[Tallahassee, FL] After a strange trip that at one time threatened to short-circuit the session, the Florida Legislature approved a state budget a shade over $70 billion on Friday, allowing lawmakers to leave the Capitol one time even as a Florida Supreme Court ruling ensured they would return.

The measure passed the House on a party-line, 80-37 vote; the Senate followed suit just minutes before the session concluded with a bipartisan, 32-8 vote.

The spending plan adds more than $1 billion in state funding to public education – a key goal of Gov. Rick Scott, even though school districts have argued that the money doesn’t make up for a series of cuts to public education in recent years. It drains $300 million from university reserves to help in closing a state budget gap.

And the budget slashes some health-care services at the same time a conforming bill forces counties to pay millions of dollars in disputed Medicaid charges, no doubt causing consternation among local governments.

In an advance copy of his weekly radio address, Scott reveled in the victory.

“I would like to thank Speaker [Dean] Cannon and Senate President [Mike] Haridopolos, as well as the entire Legislature, for putting Florida’s children first,” he said.

Gov. Rick Scott delivers his Weekly Radio Address

But as they debated the spending measure, Democrats returned to the same refrain that they have sounded often as the state’s economy has lagged and revenues have dwindled: Republicans are stubbornly refusing to get rid of unneeded tax relief or accept money because of its ties to President Barack Obama‘s agenda.

Lawmakers turned down $438.5 million in federal health-care funding because it was tied to the federal health-care bill Republicans derisively call “Obamacare.”

“This Legislature can find the will to dip into universities’ reserves to fund and plug gaps, but it is unwilling to take funds from the federal government or to close loopholes where people are not paying their fair share,” said Senate Minority Leader Nan Rich (D-34/Weston).

In the end, seven of the 12 Democrats in the Senate voted with the Republican majority, while three Republicans bolted their party to oppose the measure.

Meanwhile, in the House, Speaker-designate Will Weatherford (R-61/Wesley Chapel) scolded Democrats for locking down against a state budget that included many of their suggestions and projects.

“I watched all the bipartisanship in the committee,” Weatherford said. “Why is it not bipartisan now?”

But even some lawmakers who voted for the budget opposed related bills, such as the Medicaid billing measure. That measure forces counties that dispute how much they must pay into the Medicaid system to go ahead and pay, though they can get a discounted rate, or if they think they’re right, they can fight it and try to recoup the money.

Photo: FL House/Mark Foley

House Speaker-designate Will Weatherford wonders where all the bipartisanship went

But the counties say it’s a big cost shift that will cost them money for the state’s mistakes and opponents like Sen. Miguel Diaz de la Portilla (R-36/Miami) argued was unfair to counties that dispute the charges.

“We don’t just take money from people because we need the money or we want the money,” said Diaz de la Portilla. “We can’t even prove that we’re owed the money, or quantify it.”

There were echoes of last year’s implosion of the session when some conforming bills were derailed; a health-care bill for the University of Florida was defeated 20-20 the first time in the Senate. But the chamber eventually reversed itself.

At times, the state budget and when it would be done served as the major theme of the session. After lawmakers left town last spring, a cheery revenue forecast had raised hopes that lawmakers would be able to avoid the painful cuts of recent years.

But the chance of the budget surplus evaporated in the economic troubles of the late summer and lawmakers were forced to contemplate deeper reductions.

The dramatic swings in the economy brought warnings from Senate President Mike Haridopolos (R-26/Merritt Island) that lawmakers might need to adjourn early and return when the revenue picture for the state was clearer.

Photo: FL Senate

(L-R) Dean Cannon, Gov. Rick Scott, Mike Haridopolos, Lt. Gov. Carroll

The House charged ahead anyway, with Speaker Dean Cannon (R-35/Winter Park) arguing that there was no reason to pull back. The Senate eventually joined the House the day after the once-a-decade redistricting process had finished and Haridopolos’ concerns about the revenue were apparently alleviated.

Even then, there were speed bumps. Residents from rural Jefferson County protested plans to close a prison that was the community’s economic backbone; lawmakers approved a plan that would keep the facility open.

