Florida Gov’t Weekly Roundup: Special Session Begins
May 31, 2015
After weeks — and in some ways, months — of discussion, the special legislative session to determine what to do with the budget starts Monday. Which meant everyone spent the last week getting ready for it.
The Senate was gearing up to make a last-ditch pitch for something that uses Medicaid expansion funding to give more people health care but should definitely not be called Medicaid expansion. Environmentalists planned to push once again for more money to buy land after voters passed a constitutional amendment in November aimed at conserving land and water.
But preparations were not limited to the special session. Patients needing non-euphoric medical marijuana could finally start getting ready to enjoy the benefits after a judge cleared the way for regulations governing the new industry to take effect. And it could soon be time to batten down the hatches, with hurricane season starting Monday.
We will leave it to the reader to decide whether the legislative session and hurricane season beginning on the same day is coincidence or omen.
FHIX, TAKE TWO
It’s not quite right to say that the Senate’s proposed Florida Health Insurance Affordability Exchange — or FHIX — has gone over like a lead balloon with Gov. Rick Scott and House Republicans. No one has ever declared “war” on a lead balloon, as House Appropriations Chairman Richard Corcoran, R-Land O’ Lakes, famously did with regard to FHIX.
But the Senate tried Tuesday to come up with something that everyone might like better. It didn’t work.
Under the new version of the proposal, the Senate would skip an interim period in which the state would put people in Medicaid managed-care plans, a change aimed at addressing House criticism that FHIX is simply an expansion of oft-criticized Medicaid. The interim period was originally designed to provide coverage while the state waited to hear whether the federal government would approve using Medicaid-expansion funding to help lower-income Floridians purchase private health insurance.
The FHIX plan, which includes a work requirement for recipients, would depend on the state getting what is known as a waiver from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The new Senate bill would also require any “significant changes” to the waiver by federal officials to be approved by the Legislature before the plan takes effect.
“There’s no agreement on any of this,” said Senate President Andy Gardiner, R-Orlando. “I think what we’re just trying to show here in the Senate is that we’re willing to have an open mind and put forward different ideas and suggestions, and then we’ll see what happens next week.”
Saying there was no agreement was something of an understatement.
“A budget that keeps Florida’s economy growing will cut taxes and give Floridians back more of the money they earn, not inevitably raise taxes in order to implement Obamacare and grow government,” Scott said in a statement issued by his office.
House Speaker Steve Crisafulli, R-Merritt Island, also slammed the proposal. He reiterated a common House talking point: The work requirements that are part of the Senate plan and give it a more conservative sheen are unlikely to be approved by federal officials.
“When you remove the Senate’s ‘conservative guardrails’ that the Obama administration fundamentally opposes, all you are left with is a costly and inefficient entitlement program to serve able-bodied working age adults with no children,” Crisafulli said.
Meanwhile, the Scott administration seemed to offer its own solution to the problem, picking up on space provided by the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, which is part of the Department of Health and Human Services.
In a letter last week saying the state could expect $1 billion in LIP funding, federal officials suggested the state could also use leftover local dollars that have flowed into the LIP program as matching funds to draw down other Medicaid money. Those dollars would not be a part of LIP, but could help close the shortfall.
“Thank you again for all of your assistance and work to keep Florida’s Medicaid program whole,” wrote Justin Senior, the state’s Medicaid director. “Your guidance has been essential to ensuring that there is no major fiscal impact to Florida health-care providers who support the needs of low-income families in our state.”
Gardiner, though, said in a statement issued by his office that that approach would be “shortsighted,” in part because LIP is scheduled to fall again in the 2016-17 budget year. And by the end of the week, the federal government was tamping down expectations for quick approval of that notion.
The House put its own ideas for special session health-care legislation on the table. They were different than what the Senate has in mind.
House Republicans filed six bills Wednesday that delve into hot-button issues such as getting rid of a regulatory process for new or expanded hospitals and allowing advanced-registered nurse practitioners and physician assistants to prescribe controlled substances.
