Florida Gov’t Weekly Roundup: It’s Show Time In Tallahassee
April 14, 2013
Speaker Will Weatherford might have given the best description of the House budget this week when he called it a “dress rehearsal.”
Lawmakers suited up and jousted back and forth about the $74 billion spending plan, with everybody knowing that the show would end Friday in a vote to pass it. But the main event will come during the next three weeks when House and Senate negotiators get together and work out their differences on a final budget.
The “dress rehearsal” description, however, also applies to other issues that are moving through the House and Senate — but have more-uncertain finales. And taking center stage Thursday was a debate about whether lawmakers and Gov. Rick Scott will agree on a plan to extend health coverage to more low-income Floridians.
Weatherford, R-Wesley Chapel, and Rep. Richard Corcoran, R-Land O’ Lakes, released a plan, dubbed “Florida Health Choices Plus,” that would provide $2,000 health-care subsidies to low-income parents and some people with disabilities. The plan would reject tens of billions of dollars in federal Medicaid money that otherwise would be available to the state during the next decade through the Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare.
But it is a stark contrast to earlier proposals offered by Scott and Senate Appropriations Chairman Joe Negron, R-Stuart, with the key difference centered on whether to accept money from Washington.
Scott has backed a federally funded expansion of Medicaid, at least for three years, to offer coverage to hundreds of thousands of uninsured people. He also has lent support to a Negron alternative that would use federal money to help that same group of people buy private health insurance.
The House plan would rely only on state money, projected to total about $237 million a year. It would provide subsidies to a fraction of the people who would be eligible for a Medicaid expansion or the Negron proposal and would not ensure they receive as much coverage.
But Weatherford has long argued that the state can’t rely on federal promises about funding the Medicaid expansion, a prospect that he and others say could leave Florida taxpayers on the hook in the future. He described the House plan as “sustainable.”
Weatherford also conjured the memory of former Republican Gov. Jeb Bush by describing the House plan as a “BHAG.” Back in the Bush days, that acronym was a point of pride because it stood for “Big Hairy Audacious Goals.”
A hairy goal or not, Scott quickly issued a statement Thursday blasting the House plan because it would not tap the federal funds.
“The House’s plan will cost Florida taxpayers on top of what they are already taxed under the president’s new health-care law,” Scott said. “This would be a double-hit to state taxpayers.”
House Minority Leader Perry Thurston, D-Fort Lauderdale, also scoffed at the notion that the House plan was needed because it was more sustainable than relying on federal funding.
“This thing about being sustainable — that’s just a joke,” Thurston said.
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NO BUDGET TRAGEDY THIS YEAR: After several years of looking for ways to cut spending, this spring’s legislative session has been notable for its relative lack of budget drama.
Sure, the House and Senate still will have to work out myriad details of a spending plan for the 2013-14 fiscal year. But the Senate unanimously passed its version of the budget Wednesday, and the House approved its plan Friday by a 99-17 margin.
A brightening economy has funneled more money to the state, which makes everybody in the Capitol a little happier. Don’t worry about cutting education funding — the question is how much will lawmakers provide to boost teacher pay.
“When I look at the two budgets side by side, these are issues that can easily be resolved with good faith discussion between the House and the Senate,” said Negron, the Senate appropriations chairman.
Two of the biggest debates that emerged this week in the House and Senate involved pay increases for state workers. In the House, that involved a Republican decision to give $1,000 salary increases and possible $400 performance-based bonuses — instead of $1,400 across-the-board hikes.
That decision, which came in an amendment, angered many Democratic House members, along with Republican Rep. Mike Fasano of New Port Richey.
“What this amendment does is take away a commitment, a promise we made early on that we were going to help our state workers,” Fasano said.
Other Republicans, however, focused on the positive: After six years without raises, state workers will wind up with fatter paychecks.
In the Senate, meanwhile, the debate focused on corrections officers, who were left out of a list of law-enforcement employees who would get tiered pay increases. Some senators urged leaders to come up with $30 million for the issue.
“Let’s find the money,” said Sen. Charlie Dean, R-Inverness.
Negron and others said they would work on the issue during budget negotiations with the House.
