Sunshine Slate

[Washington, D.C.] Nine Senators from states affected by the BP Oil Spill have co-sponsored the RESTORE Act (S1400), which directs 80% of the Clean Water Act fines to the restoration of the Gulf of Mexico. The RESTORE Act also includes funding for long-term marine research and monitoring programs.

The bill was announced Thursday at a press conference held in the nation’s capitol.

Both Senators from Florida – Marco Rubio (R) and Bill Nelson (D) – played a role in bringing this bipartisan legislation to the floor, which finally begins the federal government’s response to the tragic explosion and resultant environmental nightmare that affected the coastline economies of Mississippi, Louisiana, Florida, Alabama and Texas.

Other Senators who co-introduced the bill were Senators Landrieu (D-LA), Shelby (R-AL), Vitter (R-LA), Sessions (R-AL) , Hutchison (R-TX), Wicker (R-MS), and Cochran (R-MS).

The RESTORE Act – Resources and Ecosystems Sustainability, Tourist Opportunities, and Revived Economies of the Gulf Coast States Act – immediately found support among the environmentally conscious. Six environmental groups issued a joint statement backing the bill.

Workers clean up oil after officials closed the beaches as oil washed on shore at Elmer’s Island, La., Friday, May 21, 2010.

“At a time of heated division, it is heartening to see a bipartisan group of Senators work together to provide the means to heal the Gulf of Mexico and its communities,” said Emily Woglom, Ocean Conservancy’s Director of Government Relations.

“This is simply about fairness for the Gulf.  As both Ocean Conservancy and the President’s bipartisan Oil Spill Commission recommended, this bill directs 80 percent of Clean Water Act fines paid by BP and other parties responsible for last year’s oil disaster to strengthening and restoring the health of the Gulf region.”

Ocean Conservancy, headquartered in Washington, D.C., is an advocate for the oceans with support from more than half a million members and volunteers. To learn more about Ocean Conservancy visit www.oceanconservancy.org.

The RESTORE Act establishes the Gulf Coast Restoration Trust Fund, money for which coming via civil penalties paid in connection with the Deepwater Horizon spill.

The funds would be broken down like this: 35% goes to the five affected states equally, 60% to the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council, and 5% to a new science and fisheries program.

Estimates put the potential amount in the fund between $5 billion and $20 billion.

Lead image: BP continues operations at the site of the oil spill in Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Louisiana, Saturday, May 29, 2010. Photo by Cheryl Gerber.

- Mark Christopher

[Washington, D.C.] Today, U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) filed legislation that would temporarily let officials not have to count Social Security obligations against the national debt limit.

The legislation is an updated version of a 1996 bill passed during a conflict between then-Democratic President Bill Clinton and the Republican-controlled Congress.

Under the proposal, the Treasury Department would be able to cover tens of millions of Social Security checks in the event of a government default. In Florida, nearly 4 million people rely on Social Security.

Come Aug. 3, a stoppage of checks could devastate Florida’s seniors and cause measurable damage to the state’s already weakened economy.

Nelson outlined the plan in a letter to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner.

“During the 1996 debt-limit situation Congress passed a special temporary law that said Social Security didn’t count against the debt limit,” Nelson wrote in his letter to Geithner.

“Would such a non-traditional measure be needed today?  Would pending legislation that prioritizes Social Security obligations suffice?  If not, I stand ready with legislation that would temporarily exempt Social Security obligations from the public debt limit.”

With Florida having such a large population of seniors, Nelson is scoring political points as well as offering as practical solution to a perplexing problem.

“Time is of the essence,” Nelson said in the letter.

All of this is part of the poltical theater playting out across the country as the budget impasse continues. President Obama recently upped the ante by warning that if a deal is not reached by Aug. 2, Social Security checks may not be in mailboxes on Aug. 3.

Nelson’s letter in its entirety:

The Honorable Timothy F. Geithner

Secretary

U.S. Department of the Treasury

1500 Pennsylvania Ave., NW

Washington, D.C. 20220

Dear Secretary Geithner:

This week I heard the President say we cannot guarantee the 27 million Social Security checks that are due to be mailed on Aug. 3, the day after the Treasury Department has anticipated we will hit the debt ceiling if congressional leaders fail to get beyond the partisan games and reach an agreement on spending cuts and increasing the nation’s borrowing limit.

The stakes are high not only for our economy, but also for the millions of seniors who depend solely on Social Security.

My question is: What plan does the Treasury have to continue payment of Social Security checks under the worst-case scenario?

During the 1996 debt-limit situation Congress passed a special temporary law that said Social Security didn’t count against the debt limit.  Would such a non-traditional measure be needed today?  Would pending legislation that prioritizes Social Security obligations suffice?  If not, I stand ready with legislation that would temporarily exempt Social Security obligations from the public debt limit.

There are nearly four million Social Security recipients in my state alone who need answers to these questions.  Please respond immediately, as time is of the essence.

Sincerely,

Bill Nelson

Florida

- Mark Christopher

[Washington D.C.] U.S. Senator Bill Nelson has been around long enough to know the extensive damage that an outbreak in the citrus industry can cause. And with Florida’s citrus growers projecting a 4% increase in production this year, Nelson is trying to keep the federal government ahead of the game.

Since last fall, Nelson and others on the hill have been urging the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to aggressively seek out and eradicate a bacterial disease that threatens to invade the entire U.S citrus market.

It has already struck in Florida, Louisiana, South Carolina and Georgia.

“If we don’t do this and do it now, we’ll end up paying $5 for an orange – and it’ll have to be one imported from someplace else,” said Nelson (D-FL ).

The combat the potential devastation, the USDA announced that it will pony up $11 million to battle the disease called “citrus greening.”  Most of the funds will go to scientific research. It will invest $2 million this year into research at the U.S. Horticultural Research Laboratory in Ft. Pierce, Fla.

In addition, the USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture has committed to focusing $9 million in a three-year, competitive grants program.

All of it towards fighting citrus greening, the new scourge of the citrus industry, which finds itself rebounding after years of battling fruit flies, canker and hard freezes – especially in Florida.

According to the National Academy of Sciences, citrus greening is one of the most devastating diseases affecting any commercial agricultural crop. Citrus greening disease obstructs the flow of nutrients in citrus trees and leads many fruits to remain green, grow lopsided and taste bitter.

And the numbers are staggering: More than 250,000 jobs are at risk if citrus greening continues to spread. Also at risk, over 1 million commercial citrus acres that have an annual production value of approximately $3 billion across the nation.

Yearly losses could reach $10 billion if citrus greening is left unchecked.

The announcement couldn’t come any sooner if you are in one of the following industries: harvesting, packaging, processing, transportation, marketing, retail sales, and nursery production.

Gov. Rick Scott is obviously not on the same page as Nelson, the USDA and Florida’s citrus industry. Last month, the governor vetoed a measure that would have pumped $2 million into citrus greening research.

On the other hand, Nelson is seeking the secure $30 million a year in federal money to battle citrus diseases such as greening.

- Mark Christopher

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. …