Florida Gov’t Weekly Roundup: The Week The Legislature Stood Still
April 19, 2015
It was The Week the Legislature Stood Still.
Lawmakers acknowledged this week they almost certainly won’t get the budget done on time — by the scheduled May 1 conclusion of the legislative session — because of a health-care funding issue that state officials have known about for the past year. A quick round of finger-pointing ensued in an unusual four-way conflict that involved Gov. Rick Scott, the House, the Senate and the federal government, but that did little to solve the problem.
The two main parties to the squabble are the House and the Senate, which stand $4.2 billion apart, thanks largely to differences in how they handle the Low Income Pool, or LIP, program and the Senate’s proposal to use $2.8 billion in Medicaid expansion funds to help lower-income Floridians purchase private insurance. And as increasingly caustic remarks flew between the two Republican-controlled chambers, it was clear that the Era of Good Feelings (real or imagined) of the last two years was over.
Democrats worked to conceal any glee they might have over those developments by speaking of their disappointment.
“Apparently, we’ve got a train wreck, and those two locomotives are about ready to hit,” said House Minority Leader Mark Pafford, D-West Palm Beach.
And as the collision approached, the chambers slogged through schedules that had minimal impact. Dozens of bills were approved by the House, but few drew much attention. Members of the Senate Appropriations Committee endured a daylong meeting Thursday that was notable for how little true controversy was attracted by the legislation on the agenda.
Lawmakers weren’t quite adrift, but knowing that they wouldn’t complete the one constitutional requirement for the annual legislative session — and won’t have the bargaining power that the budget provides to reach agreement on other legislation — gave the events an air of going through the motions.
GIVING ME LIP
The discussions surrounding LIP, which provides money to hospitals and other health providers that serve large numbers of poor and uninsured patients, were already tense when a high-ranking official at the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services sent a letter Tuesday that set off a wave of recriminations. The letter suggested that continued funding for LIP, set to expire June 30, was tied to the state’s decision on Medicaid expansion.
CMS official Vikki Wachino wrote that “the state’s expansion status is an important consideration in our approach regarding extending the LIP beyond June.”
“We believe that the future of the LIP, sufficient provider rates, and Medicaid expansion are linked in considering a solution for Florida’s low income citizens, safety net providers and taxpayers,” Wachino wrote.
Any remaining comity between the two chambers disappeared. House Speaker Steve Crisafulli, R-Merritt Island, responded to the letter by issuing a statement lambasting the federal government and the Senate.
“It is unthinkable that (the federal government) would leave our state on the hook for over a billion dollars simply because they want a specific policy outcome,” Crisafulli said. “We believe the Florida Senate has provided inaccurate and false hope to Washington, D.C., and has muddled negotiations. Let me be clear — the discussions about LIP and Medicaid expansion must be separate.”
Senate President Andy Gardiner, R-Orlando, wrote a memo to senators predicting stark consequences — including the possibility of closed cancer centers or dialysis units — if the state didn’t get LIP or a health-care expansion done.
“The bottom line is: more than ever, today’s correspondence from CMS highlights the link between LIP and expansion and the need to consider a comprehensive Florida solution,” Gardiner wrote. “Time is of the essence. The Senate remains open to meeting at any time to discuss our free-market approach to expansion or any alternative the House or governor would like to propose.”
The next day, the head of the state agency that deals with Medicaid went before the Senate Ethics and Elections Committee for a confirmation hearing. Despite what ended up being an 8-1 vote in her favor, it was not smooth sailing for Agency for Health Care Administration Secretary Liz Dudek.
Senators were skeptical of the contention that the agency was unaware that LIP funding and Medicaid expansion were tied together until the CMS letter arrived. Sen. Don Gaetz, R-Niceville, pointed to media reports that a letter sent to CMS by the state’s congressional delegation dated Tuesday — and asking that LIP and expansion be considered separately — was largely written on an AHCA computer well before.