The Senate battled over cuts to the University of South Florida that Tampa Bay-area lawmakers argued were revenge for the campus resisting a push by Senate Budget Chairman JD Alexander (R-17/Lake Wales) to gain independence for the university’s Lakeland campus.

The cuts were eventually softened, but Alexander got his university.

By: Brandon Larrabee/The News Service of Florida

Lead image: Redistricting Chairman Will Weatherford gets a standing ovation from all his House colleagues on the house floor after finishing his closing remarks on the committee’s final product, approved minutes later by the House Friday, Feb. 3, 2012 (photo: FL House)

state budget

[Tallahassee, FL] A bill that would ban the use in Florida of Sharia Law, a code of law based on the Koran and the teachings of Mohammed, passed a State Senate panel Tuesday even as hundreds of delegates to the fourth Muslim Annual Capitol Day rallied against it on the Old Capitol steps.

This is the second year for the measure by Rep. Larry Metz (R-25/Eustis) and Sen. Alan Hays (R-20/Umatilla) who say they just want to keep foreign law out of Florida, not target any specific group. Nor does the bill mention Sharia by name, some say to comply with the U.S. Constitution’s ban on religious discrimination.

But Ahmed Bedier, the rally’s organizer, called the lawmakers out.

“We’re not the people who are un-American,” he said. “They are, for violating the Constitution and introducing legislation that limits religious freedom.”

But shortly thereafter, the Senate Criminal Justice Budget Subcommittee took less than five minutes to pass SB 1360, angering the dozens who wanted to speak against it. Some shouted as Sen. Ellyn Bogdanoff (R-25/Fort Lauderdale) gaveled the meeting to a close.

“Sir, I will tell you this, I am willing to sit here, as I hope other members are, to listen to your testimony, but you have the opportunity to speak to all of us individually,” Bogdanoff said. “There’s plenty of time – this bill has not gotten to the floor yet.”

Last week the House bill (HB 1209) cleared its last committee, and a floor vote is expected this week. The Senate version faces one more committee.

By: The News Service of Florida

Image: Rep. Larry Metz gestures in debate while promoting the Supreme Court division resolution, HJR 711, on the House floor Friday, April 15, 2011. The joint resolution, later approved, proposes amending the constitution to divide the current Supreme Court into two divisions. (photo: FL House)

Sharia Law

[Tallahassee, FL] Gov. Rick Scott said Thursday he will explore state prison privatization opportunities on his own following the Senate’s defeat of a bill that would have required some prisons be bid out to private companies.

Speaking to reporters Thursday morning after a public event on insurance fraud, Scott acknowledged that initially he didn’t consider prison privatization a priority, but was disappointed the Senate voted down a bill that would have done that, and said he’ll explore what many backers of the Senate plan said was a possibility – that the governor could order privatization unilaterally.

“It wasn’t something that was one of my legislative session priorities this year, but here’s what I think about it,” Scott said. “I got elected to hold government accountable, to not waste taxpayers’ money.”

“So here was an opportunity that the Senate had to give us the opportunity to save a significant amount of money … I’m disappointed the Senate didn’t do that. I’m going to look at what I have the opportunity to do. … I’m going to make sure that we don’t waste money,” he said.

Scott pointed out that there are fewer inmates than anticipated and that it didn’t make sense to spend state dollars on half-full prisons.

“Why wouldn’t we save that money and put the money into education, into textbooks, and to make sure we have the right health-care safety net instead of spending the money where we don’t need to?” Scott said.

The Senate earlier this week voted 21-19 against a bill that would have required privatization of most of the prison facilities in an 18-county area from roughly Tampa Bay south. The bill would have required prison operators to guarantee savings of $16.5 million a year immediately in order to get the bid, though many opponents said they didn’t believe the savings would materialize.

A coalition of senators from both parties, including those who represent lots of prison guards, to those who said they didn’t trust the savings figures, to those who said they worried about turning over a critical safety function to the private sector, opposed the bill, which was a top priority of the Republican leadership in the Senate.

Scott’s jump into the controversy – after months of refusing to answer directly what his position was on the idea – drew immediate criticism from the opponents of privatization, including the union that currently represents most state corrections officers.

