Justices Give Geen Light To Solar Initiative
October 23, 2015
The Florida Supreme Court on Thursday approved a proposed ballot initiative that seeks to expand the use of solar energy, moving the state one step closer to a fierce political battle next year.
Making clear they were not offering an opinion on the merits of the proposal, justices ruled 6-1 that the initiative, backed by a group called Floridians for Solar Choice, met legal standards to go before voters. The group now will have to submit 683,149 valid petition signatures by Feb. 1 to qualify for the November 2016 ballot — about 500,000 more than it had submitted as of Thursday morning.
“We are thrilled with the high court’s ruling so that voters may have the opportunity to vote on removing a barrier that currently blocks Florida’s families and businesses from greater energy choices through the power of the free market,” Tory Perfetti, chairman of Floridians for Solar Choice, said in a prepared statement immediately after the Supreme Court decision. “People power is what will get us on the ballot, and we continue to gather thousands of signatures each week from Floridians eager for solar choice.”
The proposed constitutional amendment, in part, would allow businesses to generate and sell up to two megawatts of solar power to customers on the same or neighboring properties. In doing so, it would largely shield the solar producers from state and local regulations.
The initiative has drawn opposition from a coalition including major electric utilities and has spawned a competing solar ballot proposal. That proposal, spearheaded by the group Consumers for Smart Solar, is awaiting a review by the Supreme Court.
Dick Batchelor, co-chairman of Consumers for Smart Solar, said it was “unfortunate” that justices approved the Floridians for Solar Choice proposal.
“We caution Florida voters about this disingenuous solar ballot measure that favors big out-of-state solar companies instead of Florida consumers,” Batchelor said in a prepared statement. “We simply cannot allow this seriously flawed amendment to pass. This special interest amendment puts Florida consumers, and especially our seniors, at great risk of fraud and abuse.”
The Supreme Court reviews proposed constitutional amendments to make sure they will not be confusing or deceptive to voters. That involves making sure proposed amendments deal with single subjects and that the ballot titles and summaries — the parts seen by most voters — are clearly worded.
The majority opinion, supported by Chief Justice Jorge Labarga and justices Barbara Pariente, R. Fred Lewis, Peggy Quince, Charles Canady and James E.C. Perry, said the Floridians for Solar Choice proposal met the requirements.
“Without considering the merits of the measure, we find that the title and summary clearly and unambiguously inform the voter that the amendment will prevent government and electric utilities from imposing regulatory barriers to supplying local solar electricity up to two megawatts to customers at the same or contiguous property,” the opinion said.
But Justice Ricky Polston dissented, arguing that the ballot summary is “confusing” and doesn’t accurately describe the scope of the proposal.
In part, Polston wrote that the ballot summary “leads the voter to believe that this initiative is about someone who owns a small house or small business with a solar panel on the roof and wants to sell electricity on a small-scale. However, according to the Florida Electric Cooperatives Association, a single local solar generating facility capable of generating two megawatts of electricity would span over 12 acres and could serve approximately 714 customers. The ballot summary does not provide notice to the voter that this proposed amendment provides for this scale of completely unregulated electricity generation.”
With the court’s majority approving the ballot proposal, however, the groups on both sides were clearly readying Thursday for a political fight.
Stephen Smith, executive director of the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, a key supporter of Floridians for Solar Choice, quickly took aim at “big monopoly utilities” that oppose the initiative.
“We fully expect more misleading attacks from the big electric utilities and their proxy front groups in their desperate attempt to limit customer choice,” Smith said in a prepared statement.
by Jim Saunder, The News Service of Florida
Scott Wants $250 Million To Lure Businesses To Florida
October 23, 2015
Gov. Rick Scott, pressing reluctant lawmakers to fund a “nearly bankrupt” effort to recruit businesses to Florida, said Thursday he will ask for $250 million in 2016 for corporate incentives, with new rules on how the money would be approved and banked.
Scott, addressing the Enterprise Florida Board of Directors in Orlando, also ratcheted up his call for business leaders to lobby lawmakers for the money, advising them not to give in until each legislator publicly announces support for the funding plan.
“If they (lawmakers) don’t put out a press release and say, ‘I absolutely will support these reforms,’ then that’s a no,” Scott said.
Scott spoke with Senate President Andy Gardiner, R-Orlando, before the Enterprise Florida meeting. But Gardiner, whose members have been skeptical of the public-private business recruitment agency’s claims about a lack of available incentive money, isn’t ready to make a decision on Scott’s request.
“The president told the governor that he was looking forward to reviewing the governor’s proposal in more detail in the coming weeks,” Gardiner spokeswoman Katie Betta said in an email.
House Speaker Steve Crisafulli, R-Merritt Island, said he was looking forward to seeing the details of Scott’s proposal.
