Check the new WhoseFlorida for updates This e-mail is a behind the scenes look at the Legislature written by Lois Frankel, Democratic Leader of the Florida House of Representatives. The views expressed are her views and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of all Democrats in the Florida House. Readers may take quotes from or otherwise reproduce this message without further permission. If there are any questions, Representative Frankel can be reached at (561) 681-2597 during business hours (Monday through Friday 8:30 AM to 8 PM). Or readers may respond by e-mail to banfill.ryan@leg.state.fl.us . (see also Environmental Legislative actions 2001)
Behind the Scenes Florida Legislative Session
2001 May 16, 2001 THE END! After 60 days of wreaking havoc, on May 4, 2001, the Florida Legislature adjourned - but not until the Governor and Legislature took a sledgehammer to past reforms. Here's what some newspapers are saying: The Gainesville Sun called this year's session a "session of shame." Tallahassee Democrat Executive Editor John Winn Miller called the Legislature "arrogant, unethical and vengeful" saying the Legislature is "undoing years of needed political reform with a disregard for history and doublespeak that would make George Orwell blush." The Orlando Sentinel said the Speaker of the House should be "hanging his head in embarrassment" because he presided over "one of the most counterproductive sessions ever." What has gotten so many people upset? A FAILURE OF PRIORITIES Governor Bush and legislative leaders turned down raising teacher salaries and expanding Florida's prescription drug benefit program for needy seniors in order to provide tax cuts to less than 4% of Floridians. Faced with a budget deficit, the Republican leadership chose to march towards their goal of less government by trampling responsible government. To pay for tax cuts $75 million was robbed from Preservation 2000 the trust fund used to buy environmentally sensitive lands and $46 million from tobacco settlement dollars, money used to pay for health care and senior programs. EDUCATION: SMOKE AND MIRRORS FROM TALLAHASSEE Legislative leaders put on false bravado on education spending. While they brag about a 6.3 % increase in education funding, the budget actually provides less per student in the base student allocation and provides no new state general revenue dollars in our public schools. When you make an "apples to apples" comparison of last year's public school budget with this year's you will find that we are only increasing public school funding by 1.30 percent. That's after making a 2.5 percent adjustment for inflation, factoring in a student population growth of 50,404, and removing school recognition funds from the FEFP (consistent with the 2000-2001 budget). What happens when the schools are provided a funding increase only 1.3 percent above the level of inflation at a time when teachers are leaving the profession? They will need to reduce student services and staff. Each school district will need to re-evaluate their budget to determine what cuts are needed in order to pay their basic fixed costs such as utilities, janitorial service and food service while still trying to attract teachers. NO NEW STATE GENERAL REVENUE DOLLARS FOR EDUCATION The additional dollars in K-12 used to pay for new students is not from new general revenue funds. While cutting intangible taxes for a few, the Legislature will borrow money from the state employee pension plan and force some school boards to raise property taxes in order to fund student growth. TEACHERS LAST With baby boomer teachers looking forward to retirement in the next ten years, the teacher shortage in Florida and around the nation will be a crisis. It is estimated that our state must hire 162,000 teachers over the next decade. Florida's teacher salaries are $5,000 below the national average and $4000 below neighboring Georgia. Instead of making a permanent investment in our teacher infrastructure, the Legislature will hand out one-time $850 bonuses to recruit and retain teachers. While teachers are deserving of this offering, it falls disappointingly short of where Florida needs to be to compete for the best and brightest teachers we need in our classrooms. THREE MINUTES OF SHAME At around 11:30 pm on the last day of session, the House passed a massive education reorganization bill, which included disbanding of the Florida Board of Regents and eliminating the standards for Florida's respected pre-kindergarten program. Shockingly, opponents of the plan were given only three minutes to debate. LONG LIVE THE KING This session was an unprecedented power grab for
