling-costly-bill
“Why? How did such relatively low-priority legislation manage to squeeze itself into a session that is already hard-pressed for time to grapple with such essential issues as tax reform and renewable energy policy? What is driving the ill-advised election measure?”

Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid

(Again several sources on this one, including Bill Nelson's office and the House Dems).

Map of oil platforms off the rest of the Gulf Coast and a preview of what would come to Florida if the drilling bill passed. The bill would allow drilling inside the green line.

Dan Gelber on the Legislative Session

State Senator Dan Gelber says the 2009 legislative session is in absolute meltdown and it's unlikely that the Republicans in Tallahassee will be able to accomplish the only requirement of the annual session -- passing the budget.

After the downfall of corrupt Republican House leader Ray Sansom, Gelber said that the Republicans have no reliable leadership and that they don't really know what they are doing in terms of this year's session. At a time when Florida faces deep challenges, the majority party lacks the capacity to do much to meet those needs and it's likely the session will end next week with no budget deal in place.

Floridians are facing an economic crisis that is deeper than the national crisis -- and likely to last quite a bit longer -- and neither the Republicans in the legislature nor Governor Charlie Crist is providing us with the leadership we need to tackle the problems. Gelber said he remembers the big fight under Governor Jeb Bush was that Bush was too hands-on and it was difficult to keep him from doing damage. Under Crist, though, we have the opposite problem -- the governor doesn't want to come out and say what his plans are on any issue, leaving lawmakers without guidance as to how he'll react when legislation hits his desk. Gelber says Crist is like a movie critic -- he tells you how he feels about an issue without offering any solutions. The vacuum of leadership from the Republicans in Tallahassee means there is no good news from the session.

The primary purpose of the annual legislative session is to come up with the state's budget. Because of the national economic crisis and the more extreme state economic crisis, budget revenue has been in a freefall in recent months.

Gelber says that he's happy that the Senate budget plan has some significant increases in revenue. He's upset that the House isn't increasing revenue, but rather is relying on cuts that damage education, health care and other essential services. He hopes that the final budget deal doesn't strip out the revenue gains.

New revenue comes from several sources. The increase in the tobacco tax helps a lot, and is recurring, but diminishes over time. The stimulus money, while hugely important in the short term, only applies to a 25-month period and the revenue stream is gone. Without it, though, Gelber warns that the state could lose its bond rating and face even more serious cuts to basic services. In 2011, there will be a huge problem if more revenue isn't found, because the stimulus money will be gone. It could even lead to problems in 2010 if the economy doesn't rebound quick enough.

The real source for new revenue that should be pursued are the tax loopholes that have been widely discussed. Eliminating some of the more egregious loopholes could generate close to a billion in revenue each year.

Gelber had a lot to say about the importance of education and says that we need to be investing in the future, not cutting it. With the news yesterday that Jefferson County (immediately to the East of Tallahassee) has no money left in its education budget and will be taken over by the state, the issue is even more visible. The same crisis was almost faced by Dade schools. Dade avoided going under by cutting important programs and firing popular teachers in "nonessential" areas such as drama. Gelber stresses the importance of those other programs, saying they are essential to educating Florida's children. Florida is already a state that spends very little on education and in the last year or so, we've cut spending by about $500 per student. This is why the state is having trouble getting federal education stimulus funds and have had to ask for a waiver. Gelber thinks we'll get that waiver, though, which is good news since we're not sure what'll happen without it. He notes that, unlike himself, most of the legislature doesn't have children in public schools, so they don't see the direct effects their policies are having on our school system.

He also notes that while all of Florida's Republican representatives to Congress voted to reject stimulus funds, Republicans in the state legislature -- those who actually have to pass a budget and get things done -- are overwhelmingly for the stimulus plan and are asking for more. In Congress, he says, Republicans are a minority and have no responsibility and nothing to answer for. At the state level, they're actually in charge and have to show results, so they're doing the common sense thing and taking the money that Florida needs during this time of crisis.

Floridians can help spread the news on the budget cuts and other problems created by Republican policies by telling the personal stories of how government programs are affecting people's lives. Write letters to the editor, blog, tell your friends and neighbors how cuts hurt real people and maybe enough people will hear the story and can convince legislators to do the right thing.

Gelber condemned Dean Cannon's push for oil drilling and dismissed the recent talk of combining the drilling proposal with the "clean energy" bill being pushed for by Senator Jim King. Gelber doesn't think that compromise will go forward, although Gelber warns that every time he thinks something is too crazy for the Republicans to pursue, they do it anyway.