“I know we all share the goal of keeping Florida a national leader in job creation,” Crisafulli said in a prepared statement.
The $250 million is part of Scott’s proposal to change the incentives-funding process under Enterprise Florida.
He also wants lawmakers to: create the Florida Enterprise Fund, a trust fund that would keep designated incentive money in the state treasury until companies reach job-creation goals; and to let the House speaker and Senate president sign off on deals that top $1 million instead of waiting for the Joint Legislative Budget Commission to give approval.
Currently, money the state promises a business for relocating to Florida or expanding in the state is placed into a low-yield commercial escrow account, with payouts made when promised new jobs and economic-development performance measures are met.
Lawmakers have been questioning the use of escrow accounts.
Gardiner has proposed the state set an annual statutory cap of $50 million to cover future economic incentive payments, which he noted have never topped $20 million in a single year.
Scott, calling his proposed trust fund the “Let’s beat Texas’ butt enterprise fund,” said the use of the treasury will give the state a better interest rate than the escrow accounts.
Florida Chamber of Commerce President Mark Wilson, an Enterprise Florida board member, called the $250 million request, with the quicker approval process, “a good start.”
“This is about diversifying the economy, which is why this organization was created,” Wilson said of Enterprise Florida.
Earlier this year, Scott asked lawmakers to set aside $85 million for business incentives. The final budget for the fiscal year that started July 1 included $53 million for Enterprise Florida, of which $43 million was for incentives and $10 million was for marketing.
Scott said his latest request is needed to compete with other states, such as New York, which has $150 million for incentives; Texas, which has $90 million; South Carolina, which has $58 million; and Georgia, which has $46 million.
“We’re not going to beat these states if we don’t reform the Quick Action Closing Fund,” said Scott, who repeated a claim he’s made since August that the fund used to complete incentive deals is “nearly bankrupt” for the rest of the fiscal year, which ends June 30.
“I don’t care what anybody says, it will in fact, run out of money,” Scott said.
Members of the Senate Transportation, Tourism, and Economic Development Appropriations Subcommittee questioned such claims Tuesday. They noted that about $141 million is currently held in escrow and that over the prior four years, $112 million that had been available for the agency’s recruitment “toolkit” went unspent.
by Jim Turner, The News Service of Florida
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Driver Charged With DUI In Nine Mile Road Crash
October 22, 2015
A man was arrested for DUI after crash with a motor scooter on Nine Mile Road.
Florida State Troopers said 24-year old Zachary Jordan Pittman was driving drunk when his 2000 Honda Accord crashed into a motor scooter occupied by 18-year old Antonio Delvalle. The accident happened about 3:30 a.m. on Nine Mile Road just west of I-10.
Devalle was transported to Sacred Heart Hospital in critical condition. Pittman was charged with DUI with serious bodily injury and careless driving.
Coffee With A Cop Held In Century
October 22, 2015
The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office held a Coffee With a Cop event Thursday morning at the Southern Panhandle restaurant in Century.
The Coffee with a Cop event provided an opportunity for community members to ask questions and learn more about what the ESCO is doing in their neighborhood.
Coffee with a Cop is a national initiative supported by the United States Department of Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services. Similar events are being held across the county, as local police departments, sheriff’s offices, and state police forces strive to make lasting connections with the communities they serve. The program aims to advance the practice of community policing through improving relationships between law enforcement and community members one cup of coffee at a time.
Pictured top: Coffee with a Cop in Century Thursday morning. Pictured inset: Century Mayor Freddie McCall with Deputy James Gilman during the event. Courtesy photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Century Decides To Accept Bids For Website, Marketing Services
October 22, 2015
The Town of Century has decided that a maintenance contract for a new website and implementation of other marking plan proposals will be put out for bid after clarifying that the town will be responsible for footing the bill.
Century’s current website was developed by an area marketing firm in 2012 for $5,950, part of a $11,450 package that also included a five year comprehensive marketing strategy.
In 2013, the town was awarded a technical assistance grant from the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity to develop an economic development strategic plan. After hearing proposals from four contenders, the town contracted with the Haas Center (the research and consulting arm of the University of West Florida) to develop the plan at no cost to the town.
The Haas Center’s detailed plan and recommendations included a new website for the town, with suggestions from the Haas Center in late 2014 that the website be created by a volunteer or perhaps UWF marketing interns.
On October 5, Dr. Felicia Morgan from the UWF Marketing Department and Johnathan “Jet” Tisdale of the Pace company White Paper Marketing presented a marketing plan with a one year contract at $1,650 per month cost for website maintenance, an email subscription drive, website and a database management and other marketing resources. Any additional costs, such as advertising purchases, would add to the bottom line.