“The Senate reflected the will of the citizens of Florida when it voted to kill prison privatization,” said Ken Wood, acting president of Teamsters Local 2011, which represents about 20,000 correctional officers in the state.

“Floridians do not want the rules changed so private companies can get secret contracts with no cost-benefit analysis and no public review,” he said.

The House never got a chance to vote on the issue.

House Speaker Dean Cannon (R-35/Winter Park) said Thursday when asked what he thought about Scott taking the lead on the issue that he would defer to the governor and if Scott pursued it, he would likely support him.

“That’s totally his call,” Cannon said. “I’ve said that my personal view is that privatization is one component of reconfiguring our criminal justice system asset. It’s not a panacea … But the bill died in the Senate, so I think as a legislative matter it’s dead.”

“I would defer entirely to him if he chooses to pursue it, I would be inclined to respect his judgment,” said Cannon.

By: The News Service of Florida

Image: Gov.’s Office

prison privatization

[Tallahassee, FL] Citing noise and chanting earlier in the day, the Senate Sergeant at Arms on Tuesday denied Senate viewing gallery access to a group loosely defined as Occupy Tallahassee.

The decision by Sergeant-at-Arms Don Severance caused a flurry of activity in the afternoon as a group occupied a space just outside the Senate press gallery for a few hours after session adjourned for the day.

The sergeant, who is charged with maintaining decorum in and around the 40-member chamber, said earlier that he had informed Occupy Tallahassee members that their behavior was disruptive and would not be allowed.

“I told them that I wouldn’t allow them to be disruptive in the chamber,” Severance said. “They quieted down for a while then got louder again.”

Earlier Tuesday, the House sergeant-at-arms restricted access to that chamber’s gallery to accommodate family and friends of returning lawmakers and special guests on the first day of the 2012 legislative session and the annual State of the State speech.

“It’s messed up,” said Daniel Walford, an Occupy Tallahassee participant from Tampa. “We are not a group but individuals and it’s not unlike anybody else who wants to sit in. We wanted to listen and learn.”

Some group members said they were denied access to the afternoon public floor session despite not having been part of earlier activities that included singing and chanting outside the House and Senate chambers.

Photo: Colin Hackley

Instead, they said they were lumped in with more disruptive participants primarily because of their age and attire.

“It’s social profiling, simple,” one Occupy Tallahassee protestor said Tuesday afternoon.

Richard Benam, a volunteer attorney for ACLU Florida said he met with Severance, whose reasoning for barring the group, Benam said, was “generic and unsatisfactory.”

More than two dozen individuals, who temporarily camped outside the Senate chambers, left willingly shortly before 6 p.m. The Capitol complex is closed down to visitors after business concludes for the day, according to Capitol Police policy.

Senate President Mike Haridopolos (R-26/Merritt Island) said following the incident that the chamber has taken great steps over the years and during his tenure to allow public attendance

“We’ve given people a voice. But if people want to dedicate to just being disruptive, I think that’s a whole other matter,” Haridopolos said.

“We’ll let them in in the next session, but if they’re going to be disruptive, like any other person that’s being disruptive, they’ll be asked to leave and probably people who want to do the same will be asked to leave,” he said.

By: Michael Peltier/The News Service of Florida

Images: Colin Hackley

Occupy Tallahassee

Democrats, the ACLU, U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, and various voter registration groups are up in arms over a just-signed bill (CS/CS/HB 1355) that severely overhauls Florida’s election laws., in addition to making it legally tricky for groups to sign up would-be voters. It also shortens the early voting cycle to eight days (down from 14). Absentee voting remains unchanged.

Already, Nelson has officially requested that the Justice Department look into the matter.

Scott and the GOP Lawmakers – who control both the state’s House and the Senate – say the new law will eliminate voter fraud. That assertion is absurd, according to the bill’s many opponents.

Uncharacteristically, Scott did not release a statement to accompany the law’s signing, perhaps because the legislation will need to be reviwed at the federal level (by the Justice Dept., within 60 days) because five Florida counties are closely monitored due to the Voting Rights Act.