PENNIES FROM HEAVEN (OR ADAMS STREET): One intriguing subplot during the final weeks of the session will be Weatherford’s attempt to overhaul the state’s campaign-finance laws.
The Senate Rules Committee on Tuesday ditched a proposed increase in the $500 limit on individual contributions to political candidates. The House, meanwhile, has backed increasing the limit to $5,000 for statewide candidates and $3,000 for local and legislative candidates.
Weatherford has made a priority of the issue, calling for the higher limits while banning a type of fund-raising vehicle known as “committees of continuous existence.” But Scott has signaled that he opposes the increases, which also have drawn skepticism from Senate Ethics and Elections Chairman Jack Latvala, R-Clearwater.
“If the governor has the final word on it, and if he’s not going to sign a bill that changes that, then why pursue it any longer?” Latvala said. “Let’s get down to the other issues that we can resolve.”
Whatever the result of negotiations on the issue, campaign-finance reports filed this week showed that the $500 limit hasn’t been too much of a hindrance for lawmakers planning to run again in 2014 and 2016. Incumbents raked in contributions during the weeks leading up to the legislative session, with a few topping $100,000 each.
STORY OF THE WEEK: House Republican leaders proposed an alternative to expanding Medicaid under the federal Affordable Care Act. The House plan would reject billions of dollars from Washington and provide $2,000 subsidies to targeted groups of low-income parents and people with disabilities.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK: “This is a joyous time. We’re able to give our valued employees a raise.” — Rep. Dennis Baxley, R-Ocala.
Mobile Comes From Behind To Upend Pensacola 5-2
April 14, 2013
The Mobile BayBears scored five runs over their final three at-bats and knocked off the Pensacola Blue Wahoos 5-2 on Saturday night at Hank Aaron Stadium. With the win, Mobile clinched the series victory by winning three of the first four games in the five-game set.
Trailing 1-0 in the last of the sixth, the BayBears finally got to Pensacola starter Chad Rogers. Rossmel Perez led off the inning with a walk and stole second base to move into scoring position with two outs. Mike Freeman then drove him home with a solid single to left, knotting the game at one.
An inning later, Mobile took the lead for good with a two-run frame against reliever Loek Van Mil (0-1). Jon Griffin led off with a double, moved to third on a wild pitch and then scampered home on Van Mil’s second wild toss of the frame. David Nick then provided a solo shot for a 3-1 Mobile lead after seven. Van Mil pitched just one inning and gave up two runs on three hits for his first loss of the year.
The BayBears would add an extra two tallies in the eighth inning off reliever Chris Manno. Batting with the bases loaded, Griffin slammed his second double of the game, this time bringing home two runs to increase the Mobile advantage to 5-1.
Pensacola’s two runs came on two towering home runs. Travis Mattair led off the second inning with his second round-tripper of the year, which was the Wahoos’ only tally until Donald Lutz led off the ninth inning with a solo dinger to right to close to gap to 5-2. However, that was as close as Pensacola would get as Dan Cortes retired three of the next four hitters to give the BayBears the win.
Brett Lorin (2-0) picked up the win by pitching a scoreless seventh in relief of starter Anthony Meo, who made just the one mistake to Mattair over six solid innings in his second start at the Double-A level.
Rogers picked up a no-decision despite one-hitting Mobile through five frames. The right-hander ended up allowing a run on two hits over six innings and was saddled with a no-decision.
The Wahoos and BayBears wrap up their five-game series on Sunday at 2:05 p.m. Ryan Dennick (1-0, 3.60) will get the start for Pensacola against Mobile’s Bradin Hagens (1-0, 1.29).
Story By Kevin Burke
Photo: Sunset Sailing Away
April 14, 2013
Saturday ended on a sunny note across the North Escambia area, but Sunday was mostly cloudy and wet.
Pictured above: A powered paraglider trike and the sunset as seen along Highway 97 near Nokomis Road Saturday in Davisville. Photo by Ditto Gorme for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Pedestrian Struck And Killed In Escambia County
April 13, 2013
A pedestrian was struck and killed Friday night in Escambia County.