“But yet weeks ago, a letter was crafted within the agency, and you asked members of the United States Congress to sign it, and if you didn’t have any understanding or prior notice that coverage expansion and LIP were linked, why go to all the trouble of getting a letter and circulating it around Congress?” Gaetz asked.
“We had heard — and there’s a lot of information that seems to go around through the grapevine — that they were considering that there might be a linkage,” she said after the meeting. “We wanted to make sure that they would support LIP regardless of what happened with expansion.”
Scott’s administration responded Thursday by saying the governor would file a lawsuit trying to force the feds to pay up.
Scott’s lawsuit would rely on a potentially novel interpretation of the 2012 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that upheld the federal Affordable Care Act, popularly known as Obamacare. In that case, NFIB v. Sebelius, the court ruled that the federal government couldn’t coerce states into expanding Medicaid by requiring any state that didn’t do so to give up all of its Medicaid funding.
The governor’s legal action would argue that the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is doing the same thing by linking LIP and Medicaid expansion.
“Our citizens already pay federal taxes that go into the federal LIP program,” Scott said in a statement announcing the action. “Now, President Obama has decided that the state must take on a larger Medicaid program, forcing our taxpayers to pay even more to government, before they get their own federal tax dollars back. This is outrageous, and specifically what the Supreme Court warned against.”
Even lawmakers who supported the governor’s suit conceded it won’t free up the money on time to fix the budget mess. And some questioned the wisdom of the move.
“That’s the governor’s prerogative, that’s the job of the executive, but I just don’t understand how that would help any negotiations,” said Sen. Rene Garcia, a Hialeah Republican who oversees health-care funding. “If you are trying to negotiate a deal on LIP with CMS, I just don’t understand why you would sue the federal government in the middle of negotiations.”
THE OTHER FEDERAL NEWS
Maybe negotiations with the federal government will go more smoothly if one of the state’s favorite sons — former Gov. Jeb Bush or U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio — manages to capture the Republican presidential nomination and the White House. This week, Rubio announced what pretty much everyone already knew: He’s running.
“Before us now is the opportunity to author the greatest chapter yet in the amazing story of America,” Rubio said. “But we can’t do that by going back to the leaders and ideas of the past. We must change the decisions we are making by changing the people who are making them.”
It was a none-too-subtle shot at former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and perhaps Bush, both of whom have been around longer than the 43-year-old Rubio and both of whom share last names with former presidents.
The announcement, which Rubio has said will keep him from seeking a second term in the Senate, set of a frenzy of activity among the state’s politicos. The top contender for Rubio’s seat, state Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater, had taken his name out of the running over the weekend. Congressmen and state lawmakers like Gaetz were among those considering runs for the GOP Senate nomination.
Leading Democrats have already begun uniting behind Congressman Patrick Murphy, a moderate, but Congressman Alan Grayson, a liberal firebrand, is looking likely to make a run as well.
GLASS HALF FULL
There was some actual activity on policy around the state Capitol.
Scott signed a wide-ranging bill aimed at rolling back the number of tests given to public school students, one of the highest-profile measures of the session, following up on weeks of legislative wrangling and his own campaign promise to review the level of testing in schools.
“I agree with many teachers and parents who say we have too many tests, and while this legislation is a great step forward, we will keep working to make sure Florida students are not over tested,” Scott said in a statement issued by his office.
The legislation (HB 7069) puts a hold on the use of student test data for school grades, teacher evaluations and student promotion to fourth grade until the new Florida Standards Assessments can be independently validated. It also scraps a law requiring school districts to come up with end-of-course tests in classes where the state doesn’t administer such exams; caps the amount of time students can spend on state and school district tests at 45 hours a year; and reduces the portion of a teacher’s evaluation tied to student performance from the current 50 percent to one-third.
The Senate approved a bill that would restore a popular adoption-subsidies program — while repealing a 38-year-old law that banned gay adoption. The measure (HB 7013), passed on a 27-11 vote. Its main purpose was to provide cash incentives to state workers who adopt children in Florida’s foster-care system, especially children with special needs.