Already effected by the new law is Miami-Dade County. Elections officials there have had to cancel plans for early voting in next week’s county-wide mayor’s race. And The League of Women Voters has halted voter registration efforts out of fear of putting volunteers in legal jeopardy or face possible fines for simply signing up people eager to participate in elections.

Challenges Await

The League, along with the American Civil Liberties Union, is looking at challenging the new law in court.

In a tersely worded statement released today, the ACLU’s Howard Simon described the new laws as “grotesquely un-American” and “astonishing voter suppression.”

“With just one bill, they made it harder to register to vote, harder to cast your vote, and harder to have your vote counted,” Simon was quoted as saying.

Such critics point out that the law is really designed to disenfranchise those who traditionally vote for Democrats, including African-Americans, other people of color and college students. Voters who end up trying to make an address change on Election Day – a common practice for those focused on their studies, and the poor who move frequently – would have several new hurdles to clear before their votes are counted. They must now prove that they exist to the satisfaction of the state.

Long-form birth certificates, anyone?

Volunteers who seek out new voters or those needing to change their registration will also now have additional paperwork to file. And if they don’t turn their forms in within 48 hours, they face a $50 fine. And that’s for each form. That could add up to a huge liability for someone turning in hundreds or even thousands of registration forms.

Fraud Is The Word

It’s all under the guise of battling voter fraud, which is real and measurable, according to Republicans, who site sometimes dramatic examples of fraud.

Deirdre Macnab of The League of Women Voters isn’t buying it. In an sharp critique of the law before it was signed, Macnab posted a lengthy blog entry, calling out state Republicans for using the voter fraud issue as justification for the new laws. Macnab, who represents an agency that has signed up voters in the state for more than 70 years, described the issue of voter fraud as  a “red herring” meant to distract from what is really taking shape.

“Our own Secretary of State has reported that zero instances of fraud were reported to him during the most recent election cycle,” wrote Macnab, who also pointed out that the state has spent 10 years and $30 million dollars on a computer database that ensures election integrity. “We cannot and will not place our thousands of volunteers at risk … one late form could result in their facing financial and civil penalties.”

Republicans say the new laws will keep Mickey Mouse from voting, referring to an often cited example of someone trying to register Disney’s flagship character to vote (the form was submitted, but the mouse never actually made it into the system).

Macnab described the new requirements as, “so cumbersome that our volunteers would need to look for paid staffing and attorneys to decipher and keep track of the new red tape.”

Rep. Dennis Baxley (R-Ocala), the bill’s sponsor, doesn’t agree.

“This is our effort to tighten up and provide an election process that is dependable, reliable and accurate,” said Representative Baxley. “Your vote is very important. We want to make sure that your vote is tabulated correctly and with the utmost integrity. Election Day is not a voter registration event, it is a voting event.”

Now we wait for the feds to weigh-in on this contentious new law freshly inked by Gov. Scott.

Also See:

PAUL LUX: Florida’s new voting law and what it means I likened some of the changes in election law made by HB 1355 to a five-ring circus, and focused on issues that I felt voters needed to better understand: early voting, address changes on election day, third-party voter registration organizations, …

Elections Dominate: Florida Political Roundup On Thursday, Scott signed a controversial elections bill (HB 1355), which took effect immediately in all but five Florida counties that are subject to Department of Justice review based on their history of racial discrimination. …

Jessica Lowe-Minor: Why make it harder to vote? During the debate on HB 1355, Rep. Erik Fresen, R-Miami, defended the measure, which will inarguably make it more difficult for eligible citizens to register and cast a ballot, by saying that our current system “coddles” voters. Sen. …

Controversial voter law may not affect Highlands HB 1355 shortens the time to 10 days before the election. Previously, early voting wasn’t allowed on Sunday; HB 1355 allows voting on one Sunday during that period. “Miami and those metro counties didn’t want to see the reduction,” Campbell said. …

Weekly Roundup: Elections Dominate On Thursday, Scott signed a controversial elections bill (HB 1355), which took effect immediately in all but five Florida counties that are subject to Department of Justice review based on their history of racial discrimination. …