Florida's Governor. Talk about money moving politics! NURSING HOMES In the waning hours of session, the Legislature passed a bill that some say protects the people who build nursing homes before protecting those who live and work in nursing homes. The nursing home reform bill makes it harder for nursing home patients who are harmed to hold their caretakers accountable. The legislation raises staffing standards to meet federal recommended criteria by the year 2003. That means that the worst nursing homes are protected from wrongful acts immediately, while patients have to wait three years for the state to enforce minimally accepted standards. Amendments to improve the legislation filed by House members were ignored by the Speaker of the House. In a dramatic vote, the prime sponsor of the legislation voted no in protest to a distasteful bill. SERVICE WORST Remember the Governor's so-called Service First plan to allegedly reform Florida's civil service system? I told you in a previous newsletter, that a Special Master brought to Florida to mediate contract negotiations between state workers and management said that Bush's plan had the potential to be Service Worst because it would make it difficult to hire or retain competent workers. Now, Bush's so-called efficiency czar hired to lead his reform efforts quit from her $95,000-a-year job four months after she was hired, saying she can't support his rush to streamline state government and privatize state jobs. Bush hired Ruth Sykes, a 20-year Air Force veteran, in January to be his new director of efficiency and enterprise development to reduce government and cut spending for the 13 agencies run by the governor's office. Bush's response to Sykes' parting was "life goes on." A RAY OF SUNSHINE - ELECTION REFORM Under major election reform legislation passed, there will be no more hanging chads and no more butterfly ballots. We will have a statewide recount standard, increased voter education, and poll worker training. It's too bad that legislative leaders mean spiritedly added provisions that eliminate the second primary and damage public campaign finance laws. BUT, THANKFULLY, IT'S OVER! The 2001 legislative session is over. You are temporarily safe. My reports will be less frequent. But you will hear from me soon. Next year, redistricting. Have a great summer. Sincerely, Behind the Scenes Florida Legislative Session
2001 April 27, 2001 WEEK 8: McKAY AND FEENEY SECRETLY BREAK IMPASSE Senate President John McKay finally gave in to Speaker Tom Feeney and Governor Jeb Bush on tax cuts over budget needs. After months of agreeing with Democrats that Florida could not afford to give imprudent tax cuts while facing a one billion dollar deficit, McKay decided he couldn't outstare Feeney and Bush. In a secret meeting somewhere in Tallahassee, Feeney and McKay decided the fate of next fiscal year's budget. TOBACCO SETTLEMENT FUNDS USED TO PAY FOR TAX BREAKS Where did Senator McKay "find" new money to pay for the tax breaks that he couldn't stomach last week? In a slap to the legacy of Governor Chiles, the Republican leaders discovered they could find more tobacco settlement money. Of course, that's not really a new strategy. Lawton Chiles fought like a gladiator against big tobacco and won a $13 billion settlement on behalf of the state. The money was supposed to be used for health services. Instead it has turned out to be the slush fund for tax giveaways to corporations and upper income Floridians. How ironic that the very corporate lobbyists who twisted the arms of every politician in Florida to try to stop the tobacco lawsuit have succeeded in diverting the settlement funds to their clients now that Jeb Bush is in charge. HOUSE DEMOCRATS DEMAND REPUBLICANS PLAY FAIR WITH PUBLIC Using the House Rules and the Florida Constitution as our guide, for a short time on Wednesday, House Democrats halted the Republican steamrollers. With 111 proposals on the calendar for Wednesday, Republican leaders, claiming a computer glitch, failed to give the 120 members of the House timely notice of the order of the bills for the second day in a row. When Democrats objected, Republican leaders ambushed members by bringing up bills scheduled for the following week. Using a tactic not seen since 1967, Democrats moved to have bills read in full in order to slow things down. The Republican leadership was stunned but went into high gear. Some Democrats were privately threatened that they would "lose" their budget projects and bills if they did not relent. Others were "sweet talked" with promises if they would break from fellow Democrats. Later, Republicans audaciously changed the rules so that notice of bills would not be required. Don't you love Democracy? EDUCATION "MISORGANIZATION" Republicans moved forward in the House with radical legislation to reorganize Florida's education system. During floor debate, Democrats cautioned members that they were moving too fast and urged more deliberation. The bill completes the abolishment of the Board of Regents and State Board of Community Colleges. Republicans argue that their new plan gives "local" control to the 10 state universities. Is that before or after Jeb Bush gets to appoint the 11 members of each of the Board of Trustees? The proposed legislation also wreaks havoc with the education of our youngest children. The bill repeals dozens of laws passed, within the last ten years, aimed at setting high standards in pre- kindergarten education and educational opportunities for toddlers. TOWARDS ELECTION REFORM - JURY STILL OUT! Bravo to the Florida Senate, which passed a sweeping bipartisan election reform package. The legislation pays for new voting machines and voter education. Among its provisions are the standardization of ballots, a voter's bill of rights, clear standards for recounts, and non-partisan supervisors of elections. It does, however, contain one controversial section that eliminates the second primary. For those who don't remember, the second primary gave us Governors Askew and Graham. Proponents say that too few voters come out in the runoff. As reported last week, election reform in the House turned ugly when Republicans added campaign finance provisions aimed at giving Jeb Bush an advantage for his re-election bid. Now House and Senate conferees will have to hash out their differences. Let's hope that the bipartisan approach of the Senate prevails. Election reform that does not have the approval of both Democrats and Republicans will be met by suspicion by half of Florida's voters. After Florida's embarrassment of November, this legislature must not go home without fixing our election process. GROWTH MANAGEMENT The Florida House moved forward with a growth management bill that infuriated environmentalists when it was weakened by favors for special industries. The original bill focused on tying development to school overcrowding and determining the economic impact of a proposed new development on a community. Those measures, supported by Jeb Bush and opposed by homebuilders and developers, have the support of the Democrats and many Republicans. But keeping with its controversial reputation, Republican leaders allowed the bill to be amended with several anti-environmental measures. The Senate apparently will reject the House's approach, which means that any reform in growth management may be dead this session. Need a fortuneteller for this one! WORKERS' COMPENSATION Florida workers have been complaining for years that injured workers' benefits are unfair. Likewise, Florida businesses have been complaining that workers' compensation insurance is too costly. So when this issue comes to the attention of the legislature, who usually wins? Not workers. The House moved along what opponents are calling the worst workers' compensation bill that they have seen in years. Despite the argument of Democrats, Republicans left in provisions that will make it nearly impossible for injured workers to find lawyers and added other provisions that severely reduce compensation for injuries suffered on the job. THE END IS IN SIGHT We are heading into the last week of session. Hang tight! Sincerely,
BUDGET WEEK IN TALLAHASSEE: HOUSE LEAVES $455 MILLION PLUS ON TABLE This is the week that lawmakers in both chambers took up their version of Florida's spending plan for 2001-2002 fiscal year. The House Republican Leaders' spending came to $53.3 billion dollars. Budget Chairman Carlos Lacasa told House colleagues that the House budget did not include $355 million being held back for tax cuts and another $100 million for member bills. As a result of decreasing tax revenues due to large tax cuts in 1999 and 2000 and a slight downturn in Florida's sales tax collections, lawmakers had $2 billion new mandatory expenses (Medicaid and students) and only $1 billion in new dollars. This meant some heart tugging cuts and swiping money from trust funds. Democrat amendments to the House budget reflected the continuing divide in the House along party lines in regards to spending priorities vs. tax cuts for a small percentage of Floridians. (The proposed intangible tax cut returns money to only 4% of Floridians.) Democrats urged their Republican colleagues to follow the example set by Senate Republicans and Democrats and reject tax cuts and instead fund education, health, and election reform priorities. The House floor debate got testy at times because, under House rules, Democrats were not allowed to use money held for tax cuts. Instead, Democrats were forced to make their points by proposing shifting money already appropriated. Democrats' most important proposals, which were defeated along party lines, included: The vote on the budget comes on Tuesday, followed by a conference committee that will work out the differences between the House and Senate budgets, which remain millions of dollars apart because the issue of tax cuts. HOUSE DEMOCRATS AND GOVERNOR BUSH AGREE ON PROTECTING P-2000 FUNDING Yes, that's correct. House Democrats and