Archive for the ‘Florida Legislature’ Category
The area’s very own Rep. Clay Ford (R-Gulf Breeze) is the sponsor of HB 1211, a sweeping rewrite of the open meetings and public statutes collectively referred to as Florida’s Sunshine Laws. The bill would combine the two currently separate statutes into one and officially designate it as the “Open Government Act,” as well as effecting numerous significant changes to the law.
The bill’s companion in the Senate, SB 1598, is sponsored by State Sen. Paula Dockery (R-Lakeland), and earlier this week…
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Here’s a look at the bills Florida House District 3 Rep. Clay Ford (R-Gulf Breeze) has filed for the current session of the Florida Legislature, which began yesterday:
HB 257: Wreckers
HB 257 revises provisions for exceptions to vehicle weight limits applicable to wreckers; provides that specified license tax provisions apply to wreckers used for certain purposes.
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Here’s a look at the bills Florida House District 2 Rep. Dave Murzin (R-Pensacola) has filed for the current session of the Florida Legislature, which began yesterday:
HB 583: Medicaid
HB 583 requires that funds repaid to the Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) by managed care plans that spend less than certain percentage of capitation rate for behavioral health services be deposited into Medical Care Trust Fund…
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Here’s a look at the bills Florida House District 1 Rep. Greg Evers (R-Baker) has filed for the current session of the Florida Legislature, which began yesterday:
HB 51: Motor Vehicle Load Weight Limits
HB 51 requires specified scale tolerances to be applied to weight limits for vehicles on highways that are not in Interstate Highway System; provides that specified tolerances do not apply to cranes; provides for determination of fines…
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The members of the Northwest Florida legislative delegation will meet on February 22 to vote on whether or not to submit to the Legislature the consolidation plan developed by the Escambia County Consolidation Study Commission (ECCSC).
The plan lacks support from any of three governments it would consolidate. The Pensacola City Council declined to endorse the plan. The Escambia County Commission pulled its support and voted instead to ask the legislative delegation to delay a referendum…
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Some of the rhetoric used by our Florida legislators when arguing in support of oil drilling is just silly.
Northwest Florida’s own Rep. Greg Evers (R-Baker) reportedly said that a vote for the drilling bill “is a vote for our way of life. A vote against it is a vote for OPEC.”
As that doesn’t even make any sense, we can only assume that Rep. Evers doesn’t understand how oil drilling works. We don’t have state sponsored oil companies in the United States. If offshore drilling is allowed, space will be leased off to private oil companies. Then, after five or ten years pass…
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A few items I wanted to highlight today:
Pensacola News Journal:
“CMPA lawsuit was the result of years of frustration”
Megan Pratt:
“City pensions—a couple of quick fixes”
Larry B. Johnson:
“Pace Boulevard school site”
St. Petersburg Times:
“Little cheer for Florida legislators…”
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It may be the most sensible thing they’ve done all year. Today, a bill which would curb so-called “double-dipping” passed both houses of the Florida Legislature and awaits the signature of Florida Governor Charlie Crist.
The bill, HB 479, would prohibit state employees drawing both a salary and pension from the same agency. The loophole, which requires only that the employee be “retired” for thirty days before being rehired, has been utilised by more than 225 elected officials and 9,000 state employees, including several in Escambia County such as Tax Collector Janet Holley and Clerk of the Circuit Court…
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Today’s the last true day of the Florida legislative session (although members will return next week to finalise the budget). There’s a last minute frenzy of all sorts of bills concerning everything from light rail to phone deregulation to gambling to Jesus license plates.
If you’re interested in following the hullaballoo, you can do so on Twitter. Here are some folks worth following…
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Progressive Pensacola is proud (or ashamed?) to present the latest installment of our weekly feature, Our Crazy Legislature. Each week, we try to round up some of the many, many bad decisions made by the Florida Legislature, and some of the many, many bad ideas proposed by the legislators therein. There are so many that it’s literally hard to keep track.
“House leader says controversial elections bill is dead for this session”
“‘Timing is everything’ in bid to greenlight offshore drilling”
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Progressive Pensacola is proud (or ashamed?) to present the latest installment of our weekly feature, Our Crazy Legislature. Each week, we try to round up some of the many, many bad decisions made by the Florida Legislature, and some of the many, many bad ideas proposed by the legislators therein. There are so many that it’s literally hard to keep track.