The proposals are not new, with House GOP leaders also pursuing many of the ideas during this spring’s regular legislative session. The bills will again draw heavy lobbying, as they did then.
WE’VE GOT SOME LAND IN THE EVERGLADES TO SELL YOU
Environmentalists, meanwhile, continued to express optimism that they can get money from Florida lawmakers for a reservoir in the Everglades during the upcoming special legislative session, something they couldn’t do during the 60-day regular session.
Along with health care, education funding and tax cuts, how to deal with land and water conservation funding in the wake of the new constitutional amendment approved by voters is likely to be one of the major issues in the special session.
Members of the Everglades Trust, the Everglades Foundation and Florida Audubon said Wednesday they will approach the special session with a goal of securing money to build a 40,000-acre to 60,000-acre reservoir south of Lake Okeechobee. They also will seek written directions from lawmakers that the South Florida Water Management District find the needed acres and establish a timeline to build the reservoir.
“We cannot and we will not give up on the goal of buying land for a reservoir south of Lake Okeechobee,” Audubon Executive Director Eric Draper said during a news conference Wednesday.
Environmentalists are seeking to divert polluted water being sent into estuaries east and west of the lake. But the special session comes after the water management district’s Governing Board voted May 14 to terminate an expiring option to purchase 46,800 acres in the Everglades from U.S. Sugar Corp.
Draper said funding efforts during the regular session failed because proponents were focused on completing the U.S. Sugar deal.
“I think with that off the table we have a new situation, and we even have some indications that people from the business side of things, from the sugar farmers, are open to the idea that something more needs to be done in the Everglades Agricultural Area,” Draper said.
The U.S. Sugar land was estimated to cost as much as $500 million, a price tag that far exceeded the proposed spending levels lawmakers put forward in the regular session for land acquisition under the voter-approved initiative known as Amendment 1. That initiative requires the state to set aside increased amounts of money for land and water management and acquisition.
Land buying wasn’t a priority for Republican legislative leaders during the regular session. The House proposed selling $205 million in bonds for the Florida Forever program, with about half of the money going toward water resources, the state’s natural springs, Kissimmee River restoration, and ranchland preservation.
The Senate offered $37 million for land acquisition, which included Kissimmee River restoration and springs preservation.
‘WAITING FOR SOMETHING TO HATCH’
After months and months of regulatory gridlock, patients could have access to long-awaited, non-euphoric pot products by the end of the year. A judge on Wednesday rejected a challenge to a proposed rule setting up the medical marijuana industry in Florida.
Department of Health officials could begin processing applications for the low-THC cannabis within 41 days of Wednesday’s decision by Administrative Law Judge W. David Watkins, according to an agency spokeswoman.
Watkins pointedly began his 68-page ruling with an excerpt from “Charlotte’s Web,” by E.B. White.
“Life is always a rich and steady time when you are waiting for something to happen or hatch,” Watkins quoted from the children’s book.
The name “Charlotte’s Web,” a type of cannabis cultivated in Colorado, has become nearly synonymous with marijuana that is low in euphoria-inducing tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, and high in cannabadiol, or CBD.
Parents of children with a severe form of epilepsy pushed the Legislature last year to approve the low-THC cannabis, believing it can end or dramatically reduce life-threatening seizures.
But their joy over the passage the law, and Scott’s support of it, ceded to frustration as delays — including Watkins’ November invalidation of health officials’ initial attempt at a rule — kept pot operators from getting started. Regulations for the industry were supposed to go into effect Jan. 1.
On Wednesday, the administrative law judge rejected all of the objections in a challenge filed by Baywood Nurseries, which contended, among other things, that the rule was tilted in favor of large nurseries.
“I am thrilled. I am one happy legislator,” said Rep. Matt Gaetz, a Fort Walton Beach Republican who was instrumental in the law’s passage last year. “My only hope moving forward is that we don’t see more special-interest litigation when licenses are awarded.”
