House, Senate Sill At Odds Over Budget Negotiations
April 26, 2015
House and Senate leaders continued to swap offers on the broad outlines of a budget Friday, but remained far apart on more than just the numbers, with divisions remaining on the conditions for negotiations and the mechanics of how to bridge the differences.
By the end of Friday, the House had made a significant concession to the Senate on hospital funding — but said it would only follow through if the upper chamber dropped insistence on using Medicaid expansion dollars to help lower-income Floridians purchase private insurance. The Senate essentially said the House offer was still inadequate, in part because two components of the health-care puzzle facing the Legislature are tied together.
With a week left in the legislative session, it is inevitable that lawmakers will have to return to the Capitol for either an extension of the current session or a special session in a few weeks. And despite the continuing offers, Senate leaders clearly did not expect in-depth negotiations to begin soon over the nuts and bolts of the budget plan.
“There’s no need for you to stay in town,” Senate Appropriations Chairman Tom Lee, R-Brandon, told colleagues eager to head home for the weekend.
At the heart of the disagreement lies what to do about the coverage expansion and the Low Income Pool, or LIP, program that is largely used to cover the expenses of uninsured, low-income Floridians who show up at hospitals needing treatment. The $2.2 billion LIP program is set to expire June 30 unless the state can reach a new agreement with the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
Federal officials and the Senate would like to see the House and Gov. Rick Scott consider the Medicaid expansion alternative in conjunction with LIP. But Scott and House leaders are fiercely opposed to tapping the expansion funds, which come from the federal Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare.
The House is now proposing to use up to $600 million in state funds to draw down additional federal money to shore up hospitals in case the federal government rejects a new version of LIP or comes back with a significantly smaller figure. That is the amount the Senate has called for if the state has to replace LIP.
But House Speaker Steve Crisafulli, R-Merritt Island, said the Senate has to abandon its expansion plan first.
“We stand ready, willing, and able to partner with the Florida Senate on joint priorities,” the House said in an unsigned, written offer to the Senate. “There is no need to use Medicaid expansion as a condition for finishing our constitutional duty to pass a balanced budget.”
The Senate response, which came after a “deadline” requested by the House: No dice. The upper chamber has said that LIP or a state replacement and the $2.8 billion expansion program are both needed to give long-term stability to hospitals and other medical providers and to prevent damage to the state’s economy.
“Equipped with this knowledge, we are not willing to rush to a resolution that could damage our economy — particularly when there is a clear alternative available to maximize federal taxpayer dollars returning to Florida while staying true to the Medicaid reform principles we all support,” Gardiner wrote in a response.
Senate leaders also want to wait to hear back from federal officials on the state’s LIP proposal before finalizing any budget. Most provocatively, the upper chamber wants to communicate directly with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
When two senators traveled to Washington late last month to get a direct update, the trip angered the Scott administration, which has been handling formal negotiations with the federal government.
“We’re indicating to the House and to the governor that the Senate would like to take a much more active role in asking questions of CMS, because we need to know,” Gardiner said.
The House points out that a response from the federal agency could take until early July — after the beginning of the state’s budget year. But Gardiner says it’s almost impossible to move forward on a reliable budget without at least an understanding of how much money the state can expect once the federal government makes its decision.
“Out of respect for everybody … let’s make sure that we give CMS every opportunity to give us a number that puts us in a position where we can make a decision and we’re not back here later making cuts because something bad happened,” he said.
The two chambers also disagree on how to handle the negotiations if little progress has been made by next Friday, the scheduled end of the regular legislative session. The Senate would like to extend the session until June 30, the day before the state’s budget year begins, if necessary. According to senators, that would make the process for passing a budget easier.
Under the Senate plan, lawmakers would likely still return home and return to seal any budget deal. But remaining in session would prevent lawmakers from campaign fundraising in the interim. Doing so would also make it more difficult for Scott to call a special session, something that would give him much more control over the agenda — though lawmakers could achieve that goal by simply calling a special session on their own.
The House, for its part, says there’s no need to keep the session going unless the talks are moving ahead.
“I think you would extend the session if next week we’re talking about budget negotiations. It would be foolish for us to leave otherwise,” Crisafulli said. “But if we’re not getting into a point of where we’re working through a reasonable approach to solve the budget impasse, then we would leave and reset and take a clear mind and come back.”
Despite their differences, lawmakers seemed buoyed by the fact that something like a negotiation was finally underway after weeks of gridlock.