Although there are plenty of terrible things going on in the Legislature, this week we’re going to focus on a single issue due to it’s utter and complete terribleness. Republican legislators in both houses of the Legislature are making concerted attempts…
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Progressive Pensacola is proud (or ashamed?) to present the latest installment of our weekly feature, Our Crazy Legislature. Each week, we try to round up some of the many, many bad decisions made by the Florida Legislature, and some of the many, many bad ideas proposed by the legislators therein. There are so many that it’s literally hard to keep track.
“Raise sales tax, cut exemptions, forget ‘user fees’”
“Hang up on this bill”
“Unemployment”
“Florida lawmakers want to ban novelty lighters”
“A serious comment”
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Progressive Pensacola is proud (or ashamed?) to present the latest installment of our weekly feature, Our Crazy Legislature. Each week, we try to round up some of the many, many bad decisions made by the Florida Legislature, and some of the many, many bad ideas proposed by the legislators therein. There are so many that it’s literally hard to keep track.
Miami Herald:
“Common sense goes up in smoke”
Orlando Sentinel:
“We think: State needs fair budget”
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S 1840, a bill which would increase Florida’s cigarette tax by $1 per pack, has cleared the Senate Finance and Tax Committee. From the St. Petersburg Times:
“A Senate committee ended a nearly 15-year freeze on tax hike proposals in Florida Tuesday, unanimously voting to raise the cigarette tax $1 per pack and increase the tax on cigars and smokeless tobacco $1 per ounce.
Supporters called it a historic opportunity to raise more than $870 million in new revenue, discourage smoking, and offset the state’s Medicaid program…”
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As we’ve mentioned before, the idea of raising Florida’s cigarette tax, which is dramatically lower than the national average and hasn’t been raised since 1990, has been picking up steam in the Florida Legislature.
Yesterday, tobacco lobbyists and Rep. Ellyn Bogdanoff met with House Speaker Larry Cretul to make the case for big tobacco. The Miami Herald political blog Naked Politics fills us in:
[Larry Williams of Reynolds Tobacco]: “Our mission is to say, first people who use our product — 55 percent of them are at the poverty level — and if you’re going to balance the budget, you’re going to balance it…”
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A few items I wanted to highlight today:
Pensacola News Journal: “City vs. brokers”
Pensacola News Journal:
“Viewpoint: Don’t take away the DCA”
Florida Progressive Coalition:
“Nelson Is Wrong on Judicial Nominations”
Pensacola News Journal:
“Pensacola police officer dies in I-10 wreck”
Officer Travis Pitts of the Pensacola Police Department was killed yesterday…
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Progressive Pensacola is proud (or ashamed?) to present the latest installment of our weekly feature, Our Crazy Legislature. Each week, we try to round up some of the many, many bad decisions made by the Florida Legislature, and some of the many, many bad ideas proposed by the legislators therein. There are so many that it’s literally hard to keep track.
“Bill to ease wetlands development advances in Florida House”
“Rep. Cannon and his allies should abandon nonsensical attack on DCA”
“Public notices must be noticed”
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Progressive Pensacola is proud (or ashamed?) to present the latest installment of our weekly feature, Our Crazy Legislature. Each week, we try to round up some of the many, many bad decisions made by the Florida Legislature, and some of the many, many bad ideas proposed by the legislators therein. There are so many that it’s literally hard to keep track.
“Bogdanoff: No cig tax on my watch”
“Budget deficits bigger than Crist figured”
“Florida sales tax breaks aren’t likely to be dumped”
“Lawmakers seek hiding places”
“Storm clouds are on the horizon for state’s Sunshine law”
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Today, we begin a new feature that we’re calling Our Crazy Legislature. Each week, we’ll try to round up some of the many, many bad decisions made by the Florida Legislature, and some of the many, many bad ideas proposed by the legislators therein. There are so many that it’s literally hard to keep track.
Here’s this week’s menu:
*The Buzz: “New rules for the old telephone company”
*Tampa Tribune: “Stop unwarranted assault on DCA”
*Bob Graham: “Add funding, subtract politics”
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Here’s what the three Pensacola-area representatives in the Florida Legislature are working on (Boy, am I underwhelmed):
Greg Evers
* HB 501: Specifies changes to Florida’s early learning programs
* HB 515: “Provides for differential rates for oil production tax on tertiary oil adjusted for delivered price; exempts specified oil & gas production from tax for specified period…”
* HB 923: Regulates hoisting equipment used in construction, demolition, or excavation work
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Tomorrow, the Florida Legislature will open its 2009 legislative session.
