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Florida Gov’t Weekly Roundup: No Money, More Problems For Lawmakers

You can’t buy happiness, they say, but at this point Florida lawmakers would probably be willing to give it a try. For now, the state can’t afford to buy much of anything.

State lawmakers didn’t get far into the week when they heard they would have to close a budget hole of at least $1.3 billion, and probably closer to $2 billion, in the fiscal year that begins July 1. One day after that revenue estimate rolled in, Gov. Rick Scott asked lawmakers for more tax cuts — and fewer anthropologists.

NO, PASS THIS PLAN

Scott spent much of the rest of the week pushing for government to spend less so it can tax less, and deliver the benefits to the businesses he is confident will create jobs.

In a visit to Central Florida to unveil his economic agenda, Scott said he would ask lawmakers to double the corporate income tax exemption to $50,000, dropping 25 percent of the companies that now pay it from the tax rolls. After Scott’s original plan to cut the tax rate got nowhere last year, the Legislature instead approved a measure increasing the exemption to $25,000.

Scott also proposed a $50,000 exemption from the tangible personal property tax on businesses, allowing 150,000 of the 300,000 companies that now pay the levy to avoid it. That would require a constitutional amendment that would go before voters in 2012.

“One of the most important things Florida can do to attract businesses, and in turn jobs, is to create a tax environment that welcomes business growth and encourages investment in our state,” Scott said in prepared remarks.

Scott also re-issued a call for using tolls to pay for new transportation projects across the state, a funding mechanism that would help the state accommodate growth without having to foot the entire construction bill. Other Scott priorities include port upgrades and improved shipping logistics that Florida can use to take advantage of the expansion of the Panama Canal.

Taking a page from President Barack Obama’s playbook, Scott then began touring the state to push his proposals, traveling to Jacksonville, Panama City and South Florida in an effort to push for support for his jobs package.

FEWER FLORIDIAN JANE GOODALLS?

As part of the plan, Scott also suggested universities de-emphasize degrees in fields that he thinks don’t help the state create jobs, singling out a major that supporters say is located squarely in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics arena that Scott touts.

“Do we need to use your tax dollars to educate more people that can’t get jobs in anthropology?” Scott asked business leaders at a luncheon in Tallahassee before laying out his agenda.

It was an argument Scott may lose in his own household; the Associated Press revealed his daughter, Jordan Kandah, has an anthropology degree.

On more substantive grounds, some critics said the governor’s policy was thin gruel. Rep. Alan Williams, D-Tallahassee, said some of Scott’s ideas have merit, but lawmakers are missing an opportunity if they don’t look at eliminating tax breaks and loopholes that many businesses enjoy. Closing such loopholes would raise revenue instead of relying on spending cuts alone to balance the budget.

“I don’t think he gets there by getting rid of anthropology and creating new toll roads,” Williams said following Scott’s speech.

WHAT CASH CRUNCH?

If only lawmakers could ask their political donors to chip in. With one more quarter to go before they have to shut off the spigots for the legislative session, candidates revealed their hauls from the fundraising they did in from July 1 to Sept. 30.

In the House, Speaker-designate Will Weatherford brought in $190,300 in contributions for the 2012 elections that are expected to formally power him to the speaker’s chair. Weatherford, whose only declared opponent in District 61 is no-party candidate Franklin Donald Stockmeister, increased his overall cash total for the 2012 campaign to $266,750, according to quarterly reports filed this week.

A pair of hopefuls for the top job in the Senate also had strong quarters. Sen. Jack Latvala, R-Clearwater, raked in $154,725, outpacing Sen. Andy Gardiner, an Orlando Republican who might end up squaring off with Latvala, raised $101,775 over the last three months.

Sen. Lizbeth Benacquisto, R-Fort Myers, was the only other candidate to break the $100,000 barrier in donations, with $106,074, though Republican Senate District 7 candidate Jacqueline Porter took out a $100,000 loan.

PROFESSORS, LAWYERS AND COURTS
One group that doesn’t have the ability to raise its own money: the Board of Governors.

The 1st District Court of Appeal ruled Wednesday that the Legislature has the power to set tuition and fees.

“We are unaware of any entity other than the Legislature in the history of our state that has been authorized by the Florida Constitution to exercise the quintessential legislative power of raising and appropriating state funds,” a three judge panel said in ruling against a group of plaintiffs including former Gov. Bob Graham and former Florida State University President Talbot “Sandy” D’Alemberte.

The current governor’s secretary of state also headed to court to get rid of the preclearance requirement for Florida elections changes to go into effect in five counties — Collier, Hardee, Hendry, Hillsborough and Monroe. Under the Voting Rights Act, those counties must get federal approval for new procedures because of a history of language or racial discrimination. Secretary of State Kurt Browning is pushing for the change to help get the state’s new voting law approved.

Critics said disregarding the preclearance requirement would do away with a valuable set of protections for minority voters.

STORY OF THE WEEK: Gov. Rick Scott unveils a jobs plan that focuses heavily on cutting taxes for businesses, rolling back regulations and overhauling the unemployment and higher-education systems. It’s unclear how the tax proposals might fare in the face of the nearly $1.3 billion budget shortfall for the fiscal year that begins July 1.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK: “There shouldn’t be anything controversial about a .45-caliber bullet. If it were up to me, we would just throw them off the Sunshine Skyway Bridge and be done with it.”–Rep. Brad Drake, R-Eucheeanna, to the Florida Current, discussing his proposal to do away with lethal injection as one of the state’s methods of execution and allow inmates to choose electrocution or a new option: firing squad.

By Brandon Larrabee
The News Service of Florida