“While that conversation is a little narrow for our taste right now, at least we’re talking,” Lee said.
by Brandon Larrabee, The News Service of Florida
Barrineau Park Community Teams Up To Clean Up
April 26, 2015
The Barrineau Park community is just a little bit nicer , thanks a volunteer cleanup effort Saturday for Earth Day involving the Honeysuckle Garden Club, Barrineau Park Historical Society, Barrineau Park 4-H, and Clean and Green of Escambia County.
Volunteers fanned out across the community, working through the morning collecting trash from the roadsides before enjoying a lunch provided by the Barrineau Park Historical Society.
Photos by Sarah-Jane Conti for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Prison Overhaul Headed Back To Senate
April 26, 2015
After months of reports about inmate abuse and alleged cover-ups in the state prison system, the House on Friday unanimously approved a plan to fix problems in the Florida Department of Corrections. The House vote will send the bill back to the Senate, which approved the measure April 1. The House made changes to the bill, making it necessary for the Senate to take up the issue again.
The bill deals with numerous subjects, ranging from creating a new regional administrative structure for the department to requiring that inspectors receive specialized training if they conduct sexual-abuse investigations.
by The News Service of Florida
Biloxi Beats The Wahoos
April 26, 2015
Pensacola Blue Wahoos outfielder Jesse Winker hit a deep fly ball to the 400-foot sign in centerfield with his final swing of the game and a runner on second base.
He thought it was a goner. So did manager Pat Kelly and the Blue Wahoos fans.
However, Biloxi Shuckers centerfielder Kyle Wren chased Winker’s shot down to preserve a 4-3 victory over Pensacola. The Wahoos recorded its 108th sellout in its fourth season at Pensacola Bayfront Stadium.
“I definitely thought it was gone for sure,” said Winker, the Cincinnati Reds No. 3 prospect who has hit two dingers in his past four-game hitting streak. “I thought I got it. PK (Pat Kelly) wants to win and so do we.”
Kelly, who coached Winker last year in Bakersfield, also thought Winker had a walk-off two-run home run.
“I thought he got it, seeing him hit the past couple years,” Kelly said of Winker. “He came pretty close. He just couldn’t get it over Wren’s head.”
The Blue Wahoos dropped to 4-10 on the season and 1-4 against Biloxi. They are 5.5 games back of the 10-5 and first-place Shuckers.
Pensacola fans came to life in the bottom of the second inning when, not only did the Blue Angels Fat Albert make an unscheduled fly over, the Blue Wahoos loaded the bases with no outs. Stephenson hit a deep fly ball to right field to score Kyle Waldrop to tie the game at 2. Shuckers lefty Brent Suter then walked Wahoos Ryan Wright to put Pensacola ahead, 3-2. Suter struggled in the inning walking four batters, hitting another and allowing a Waldrop single.
However, Shuckers shortstop Orlando Arcia, the Brewers’ No. 2 prospect according to Baseball America, smashed a solo home run over the left field wall in the fifth inning for the game-winning run, 4-3. He leads the Southern League in hitting at .458 (22-48) and has reached base in all 15 Shuckers’ games this season.
Wahoos right fielder Winker prevented Biloxi from adding another run in that inning by gunning down Taylor Green at second base, when he tried to stretch his single to a double.
“I had a bad rap about my defense when I was drafted,” said the 21-year-old Winker, who was the 49th pick overall in the 2012 draft. “But I’ve worked a lot and felt I’ve always been a good defender. I take a lot of pride in my defense.”
The Reds No. 1 prospect, Stephenson, threw 5.2 innings, allowing six hits four runs, two of which were earned, three walks and striking out five. In three starts and 16.2 innings, he has 21 strike outs.
The doubleheader Sunday with the Milwaukee Brewers Double-A affiliate Biloxi Shuckers is scheduled at 2:05 p.m. Both games will be seven innings. RHP Tim Adleman (0-2, 2.70) takes the mound for the Wahoos in the first game and is scheduled to be opposed by the Shuckers RHP Brooks Hall (2-0, 1.13). In the second game, RHP Layne Somsen (0-0, 1.13) takes the mound for the Wahoos and is scheduled to be opposed by the Shuckers RHP Jacob Barnes (0-2, 3.72).
Storms Cut Power For Thousands
April 26, 2015
Gulf Power Company reported over 18,000 customers without power in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties following a line of storms Saturday afternoon.
