Florida Tribune Staff, 04/22/2011 - 02:21 PM
ARE YOU READY FOR OVERTIME?... In a light week in the halls of the Florida Capitol, it was notable for what wasn’t going on: high-level budget negotiations between House and Senate leaders.
The two chambers passed rival spending plans earlier this month. But state legislators can’t start their in-depth formal budget conference to work out their differences until top Republicans sign off on how much money should be set aside for education, health care, and transportation and other main spending areas.
But so far that hasn’t been easy.
There were attempts to bridge the gap this past week but talks shut down. There was no sign by the end of the week when a deal would be reached. While legislative leaders said they were confident they could still reach an agreement sometime soon, the inability to forge a consensus on the overall spending levels jeopardizes the ability of lawmakers to reach a deal on the entire budget in time for the scheduled end of the session on May 6.
House Speaker Dean Cannon acknowledged this week that going overtime was a distinct possibility given the time constraints. That’s because state law requires that the budget be completed three days
before the final vote is taken.
Cannon maintained that it was better to “get it right” than to worry about whether or not lawmakers are forced to extend their session into May.
FISHING, WALKING ON THE BEACH, AND LAWSUITS…This week brought the one year anniversary of the devastating Gulf of Mexico oil spill. The Deepwater Horizon disaster in 2010 killed 11 people and led to millions of gallons of oil spilling into the water and eventually washing up on to the beaches of Northwest Florida.
Gov. Rick Scott tried to emphasize that tourists should stop worrying about the oil. He and members of the Cabinet barnstormed through Northwest Florida this past week. Scott took time to go charter boat fishing, shopping for his wife and walking on the beach.
But Scott and Attorney General Pam Bondi also decided to let the deadline pass for joining an ongoing federal lawsuit against Transocean, the company that owned the failed oil rig.
Instead Bondi’s legal team emphasized that the best course of action for Florida is to press a claim against BP, the huge oil company responsible for the spill. They said joining the Transocean lawsuit could result in Florida having to pay huge attorney fees to those involved and that it would not impact any pending money that could be forthcoming from BP.
But that decision was sharply criticized by some Democrats. Rep. Rick Kriseman, D-St. Petersburg, said the failure to join the Transocean lawsuit was a “dereliction of duty.”
A day after the spill anniversary it was announced that Florida would receive $100 million from the oil giant for environmental restoration projects. The money is Florida’s share of $1 billion that BP had agreed to give to the five Gulf states and two federal agencies.
“While there is still much more to be done to hold BP and other responsible parties accountable for the damage done to our state, this marks an important first step in restoring our natural treasures to pre-spill status,” Scott said in a statement.
State officials maintained that the funds given by BP this week were not a final payment for restoration projects, but an initial step or down payment towards "big picture restoration" of the Gulf states.
SWEEPING GROWTH MANAGEMENT BILL PASSES…The Florida House this past week approved a sweeping bill to eliminate most state oversight of growth management.
It represents one of the biggest changes since the state passed its landmark growth management law back in 1985. HB 7129 would remove requirements in state law that developers pay for roads, schools and parks, which would instead become optional for cities and counties to require. The burden of proof would be shifted from local governments to residents in challenging local land-use decisions.
The bill also removes the twice-per-year limit on local governments to make comprehensive plan changes. Local governments no longer would be required to do thorough reviews of their growth policies and maps every seven years.
The final vote in favor of the bill followed a contentious debate where Democrats at one point suggested approval of the bill would bring payoffs to local officials in exchange for approving developments.
Democrats also said it would even undo planning controls brought in in 2005 under then-Gov. Jeb Bush, and would return Florida to the days of urban sprawl. Allowing frequent changes to growth plans, Democrats said, prevents citizens from trusting their local planning process.
Republicans said the bill would give cities and counties freedom to grow as they want without restrictive state oversight. They said local governments now have more planners than in 1985 and can make local growth decisions better than the state.
Rep. Chris Dorworth, R-Lake Mary, said legislators who don't support the bill "are just not interested in removing regulations in the state of Florida."
The Senate version of the bill, SB 1122, is awaiting action in its final committee stop, the Senate Budget Committee.
PILL MILL CRACKDOWN MOVES AHEAD…A comprehensive bill that attempts to halt so-called pill mills and curb prescription drug use in Florida was also approved this past week by the House.
Rep. Robert Schenck, R-Spring Hill and bill sponsor, said the measure would make “the state of Florida the toughest in the union to get these drugs,” while others hailed it as one of the most important pieces of legislation this year.
“This is perhaps, perhaps, bigger than job creation,” said Rep. John Legg, R-Port Richey. “This bill is probably one of the biggest bills we can discuss and pass here today.”
HB 7095 would force patients to go to pharmacies by banning doctors from handing out potent pain medication. It would also require prescriptions to be entered into the state’s drug database in a shorter timeframe than in place currently, and limit the number of doses a pharmacy can distribute each month.