Governor Jeb Bush finally find common ground! Both are critical of the State Senate's decision to take $100 million from trust funds dedicated to buying environmentally sensitive land. Raiding it now could be a fatal blow to our commitment to protect our natural environment for future generations. PARTISAN BRAGGING I have much admiration and perhaps some envy at the brilliance of the political spin of some of my colleagues. When certain of us push hard for more money for education to raise teacher salaries and reduce class sizes as we did during the budget debate on Friday, we are reminded that it was only when Republicans took over Tallahassee that education funding increased by billions of dollars. Would someone like to remind these folks that this largess was made possible by the greatest economic boom in the history of our country and the courageous efforts of Governor Lawton Chiles standing up to the tobacco industry. How ironic that the very lawmakers who tried to stop Florida's lawsuit against the tobacco industry are getting to spend the billions of dollars collected. With that said, the state's investment in public school education has not kept up with the student population growth and inflation. So I say to my colleagues who are still bragging about last year's budget that the game is not over, so don't declare victory yet. Florida is facing the challenge of recruiting and retaining 162,000 teachers in the next ten years. The federal government will be cutting our taxes soon, so forget unwise state tax cuts and step up to the plate for education! TEACHER RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION PLAN MOVES FORWARD? HB 1505, the 911 Plan for recruiting and retaining the 162, 000 teachers it will need in the next ten years passed its first committee this week, but not without considerable drama. The bill is aimed at creating a long-term systemic solution for the challenge that faces Florida. Despite the ballyhoo of last year's budget, teacher salaries in Florida are $5000 below the national average ranking 30th nationally. Lawmakers have so far responded with gimmicks like $1000 signing bonuses and $100 awards for supplies. HB 1505: establishes a teacher salary improvement
program that will increase funding for competitive salaries; Allows teachers to transfer retirement benefits from one district to another and allows retiring teachers to return to the classroom without losing pension benefits; and, Encourages alternative routes to teacher certification. At the Committee on State Administration, some Republicans chastised bill sponsors for proposing to use funds from the pension surplus to help teachers. This criticism came despite the fact that House leadership is raiding the same source for tax cuts and budget turkeys. Unpredictably the bill passed out of the committee unanimously. Onlookers described the scene as confusing at best. The bill will be heard next in the Committee on General Education where we are hoping for continued bi-partisan support. ATTACK ON THE COURTS MARCHES ON! Last week I reported to you that the House Republican leadership rammed through HB 367, which gives the Governor all the appointments to the Judicial Nominating Commissions. Word around the capitol this week was that House Speaker Tom Feeney has strongly suggested to Senate President John McKay that he expects the Senate to get moving on judicial reform. Will we be trading Supreme Court Justices for beds for the homeless (a McKay priority)? VOUCHERS, VOUCHERS, VOUCHERS While the voucher bill aimed at school overcrowding has been getting all the headlines, the corporate tax credit bill has quietly and insidiously been moving in the Senate after it's passage in the House along party lines. This bill allows corporations to give donations for scholarships to private schools in lieu of paying their state corporate tax. No, I'm not kidding! STILL TO COME Nursing home, growth management, and election reform legislation are on the horizon. Education and cabinet reorganization efforts are moving through the process. The optometrists and ophthalmologists are still fighting. The telephone access bill seems dead (for now). Some pharmaceutical drugs may be cheaper by the end of session. So many issues and only five weeks to go. But of course the big question remains: Will the Florida Senate hold firm on their commitment to pass a responsible budget before dishing out tax cuts to a few? Stay tuned. More next week! Sincerely, Lois J. Frankel Behind the Scenes, 2001 Florida Legislative