Luckily for Floridians, Gelber said he thinks the most extreme things floating around the legislature this year will die because of the dysfunction of the Republican leaders. It's unlikely that the elections bill, CSX bill, and offshore drilling proposals will make it to the governor's desk.

(Gelber recently reached out to bloggers by offering to do a series of conference calls with them to discuss the legislative session and provide us with the latest information on what's happening at the capitol. I, and several other bloggers, jumped at the opportunity. Our first conference call was last night.)

Pushback on Senator Wise's Efforts to Circumvent Florida's Legal Obligations

From the Florida Sunshine State TESOL Advocacy E-Group:

Senator Wise has introduced CS/SB1680 to legislate an ambitious pilot program for reading teachers who serve ESOL students. The proposal reflects a concrete action plan and seems to reflect an understanding that data should be gathered upon which to base decisions. However, this hastily crafted bill falls far short of what is needed and asks for what is currently impossible.

1) According the staff analysis, the DOE would have to find resources within its budget to meet the legislative requirements. In other words, it is an unfunded mandate. The implementation requires data and documentation efforts from participating school districts that would also be unfunded. The analysis states that these should not result in "very much" fiscal impact.

In a time of extraordinary budgetary squeeze, the proposal is amazing. It supposes the DOE has funding and resources available to complete the requirements and cannot even estimate what the costs would be. The school districts all across the state are scrambling to operate with less and less. To ask them to divert a single penny and add even a single burden to already extended resources reflect a disconnect with the current state of affairs.

2) As the bill reads, a rapid timeline applies. Beginning 2009, the DOE would have to identify, find funds for, and convene a team of experts, complete a review of existing professional development standards, design courses, produce training materials, train trainers, incorporate input from the field, identify participating districts, flag students, train teachers, and begin implementation in the 2009-2010 school year. That means training begins in August 2009. How will a quality program be the outcome with such an unfunded supersonic timeline? This plan, as written, establishes a recipe for failure.

3) The proposed pilot is incomplete as it fails to evaluate all paths leading to authorization for assignments in reading and ESOL. Its narrow focus leaves much important work undone. The level of complexity is not fully addressed for the benefit of teachers and students. Let us get it done right the first time. We seem to have a lot of time to do things incorrectly, and no time to get it right.

4) The proposed pilot includes an important evaluation component. That's a good thing. However, the proposed evaluation plan is incomplete and far too narrow to provide meaningful quantitative and qualitative data to make meaningful recommendations. This plan does not meet the basic standards for professional development evaluation making it a waste of time and a waste of scarce education funds.

The bill requires that the DOE analyze the data and then make a recommendation. To ensure impartiality and objectivity, no state agency should be in charge of evaluating this program. The evaluation of data should be conducted by a non-governmental, independent and professionally recognized evaluator. In light of the controversy that has swirled over the issue for the last three years, an independent evaluator is needed to achieve a sense of fair accountability.

4) And finally, this is the third bill Senator Wise has sponsored on this issue. The first was vetoed and the second died. This bill represents a view that does not match Florida's legal obligations and according to the Staff Analysis, is not consistent with the Department of Education interpretation of the same.

I will join efforts to oppose yet another ill-conceived plan that brings Florida's ELLs no closer to highly qualified reading teachers. I am confident our state leaders will take these views into consideration and make short shrift of this third and equally misguided effort. The majority of our legislators, like Florida's voters, want all our children to learn to read in English and teachers prepared to teach all our students to read in English. To date, two county commissions and several municipalities have passed ESOL resolutions regarding professional development representing some four million constituents reflecting this same expectation.

What's Going On: Legislative Round-up

Florida Netroots: Florida Budget Process a Petrie Dish for Corruption

Progress Florida (Doug Matthews): Florida Forever, Everglades Restoration Benefit from Closing Tax Loophole

Progress Florida (Ray Seaman): The People Be Damned: The Florida GOP Wants Their Majorities

Progressive Pensacola: Our Crazy Legislature, Week 7

Florida Netroots: Republicans: Changing the Voting Rules Again

Eye on Miami (Gimleteye): Miserable effort by Florida Republicans to wreck elections

What's Going On: Florida Republican Assault on Voters

Avery Voice: MORE REPUBLICAN VOTING REGISTRATION SHENANIGANS

Why Now?: Fixing Florida’s Election Law

Eye on Miami (Gimleteye): Dismal Miami Herald coverage continues to lag on Florida Senate election rigging

Eye on Miami (Gimleteye): Florida Legislature: a 72 page bill that reads like a hit list on voters

Generation Miami (Alex Barreras): Who is afraid of Florida voters?