But the bill the Senate passed Tuesday also included an unanticipated and controversial provision added by the House last month: a formal end to the gay-adoption ban.
Sen. Tom Lee, a Brandon Republican who voted against the bill, took issue with the House move to add the repeal to the incentives bill.
“This is a valid issue,” Lee said of the debate about the ban. “It should stand alone,” adding that it shouldn’t “hijack a piece of legislation that was supposed to be a feel-good moment for this Legislature and divide senators.”
Gaetz agreed that the term “hijacked” was a fair description. However, he said, “If I thought for one minute that I was imperiling the welfare or the upbringing or the life of any child with anything in this bill, I’d lead the floor fight against it. But there is no evidence anywhere, by anybody, that anything in this bill will do anything other than give children a chance for their dreams to come true.”
The dreams of lawmakers, lobbyists and reporters were more modest than those of children. It was a dream of a session that wraps up before June.
STORY OF THE WEEK: The budget process was left in a shambles amid a deepening conflict between Gov. Rick Scott, the House, the Senate and the federal government about what to do with health-care funding.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK: “Throw Dinah the bone. Please put your paw on the green button.”—A flyer being distributed by Lisa Miller, a lobbyist, who is trying to get the Legislature to add animals to a research component included in a Senate medical-marijuana proposal (SB 7066). Miller believes marijuana could help her dog, Dinah.
by Brandon Larrabee, The News Service of Florida
Scott: Area Gained 5,500 Jobs During Past Year
April 18, 2015
Gov. Rick Scott announced Friday that the Pensacola metro area experienced positive annual job growth over the year, with 5,500 new jobs added as of March 2015.
The metro area’s unemployment rate declined by 1.1 percentage point over the year, from 6.4 percent in March 2014 to 5.3 percent in March 2015. Florida businesses have added more than 841,000 private-sector jobs since December 2010. according to Scott’s office.
“Job creators across Florida are continuing to create opportunities for families to live their dreams, and this is clearly evident in Pensacola. The additional of 5,500 new jobs over the year in the area is great news for families, and we look forward to continuing to build on this economic success until Florida becomes the top destination for jobs,” Scott said.
The industries with the largest job gains in the Pensacola metro area over the year were leisure and hospitality with 1,300 new jobs, trade, transportation, and utilities with 1,200 new jobs, and education and health services with 1,000 new jobs. The Pensacola metro area had the second fastest annual job growth rate compared to all metro areas in financial activities at 5.8 percent in March 2015. The Pensacola metro area had 5,535 online job openings in March 2015 and 983 openings for high wage, high skill science technology engineering math (STEM) occupations over the year.
Escambia County’s unemployment rate decreased from 5.9 percent in February to 5.7 percent in March. There were 7,827 people reported unemployed during the period. One year ago, unemployment in Escambia County was 6.7 percent.
Santa Rosa County unemployment decreased, from 4.9 to 4.7 percent from February to March. Santa Rosa County had a total of 3,431 persons still unemployed. The year-ago unemployment rate in Santa Rosa County was 5.8 percent.
FWC Law Enforcement Report
April 18, 2015
The Florida FWC Division of Law Enforcement reported the following activity during the weekly period ending April 16 in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties.
ESCAMBIA COUNTY
Officers Hoomes and Pettey were watching fishermen in a popular redfish spot when they observed a man catch a large fish. When the man landed it, he held it up by the gills and they could see that it was a large redfish. The fisherman put it in a cooler. When the officers checked them, they observed 5 redfish in the cooler. All of them were well over the maximum size limit. Two of the men admitted to catching the fish and were charged with taking oversized redfish and the bag limit violation.