Session The Radical Revolution pushes on in the Florida House of Representatives After week one when we saw a poorly timed intangible tax proposal and a bizarre corporate tax credit voucher program rammed through the House, we hoped that things would lighten up in the lower chamber. That was wishful thinking! The House Republicans continued their stampede of ill-conceived bills aimed at disrupting the basic fabric of our lives: public school education, the judiciary, and the delivery of state services to our citizens. The House abandons public schools HB 303, which gives a $3000 voucher for private school tuition to students who attend a public school that is at over 120% capacity, barely passed the House (63-54) after heated debate. All Democrats present and 12 Republicans voted against this proposal which was presented under the guise of being a "temporary measure" to relieve overcrowded schools. Consider these facts: This so-called "temporary relief" has the potential of providing currently 179,000 children with a lifetime private school voucher. It is also an enticement to the 288,000 children all ready in private school to return to the public schools for five months and leave with another $864 million in taxpayer money. Nor is this a bill about school improvement. Using Governor Bush's own grading scale, only 4% of the 2300 schools in Florida are both overcrowded and either D or F's schools. So it is obvious that HB 303 is aimed at removing children from Florida's "highest performing" schools and sending them to unaccountable private schools. That's why opponents accused bill sponsors of abandoning the public school system, a clear violation of the Florida Constitution, which requires a system of "free public schools." The closeness of this vote showed that despite the powerful Republican leadership in the House, many Republicans could not stomach a bill that essentially says "every man, woman, and child for themselves!" It is not difficult to suggest that had Republican leaders not arm-twisted many of their rank and file, this bill would have gone down in flames. Why doesn't Governor Bush tell House Republicans that they are wreaking havoc with his A-plus plan? House Democrats unveil teacher recruitment plan On a more positive note, House Democrats introduced HB 1505, which we affectionately call our 911 Plan for recruiting and retaining teachers. Florida will need more than 162,000 teachers over the next ten years. A caucus work group chaired by former school board member Representative Curtis Richardson crafted a well thought out proposal, which does the following: Like most Floridians, Democrats believe that investing in caring qualified teachers, not private school vouchers, is the best way of improving public school education. Stacking the Courts! The House Republican leadership rammed through HB 367, which gives the Governor all the appointments to the Judicial Nominating Commissions. Republicans lamely spoke about trying to minimize the role of the "unelected Florida Bar" which now gets three appointments on each panel. Oops did they forget to mention that some Republicans are not too happy with the Florida Supreme Court's rulings during the presidential recount or their decisions declaring certain legislative measures effecting the death penalty and abortion to be unconstitutional. Or what about expected rulings on tort reform and voucher legislation? HB 367 comes at the same time Republicans are trying to raise millions of dollars to defeat the merit retention election of what they describe as "three liberal" Supreme Court Justices. Wouldn't it be nice to have three openings on the Supreme Court at the same time a stacked JNC makes nominations? Interesting how President Bush has just announced discontinuing a fifty-year tradition of getting ABA input on Federal Judge nominations. Is it unreasonable to suggest that there is a right-wing agenda here? Civil Service Deform! I am not one to constantly defend the status quo. I remember when lawmakers such as myself were accused of being radical for wanting government standards for childcare or suggesting that retailers be penalized for selling tobacco to minors. Personally, I like new ideas. But change for the sake of change is not necessarily good, especially if it returns us to bad practices or leads to unintended consequences. The Governor's proposal for civil service reform, which passed in the House Friday mostly along party lines, makes a good sound bite but avoids the real problem Florida state government faces. Florida has 16 million residents, millions of them children, seniors, and non-English speaking immigrants. Compared to the other 50 states, we are 49th in state workers per capita, 50th in the cost of a state worker per capita, and 43rd in pay for state workers. In other words we are asking too few people, who make little money, to serve too many persons. So how does the Governor react? He proposes cutting the state work force 25%, jeopardizing the security of those who are left, and going back to the days of political patronage. This effort is nicely packaged under the guise of "business efficiency." The problem with this concept is that while private enterprise exists to make profit, there is no profit in such things as protecting children from abuse, inspecting nursing homes, or performing background checks on prospective parolees. However, doing these jobs correctly means "savings" to society. So while General Motors can lay off workers and refuse to sell cars to people who can't afford them, state government does not