STORY OF THE WEEK: Senate leaders revised their plan to use Medicaid expansion money to help lower-income Floridians purchase private health insurance, but the measure was quickly rejected by Gov. Rick Scott and House Republican leaders.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK: “We don’t know whether to laugh, cry, dance, or do back flips. There were times over the past year we truly didn’t believe this day would ever come.” said Ryan Wiggins, spokeswoman for Payton and Holley Moseley, who advocated for the legalization of “Charlotte’s Web” on behalf of their daughter RayAnn, after a ruling allowing the law to go forward.
by Brandon Larrabee, The News Service of Florida
Byrneville Resident Critically Injured In Dog Attack
May 30, 2015
A Byrneville resident was airlifted to a Pensacola hospital in critical condition Friday night after being bitten by their dog.
The incident happened about 8:45 p.m. on Raines Road. The 50-year old victim was reportedly attacked by their own dog, an English Mastiff, and suffered serious wounds to their arms and abdomen.
Further details have not been released.
An English Mastiff is a very large breed of dog, with mature males weighting between 150 and 240 pounds.
Human Remains Found Near McDavid During Search For Missing Flomaton Man
May 30, 2015
Human remains have been found in a remote area off Pine Barren Road near McDavid today during an ongoing search for a missing former Memphis, TN, police officer.
The remains were found during a multiple-agency search near where the vehicle of 35-year old John Douglas Oswalt of Flomaton was found back on May 5. Oswalt had last communicated with family members on May 3. The remains were found about 500 feet off Pine Barren Road, about a half mile south of where Oswalt’s vehicle was discovered.
The exact identification of the remains must be determined through DNA and dental records and may take some time. Authorities have declined to say the remains are those of Oswalt pending the outcome of that further investigation.
“We are continuing to work with Escambia County (FL) as we have since the beginning,” Flomaton Police Chief Bryan Davis said. “While we await positive identification of the remains that were found, Mr. Oswalt is still officially listed as ‘missing’ in our system.”
Friday’s search involved 14 members of Escambia Search and Rescue and KlaasKIDS, along with five canines and numerous support personnel. The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office and the Flomaton Police Department were involved in the investigation.
The K-9 search began at 8:45 Friday morning, with the remains found by 10:20 a.m.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
FWC Law Enforcement Report
May 30, 2015
The Florida FWC Division of Law Enforcement reported the following activity during the weekly period ending May 28 in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties.
ESCAMBIA COUNTY
Investigator Goley was working at the Navy Point Boat Ramp when he observed an individual having trouble attempting to dock his vessel. After the vessel was loaded on the trailer, Investigator Goley approached the subject and performed a safety inspection on the vessel. While speaking to the subject, Investigator Goley noticed signs of impairment. The subject agreed to submit to several field sobriety tasks and performed poorly on them. Investigator Goley arrested the subject for BUI and transported him to the Escambia County Jail. He refused to submit to a breath test.
Officers Livesay and Miller assisted a multi-agency task force in apprehending a sexual predator earlier this week. The subject was living on a sailboat in Pensacola Bay. He planned via the internet and thought he was meeting a 14‑year‑old girl at a local marina. Officers Livesay and Miller along with a task force member shadowed the sailboat until it docked at the marina. The subject met with an undercover officer and was arrested. The subject’s computers and sailboat were seized and he was transported to the Escambia County Jail.
SANTA ROSA COUNTY
The patrol vessel FinCat was on patrol in federal waters of the Gulf of Mexico during the Memorial Day weekend. Due to high seas, the crew was limited to one patrol. During that patrol, four of the nine vessels boarded were in violation. Violations included possession of red snapper during the closed federal season, undersized cobia, and possession of gag grouper during the closed season. Five federal citations were issued.
This report represents some events the FWC handled over the past week;however, it does not include all actions taken by the Division of Law Enforcement. Information provided by FWC.