After questions arose about whether the cost would be the sole responsibility of the town, or if any grants or other funding sources existed, the council tabled any action on accepting the proposal. A question was also raised if the the town should accept bids on the marketing plan.
This week, town officials reported that the UWF Marketing Department had already contracted directly with White Paper Marketing for $8,000 for website and logo design and those items had been accomplished.
Now the town will pay their consultant, Debbie Nickles, to create a request for proposals in order to receive bids to implement the marketing plan, including website maintenance, newsletter production, a recreational guide and formation of a young professional’s group. The town will pay for the services using economic development funds.
A timetable to accept bids has not yet been set.
Pictured top: Dr. Felicia Morgan from the UWF Marketing Department and Johnathan “Jet” Tisdale of the Pace company White Paper Marketing address the Century Town Council on October 5. NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.
Escambia RESTORE Projects Scored
October 22, 2015
Proposed RESTORE Act projects in Escambia County have been scored and ranked by a consulting firm.
The 124 projects were scored and an estimated costs assigned. The top 10 scoring projects (listed with numerical score and cost) were:
- Restore the City Creek 78.0 $5,760,000
- Eleven Mile Creek Stream Restoration 77.0 $12,929,908
- Navy Blvd Beautification and Navy Point Restoration 76.0 $17,020,000
- Forest Creek Apartment Complex Acquisition/Demolition & Jones Creek Floodplain Restoration Project 74.0 $2,029,200
- Lake Charlene/BridleTrail 73.0 $501,923
- Beach Haven S & NE 72.0 $18,000,000
- Perdido Key Gulf of Mexico Public Access 71.0 $1,648,000
- Perdido Bay Bronson Field Living Shoreline Project 66.0 $840,000
- Jackson’s Lakes Diversion & Wakeboard Park 66.0 $930,000
- Jones Swamp Wetland Preserve Management & Ecosystem Restoration 65.0 $940,000
Five projects specifically benefiting some portion of the North Escambia area (north of Muscogee Road) were submitted. Those projects (listed with rank, numerical score and cost) were:
43. Town of Century Water Quality Improvements 50.0 $486,000
73. Cantonment Community Center 36.0 $2,000,000
89. Lambert Bridge Rd 30.0 $500,000
101. Cottage Hill Water Works Infrastructure Update and System Improvements 27.0 $3,700,000
119. Cantonment Sportsplex 9.0 $50,000
The RESTORE Advisory Committee will next review the projects and Dewberry rankings. The 11-memember committee will submit recommendations to the Escambia County Commission following three November public hearings.
Pictured top: A RESTORE project information meeting held recently in Cantonment. NorthEscambia.com file photo, click to enlarge
Senate President Looks To Target Fantasy Sports Teams
October 22, 2015
Florida Senate President Andy Gardiner is exploring what the state can do to shut down daily fantasy sports, even as federal prosecutors are probing the online industry that has taken the nation by storm and drawn accusations of illegal gambling.
Gardiner has asked his lawyers to look into fantasy sports, in which players pay entry fees to draft “teams” that compete against each other for cash prizes based on the actual performance of players.
The fast-growing daily fantasy sports industry is the focus of probes by prosecutors in New York and Tampa, where the U.S. Attorney’s Office recently subpoenaed the Florida-based Fantasy Sports Trade Association.
People in the industry contend that fantasy sports is not gambling because it involves games of skill, not chance, which are outlawed under most state gambling laws.
But gambling regulators in Nevada last week ordered companies like FanDuel and DraftKings to stop operating in the state after determining that online players’ activity “involves wagering on the collective performance of individuals participating in sporting events.” The decision prompted several online fantasy sports businesses to shut down operations in the state.
“I have asked staff to kind of start the process of researching as much as we possibly can,” Gardiner, R-Orlando, told The News Service of Florida on Wednesday. “I would remind you we ran the Internet cafes out of the state of Florida because they were outlawed and they were bad. You have the Nevada Gaming Commission saying that FanDuel and DraftKings are gaming and gambling. So we have an obligation, if we’re going to be consistent, that we need to look at them, and, if it is gaming, then we need to react to it.”
Two years ago, lawmakers hurriedly passed a law shutting down Internet cafes in response to an investigation into Allied Veterans of the World, a bogus charity accused of running an illegal gambling ring throughout the state.
House Speaker Steve Crisafulli also has directed legal aides to explore the fantasy sports issue.
“It is early in this conversation and there is a lot to learn about the status of this industry under Florida law. We intend to understand that more before any decisions will be made moving forward,” Crisafulli, R-Merritt Island, said in an interview Wednesday.
Brian Ballard, a lobbyist who represents the Fantasy Sports Trade Association, accused Nevada gambling regulators of “a hugely protectionist move” in shutting down the online games and said “it doesn’t make sense” to do the same in Florida.