have the same luxury of Can we do better? Yes. Should we do better? Yes. Bringing in technology, better management techniques, and real financial incentives may work. But a chief executive officer that lifts morale is also important. And what about paying people for the worth of their labor? The Governor's tax cutting spree supported by most legislators these past two years has just about made it impossible to pay state workers or teachers for the value of their labor. Watch out teacher unions! Republicans in the House tried to introduce a late filed bill that would have the effect of rendering the state teacher union impotent. Pushed by Speaker Feeney, the measure would virtually ban payroll deduction and the use of teacher funds for political endeavors. Democrats successfully opposed the introduction of the proposal but were told that Republicans would find another vehicle to do the dirty deed. Political Retribution Call me suspicious but is it a coincidence that Republicans are taking aim at state worker and teacher unions that backed Democrats in the last election? Does that explain why police, firefighters, and correction officers, backers of mostly Republicans, were not treated like other similarly situated state workers in the civil service reform bill? Election Reform Week three and still no peep from House leadership on election reform. Thank you to Katherine Harris for at least recognizing the need to lease precinct based optical scanning equipment by 2002. As for the rest of her proposals, not too realistic with the present Tallahassee crowd in charge. I'm headed back to West Palm Beach. What a week. I think I earned another purple heart! But as I said on the floor of the House this week, those of us in the back" will not surrender! More next week! Sincerely, Lois J. Frankel March 16, 2001 WEEK 2: The McKay Position on Tax Cuts When I first read the headlines this week, I thought Buddy (MacKay) was back in town. It was McKay v Bush all over again! My kudos to Senator John McKay for his common sense and statesman approach to Florida's budget woes this year. Even to oppose an unfair or unwise tax cut takes political courage. I can't help thinking though, when Democrats oppose unwise tax cuts they are called tax and spend big-government liberals. When a Republican does the same he or she is called courageous and wise. McKay has gratefully spared (for the time being at least) his colleagues in the Senate from making a very tough political vote. No such luck in the House where Democrats are under a stampede of fast moving bad ideas. The Vouchers that Ate the Sunshine State! Next week House Republicans will bring to the floor a proposal that, along with the Corporate Tax Credit bill that passed last week, signals the beginning of the end of the public school system in Florida. HB 303 would give a $3000 voucher for private school tuition to any student who attends a public school that is at over 120% capacity. Once in a voucher program a student would be permitted to use vouchers until high school graduation. Research shows that the biggest benefactors would be upper- income families in the fast growing suburbs where classes are overcrowded. Some Republicans are calling this a temporary measure! But my friend Speaker Tom Feeney will candidly tell you that his vision of education would allow every student a voucher to go to any school that would accept him or her. Combined with Education Commissioner Charlie Crist's plan to prohibit portables, the Republican's penchant to reduce taxes before investing in education, and the continuing growth of new students, this plan if passed would signal that the Florida Legislature has flaunted the Florida Constitution and abandoned our public schools. Judicial overkill Watch out for a number of proposals that threaten the independence of the judiciary. HB 367 by Brummer would give the Governor all the appointments to the Judicial Nominating Commissions. Do we really want to further politicize the Courts? As an aside, Gov. Jeb Bush is poised to become the powerful Governor in the history of Florida. Here's what's happening: Republicans want to kill the Board of Regents and set up individual college boards giving the Governor at least 90 new appointments. They want to do this quickly just in case Bush does not win a second term. The constitutional revision amendments that go into effect in 2002 means that the Governor appoints the Secretary of State, ducation and possibly the insurance regulator. Other proposed judicial measures such as HJR 627 HJR 655 and HJR 783 would