The Florida Highway Patrol said 30-year Teresa Lynne Fowler of Pensacola was traveling south ina 1998 Chevrolet C1500 on Mobile Highway at Tonawanda Drive in the inside lane when she struck a pedestrian that was in the roadway. The pedestrian sustained fatal injuries in the 8:15 p.m. crash. Fowler was not injured.
The identification of the pedestrian is still pending, according to FHP.
Escambia Sheriff’s Office Changes Pursuit Policy
April 13, 2013
The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office has made changes to its pursuit policy following a pursuit April 5 that wound for miles, causing a minor wreck on Highway 29 and finally ending with a suspect taken into custody near Pine Forest High School.
“In reviewing the tapes of the pursuit, we found several discrepancies not only with existing policy, but policies not being in line with those across the rest of the nation,” Sheriff David Morgan said.
Under the new policy, a supervisor must approve a deputy’s pursuit only in extreme circumstances and with the same care as if he or she were justifying the use of deadly force while endangering innocent lives.
“Such authorization must be limited to matters so serious and exigent that the need to immediately capture or kill the suspect would warrant an authorization to use of a firearm against a suspect located in a crowd of innocent bystanders,” the new policy states. “The supervisor must also be reasonably certain that the public safety need to immediately capture or kill the suspect is so grave that the supervisor is willing to sacrifice the lives of innocent civilians, deputies, and the suspect. If there is any doubt whether the circumstances and evidence make the supervisor reasonably certain of the propriety of the pursuit, the pursuit must not be authorized and any ongoing pursuit must be cancelled.”
The department’s previous policy allowed the safe and reasonable pursuit suspects that had committed, or tried to commit, a forcible felony.
The policy change was made, Morgan said, “to stay in step with the rest of Florida and the nation at large”. The new policy will be reviewed with more changes forthcoming, he said.
To read more about the April 5 chase that led to pursuit policy changes at the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office, click here.
Pictured top and bottom: The end of a high speed pursuit April 5 on Longleaf Drive. NorthEscambia.com file photos, click to enlarge.
Ordinary Agenda For Regular Century Council Meeting
April 13, 2013
A tentative agenda for the Century Town Council’s regular Monday meeting has been set, and it includes just ordinary business.
The council is set to approve minutes from a previous meeting and pay bills. The five-member council will also hear from the mayor, council members and the public.
The Century Town Council will meet Monday, April 15 at 7 p.m. Council meetings are scheduled for the first and third Mondays of each month.
House Passes Budget On Broadly Bipartisan Vote
April 13, 2013
The House overwhelmingly approved a $74.4 billion budget for the coming fiscal year on Friday, setting up negotiations with the Senate that could be eased by the brightest state revenue picture in years.
The broadly bipartisan, 99-17 House vote was an anomaly after years of bitter fighting about how to cut budgets in a drearier economic climate. Just days after staking out a party-wide position against the spending plan — a position that was later lifted — 25 Democrats broke with their party leadership to support the measure.
One Republican, Rep. John Tobia of Melbourne Beach, voted against the budget.
For House leaders, it was a chance to join their Senate counterparts in crowing about a united chamber as they head into talks about the final blueprint for the budget year that begins July 1.
“It does show that the chairman and the Republican majority did work hard to try to make this budget one that was bipartisan, and we’re very proud of that,” House Speaker Will Weatherford, R-Wesley Chapel, said after Friday’s session as he stood next to Appropriations Chairman Seth McKeel, R-Lakeland.
House Minority Leader Perry Thurston, D-Fort Lauderdale, shrugged off the defections of more than half of his membership.
“When you have the highest budget you’ve had in the past six or seven years, that means there’s money to go around to our core constituents, as well as maybe projects that they think are important for the state of Florida,” Thurston said.
Republicans laid the groundwork for the bipartisan vote on Thursday, when they released an alternative to the optional Medicaid expansion contained in the federal Affordable Care Act. Democrats have generally dismissed the House GOP plan as inadequate, especially when compared to proposals by Gov. Rick Scott and the Senate, but said getting the House to reveal any plan was enough of a victory to drop a caucus position against the budget.