One of the largest single outages was in the Molino area where about 2,000 customers were out from Quinette Road north to South Pine Barren Road and along Highway 97.
By midnight, less than 3,000 customers were still without power, and by 6 a.m. all but abut 100 customers had been restored. The utility said most customers were restored by 9 a.m. Sunday.
Pictured: Gulf Power crews work to restore power Saturday night. Courtesy photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Florida Gov’t Weekly Roundup: Should I Stay, Or Should I Go
April 26, 2015
Normally, the next-to-last week of the legislative session would be spent putting the pieces in place for the ceremonial handkerchief drop on the final day of the annual gathering. Lawmakers would be hammering out a budget agreement — with a setback likely to happen over the weekend — and deals on major legislation would be struck.
This has not been a normal session.
Lawmakers are still trying to get to where they can start negotiations on the state spending plan, and next Friday’s scheduled conclusion of the legislative session long ago became a milestone instead of a finish line. The House and Senate are still an entire health-insurance program and billions of dollars apart on the budget.
Some major legislation is starting to get closed out, but other issues are still looming — and getting close to a resolution on reforming the troubled Department of Corrections is cold comfort when lawmakers know they’re going to be back in Tallahassee at some point in May. Or June.
Those who work in the Capitol often express annoyance at the nighttime and weekend meetings that come with the annual budget negotiations. But as they get a taste of quieter days in the final weeks of the session, some of them likely wouldn’t mind a little bit more noise.
HOW TO DANCE WITHOUT DANCING
House Appropriations Chairman Richard Corcoran, R-Land O’ Lakes, infamously delivered a blunt warning to the Senate about its Medicaid expansion alternative early this month: “We’re not dancing.” And while that might be true as far as it goes — the House has shown no signs that it will give in on the program — the two chambers are beginning to look at each from across the dance floor.
The closest thing to a breakthrough that lawmakers had seen in weeks came Thursday, when the House sent an initial offer to the Senate on the broad outlines of a budget.
There is still no agreement on some of the biggest obstacles to a deal, especially when it comes to the Senate’s plan to use Medicaid expansion dollars to help lower-income Floridians purchase private health insurance, but the discussions are something resembling progress.
“While that conversation is a little narrow for our taste right now, at least we’re talking,” said Senate Appropriations Chairman Tom Lee, R-Brandon.
But a key piece of the puzzle could remain at least partially outstanding until after the state’s new budget year begins July 1: With the state submitting a concrete model for the Low Income Pool, or LIP, program to federal officials on Monday, the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services will not be able to give a final answer to the state by June 30.
Not that some Florida officials weren’t willing to try.
“We are expediting our submission of this LIP model in order to help CMS speed up their decision,” said Agency for Health Care Administration Secretary Liz Dudek. “CMS knows that our budget depends on their rapid response to this model.”
Lawmakers are hoping to get some signs about how much money they can expect from a new version of LIP, currently a $2.2 billion program, set to expire June 30, that is largely used to cover the expenses of uninsured, low-income Floridians who show up at hospitals needing treatment.
The negotiations also followed a tit-for-tat set of meetings Tuesday morning. At a gathering of the full Senate during what was to be a meeting of the Senate Appropriations Committee, lawmakers heard a gloomy picture of what would happen to the state’s economy if the upper chamber’s proposal wasn’t adopted.
Meanwhile, House leaders urged their members to hold strong in the face of an onslaught from business groups, hospitals and editorial boards.
And Gov. Rick Scott said he was ready to call a special session to pass a continuation budget — even if no one in the Capitol had ever heard of a continuation budget.
“If the House and Senate fail to agree on allocations and begin a budget process that can be completed in an extended session, then I will call the House and Senate into a special session to pass a budget that continues current year funding levels for critical services like education, law enforcement, children services, and transportation,” Scott said.
The governor also started calling Republican senators separately into his office to threaten vetoes and use a spreadsheet containing hospital profits to try to get his way. Senators didn’t sound terribly intimidated.
“It tends to galvanize the membership around their president. The most dangerous guy in Tallahassee is always the guy with no hope. So when you extinguish the flame of hope from the members, you give them no reason to negotiate,” Lee said. “So my encouragement would be for us all to put all this behind us and move forward. And that comes from someone who doesn’t entirely have clean hands.”
ALL ABOARD!