A primary focus will be the task of balancing Florida’s budget. There’s a $6 million shortfall in next year’s budget, and state revenues continue to decrease. Most indications are that the Legislature will continue to cut spending on things like healthcare and education (keep in mind Florida is already near-last in the nation in education spending) and raising all sorts of fees (the Republican way to raise taxes and say they didn’t), rather than roll up their sleeves and work hard to find better things to cut…
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Rick’s Blog: “Inside PD Owens reorganization”
Mr. Outzen and company use public records to illustrate the effect of Public Defender James Owens’ controversial layoffs…
Pensacola News Journal: “In the cards, jobs and tourism draw”
The Escambia Board of County Commissioners voted last night, by a 3-2 margin, to allow poker rooms at the Pensacola Greyhound Track…
The Buzz: “Crist reveals $66.5 million budget”
Florida Governor Charlie Crist has unveiled his budget recommendations. Here’s the quick breakdown…
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Lots of good stuff today:
Council meeting roundups
Both the Pensacola News Journal and Rick’s Blog round up last night’s Pensacola City Council meeting:
Sam Hall: “Coffee with the mayor”
Mayor Wiggins is planning a monthly session called “Coffee with the mayor”…
Rick’s Blog: Legislative delegation update
The Buzz: “Zapata files cigarette tax hike”
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A few items I wanted to highlight today:
South Florida Sun-Sentinel:
“Plane truth: Jeff Kottkamp’s trips home are costly for taxpayers”
“Florida Lieutenant Governor Jeff Kottkamp and his moustache have cost Florida taxypayers $425,000 for 365 flights on state planes during his first two years in office…”
St. Petersburg Times:
“Three-step program to prevent Ray Sansom-type scandals in Florida”
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Rep. Larry Cretul is the new House Republican leader. So much for Rep. Ray Sansom’s “temporary recusal”idea. The Buzz has the details:
“The House Republican caucus just voted to install Rep. Larry Cretul as the new leader, effectively stripping Ray Sansom from his job as Speaker. Cretul is expected to become the permanent Speaker on March 3, when the full 120-member House begins the 60-day regular session.”
The folks at the St. Petersburg Times were even kind enough to get us some audio…
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Looks like Florida State Rep. Ray Sansom’s plan to temporarily vacate the House Speakership, and perhaps reclaim it later, is a bust.
In a letter to acting Speaker Larry Cretul (R-Ocala), House Rules Chairman Bill Galvano (R-Bradenton) has interpreted House rules to require the election of a new Speaker:
“In an abundance of caution and in order to ensure certainty and avoid any further ambiguity, I recommend that nominations be taken and that the House formally elect a Speaker on March 3, 2009, the first day of regular session…”
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As you know, Florida House Rep. Ray Sansom announced Friday that he would “recuse” himself temporarily from the Speakership of the Florida House, apparently with the intention of reassuming the Speakership should investigations into his ethically troubled behaviour suddenly vanish.
The problem? That might not be legal.
Florida House Rule 2.5 states in part:
“The Speaker pro tempore shall exercise the duties, powers, and prerogatives of the Speaker in the event of the Speaker’s death, illness, removal, or inability to act, until the Speaker’s successor is elected.”
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Embattled Florida House Speaker Ray Sansom has stepped down as Speaker of the Florida House. The St. Petersburg Times’ political blog The Buzz was first to report several hours ago that he was likely to step down, and Rep. Sansom has now issued a statement to that effect.
According to The Buzz, Rep. Larry Cretul (R-Ocala) will take over at least temporarily.
Update: Sansom has released a statement:
“Effective immediately, I have decided to recuse myself from the exercise of my duties as Speaker of the House of Representatives…”
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Today, the Florida Supreme Court approved ballot language for two proposed constitutional amendments which would set guidelines for the redistricting process.
This is a major victory. The Republican Party of Florida has come to be overwhelmingly dominant in the Legislature through disingenuous districting. They’ve redrawn district lines in bizarre ways, gerrymandering them so as to tip districts toward the Republican side of the spectrum and protect incumbents. This is why the Republican Party of Florida holds nearly a two-thirds majority in both houses of the Legislature…
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Linked below is a copy of the Escambia All for One bill, which asks the Legislature to establish a commission to study the unification of the governments of the City of Pensacola, the Town of Century, and Escambia County. Escambia All for One calls the process consolidation, but we prefer the term unification (the governments could consolidate some functions, like sanitation, engineering, etc., without unifying).