Thurston said House Republicans should not doubt his party’s resolve on pushing for a broader health-care plan.
“Simply because some people voted for the budget doesn’t mean that there’s any less of a united front when it comes to providing health care for the most-needy Floridians,” he said.
The focus will now swing to a series of meetings over the final three weeks of the annual session, as House and Senate negotiators will have to hammer out an agreement on a budget. Republican leaders anticipate being able to start those discussions as soon as next week, meaning that the final amounts for each portion of the budget would be set in the next few days.
“I don’t see a whole lot of stumbling blocks,” Weatherford said. “I think that we’re very close. If you look at the House and Senate budgets, it’s about as close as they’ve been in quite some time.”
There are some disagreements. For example, the Senate would set aside $480 million for increases in teacher pay, one of the big-ticket items in the spending plan and a top priority of Gov. Rick Scott; the House would add $676 million in education funding with a strong suggestion that it be used for teacher pay raises. Both chambers have their own formula for changing how hospitals are paid for care under Medicaid.
And neither side has decided how to spend all of the money set aside for tax cuts, including whether to eliminate the sales tax on manufacturing equipment, another one of Scott’s goals for this year. The governor used his weekly radio address to prod lawmakers on the proposal again.
“We need to level the playing field to compete for manufacturing jobs,” Scott said. “For Florida families to succeed, we must build up our manufacturing jobs in Florida.”
By The News Service of Florida
NHS Beats Baker, Earns No. 2 Seed In District Tourney
April 13, 2013
The Northview Chiefs shut out Baker 6-0 Friday night.
With the win, the Chiefs, at 8-2 in the district, secured the No. 2 seed at the district tournament beginning April 22 at Baker.
For the Chiefs, Kevin Vaughan threw seven innings, allow four hits, with striking out 18 with no walks. He was 2-4 at the plat with an RBI. Chad Smith was 2-4, with two runs; Chasen Freeman went 3-4 with a run and a double; Brannon Freeman was 1 -4, with a run and triple; Winston Riley went 1-3, with a run and one RBI; Daulton Tullis was 1-3 with a run; and David Burkett went 1- with two RBI and a double.
The Chiefs will round out their regular season with a couple of non-district games next week, hosting Escambia Academy on Monday and Flomaton on Tuesday. First pitch is 6 p.m. for both games.
NorthEscambia.com file photo, click to enlarge.
‘Operation Dry Spring’ Yields Arrests, Drug Seizures
April 13, 2013
The Florida Sheriffs Task Force, in conjunction with the Florida Sheriffs Association, has concluded a five week operation aimed at protecting youth in Florida. Operation Dry Spring focused on preventing underage youth from purchasing and using alcohol, tobacco and various forms of synthetic and illegal drugs. The operation, conducted from March 4 through April 7, resulted in 5,016 arrests across 37 counties.
The operation targeted underage youth in possession of alcohol, tobacco or synthetic drugs as well as businesses selling these substances to underage youth.
In Escambia County, 9,300 grams of synthetic narcotics were seized. Ten people under the age of 21 were arrested for alcohol possession, one person was arrested for synthetic drug sales and about 170 grams of marijuana were seized.
Operation Dry Spring was a remarkable success getting dangerous drugs off the streets, with 18,588 grams of various illegal narcotics seized by Sheriffs’ offices,” said Polk County Sheriff and Task Force Chair Grady Judd. “FSA is proud of the great work of the Florida Sheriffs Task Force to make this state safer for our youth.”
NHS Graphics Arts Students Design Winning Posters
April 13, 2013
Graphic Arts Academy students at Northview High School participated in a recent Century Sawmill Pageant Poster contest.
Winners were as follows (click on a student’s name to view their poster design):
- Steven Gregory, first place;
- Kasie Braun, second place;
- Alisha Grice, third place; and
- Kassey Redmond, honorable mention.
Gregory was awarded $25 for his winning entry.
Pictured top: First place winner Steven Gregory with Northview Graphic Arts Academy Instructor Donna Smith. Pictured below: The first and second place winning posters. (To view each winner’s poster, click their name above). Submitted photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