House members, however, did agree to change the measure before voting on it. They agreed to allow orthopedic surgeons and other surgeons to continue to distribute pain medication to patients who have undergone surgeries involving anesthesia.
The House bill has the support of both Gov. Rick Scott and Attorney General Pam Bondi.
The Senate version is awaiting action but it is significantly different from than the House version. SB 818 does not include a ban on doctors distributing pain pills.
Despite an ongoing battle between the two chambers on what the final bill should look like, Schenck said on Thursday that after communicating with Bondi he has “been led to believe” that the Senate has agreed to the House’s version.
CUTTING DOWN ON FRAUD OR HELPING THE GOP IN 2012?...The Florida House was only in session for two days this past week but that didn’t stop lawmakers from spending hours of fierce partisan debate over a comprehensive elections bill.
Democrats attacked the bill as a throwback to the Jim Crow era, while Republicans defended the measure to clamp down on voter fraud.
The lengthy elections bill touches on everything from the state’s presidential preference primary to giving potential candidates the ability to spend money on “testing the waters.'' It would impose new standards on minor parties and it would move up the date of next’s year primary election to Aug. 14 so that it would not clash with the Republican National Convention being held in Tampa.
But the bulk of the debate centered on key provisions, including one that would likely affect college students trying to vote on Election Day. The measure would force anyone seeking to change their address from another county on Election Day to vote by provisional ballot. The ballot would not count, however, unless the voter was in the right precinct.
Another part of the bill would impose tight 48-hour deadlines on voter registration groups seeking to register voters.
Democrats argued this was part of an effort to keep some voters -- potentially Democratic voters -- from participating during the crucial 2012 presidential election.
Several black Democrats evoked painful memories of the Jim Crow area when barriers were placed in the way of blacks seeking to vote. One lawmaker talked about how one black man seeking to vote in 1920 was lynched by an angry white mob.
Rep. Dennis Baxley, R-Ocala, called many of the statements over the top and said the bill was merely designed to make improvements to the existing elections system in Florida.
“Please, let’s give a little respect for each other,’’ Baxley said. He said the main point was to improve the “credibility” of elections.
The measure was approved by a 79-37 vote and heads to the Senate. The Senate has its own version of the bill, but there are several key differences. The Senate bill does not include a plan to create a commission to set the date for next year's presidential primary. Under the House bill a group would be responsible for setting a primary date sometime between January and February.
The Week in Review was written and compiled by Gary Fineout, Brent Henzi, Kim MacQueen, Bruce Ritchie and Christine Jordan Sexton.
The two chambers passed rival spending plans earlier this month. But state legislators can’t start their in-depth formal budget conference to work out their differences until top Republicans sign off on how much money should be set aside for education, health care, and transportation and other main spending areas.
But so far that hasn’t been easy.
There were attempts to bridge the gap this past week but talks shut down. There was no sign by the end of the week when a deal would be reached. While legislative leaders said they were confident they could still reach an agreement sometime soon, the inability to forge a consensus on the overall spending levels jeopardizes the ability of lawmakers to reach a deal on the entire budget in time for the scheduled end of the session on May 6.
House Speaker Dean Cannon acknowledged this week that going overtime was a distinct possibility given the time constraints. That’s because state law requires that the budget be completed three days
before the final vote is taken.
Cannon maintained that it was better to “get it right” than to worry about whether or not lawmakers are forced to extend their session into May.
FISHING, WALKING ON THE BEACH, AND LAWSUITS…This week brought the one year anniversary of the devastating Gulf of Mexico oil spill. The Deepwater Horizon disaster in 2010 killed 11 people and led to millions of gallons of oil spilling into the water and eventually washing up on to the beaches of Northwest Florida.
Gov. Rick Scott tried to emphasize that tourists should stop worrying about the oil. He and members of the Cabinet barnstormed through Northwest Florida this past week. Scott took time to go charter boat fishing, shopping for his wife and walking on the beach.
But Scott and Attorney General Pam Bondi also decided to let the deadline pass for joining an ongoing federal lawsuit against Transocean, the company that owned the failed oil rig.
Instead Bondi’s legal team emphasized that the best course of action for Florida is to press a claim against BP, the huge oil company responsible for the spill. They said joining the Transocean lawsuit could result in Florida having to pay huge attorney fees to those involved and that it would not impact any pending money that could be forthcoming from BP.
But that decision was sharply criticized by some Democrats. Rep. Rick Kriseman, D-St. Petersburg, said the failure to join the Transocean lawsuit was a “dereliction of duty.”
A day after the spill anniversary it was announced that Florida would receive $100 million from the oil giant for environmental restoration projects. The money is Florida’s share of $1 billion that BP had agreed to give to the five Gulf states and two federal agencies.
“While there is still much more to be done to hold BP and other responsible parties accountable for the damage done to our state, this marks an important first step in restoring our natural treasures to pre-spill status,” Scott said in a statement.