New Daycare Opens In Century
May 30, 2015
An open house and ribbon cutting was held Friday afternoon for the Abundant Life Children of Hope Center, a new daycare, in Century. The project is actually in the running for the $25,000 Century Business Challenge but is already a reality, regardless of the contest outcome to be announced next month.
In December, the Century Business Challenge was announced by Quint and Rishy Studer, with $25,000 and a possible location in the Century Business Center. The church has applied for the challenge, but decided to go ahead and open the Abundant Life Children of Hope Center on June 1. The daycare will begin with space for 29 children from 6 weeks old to Pre-K…allowing their mothers, or fathers, the chance to go to work or school.
“I saw the need for Century, director Heather Smith said. “We see the need. We want to be a blessing to the community.”
A recent economic development plan created by the University of West Florida Haas Center identified the need for a daycare in Century.
“A daycare is something that Century really needed,” Mayor Freddie McCall said. “I’m really glad to see them opening; this will allow people to be able to get jobs.”
Open enrollment is underway now. Applications can be picked up from the church on North Century Boulevard Tuesday through Thursday from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. Daycare hours will be 6:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. For more information, call (850) 256-5227. The daycare will officially open Monday with space for 29 children from 6-weeks old to Pre-K.
Pictured: The grand opening of the Abundant Life Children of Hope Center daycare in Century late Friday afternoon. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Escambia Man Pleads Guility To Distributing Child Porn
May 30, 2015
An Escambia County man pled guilty this week to receipt and distribution of child pornography.
During his plea, 35-year old Kandel Markie Whiting admitted that between October 2014 and January 2015, he used the social media applications Twitter and Kik to share images of minors engaged in sex acts. In January 2015, Whiting’s Twitter account was reported to law enforcement for containing images of child pornography. When agents executed a federal search warrant at Whiting’s residence and seized his cellular phone, they quickly located the illicit material within his social media applications. Whiting then admitted to sharing child pornography online using Twitter and Kik.
Additionally, a forensic review of Whiting’s digital media revealed numerous child pornographic images and videos.
Sentencing is scheduled for August 17 before Chief United States District Judge M. Casey Rodgers at the United States Courthouse in Pensacola, Florida. Whiting faces a mandatory minimum of 5 years in prison and maximums of 20 years in prison, life on supervised release, and a $250,000 fine.
Saying Goodbye: Eighth Grade Walk At Ernest Ward Middle
May 30, 2015
The first eighth grade class to attend the newly rebuilt Ernest Ward Middle School in Walnut Hill ended their middle school careers Friday with smiles, shouts and tears. The students, many headed to different high schools next fall, said goodbye to friends, teachers and middle school during the traditional “Eighth Grade Walk” on the last day of school.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Century’s Showalter Celebrates 400th Win With The Orioles
May 30, 2015
Former Century resident Buck Showalter celebrated his 400th win as manager of the Baltimore Orioles Friday night. The Orioles beat the Tampa Bay Rays 2-1 in Baltimore.
Showalter’s family moved to Century in the late 1950’s. His father served as a teacher, coach and principal at Century High School for 23 years. Buck Showalter played Little League ball in a thriving program in Century, and he graduated from Century High School. Century’s modern day Showalter Park is named after him.
Pictured: Buck Showalter celebrated his 400th win as manager of the Baltimore Orioles Friday night. Photo courtesy Baltimore Orioles for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Escambia County High Seniors Graduate With Over $1 Million In Scholarships
May 30, 2015
The Escambia County High School Class of 2015 graduated Friday evening in Atmore. Class members collectively earned over $1 million in scholarships. Submitted photos by Alisa Hart for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Court Backs Slot Machines At Poarch Creek Racetrack
May 30, 2015
In what could be a game changer in Florida’s gambling arena, an appeals court Friday ordered state regulators to allow slot machines at a Gadsden County racetrack operated by the Poarch Creek Indians.
The 2-1 decision issued by the 1st District Court of Appeal could have statewide implications in counties where voters have approved allowing slot machines at local pari-mutuels.