make it easier to remove judges, thus giving the Governor even more appointments. Do we really want a Governor to be an octopus with his or her tentacles everywhere? Nursing Homes Republican Representatives Nancy Argenziano and Carole Greene have been working closely with new Democratic member Mark Weissman on nursing home reform. The original committee bill is a very good starting point. But watch out for another vehicle that reportedly will be filed by Rep. Bennett, which will be more the liking of the nursing home industry. I have filed a Democratic plan, which deals with quality issues. It is very similar to the Argenziano/ Greene plan sans the litigation reform. Quite frankly the quality issues are easier to identify. For example, we know that more and better trained staffing will make a real difference for the health and safety of patients. It is less clear how to give the industry the insurance relief that they desperately need. In this regards Democrats remain open to constructive proposals. But the rubber meets the road in the budget. The Governor's proposed budget and House budget do not contain enough money to make the quality care improvements recognized by the Brogan led Long term Care Commission. I have not yet seen the Senate budget to comment. Declaring Victory Politicians have a way of winning small battles and declaring victory while the war is still raging. Case in point: The Republicans in the House and the Governor justify their proposed tax cut plan by bragging about the increased spending in education and social services and a pharmaceutical drug program passed within the past two years. Although lawmakers should get kudos for investing in education, assisting the disabled, and recognizing that many seniors can't afford their prescription drugs, the fact of the matter is that spending in the past two years has been catch up (taking advantage of a good economy) and Florida still faces a teacher shortage crisis and more than one million seniors who can't afford their prescription drugs. Special Rule It looks that the so-called special rule in the Florida House has become more usual and not so special. With this "rule" Republicans are able to limit how many amendments Democrats can file and the amount of time for debate. While the rule has the advantage of allowing each party to manage its own floor debate, Democrats have been urging the Republican leadership to allow more flexibility. And now the Speaker has his personal preference that no visual aides be used on the floor, even after the House devoted valuable state dollars to build a state-of-the-art Chamber that would allow for power point presentations. Fortunately, the Speaker did not stop the Governor from showing a video during his State of the State address! Question: Is all this constitutional? The U.S. and Florida Constitutions prohibit prior restraint on speech. Guess who brought recent cases enforcing this right? If your answer is the Republican Party (Republican Party of Florida v. Florida Election's Commission) and Operation Rescue (Operation Rescue v. Women's Health Center, Inc.) you are correct. This is insider baseball, but if the minority has trouble being heard that's a threat to a Democratic process. More next week! Sincerely, Lois J. Frankel Democratic Leader Florida House of Representatives (Top) March 9, 2001 First week of session This was the hardest most intense first week of session for me in 13 sessions. The Republican leadership decided to crank out two of their biggest issues intangible tax cut and corporate tax credit (for private vouchers) early. Both of these bills are controversial and bad policy given the budget picture. So why push them out the first week? I suggest it was to keep their rank and file support from getting soft and try to pick off Democrats before we could get organized. They failed with the latter, because Democrats in the House were organized and mostly together. But in terms of their own members, the Republican leadership in the House had to see what was happening in the Senate, where there are all experienced members. They decided to move before new members (63) got their "sea legs." Intangible tax cut v budget cuts HB 21 I have previously sent my thoughts on the intangible tax bill. The debate went as expected, as did the vote. One has to ask, how it is possible that although almost every Republican senator has openly expressed concern with tax cuts before budget cuts, not one Republican in the House spoke out. It appears that they (Republicans in the House) are under "lock and key." Today's new revenue forecast showing $230 million less than expected just emphasizes the folly of the Bush/Feeney/Fasano tax plan, which coincidently removes approximately $230 million more from the budget. All to give very small returns to persons with modest assets and larger but relatively insignificant returns to the very