Lieutenants Hahr and Lambert were patrolling in the Perdido River WMA when they overheard three people talking about hiding their “bad stuff.” After a short while, they observed one of the subjects smoking marijuana and give the pipe to the other to hide again. A short time later, they all gathered up and began to smoke something else. When they approached the group, the officers observed a meth pipe in their possession. Their conversation and subsequent admissions indicated that they were all smoking meth as the officer approached. Several items of paraphernalia were also located, as well as bags containing methamphetamine, spice, cannabis, Xanex, and one unidentified pill. They were all charged with possession of methamphetamine, possession of not more than 20 grams of cannabis, and possession of drug paraphernalia. One subject was also charged with another count of possession of controlled substances for the pills.
SANTA ROSA COUNTY
Officers Barnard and Manning were patrolling around the Garcon Point Bridge and observed one boat fishing there. Upon checking their catch, they found three oversized redfish. One man admitted to measuring all of the fish and was charged with harvesting oversized redfish.
Officers Manning and Livesay were about to go on water patrol at the Santa Rosa Yacht club, when a citizen flagged them down and reported that a sail boat was flipped over not far from the yacht club. At this time there was a severe thunder storm in the area with high winds. Officer Livesay and Manning responded to the overturned sail boat and found three subjects struggling to swim. Officer Manning and Livesay were able to safely pull the individuals out of the water.
Officers Jones and Land were patrolling on the Eglin Reservation and Wildlife Management Area. They were targeting early entry and hunting in closed areas during the current spring gobbler turkey season. While working along the boundary of a unit listed as closed, the officers observed two trucks driving out of the closed area. The two hunters were detained and issued notices to appear in county court. Eglin Range Patrol Officers responded and suspended the hunter’s Eglin permits.
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.
Florida House To Consider Abortion Waiting Period
April 18, 2015
The House on Tuesday is expected to take up a controversial bill that would require a 24-hour waiting period before women could have abortions.
The bill, filed by Rep. Jennifer Sullivan, R-Mount Dora, is the major piece of abortion legislation moving in the Capitol this year. Three House panels have approved the bill in party-line votes, with Republicans in favor and Democrats opposed. Meanwhile, the Senate version, filed by Sen. Anitere Flores, R-Miami, will be heard Monday afternoon in the Senate Fiscal Policy Committee. If approved, the bill will be ready to go to the full Senate.
by The News Service of Florida
Molino Man Seriously Injured In Crash Trying To Avoid Dog
April 18, 2015
A Molino was seriously injured in a single vehicle crash in Cantonment Friday morning.
According to the Florida Highway Patrol, 54-year old William Kite of Molino was northbound on Jacks Branch Road approaching Pepin Lane about 9:35 a.m. A white dog was in the center of the northbound lane, so Kite swerved to the shoulder where he struck a concrete culvert and his 2001 Chevrolet Silverado went airborne. The pickup then struck the ditch nose down and rotated end over end.
Kite was trapped in the vehicle before being extricated with the Jaw of Life and airlifted to a Sacred Heart Hospital. There were no other occupants in the vehicle.
Any charges in the crash are pending, according to the FHP.
NorthEscambia.com photos by Kristi Price and reader submitted, click to enlarge.
Corrections Agency Settles With Paralyzed Inmate
April 18, 2015
A paralyzed inmate at a Northwest Florida prison who was denied the use of a wheelchair and faced retaliation for suing the Department of Corrections has reached a settlement with the agency, according to lawyers representing the prisoner.
The complaint, filed in federal court, alleged that Santa Rosa Correctional Institution officials for more than a year prevented Richard Jackson, who is paralyzed in his lower limbs, from using a wheelchair in his cell, forcing the inmate to crawl on his hands and knees to get to his bunk or to use the toilet or sink.
A year after he filed the lawsuit, Jackson was transferred to the Northwest Florida Reception Center, where guards and others allegedly retaliated against the inmate for failing to drop the case. Within hours after arriving at the Chipley prison, a guard handcuffed Jackson to his wheelchair and repeatedly punched him in the face and kicked him while threatening that “he would be getting more if he did not drop the lawsuit,” according to the complaint filed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida and the Florida Justice Institute.
The settlement requires the department to pay $97,000 for Jackson’s legal fees and damages and also requires that he be allowed to use his wheelchair.