With the budget and the negotiating leverage it provides in limbo and time beginning to evaporate, lawmakers started getting creative this week. And that meant so-called legislative “trains,” where multiple bills are combined into single packages. While meant to boost the odds of particular provisions making it into law, the trains just as often derail.
In the Senate Appropriations Committee, more than dozen individual bills eventually glommed onto a single measure (SB 948) that gained approval from the panel. But not before an agreement between Sen. Joe Negron, R-Stuart, and state colleges attracted some controversy.
Negron has been on a crusade in recent years to dial back the number of four-year degrees offered by state colleges, which are largely two-year institutions. After Negron — who could become Senate president after the 2016 elections — threatened more sweeping legislative action, he and the colleges made a deal.
The agreement would explicitly state that four-year degrees are a secondary mission of the colleges and would cap the share of a school’s enrollment devoted to four-year programs, based on where they stand now.
“I think there’s plenty of room for growth, but it isn’t unrestrained, unbridled growth,” Negron said.
Negron has said the increase in four-year programs competes with state universities. Others say the programs are a low-cost alternative for students who aren’t necessarily fresh out of high school.
“Seventy-five percent of the people who earn baccalaureate degrees at our state college system are over 25 years old,” said Sen. Jack Latvala, a Clearwater Republican who is perhaps not coincidentally Negron’s opponent in the Senate presidency race. “In our state university system, 75 percent of those who earn them are under 25 years old. It’s a separate market.”
On Thursday and Friday, the House started its own education train, this one on the floor, when it attached charter school legislation and a proposal dealing with school uniforms to a wide-ranging school choice bill (HB 1145) that has caused some concerns for Democrats.
The bill, which passed on an 80-36 vote, would allow parents to send their children to any school in the state that hasn’t reached capacity, and it would allow non-teachers to enter the classroom in full-time jobs related to their field of expertise — an accountant, for example, teaching a finance class.
“You’re doing a good waltz and you’re doing a bad waltz,” said Rep. Alan Williams, D-Tallahassee. “And when you do that, the dance doesn’t look good.”
Trains were also shaping up on water policy and health-care legislation.
by Brandon Larrabee, The News Service of Florida
Oil Field Worker Severely Burned In Saturday Fire
April 25, 2015
An oil field worker was critically injured in a fire Saturday morning outside Flomaton, AL. The worker as transported to Sacred Heart Hospital in Pensacola and then transferred to the USA Burn Center in Mobile.
The fire occurred at an oil facility off Wolf Log Road. When the first firefighters arrived on scene, they found an large “container” of oil on fire, according to Flomaton Fire Chief Steve Stanton.
A medical helicopter was requested to transport the burn victim, but the helicopter was unavailable due to weather.
The Flomaton, Friendship, and Pineview volunteer fire departments from Alabama and the McDavid and Century stations of Escambia Fire Rescue from Florida were dispatched to the blaze. The Escambia County (AL) Sheriff’s Office and Flomaton Police Department also responded.
Further details, including the name and latest condition of the worker, have not been released.
Pictured: Black smoke rises from an oil fire north of Flomaton Saturday morning. Photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Escambia County Honors Longtime Firefighter KC Fehl
April 25, 2015
The Escambia County Commission has issued a proclamation in honor of longtime volunteer fireman K.C. Fehl upon his retirement.
Fehl retired from Escambia County Fire Rescue on April 1 after 28 years of service. He joined the Cantonment Volunteer Fire Department in January 1987 after his interest in fire service was sparked by a neighbor’s yard fire. He was promoted to the rank of lieutenant in late 1990 and then soon reached the rank captain.
He left the Cantonment VFD for a short time to serve with the Molino Volunteer Fire Department before returning to Cantonment.
Fehl left the fire department in 2003 to start his service as an Escambia County Sheriff’s Office reserve deputy where he served until 2010. He moved to the Cantonment VFD’s board of directors so he could spend more time with his son by coaching his baseball team. In December 2005, he switched to “line duty” with the VFD as a driver with his son Kenny, who is now a career firefighter. Fehl was soon, once again, promoted to lieutenant and then to assistant chief. He also served the Ferry Pass fire district for just over a year.
“With his retirement, Escambia County has lost an invaluable resource that will be impossible to replace,” the county’s proclamation stated.
Commissioners congratulated Fehl, and his wife, Susan Fehl, for their years of service.
Pictured top: Susan Fehl, K.C. Fehl and Escambia Commissioner Grover Robinson. Photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Abortion Waiting Period Awaits Scott’s Signature
April 25, 2015
A bill that would require 24-hour waiting periods before women can have abortions is heading to the desk of Gov. Rick Scott, following passage Friday in the Florida Senate.