Eye on Miami (Gimleteye): Eyeonmiami scoops the Herald on voting rights disaster unfolding in Florida legislature

Eye on Miami (Gimleteye): How Florida Republicans plan to own Florida

Broward's Blog: Senate elections bill would shake up parties and 2010 races

What's Going On: Legislative Round-up

madfloridian: Florida lawmakers will likely reject about $440 million in additional workers' compensation benefits

Re/Creating Tampa: More University Cuts in Florida

Dan Gelber: At least one bright spot

madfloridian: The CSX Sunrail deal still has the clause that would make Florida liable for CSX problems...

Eye on Miami (Genius of Despair): Rundown of Environmental Issues We Are Facing.

Florida Citizens for Science: Florida’s Greatest Menace VII: Causing the Nation to Fall!

Based on analysis by Herald-Tribune writer Jeremy Wallace, here's what you've got, not including the unimportant details of what specific gambling would be allowed:

*Rep. Bill Galvano's plan would generate $100 million a year, keep the gambling age at 21, would allow unlimited random state inspections of the casinos and would allow people injured at the casinos to sue the tribe.

*Gov. Charlie Crist's plan would generate $150 million a year, keep the gambling age at 21, would limit state inspections to four per year and would allow lawsuits against the tribes only after "other remedies are exhausted."

*The Senate plan would generate $400 million a year, would change the gambling age to 18, would allow unlimited state inspections of the casinos and would allow lawsuits against the tribe.

Clearly, Crist's plan is the worst. Generates little money and explicitly attempts to avoid accountability. The Senate plan appears to be the best. It raises the most money for education -- something we sorely need right now -- and allows for accountability. It does lower the gambling age to 18, but that doesn't really mean much. Anyone that thinks 18-year-olds don't already gamble doesn't understand 18-year-olds. And if they are old enough to be sent overseas to die in pointless wars of aggression by an illegitimate president, then they should be old enough to gamble if they so choose.

What's Going On

The latest news on Florida politics and politicians.

U.S. Rep. Suzanne Kosmas, D-New Smyrna Beach, vowed Friday that she would only submit earmark requests on behalf of "localities, non-profits, or government agencies."

Robert Wexler praises Crist on Chinese drywall issue

The space shuttle would continue flying until NASA builds its replacement vehicle or a U.S. company launches a private spacecraft capable of reaching the International Space Station, under a bill introduced by U.S. Rep. Bill Posey, R-Florida.

Legislation by Rep. Seth McKeel, R-Lakeland, requesting Congress withdraw a moratorium barring drilling for oil and gas in the eastern Gulf of Mexico is one step away from being voted on by the Florida House.

Sen. Charlie Dean says he should quit his post as Majority Whip if lawmakers move forward with a push to privatize a state-run mental hospital for the criminally insane in his district.

Miami Republican Rep. Juan Zapata just sent out an email to his colleagues all but daring House Speaker Larry Cretul to fire him as chair of the House Human Services Appropriations Committee.

The Florida House’s select tribal gaming committee advanced a no-frills Seminole compact Friday that would preclude the tribe from operating so-called banked table games at its seven casinos.

March 30-April 1 Mason Dixon poll for SayfieReview/PowerPlay (moe +/-4%) shows a dead heat between Bill McCollum and Alex Sink for governor: McCollum 36 percent, Sink 35 percent, undecided 29 percent.

Florida's heralded land-conservation program that has preserved millions of acres of green space during the past two decades is going away — at least for a year.

The SunRail commuter train proposed for Central Florida will not get any help from Sen. Gary Siplin, D- Orlando

U.S. Rep. Suzanne Kosmas, D-New Smyrna Beach, voted against a House budget bill today because the federal spending guidelines "does not give NASA the flexibility to fly the space shuttle past 2010."

In a letter to Gov. Charlie Crist, Mack says he will not run for Senate in 2010.

Senate Finance and Tax Committee Chairman Thad Altman said he thinks the temperature for a broad-based discussion of sales tax exemptions may not happen this session.

The Florida Senate voted Thursday to weaken the state's rigid growth laws that force developers to build roads around places where they choose to plant new shopping malls, factories or planned communities.