“The abuse and violence that goes on in Florida prisons violates the principles that our Constitution was created to protect. With the eyes of the state on our prisons as more horror stories seem to come out of our prisons every week, we hope this settlement will bring us one step closer to ending the toxic culture of violence that has plagued the Florida Department of Corrections,” ACLU of Florida lawyer Benjamin Stevenson said in a statement.
by The News Service of Florida
National Junior Honor Society At Ernest Ward Middle Inducts New Members
April 18, 2015
Sixty students were inducted into the National Junior Honor Society during a candlelight ceremony Friday at Ernest Ward Middle School.
The NJHS is the nation’s premier organization established to recognize outstanding middle school students. More than just an honor roll, NJHS serves to honor those students who have demonstrated excellence in the areas of scholarship, leadership, service, citizenship and character.
New National Junior Honor Society members at Ernest Ward are:
- Austin Adams
- Lauren Ahern
- Addison Albritton
- Rebekah Amerson
- Madicyn Bell
- Trevor Bomba
- Cassidy Boutwell
- Emily Boutwell
- Alexia Broadhead
- Keaton Brown
- Juliana Bryan
- Katherine Buford
- Colby Burkett
- Micah Calhoun
- Lacie Carter
- Logan Chavers
- Destiny Cleckler
- Jayda Crabtree
- Karlee Criswell
- Justin Cruce
- Anthony Day
- Jackson Edwards
- Jason Fayard
- Neionni Findley
- Jakob Gibson
- Ian Gifford
- Jordan Godwin
- John Gulledge
- Ashlan Harigel
- Elijah Harigel
- Anna King
- Aubree Love
- Ansleigh Maholovich
- Jessie McCall
- Hannah McGahan
- Kayla McKillion
- Hannah Merchant
- Colby Morris
- Chris Nordman
- Charleigh Parham
- Joseph Parker
- Kinzie Rackard
- Teriana Redmond
- Dariontae Richardson
- Savannah Roley
- Kyle Sconiers
- Ryan Sconiers
- Bailey Seibert
- Shelby Sloan
- Cloe Smith
- Savannah Spence
- Savannah Steadham
- Josiah Stilwell
- Nicholas Trump
- Bailey Van Pelt
- Josh Warren
- Brianna White
- Cassidy White
- Raeleigh Woodfin
- Ashten Wright
Pictured: Sixty students were inducted into the National Junior Honor Society Friday at Ernest Ward Middle School. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Blue Wahoos Split Doubleheader With Smokies
April 18, 2015
The Blue Wahoos split Friday night’s doubleheader against the Tennessee Smokies on an evening where Pensacola’s starting pitchers, Daniel Wright and Tim Adleman, combined for 11 strikeouts and only allowed four hits. The Smokies took the first game 1-0 while the Wahoos won the second game 4-1.
The first game of the doubleheader was a pitchers’ duel with the teams garnering a combined six hits. After giving up six runs in 2.2 innings of work in his first start of the year, RHP Wright gave up no runs and two hits in five innings before being relieved by RHP Kevin Shackleford. RHP Ivan Pineyro took the mound for the Smokies also only gave up two hits in six innings of work.
Shackleford walked C Kyle Schwarber in the bottom of the seventh inning, advanced to second on a single by 1B Dan Vogelbach and then to third on a wild pitch. RF Bijan Rademacher singled through the hole at second base to drive in Schwarber for the walk-off win.
The pitching duel continued into the second game with RHP Tim Adleman throwing 59 pitches, 44 for strikes, in five innings. Reliever Carlos Gonzalez had a strong showing in the bottom of the sixth inning giving up a hit.
First baseman Kyle Waldrop started the second game with a home run in the second inning to give the Blue Wahoos an early 1-0 lead. This marked his second home run in seven games this year.
RHP Ben Klimesh came in for the save in the seventh inning but the Smokies tied it up with a run by Rademacher. In the eighth inning, RHP Kyle McMyne came into the game and threw a one-hit inning to give the Wahoos another chance in the top of the ninth.