By a vote of 26-13, the Republican-dominated Senate approved the bill (HB 633), which the House passed Wednesday. The Senate vote was along straight party lines.
“There is nothing I will be more proud of than to be a voice for the unborn,” Sen. Anitere Flores, a Miami Republican and the Senate sponsor, said in her closing statement.
Flores said the bill would add a day-long waiting period to the current requirements for informed consent before women can have abortions in Florida. The current requirements include discussing such issues as medical risks to the woman and fetus, a description of the fetus and a list of entities that offer alternatives to terminating pregnancies.
“All that we’re requiring is that it be done 24 hours prior,” she said.
Lawmakers earlier this week approved adding exceptions for victims of rape, incest, domestic violence or human trafficking to the bill. However, those victims could only get waivers of the 24-hour waiting period if they can produce police reports, restraining orders, medical records or other documentation.
“All of this documentation is unnecessary government intrusion into the lives of women,” said Sen. Geraldine Thompson, D-Orlando.
Flores on Thursday fended off a series of amendments that Democrats said would alleviate hardships on women for whom two trips to abortion clinics in other counties could put the procedure out of financial reach.
“Seventy percent of the counties in this state don’t have an abortion provider,” Sen. Maria Sachs, D-Delray Beach, said Friday.
Meanwhile, Sen. Darren Soto, D-Orlando, said he opposed the bill because it was unconstitutional.
“Under the Florida Constitution, we have a right to privacy,” he said. “I would not be surprised to see this bill challenged immediately.”
After the vote, Laura Goodhue, executive director of the Florida Alliance of Planned Parenthood Affiliates, said the bill’s opponents would turn their attention to urging Scott to veto the measure.
“But should he sign it, advocates for reproductive rights will take whatever steps possible to ensure women’s access to health care is guaranteed without delay,” Goodhue wrote in an email.
A Scott spokeswoman said he would review the bill before making any decision.
As with other debates as the bill moved toward passage, Friday’s discussion juxtaposed a woman’s right to choose with the sanctity of life.
“As a woman, that should be my right (to make reproductive decisions),” said Senate Minority Leader Arthenia Joyner, D-Tampa.
“This is not a medical procedure,” said Sen. Rob Bradley, R-Fleming Island. “This is a life.”
Sen. Jeff Clemens, D-Lake Worth, said the bill really is about “restricting access” to abortions. Clemens said there were better ways of reducing the number of abortions, such as spending money on sexual health, family planning and sex education.
“But instead of doing those things that are proven to work, we’re basically trying to find a way of restricting women’s access,” he said.
However, Sen. Kelli Stargel, R-Lakeland, said the measure “does not limit a woman’s right to have an abortion.”
“It’s making sure we have the same standard for women as we do in every other medical procedure, and that there is not a business, the business of abortion, trying to take advantage of women and trying to play on their emotion and talk them into something that they make money on and you spend the rest of your life regretting,” Stargel said.
Planned Parenthood’s Goodhue said such charges “are simply not true.”
“Our physicians, nurse practitioners and family-planning assistants all work hard every day to provide high-quality, non-judgmental, affordable health care to women and men to enable them to make the right decision for them,” Goodhue wrote in an email. “Decisions about whether to choose adoption, end a pregnancy or raise a child should be left to a woman, her family, her faith and her health care provider.”
Stargel also said that pregnancies resulting from rape, incest, domestic violence or human trafficking provide “all the more reason to reflect” before having an abortion.
by Margie Menzel, The News Service of Florida
Escambia Man Facing Child Porn Charges
April 25, 2015
An Escambia County man had been indicted on multiple child pornography charges by a federal grand jury.
Kandel Marki Whiting, 35, is charged with receipt, distribution and possession of child pornography. He is accused of receiving and distributing images and videos of child pornography between October 2014 and January 2015. And in March, prosecutors said he knowingly possessed porn involving a prepubescent minor and a minor younger than 12. Whiting’s conduct came to light based upon his use of the social media applications Twitter and Kik.
Whiting was arraigned in federal court in Pensacola Friday before United States Magistrate Judge Miles Davis.
The case is being investigated by the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Pensacola Police Department, and the other agencies that are part of the Northwest Florida Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, whose joint investigation led to the charges in this case. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney David L. Goldberg.