Florida senators signaled Wednesday that they want companies such as Expedia, Orbitz and Travelocity to pay higher taxes.

One of the bill’s co-authors said the intention is to prevent a repeat of what happened at American International Group, where AIG executives initially received about $165 million in bonuses after getting more than $180 billion in bailout funds. “[The measure] is based on two simple concepts. One, no one has the right to get rich off taxpayer money. And two, no one should get rich off abject failure,” said U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson, a freshman Democrat from Orlando.

U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson, D-Orlando, today urged President Obama to extend the space shuttle era, "preferably" until NASA is ready to fly a replacement vehicle that the agency hopes can one day return Americans to the moon.

Alcee Hastings commemorates legacy of AIDS activist Pedro Zamora

Sen. Don Gaetz has filled a bill with Sen. Mike Fasano that will stop public officials from collecting a paycheck and a pension, known as Double-dipping.

What's Going On: Legislative Roundup

Progressive Homeschoolers of Florida: Parental Rights Amendment back as HJ Resolution 42

Sunshine Statements: How To Pay For Hiking Tuition In Florida?

Re/Creating Tampa: Corporate Welfare

Pushing Rope: Everglades Update

Progressive Pensacola: Cigarette tax hike clears Senate committee

ReidBlog: The GOP's April Fool's Day budget

Pushing Rope: Florida Cigarette Tax Update

Progress Florida (Ray Seaman): Why Are Republicans Standing In The Way of the Healthy Teens Act?

Pushing Rope: Shiny Happy Governor

Fried Gator: Ellyn Bogdanoff: Cigarette Tax Damages Slurpee Economy

From the Blogs

The latest stories from the Florida blogs...

Fried Gator: Add another name to the list of corrupt Republicans in Tallahassee: Charlie Dean

madfloridian: As Florida economy crumbles the religious right files ultrasound bill again

madfloridian: Florida Republicans might reject stimulus cash for jobless

Call on Committee Chairs to Agenda the Prevention First Act in Florida!

On March 18th, the House Health Regulation Committee heard HB 983, the mandatory ultrasound bill by Rep. Flores (R-114) and Rep. Burgin (R-56). HB 983 passed out of the Committee by a 5-2 vote. Representative Jimmy Patronis (R-6), chair of the Health Care Regulation Policy Committee, gave a hearing to HB 983, yet has not given a hearing to the Prevention First Act (HB 129)!

The Prevention First Act increases access to birth control and helps to reduce unintended pregnancies by guaranteeing access to emergency contraception for rape survivors, protecting the right to birth control for all women, and protecting the right to have lawful and valid prescriptions filled at the pharmacy.

TAKE ACTION:

Contact Chair of the House Health Regulation Committee, Representative Jimmy Patronis (R-6) at (850) 488-9696.

Simply say:

• I am disappointed that Rep. Patronis voted for HB 983, a bill that ties the hands of doctors and interferes with the doctor-patient relationship.
• I urge Rep. Patronis to support commonsense policies that will prevent unintended pregnancy and reduce the need for abortion and agenda HB 129 the Prevention First Act as soon as possible.
• During this economic crisis, the Florida legislature should be spending it’s time on the budget, not on divisive abortion bills.

Then, Call or email Chair Don Gaetz (R-4) at (850) 487-5009

When Calling Chair Gaetz, simply say: Please put prevention first and give SB 310, the Prevention First Act, a fair hearing.

Additional comments to include when calling Senator Gaetz:

• The Prevention First Act is a commonsense measure which reduces unintended pregnancy by increasing access to birth control.
• Expanding access to birth control is the best way to reduce the number of unintended pregnancies and the need for abortion.
• Preventing unintended pregnancy and reducing the need for abortion is something we can all agree on.

Please contact us at info@floridachoice.org to tell us the results of your call. Thank you.

Storms Is A Liar

There are widespread reports of the big blowout in the Senate yesterday, featuring the freakishly evil Ronda Storms and newcomer Chris Smith.

Smith, a Democrat, at one point went off on Storms, saying "don't piss on me and tell me it's raining." He was rebuked for the language by committee chair Mike Fasano and he apologized for the choice of words. Who cares? Why did Fasano even make an issue of it? Does anyone actually believe that legislators don't cuss or use colorful metaphors all the time? Does anyone actually think that such language could actually cause anyone any harm? Does anyone think that the problems Florida faces are so minor that we should be worrying about things so ridiculous? Anyone not see the hypocrisy on Fasano's part? What with the content of his brother Tim's blog?