wealthy. For example a couple with less than $100,000 gets nothing, $140,000 gets $100, and $2,000,000 gets $805. So what is a small gain for a very few (less than 4%) translates into another huge hit to Florida's budget (approximately $230 million). What this means for example is that the person who gets to keep an extra $100 may have to sit in an emergency room in their home town for hours before being cared for because citizens who relied on state funded medical programs have no where to go for primary care but to hospitals. Will the Governor get his way? Stay tuned! Corporate Tax Credit for private school vouchers HB 271 This bill (along with HB 303 on using vouchers for school overcrowding) represents the abandonment by Republicans of the public schools. The bill is wrong because it undermines public school system. It takes resources out when they should be going in. It is wrong because it abdicates the legislature's responsibility to the citizens of Florida and gives it to private corporations. We let corporations choose how to spend their tax obligation. And we even gave them an incentive- a federal tax break not to pay their taxes. This is an incentive that we do not give to our individual citizens. It's wrong because at the same time we are grading public schools and forcing FCAT tests on teachers, Republicans are willing to allow millions of dollars flow out of our cash starved budget to unregulated unaccountable private schools. Republicans argue that parents will hold the schools accountable. But what about those parents who are not responsible or are who are too young or substance abusers or just uneducated themselves? The bill is wrong because there is no
statewide infrastructure to implement sleeping) of removing 1.2 billion from our
public school system. That's 9 Every year there are thousands of young men and women graduating from our public schools who go on to become productive tax paying law-abiding citizens. To name a few: Ernest Hemingway, Thomas Edison, Al Pacino, Burt Reynolds, Susan B Anthony, Colin Powell, Lawton Chiles, Bob Graham, Oprah Winfrey, Dwight Eisenhower, Ronald Reagan, Michael Jordan,Tiger Woods, Martin Luther King, Tom Feeney. We should not give up! HB 273 Reporting Requirements This is a good bill with two glaring omissions. Candidates have been increasingly overwhelmed by independent expenditures. This bill requires reporting of names of contributors to CCEs and expenditures by groups independent of the candidate. Democrats tried unsuccessfully to add amendments to require that parties report their three-pack spending and that individuals independent from the candidate report expenditures greater than $5000. (Remember Doc Dockery and the bullet train?) Why did Republicans refuse? They do not
want the public to know how much HB 269 Sharpening the Pencil This is a very good bill that provides OPPAGA with primary responsibility for best financial practice review of school board. This will work if OPPAGA has the resources to do their job! Special Rule The House has new rules that allow a "special rule" for bills. The Procedural Council dominated by Republicans can limit amendments and time for debate. The majority leads its debate; the minority directs the Democratic debate. The special rule was used on the three bills this week (intangible tax, corporate tax credit, and campaign reporting.) The rule actually worked well with one exception. A freshman Democrat submitted an amendment on
HB 271, which prohibited I quietly protested to Speaker Feeney that playing politics on technicalities was not a good way to start. When he took no action to reverse what I thought was an unfair undemocratic decision, I protested again at our pre-session meeting. Since the press was present he accused me of grandstanding and threatened not to have pre session briefings. Later on the floor when Democrats tried to have the amendment heard, Republicans voted not to take it up. However I think that this hardball tactic embarrassed some of their rank and file. By the end of the day one leader told me that things would be less inflexible in the future. I hope so. Otherwise, things were cordial on the floor and the level of debate on both sides was excellent. Inside funny of the week! During Jeb Bush's state of the state speech to the legislature, he showed a video, which featured a teacher, principal and student talking about the value of the FCAT. Just after his speech I was standing in the rotunda when a woman I did not know came over, shook my hand, and told me how much she admired my work as a legislator. I thanked her and asked her to introduce her family to me. She said, "don't you recognize me? I'm the teacher who was in the Governor's video and this is my student." More next week. Any questions, please
email or call me. 850 488 4791 during Lois Frankel
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