After a hitless day, RF Jesse Winker hit a double in the ninth inning and advanced to third after Beau Amaral reached base on a fielding error by first baseman Dustin Geiger. Amaral then reached second on a wild pitch by RHP Zach Cates. Waldrop drove in Winker with a sacrifice fly to left field and then Amaral scored on a pair of errors by second baseman Stephen Bruno. Zach Vincej had the final run of the night after scoring off of a double by 2B Juan Perez.
McMyne returned to the mound and closed out the game to secure the win for the Blue Wahoos. This was his first win since July 1, 2014 for the Bakersfield Blaze.
LHP Wandy Peralta (1-0, 0.00) is scheduled to take the mound for the Wahoos against RHP Frank Batista (1-0, 1.50) on Saturday night at 6:05 p.m.
The Blue Wahoos return to Pensacola Saturday, April 25th against the Biloxi Shuckers.
Regulators Approve Gulf Power, Military Solar Plan
April 17, 2015
The Florida Public Service Commission on Thursday approved a plan that would lead to Gulf Power Company buying electricity from major new solar facilities on Northwest Florida military bases.
“Adding solar energy to our portfolio is another step in further diversifying our energy mix,” said Stan Connally, Gulf Power president and CEO. “Through careful planning, we’ve been able to work alongside our military partners to help provide cost-effective renewable energy — and all our customers will reap the benefit.”
The solar energy farms will be constructed at Eglin Air Force Base in Fort Walton Beach (30 megawatts), Naval Air Station Whiting Field, Outlying Landing Field Holley in Navarre (40 megawatts), and Naval Air Station Pensacola, Outlying Landing Field Saufley in Pensacola (50 megawatts).
“We support this important partnership between Gulf Power and the U.S. Air Force and the U.S. Navy that will play a major role in Florida’s energy future,” Public Service Commission Chairman Art Graham said. “The solar facilities will diversify the utility’s power supply and increase Florida’s emissions-free electricity generation.”
Gulf Power will serve customers across Northwest Florida with power from these renewable energy-generating facilities. Together, these new solar facilities, which will be developed by HelioSage Energy, could produce enough energy to power approximately 18,000 homes for one year.
As an intermittent energy resource, the solar farms will not replace Gulf Power’s generation plants, but will have the capability to provide energy that will diversify the power supply and provide a cost-effective alternative during peak energy usage.
Construction is scheduled to begin in February 2016 and the facilities are expected to be in service no later than December 2016.
The company’s first renewable energy project was the 3.2-megawatt Perdido Landfill Gas-to-Energy facility, which has produced more than 100 million kilowatt hours of electricity since starting commercial operation in 2010.
Gulf Power also submitted a request in February to the FPSC to approve an agreement that would make the utility a leading purchaser of wind generation among Florida utilities. If approved, this would bring the company to a total of five renewable energy sources.
Pictured: Examples of HelioSage Energy solar photovoltaic (PV) facilities. Courtesy photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Scott To File Suit Against Feds Over Health Funding
April 17, 2015
In a new sign of escalating tensions between state and federal officials, Gov. Rick Scott announced Thursday he will sue the federal government to try to resolve a standoff over $2.2 billion in funding for hospitals and other health providers.
But even lawmakers who support Scott’s move said any court decision would come too late to resolve a budget impasse that has made it a near-certainty that the Legislature won’t finish a spending plan — its one constitutionally required responsibility — before the annual session’s scheduled May 1 conclusion. If so, it would mark the first time lawmakers have gone into overtime on the budget since 2009.
Scott’s lawsuit would rely on a potentially novel interpretation of the 2012 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that upheld the federal Affordable Care Act, popularly known as Obamacare. In that case, NFIB v. Sebelius, the court ruled that the federal government couldn’t coerce states into expanding Medicaid by requiring any state that didn’t do so to give up all of its Medicaid funding.