The real problems in this meeting came from Storms. She made a sarcastic remark about President Barack Obama, referring to him as "the messiah," and whining that Obama supporters can't stand to see him questioned. Fasano reprimanded her for the remark, saying that the president should be respected, regardless of who is in the office. She failed to apologize. No surprise there, she's batshit crazy. And remarks like that are to be expected from her. That remark wasn't the problem and, again, we have bigger things to worry about.

But she also repeatedly lied before the committee. And that's a significant problem. Most media reports gloss over the rest of her remarks focusing on the dueling inappropriate comments. The problem is that while those are sexy, headline-grabbing remarks, the fact that Storms repeatedly referred to discredited smears of the president and used ridiculous logic while discussing actual public policies is the real story here and few (outside of NPR) are letting the public know about it.

Storms repeatedly made reference to the "fact" that Obama "promised" to take part in the public finance system for the general election last year, then "flip-flopped" and/or "lied" and opted out of the system. This argument has been widely rejected as not even remotely true, but you couldn't blame an average citizen for believing it, since the media repeats it. Storms, though, is held to a higher standard since she is an elected representative of the people. She is supposed to know better and is supposed to do her homework on behalf of her constituents, not just repeat Fox News talking points.

As anyone who has been paying attention knows, Obama said, quite clearly and repeatedly, that he would opt in to the public finance system if, and only if, John McCain would agree to stringent rules that would limit not only what the campaigns did, but 527s, political parties and other groups as well. Obama knew, based on Republican history, that the candidate would abide by any agreement, but would then outsource the dirty tricks to these other groups. Obama acted on that knowledge and said that things had to be done fair and honest or that he wouldn't handcuff himself and give McCain an unfair advantage. McCain and his people rejected these conditions, so Obama stayed out of the public finance system. Very straightforward concept. If...then. No if, no then.

If Storms didn't know this, she should've. It's really easy to find stuff like this out. Even worse, though, was the fact that she then twisted the results of the election to support her ridiculous position on publicly-financed elections. Her claim, and I'm not making this up, was that since Obama "lied" about public financing and he won the election, then the people don't support public financing. This is utterly ridiculous. Nobody, not one single voter, anywhere, ever, has voted for or against a candidate solely because of their stance on publicly-financed elections. People vote on other things for other reasons (rightfully so) and Storms is, in addition to her directly lying, being intellectually dishonest with this stupid, stupid claim. Shame on her, but this is business as usual for her and is a clear indictment of the voters of her district who supported her. She isn't qualified to be a dogcatcher, much less one of the people making decisions on our behalf.

Legislative Round-up

Pushing Rope: Compassionate Conservatism: Making the Unemployed Pay to Be Drug Tested

Pushing Rope: The Impact Fees Tax Shift

Blast Off!: The obligatory blog post about bestiality

Blast Off!: Haridopolos panders again

Florida Citizens for Science: Letter in the Ledger

Progress Florida (Ray Seaman): Stop Trying To Undermine The People's Government

Lawson Calls Crist to Task on Stimulus

Senate Democratic Leader Al Lawson (D-Tallahassee) on Tuesday called on the Chairman of the powerful Senate Policy and Steering Committee on Ways and Means to bypass a lengthy appropriations process and move instead to authorize immediate approval of stimulus funds for shovel ready transportation projects.

He also sharply criticized the apparent paralysis of the governor to create a federally-mandated website outlining the projects for both job seekers and job bidders, and the inability of the state transportation agency to move the proposed road projects from the draft stage to a final product.

“It has come to my attention that the federal stimulus money may be in jeopardy of speedily reaching those Floridians desperately in need of an economic life raft,” wrote Lawson in a letter to Chairman J. D. Alexander. “There appear to be three impediments to jumpstarting our economy via the stimulus package.”

According to Lawson, the first obstacle is the governor’s office, which has not followed the lead of Georgia or Alabama or any of the 26 states which have their websites up and running. “How are potential job seekers or potential job bidders supposed to know what’s available without the transparency the governor once promised? His office’s assertion that the website “is coming soon” is little consolation to those floundering in cyber silence,” Lawson noted.

The second is the perceived foot-dragging by the Florida Department of Transportation which, according to its own website, has not moved any of the proposed projects from the draft stage first outlined in early December. “Has nothing changed since then?” Lawson asked. “Is the agency prepared to explain why nothing more concrete has emerged to put tens of thousands of unemployed Floridians back to work?”