“You can see pretty clearly they’re trying to protect the casinos and other interests they have,” Ballard said Wednesday. “I don’t think it’s relevant to what goes on in Florida.”
Ballard said that industry operators are amenable to regulations that would protect players, such preventing employees of daily fantasy sports operations like FanDuel from participating.
“I think you’ll see legislation soon that talks about regulation and talks about consumer protections and really enhances the rights of players but also protects them from any problems that would treat them unfairly,” he said. “I’m hopeful that we’ll see a mix of keeping what’s legal, legal, while protecting players’ consumers’ rights first and foremost.”
Amid the growing debate over whether the daily fantasy sports sites are legal or not, the association contributed $70,000 last month to political committees led by Florida lawmakers, according to a state Division of Elections database.
And the association and FanDuel have retained some of the Capitol’s most influential lobbyists, including Ballard, J.M. “Mac” Stipanovich and Marc Reichelderfer.
Congress exempted fantasy sports from a 2006 federal law that banned online gambling, but questions remain about whether the virtual competition violates a nearly century-old Florida statute. Five states — Iowa, Louisiana, Montana, Arizona and Washington — have banned fantasy sports.
Marc Dunbar, a Tallahassee lawyer who specializes in gambling and who teaches the subject at Florida State University’s law school, said the activity is outlawed in Florida.
“The state statute is very clear. It says that you and I cannot wager against each other on a game of skill. Chess, checkers, cards, fantasy sports, horse racing — doesn’t matter. We can’t wager on a contest of skill. Most states don’t have a statute like that,” Dunbar said.
The Florida probe could link a violation of the state law with the federal Illegal Gambling Business Act, which Dunbar said could be a “death sentence” for the industry in the state. Under the federal law, any violation of a state gambling law could open up businesses to fines, forfeiture, or even prison, Dunbar said.
“The statute hits everybody. It hits investors. It hits everybody who aids and abets. It’s a very, very, broad, intentionally broad, and aggressive statute. It was passed … as part of the Kennedy-era, anti-mob laws to deal with organized crime,” Dunbar said.
Dunbar said he recently handled a case in the federal Middle District of Florida, where the fantasy sports investigation is centered, involving an online lottery.
“They don’t play around. You’re talking about forfeiture of everything related to the enterprise,” he said.
by Dara Kam, The News Service of Florida
Poarch Creek Operated Slot Machine Case Heads To State Supreme Court
October 22, 2015
A closely watched case about whether a North Florida racetrack operated by the Poarch Creek Indians of Atmore can offer slot machines could be decided by the Florida Supreme Court, after a filing this week.
A three-judge panel of the 1st District Court of Appeal ruled Oct. 2 that Gretna Racing in Gadsden County cannot have slot machines without legislative approval, a legal victory for Attorney General Pam Bondi and Gov. Rick Scott’s administration.
The case has implications for several counties — Gadsden, Brevard, Lee, Hamilton, Palm Beach, and Washington — where voters have approved referendums authorizing slots at local pari-mutuels.
In the Oct. 2 ruling, the appeals court asked the Florida Supreme Court to weigh in on the issue of whether pari-mutuels can have slot machines if local voters approve, or if the games require the express say-so of the Legislature.
The case was sent to the Supreme Court on Tuesday, according to online dockets.
by The News Service of Florida
A Month Of Temporary Lane Closures Begin Today On Highway 168
October 22, 2015
There will be temporary lane closures beginning today and continuing for about a month on Highway 168 near Bratt. The temporary single lane closures will take place on the Hobbs Branch Bridge on Highway 168 between Pine Barren Road and Wiggins Road from today through Wednesday, November 25. The lane closures will be between the hours of 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. Pictured: The Hobbs Branch Bridge on Highway 168 Wednesday afternoon. NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.
Florida Lawmakers Look To Help Firefighters With Cancer
October 22, 2015
House and Senate members Wednesday detailed legislation aimed at creating a presumption that firefighters diagnosed with cancer got the disease while in the line of duty.
The bills filed by Sen. Jack Latvala, R-Clearwater, Rep. Heather Fitzenhagen, R-Fort Myers, and Rep. Frank Artiles, R-Miami, would change a burden of proof about what caused the cancer. The burden would go from the employee to the employer.
Fitzenhagen said science has proven firefighters are at a much greater risk for cancer than the general population, given their hazardous work environment.
“In the gear that firefighters wear, there are a lot of places where carcinogens can get in touch with the skin, even though they are wearing protective gear,” she said. “Typically, those places are around the neck.”
Supporters say the legislation is necessary because employees are now being let go after using up sick leave and short-term disability. The bills will be considered during the 2016 legislative session, which starts in January.
NorthEscambia.com photo.