As chronic readers know, Progressive Pensacola opposes the measure. We believe that the process as outlined will not safeguard the interests of the City of Pensacola and its citizens…
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An overwhelming majority of Floridians support a $1 raise of the cigarette tax to help deal with state revenue shortfalls, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today.
The question:
Florida’s cigarette tax is now 34 cents a pack. Some legislators and public health groups are suggesting raising the cigarette tax an additional dollar a pack. Do you support or oppose raising cigarette taxes in Florida one dollar a pack?
Yes: 71%
No: 26%
Don’t know: 3%
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Florida House Speaker Ray Sansom has rarely spoken publicly since the scandal over his quid pro quo college job blew up. He’s been refusing interviews and ducking out via backdoors to avoid the media.
In the past few days, though, Speaker Sansom finally spoke, in a series of interviews with Florida newspapers. While he tried to avoid talking about the scandal, focusing on tax issues, he did make a few comments that made me giggle.
He told the Orlando Sentinel that he “will never understand the controversy.” He remains resolute in denying that anything ethically questionable occurred…
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This morning the Florida House and Senate finalised a deal on plugging the state’s estimated $2.4 billion shortfall. They’ve cut $1.2 billion in spending; the rest comes from raiding various endowments and trust funds. They’ve actually plugged $2.8 billion in the agreement, adding an additional $400 million in case things get worse (which they probably will).
What got the deepest cuts? You guessed it, education and healthcare.
The budget will be printed today and the Legislature is expected to approve it and end the special session on Wednesday, two days earlier than expected…
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As many of you know, the Florida Legislature is currently convened in a special session to address the $2.3 billion shortfall in the state budget. Just as they did last year, they’re focusing on cuts to vital services like education and healthcare, while refusing to cut funding in other areas or to consider tax increases.
Facing more than $600 million in cuts, Florida’s schools are perhaps the Legislature’s biggest target… Hospitals are looking at $137 million in cuts… Florida’s land protection program Florida Forever looks doomed…
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A few miscellaneous things I wanted to highlight today:
Pensacola News Journal:
“Young Democrat groups planning Monday celebration”
The Young Dems and UWF College Dems are having a gathering to celebrate Democratic victories of the past year. There will be free food. It’ll be fun.
Pensacola News Journal:
“Blues Café gone”…
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More bad news for Florida House Speaker Ray Sansom today.
State Attorney for the Second Judicial Circuit Willie Meggs announced today that he would present complaints over Speaker Sansom’s questionable dealings to a Leon County grand jury on January 26.
The St. Petersburg Times reports:
Once the Grand Jury is empaneled on Jan. 26, Meggs will give the complaints to jurors, leave the room and let them decide whether it should be investigated…
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Even after resigning from his cushy, quid pro quo college job, Florida House Speaker Ray Sansom is still under fire for his perceived improprieties and it’s not — just from the other side of the aisle.
Tallahassee Republican Ray Bellamy has spent $6,000 of his own money to take out several ads in the Tallahassee Democrat calling on Governor Charlie Crist to investigate “the ethical and possibly criminal violations that may have occured.”
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Alex Leary of the St. Petersburg Times reports that Northwest Florida State College president Bob Richburg sent several “shopping lists” of desired funding to State Rep. Ray Sansom (R-Destin), who, as we all know, is now both the Speaker of the Florida House, and an employee of the college, at the same time.
The emails are remarkable. [...]
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As of this morning, there are 100,000 persons incarcerated in the Florida state prison system.
Expect that number to continue to rise steadily.
In last year’s state budget, the Florida Legislature cut education funding by $332 million while managing to find $309 million for prison construction. That’s the idea. As our young people graduate from an underfunded, [...]
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Northwest Florida State College, the institution for which Florida House Speaker Ray Sansom nabbed $35 million in the last two years, and which rewarded him for his efforts with a six-figure administration job, is back at the table asking for seconds.
The college wants $13.2 million this time around. The Florida Department of Education is recommending [...]
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I haven’t said much about Florida House Speaker Ray Sansom and his sweetheart $110K/year job at Northwest Florida State College, an institution for which he’s helped secure more than $25 million in funding. Other area bloggers, Rick Outzen in particular, have taken the lead.
But it’s not just Rick talking anymore. The big state papers are [...]
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Jeff Atwater, the incoming president of the State Senate, has rounded out his staff. They’re expensive.
I railed against Atwater’s selection of wealthy friend Budd Kniep as his chief of staff in a viewpoint published in the Independent News earlier this year. Kniep, who has no prior experience working in this or any other legislature, will [...]
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