Lawson noted that while the Legislature may be unable to control the speed with which the governor and his agency move the stimulus plans forward, it does have the power to expedite approval of the road projects. It also has the power to remove potential political pitfalls.

“I don’t believe it is necessary to detail for you the concerns I have about legislative meddling in something so crucial to Florida’s recovery and her families’ survival. You and I are far too familiar with the political posturing and machinations that can occur when billions of dollars are at stake and individual lawmakers are deciding where that money is to go. Manipulation of those funds for political purposes is much too tempting, and I fear for the little guy when the big guys are calling the shots,” Lawson wrote.

“I respectfully request that rather than through a special spending bill, we authorize the Legislative Budget Commission, once the DOT submits a project request, to immediately release the necessary funds in order to get them moving.

“I think you will agree that with unemployment close to 9 percent, the last thing our job seekers want to hear is government bureaucracy impeding their ability to earn a living. AWI’s assertion that they’re ‘hoping it will be this year’ just doesn’t cut it.

“Floridians lining up for jobs are more than ready to don the shovels and get back to work. The power is in our hands to help them get there more quickly.”

FL-Sen: Dan Gelber is the Man

The following post reflects the opinions of Kenneth Quinnell solely, and is not necessarily endorsed by other members of the Florida Progressive Coalition.

Florida currently is in the early stages of a U.S. Senate race to replace congressional waste of space Mel Martinez. Provided that Governor Charlie Crist doesn't jump in the race, the seat should be a solid pick-up opportunity for the Democrats. But we certainly don't want just any Democrat replacing Martinez, we want a progressive Democrat who will fight for our values and will work his or her ass off to make America a better place. That's why I'm personally endorsing Dan Gelber and will do what I can to help him win the primary.

Why Gelber? The reasons are many, but let's start with a big first one -- he's as progressive as legislators come. Dan is a thoughtful man who actually takes the time to understand the issues and how government actions affect people in the real world. And he's a big fan of things like logic, reason and evidence. Combining these things, he comes down on the right side of the issues about as often as anyone I can think of, particularly in the Florida legislature. Take a look at his voting record and you'll be pleased to see such a principled, liberal record from a member of the Florida legislature. And when people hit him with the same old, tired conservative Rush Limbaugh-style attacking points, he's prepared for them and can counter them as good, if not better, than the best pundits and bloggers out there.

We know how Dan thinks and feels on the issues because he doesn't shy away from taking a stand and he comes right to the people and tells us what he's doing and why. A simple look at his blog (http://www.dangelber.com/blog/blog_archive.php) will show you that he's not afraid to take his case to the people. And that use of the blog is another big reason why I support Gelber -- he's on the cutting edge of online technology. As I mentioned, he's a blogger, but he's not just any blogger. Take a look at the average blog from a politician and you'll quickly be asleep. Most of them tend to be boring -- lacking in any passion or anything that might give us some insight into what the politician is thinking or feeling. There isn't anything dangerous on the average politician's blog -- nothing that could get them in trouble. Gelber, on the other hand, is a real blogger. He writes like a blogger who happens to be a politician, not the other way around. We know what he thinks and he doesn't hold back when he goes after the other side. And he does it with a personal touch -- we actually get to know Dan. The Netroots activists of Florida recognized the quality of his blog last year at our statewide awards ceremony by voting him the winner in four categories in our Annual Netroots Awards. That made him the top winner. Bloggers and online activists recognized him as one of us.

With the legislative session that starts today, Gelber is going even further with the use of new media, by livetweeting the Florida legislative session that will meet over the next 60 days. This isn't unprecedented at the national level and I some legislators in other states have done similar things, but Dan is breaking new ground here in Florida. And with the decline of our state and local media, we'll actually know more about what's going on in the capitol by reading Gelber's tweets than we will from reading our newspapers or watching the local news. Gelber has also been a repeat guest on our Florida Progressive Radio show on BlogTalkRadio and has made public appearances at our Netroots events. The point is he's a big supporter of the Netroots and shows that by participating in the things we do even more than many of our bloggers.