Gambling regulators at the Department of Business and Professional Regulation rejected Gretna Racing’s request for slot machines late in 2013, relying in part on an opinion issued by Attorney General Pam Bondi, whose office represented the agency in the lawsuit.
Gadsden County voters in 2012 overwhelmingly approved a referendum authorizing slots at the track, which also made history after receiving the country’s first pari-mutuel license for rodeo-style barrel racing. A court later ruled that state regulators had issued that permit in error.
Voters in five other counties — Brevard, Hamilton, Lee, Palm Beach and Washington — have given a thumbs-up to slots at local horse or dog tracks. Only the tracks in Gadsden and Palm Beach counties, however, have applied for slot-machine licenses thus far. Palm Beach Kennel Club’s application for a slots machine license was also denied.
The Gretna slots case hinged on a semantic analysis of a 2009 law establishing eligibility for slot machines at pari-mutuels. The 2009 law, which went into effect the following year, was an expansion of a 2004 voter-approved constitutional amendment that authorized slot machines at seven existing horse and dog tracks and jai-alai frontons in Broward and Miami-Dade counties.
The 2009 change allowed a Hialeah track, which wasn’t operating at the time the amendment was approved, to also operate the lucrative slots. The statute in question consists of three clauses, including one that deals with counties outside of Broward and Miami-Dade.
Echoing Bondi’s opinion, which was not legally binding, state regulators argued that the Department of Business and Professional Regulation denied the racetrack a license because it “is not authorized to issue a slot machine license to a pari-mutuel facility in a county which … holds a countywide referendum to approve such machines, absent a statutory or constitutional provision enacted after July 1, 2010, authorizing such a referendum.”
But two of the appellate judges agreed with lawyers for the Gretna horsetrack, who argued that the statute does not contain the word “enacted.”
The judges also rejected the state’s argument that counties outside of Miami-Dade and Broward would have to get authorization from the Legislature or a constitutional change in order to be able to have slot machines.
That was already the case before the 2009 law, Judge Robert T. Benton wrote in the 22-page majority opinion, which was joined by Judge Nikki Ann Clark.
“There was no need or purpose in enacting a statutory provision to state the obvious,” Benton wrote.
But in a 28-page dissent, Judge Scott Makar argued that lawmakers can create statutes that will have an impact on future activities.
“Nothing prohibits legislation that has a contingency that makes a statute effective only upon some triggering event. … And nothing prohibits the Legislature from enacting a statute that operates as a restraint on society with a stated understanding about how that restraint might be eliminated in the future,” Makar wrote. “Not all statutes are blossoms; some are only seeds.”
State regulators and Bondi’s office said they were reviewing the opinion. Marc Dunbar, an attorney who represents Gretna and is also a part-owner of the facility, was unavailable for comment. Gadsden County is a largely rural county west of Tallahassee.
The highly-anticipated opinion sent ripples throughout Florida’s gambling community Friday afternoon.
The ruling, if it stands, could have implications on a $1 billion deal the state has with the Seminole Tribe of Florida. Under the agreement, the tribe can stop its payments to the state if pari-mutuels outside of Broward and Miami-Dade counties start operating slots.
The decision comes as lawmakers are negotiating another part of the deal, called a “compact,” that gives the Seminoles exclusive rights to operate banked card games such as blackjack at most of its facilities. The card portion of the compact expires in July unless the Legislature reauthorizes it or strikes a new pact.
Legislative leaders and the tribe failed to reach an agreement on a new deal before the regular legislative session ended in May, and the issue is not expected to be addressed during a special session on the budget that begins Monday.
Palm Beach Kennel Club lobbyist Brian Ballard hailed Friday’s ruling.
“This absolutely strengthens our hand with regard to the upcoming negotiations on the gaming bill, vis a vis the compact. It’s exactly what we were told we were getting five years ago by the Senate. The court agrees with that. So we’re optimistic,” Ballard said.
by Dara Kam, The News Service of Florida