State officials maintained that the funds given by BP this week were not a final payment for restoration projects, but an initial step or down payment towards "big picture restoration" of the Gulf states.
SWEEPING GROWTH MANAGEMENT BILL PASSES…The Florida House this past week approved a sweeping bill to eliminate most state oversight of growth management.
It represents one of the biggest changes since the state passed its landmark growth management law back in 1985. HB 7129 would remove requirements in state law that developers pay for roads, schools and parks, which would instead become optional for cities and counties to require. The burden of proof would be shifted from local governments to residents in challenging local land-use decisions.
The bill also removes the twice-per-year limit on local governments to make comprehensive plan changes. Local governments no longer would be required to do thorough reviews of their growth policies and maps every seven years.
The final vote in favor of the bill followed a contentious debate where Democrats at one point suggested approval of the bill would bring payoffs to local officials in exchange for approving developments.
Democrats also said it would even undo planning controls brought in in 2005 under then-Gov. Jeb Bush, and would return Florida to the days of urban sprawl. Allowing frequent changes to growth plans, Democrats said, prevents citizens from trusting their local planning process.
Republicans said the bill would give cities and counties freedom to grow as they want without restrictive state oversight. They said local governments now have more planners than in 1985 and can make local growth decisions better than the state.
Rep. Chris Dorworth, R-Lake Mary, said legislators who don't support the bill "are just not interested in removing regulations in the state of Florida."
The Senate version of the bill, SB 1122, is awaiting action in its final committee stop, the Senate Budget Committee.
PILL MILL CRACKDOWN MOVES AHEAD…A comprehensive bill that attempts to halt so-called pill mills and curb prescription drug use in Florida was also approved this past week by the House.
Rep. Robert Schenck, R-Spring Hill and bill sponsor, said the measure would make “the state of Florida the toughest in the union to get these drugs,” while others hailed it as one of the most important pieces of legislation this year.
“This is perhaps, perhaps, bigger than job creation,” said Rep. John Legg, R-Port Richey. “This bill is probably one of the biggest bills we can discuss and pass here today.”
HB 7095 would force patients to go to pharmacies by banning doctors from handing out potent pain medication. It would also require prescriptions to be entered into the state’s drug database in a shorter timeframe than in place currently, and limit the number of doses a pharmacy can distribute each month.
House members, however, did agree to change the measure before voting on it. They agreed to allow orthopedic surgeons and other surgeons to continue to distribute pain medication to patients who have undergone surgeries involving anesthesia.
The House bill has the support of both Gov. Rick Scott and Attorney General Pam Bondi.
The Senate version is awaiting action but it is significantly different from than the House version. SB 818 does not include a ban on doctors distributing pain pills.
Despite an ongoing battle between the two chambers on what the final bill should look like, Schenck said on Thursday that after communicating with Bondi he has “been led to believe” that the Senate has agreed to the House’s version.
CUTTING DOWN ON FRAUD OR HELPING THE GOP IN 2012?...The Florida House was only in session for two days this past week but that didn’t stop lawmakers from spending hours of fierce partisan debate over a comprehensive elections bill.
Democrats attacked the bill as a throwback to the Jim Crow era, while Republicans defended the measure to clamp down on voter fraud.
The lengthy elections bill touches on everything from the state’s presidential preference primary to giving potential candidates the ability to spend money on “testing the waters.'' It would impose new standards on minor parties and it would move up the date of next’s year primary election to Aug. 14 so that it would not clash with the Republican National Convention being held in Tampa.
But the bulk of the debate centered on key provisions, including one that would likely affect college students trying to vote on Election Day. The measure would force anyone seeking to change their address from another county on Election Day to vote by provisional ballot. The ballot would not count, however, unless the voter was in the right precinct.
Another part of the bill would impose tight 48-hour deadlines on voter registration groups seeking to register voters.
Democrats argued this was part of an effort to keep some voters -- potentially Democratic voters -- from participating during the crucial 2012 presidential election.
Several black Democrats evoked painful memories of the Jim Crow area when barriers were placed in the way of blacks seeking to vote. One lawmaker talked about how one black man seeking to vote in 1920 was lynched by an angry white mob.
Rep. Dennis Baxley, R-Ocala, called many of the statements over the top and said the bill was merely designed to make improvements to the existing elections system in Florida.
“Please, let’s give a little respect for each other,’’ Baxley said. He said the main point was to improve the “credibility” of elections.
The measure was approved by a 79-37 vote and heads to the Senate. The Senate has its own version of the bill, but there are several key differences. The Senate bill does not include a plan to create a commission to set the date for next year's presidential primary. Under the House bill a group would be responsible for setting a primary date sometime between January and February.
The Week in Review was written and compiled by Gary Fineout, Brent Henzi, Kim MacQueen, Bruce Ritchie and Christine Jordan Sexton.
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