Maybe the biggest reason I want Dan Gelber representing me in Washington, though, is that he is a fighter. I've alluded to this a couple of times in terms of his blogging and things like that, but he doesn't just sit behind a computer and throw darts at the opposition, he gets out in the real world and mixes it up with Republicans as often as he can. He knows the legislative rules better than they do and despite being in a steep minority in the House, he was able to slow down Republican activity with procedural moves when they decided to ignore even basic rules of decorum and professionalism and prevent Democrats from even exercising their rights to free speech on the legislative floor. Gelber outmaneuvered Republican "star" Marco Rubio and forced the Republicans to back down and do the right thing. And he has a long track record of fighting the excesses of Florida Republicans, something that will serve him well when fighting Washington Republicans, who are mild compared to the subspecies we face here in Tallahassee. And it isn't just on the floor of the legislature, either, when election time comes around, we know which side Gelber is on and we don't have to worry about him using his position to help Republicans get elected.

None of this is to say that I would have any problem working to make sure that Kendrick Meek or Kevin Burns (or a number of other Democrats if they jumped into the race) won in the general election. Meek has a great voting record and it would be great to have more African-Americans in the Senate. Similarly, Burns would be the first openly-gay member of the Senate and that would be a significant step forward for America. I do question Meek's priorities, though, and I'm unconvinced that Burns could win the general election at this point. I want a proven fighter representing me. I want someone who is on the right side of the issues, knows how the system works and who believes in expanding the tools we use to change our country. I think that candidate is Dan Gelber.

It's Official, the Special Session Budget Is A Failure for Florida

The budget proposed by legislative Republicans is short-sighted, economically naive, immoral and the exact type of thinking that got us in the budget mess we are in now. Instead of doing the right thing and closing tax loopholes for the wealthy, Republicans are cutting essential services, mortgaging our future and raising fees (a.k.a. "taxes") on those less able to pay. They should be ashamed of themselves.

Overall, the "savings" in the new budget is $2.8 billion. The budget will be voted on Wednesday.

Among the key things on the chopping block:

$20 million from the Florida Forever program that buys up land for conservation purposes. This effectively shuts down the program for the year. I wonder how much of Florida's beauty will be destroyed in that year.

$480 million in education funding. This is shameful. We already have the lowest spending in the country on education and this will make it worse at a time when we also have the lowest graduation rate in the country. Like I said, mortgaging our future.

$321 million in construction projects, which could be good or bad, depending on what the projects are.

$437 million in other cuts. I'd like to see more details on these, although I have a feeling we aren't talking about good cuts here.

$1.5 million cut from the governor's office. Not a lot of money is saved here, but it's at least a good sign that the governor is going to face some of the same kinds of cuts everyone else is.

$100,000 by getting rid of a state aircraft. Okay, this one is definitely a good idea, too. It saves little money, but it is a good symbolic gesture.

One bright spot is nursing homes, which through a bit of budget creativity (why couldn't they have done this elsewhere?), will gain funding through cuts because they'll be able to qualify for more federal grants. I wonder how many other federal grants we didn't get because nobody tried to get them.

The other aspect of the "compromise" budget wherein there were really few compromises and few changes apart from what Republicans came to Tallahassee with is raids of various trust funds, some of which are permanent. Here's what they are taking:

$700 million from the Chiles fund, designed to pay for child welfare, child and elderly health care programs and anti-smoking efforts. The money is supposedly going to be paid back, unless there is an emergency. Who wants to bet that "emergency" has already been designated and this money won't be paid back? And since this fund pays for these programs based solely on the interest, this is a huge cut, taking out more than half the assets in the fund, meaning little is left to pay for these vital programs.

$190 million from a trust fund designed to provide low-income housing. I can't imagine that we'll have any need for low-income housing during a depression. At least we'll have good roads to drive on, thanks to Mike Fasano, who saved money for them (but not for any people, apparently).

$400 million from the Budget Stabilization Fund. This is a terrible idea considering the state of the economy and the almost universal projections of further economic decline. As Alex Sink said, this could leave us unable to meet our obligations down the road if things keep getting worse.

$381 million from other trust funds. Obviously, I'd have to know more about which trust funds to know if this is a good idea. Based on the rest of this crappy budget, I'm guessing these are bad things to be stealing money from.

And they propose increasing traffic fines, dropping the ability to get discounted fines for going to traffic school and taking away the power of judges to waive fines. Seems pretty clear that these increased taxes will disproportionately affect people at the bottom end of the economic spectrum -- increasing taxes on the poor.

Senate Democrats all voted against this proposed budget, except for waste of space Gary Siplin.

The problem looks to get worse, too, as the deficit for next year is projected to be over $4 billion. I can't imagine what they'll cut next time.