The governor’s legal action would argue that the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is doing the same thing by linking an extension of the Low Income Pool, or LIP, program to whether the state expands Medicaid coverage. LIP, which provides money to hospitals and other health providers that serve large numbers of poor and uninsured patients, is set to expire June 30.
“Our citizens already pay federal taxes that go into the federal LIP program,” Scott said in a statement announcing the action. “Now, President Obama has decided that the state must take on a larger Medicaid program, forcing our taxpayers to pay even more to government, before they get their own federal tax dollars back. This is outrageous, and specifically what the Supreme Court warned against.”
Advocates and hospitals have said that if the state loses LIP funding, it could cause cutbacks in services or programs across the state.
Speaking to reporters after the announcement, Lt. Gov. Carlos Lopez-Cantera said Scott’s administration was doing whatever is necessary to try to get LIP funds for Florida.
“We need to explore every option to ensure that these funds are available for the most needy here in Florida,” Lopez-Cantera said. “That’s what Gov. Scott’s always done. He’s always fought for Floridians, and that’s what he’s doing with this.”
The lawsuit plays into a heated battle over a Senate plan to use $2.8 billion in Medicaid expansion funding to help lower-income Floridians purchase private health insurance. But the House and Scott — who once favored straight-up Medicaid expansion — oppose that idea. House leaders say the federal government wouldn’t approve it even if they agreed to go along.
Senate President Andy Gardiner, R-Orlando, said he’s skeptical that the lawsuit will free up LIP dollars before the new budget year begins July 1.
“Certainly, the governor has his opinion and has put forward kind of a new little wrinkle today, but I’m not sure that that solves the situation that we’re in where we have to have a balanced budget, and we have to make some decisions,” Gardiner said.
Any case could take weeks to be heard, and any initial ruling could spend months winding its way through the appeals process. House Speaker Steve Crisafulli, a Merritt Island Republican who backed Scott’s lawsuit, also said legal action wouldn’t have a practical impact on the immediate budget problem.
“No, most likely, it won’t,” he said. “The only thing that will have an effect on the budget from the standpoint of LIP and CMS is if Washington does something.”
Asked about the lawsuit, a spokesman for CMS said the state could do what it wanted with Medicaid, but referred back to a letter in which the agency said “the state’s expansion status is an important consideration in our approach regarding extending the LIP beyond June.”
That letter outraged some state officials and eventually led to Scott’s lawsuit.
“Florida, like all states, is free to implement Medicaid expansion or not. … We look forward to the state submitting its LIP proposal and CMS will review it based on the principles articulated in our April 14 letter,” spokesman Aaron Albright said in an email.
Democrats, meanwhile, blasted the governor for an act that they said wouldn’t solve the problem and would lead to the state being tied up in costly litigation. Scott, whose foray into politics began with a fierce ad war against Obamacare before seeking the governor’s office, has frequently battled the federal government in court.
“It’s more of the same from the governor,” said House Minority Leader Mark Pafford, D-West Palm Beach. “It’s a corporate reaction: We sue people. The sad part is, it’s the taxpayers of Florida that will pay more.”
Senate Minority Leader Arthenia Joyner, D-Tampa, accused Scott of hypocrisy for pushing for LIP dollars from the federal government while rejecting expansion money from the same source.
“Today’s grandstanding underscores his commitment to wasting Florida’s tax dollars to get what he wants, at whatever cost,” Joyner said in a statement issued by her office. “This is all about scoring points against President Obama.”
At the same time, Crisafulli signaled a willingness to use state money to try to shield hospitals from the effects of lost LIP funding. The speaker has said before that he would not use state dollars to “backfill” the LIP system, but drew a distinction Thursday between that and setting up a state program.
“If we want to talk about a plan moving forward, we can talk about a plan moving forward from the standpoint of trying to help those safety-net hospitals with a different kind of program,” he said. “But for us to take up and put a pot of money out there that they get to draw from like they do right now with LIP is not something that we could possibly do in Tallahassee with even the greatest of budget reserves.”