FEA Legislative Update

One of the most difficult concepts to explain to normal folks (those who live outside the political hubbub) is the relationship between political party, legislative leadership and control of the legislative process.  When legislators come up to Tallahassee the old adage “all politics are local” doesn’t apply.  The power in Tallahassee is about which party has more votes in the legislature so they can pick the House Speaker and the Senate President.  The majority party— through the Speaker and Senate President—gets to call ALL the shots.  They decide who chairs committees, which bills will be heard, whose arms need twisting…all those things that eventually impact our work and lives.

So remember: once your homeboy or girl comes through those Capitol doors they are no longer the kid from down the street sent to Tallahassee to do good– they are Political Party members.  With that comes the responsibility of towing the Party Line or risk the wrath of Party Leadership.  From time to time, there are a few exceptions … such as those few Republican House members who voted against SB 6 last session (by the way, those few Republican friends we had in the House were booted out of office in November).

Right now, the Republican legislators have a “veto proof’ majority.  That means they control more than two-thirds of the vote.  They’re feeling pretty frisky and full of themselves.  They believe they have a voter mandate to do whatever they darn well please. That means we can talk to them until we are blue in the face, if the legislative leadership wants to pass bills we don’t like, there is not much we can do to stop them.

What can you do about it? Keep ‘em honest back home.  Take the conversation out of the Capitol and back to the districts where each legislator will be held accountable. Let’s make sure those voters know what they were really doing in Tallahassee.

Debunking Bill Rumors – Issues NOT Taken Up

The Florida Legislature began its new term on Tuesday with an Organization Session followed by a Special Session.  These two events are detailed below.  While many issues were discussed, no education bills or pension issues were included in this work.

We get calls and emails daily with questions about what the legislature is going to do during the 2011 Legislative Session.  We’ve even heard folks talking about a new SB 6 with a new number. No bill numbers have been assigned, no bills have been introduced, no committees have met.  The new committee chairs have been appointed but not all committee assignments have been announced.  Sure, you may see some draft ideas floating around, but even those are subject to change massively before March 8, 2011— the first day of the 2011Legislative Session!

Organization Session – New Legislators and New Leaders

The Legislature meets to elect officers and adopt its rules two weeks after a general election. This is called the Organization Session. The Constitution of the State of Florida states: “On the 14th day following each general election the legislature shall convene for the exclusive purpose of organization and selection of officers.” The Senate President and House Speaker often appoint committee chairs and members at this time, thereby allowing work to begin in preparation for the regular session.

State Sen. Mike Haridopolos, R-Merritt Island, formally became the Senate president today and made a promise during his opening statement that he would not raise taxes in the next two years. Haridopolos also said “If your bill raises taxes, makes it easier to file lawsuits against other Floridians or increases bureaucracy, I don’t like your chances,” Sen. Nan Rich, D-Weston, was chosen by the 12 Senate Democrats as minority leader.

Dean Cannon, R-Winter Park, was formally and unanimously elected as the House Speaker.  During his prepared remarks, Speaker Cannon said that lawmakers “cannot pass a bill to end the recession,” and said that legislators must avoid the “temptation” that government can fix a problem and that instead they should consider whether or not government “should be involved at all.”  Cannon also took aim at the Florida Supreme Court which tossed off the ballot proposed amendments dealing with property taxes, redistricting and health care. He called their rulings “threats to freedom.”  The Democrats elected Ron Saunders – Key West, the Democratic House Leader.

What happened during Special Session A?

The Senate and House met in a special Session for about 4 hours to consider vetoes of specific appropriations and substantive bills passed during the 2010 regular legislative session.  The issues they took up were:

·       Specific appropriation 185 and related proviso language in the 2010-2011 General Appropriations Act, Chapter 2010-152, Laws of Florida restoring $9.7 million from the state budget intended for Shands Hospital in Gainesville.

·       HB 545, relating to residential property sales and repealing the required disclosure of hurricane readiness.

·       House Bill 569, relating to solid waste disposal and allowing yard waste to be dumped with residential garbage.

·       House Bill 981, relating to agriculture zoning making it easier to maintain the agriculture lands classification after the sale of the property.

·       House Bill 1385, relating to petroleum contamination site cleanup and streamlining cleanup of contaminated gas stations.

·       Senate Bill 1516, relating to state-owned lands and calling for a comprehensive list of all state-owned property.

·       House Bill 1565, relating to rulemaking giving the legislature greater say over agency rules.

·       Senate Bill 1842, relating to transportation projects and requiring notice when the DOT installs median.

Both chambers also adopted legislation in the form of resolutions that change the effective dates and deadlines of certain appropriations and substantive bills passed during the 2010 regular legislative session which were vetoed.  Those resolutions include:

·       Extending the dates for implementation of onsite sewage treatment and disposal system evaluation program.

·       Rebates, using federal funds, on certain heating and air conditioning systems and certain solar energy systems.

A memorial calling on Congress to grant states more flexibility in the design and administration of Medicaid and expressing legislative intent to expand key components of the Medicaid managed care pilot while strengthening accountability, protecting patient choice, and improving access to care.