William March had this to add:

The legislation implementing the cuts is almost too difficult for a laymen, including reporters, to follow unaided.

Weren't Crist and the Republicans supposed to bringing "plain language" to the government? Another broken promise. Add it to the lists of promises our Republican leaders have broken to the Florida public since they came to office. There are so many of them, no one will even notice this new one.

From the Blogs

Progress Florida (Ray Seaman): Haridopolos: Statewide Candidates Should Be Bought Off Like Everyone Else

Senate Democrats Attempts to Help Floridians Rejected by Republicans

TALLAHASSEE – With hundreds of university professors, thousands of catastrophically ill Floridians, and scores of children’s programs on the line, Senate Democrats on Friday offered the Legislature for the second time in less than a year a billion dollar financial lifeline.

Senate Republicans threw it back - again.

“The money we found didn’t involve raising taxes a single penny,” said Senate Democratic Leader Al Lawson (D-Tallahassee). “It didn’t burden Floridians struggling to hold on to their jobs and their homes. And it didn’t attempt to raid teachers’ pay checks or toe the line of financial extortion on traffic tickets and court costs. All it did was wean some very wealthy special interests from the corporate welfare they’ve enjoyed for years. It’s time they joined the rest of us and paid their fair share.”

The money lifeline offered by Democrats came in the form of amendments sponsored by Senators Lawson and Dan Gelber (D-Miami) closing several tax loopholes tailored exclusively for high-end developers and non-Florida based corporations, and a review of certain exemptions. They were:

The real estate transfer tax loophole: Doc stamps most of us pay when property is sold are evaded by placing real estate into a trust, as one method, transferring the trust into a corporation, and then selling the stock in the corporation. For example, one company’s reported 2005 sale of six apartment complexes recorded the $300 million deal at only $60, and so avoided a $2.1 million tax bill. Estimates vary, but closing this escape hatch could fetch up to $200 million annually.

Combined Reporting: Closing this loophole could generate up to $400 million annually. Already eliminated by a growing number of states including New York and Texas, multi-state corporations such as some fast-food and toy store giants tap this loophole by setting up real estate rents or trademark fees through chains located in no-tax or very low-tax states, and so avoiding the tax due in Florida. This maneuver leaves those Florida-based and operating companies at a great financial disadvantage.

The third amendment involved sales tax exemptions – currently running in excess of $23 billion annually. The measure would have given the Legislature a process for review of all sales tax exemptions other than those for food, prescription drugs, health services, charitable and religious institutions, and certain others. The revenue generated from those exemptions eliminated would have been dedicated to education and the reduction of that portion of the property tax paying for local education budgets.

“We need to reexamine our priorities, especially when we face the severe damage we are levying on our social services programs and our kids’ education,” said Gelber. “It’s hard to justify a company using its toy logo to dodge Florida taxes when the very kids they’re selling to are about to lose their teachers.”

Friday’s efforts were not the first time Senate Democrats had attempted to stem the severity of the cuts to state services necessitated by the economic downturn. Similar efforts during the 2008 Legislative Session were also rebuffed by the Republican leadership.

“They can’t say they didn’t see this coming, and they can’t say they need more time to study these solutions,” said Lawson. “The longer the state waits for tax fairness, the faster the slide off the edge of the cliff.”

Senate Bill Update

The following are the bills introduced and still active in the Senate during the current special session.

SB 6A, 8A, 10A, 12A, 14A, 16A, 18A, 20A, 22A, 24A, 26A, 28A, 30A, 32A, 34A, 36A, 38A, 40A, 42A, 44A, 46A, 48A, 50A, 52A: I don't get the intent of these bills, which do nothing more than state the intent of the Senate to do something else. Any legislative experts have an explanation?

SPB 800A, 8002A, 8004A, 8006A, 8008A, 8010A: This is a series of bills that appear to be designed to cut appropriations for various departments. The online version of each bill, however, is blank after the title. Not sure if that is an online hiccup or if these bills are something else? Again, do we have any legislative experts who can give us more info?

From the Blogs

FLA Politics (mentelibre): Thank you Senator Alex Villalobos

From the Blogs

Progress Florida (Ray Seaman) - An Irresponsible Budget

Florida Citizens for Science: The new legislative session

Progress Florida (Ray Seaman): The First of Many Bad Ideas from "Crisatsom"

ricksblog: Sansom not only lawmaker on the take