Florida Gov’t Weekly Roundup: No Rest For The Weary

March 19, 2016

The week after the legislative session is usually a quiet one. Lawmakers, lobbyists and reporters take some time to catch up on sleep, reacquaint themselves with life outside the Capitol, and generally begin the recuperation after a 60-day sprint.

http://www.northescambia.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/floridaweeklly.jpgThis year, there was no time for rest. On Monday, presidential candidates and surrogates — some of them lawmakers — crisscrossed the state to try and get voters motivated ahead of the Tuesday primaries. And if voting for the leader of the free world wasn’t enough news on Tuesday itself, Gov. Rick Scott also announced his intentions on the state budget in an unusual move.

By midweek, things had started to slow down a bit and return to the normal post-session lull. The quiet probably won’t last for long. Primaries for state offices will start soon enough — all 160 legislative seats will be up for grabs — and the presidential campaign seems to once again be a race to see who can win Ohio and Florida. Catch your breath while you can.

RUBIO FOLDS HIS HAND

When the Republican Party of Florida decided to award all 99 of its Republican National Convention delegates to the winner of the state’s March 15 presidential primary, it seemed to be an attempt to boost former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush or current U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio. Party leaders repeatedly denied that helping out the state’s favorite sons was the objective, but few believed them.

But Bush’s campaign never made it to Florida, and Rubio ended his White House bid Tuesday after real-estate mogul Donald Trump walloped him by nearly 20 points. Trump carried almost 46 percent of the vote, to 27 percent for Rubio, according to unofficial returns. U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas and Ohio Gov. John Kasich came in a distant third and a more-distant fourth.

Things were even more lopsided on the Democratic side, where former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton routed U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont. Clinton had more than 64 percent of the vote, to 33 percent for Sanders.

Bowing out of the race, Rubio still questioned Trump’s bona fides as the best leader for the Republican Party. But he stayed away from the kind of jokes about Trump’s manhood that for a time knocked Rubio off his message in the weeks leading up to Florida.

“America needs a vibrant conservative movement, but one that’s built on principles and on ideas, not on fear, not on anger, not on preying on people’s frustrations,” Rubio said. ” … But after tonight it is clear that while we are on the right side, this year, we will not be on the winning side.”

Trump, for his part, greeted Rubio’s departure with remarks that could be called gracious — something not normally associated with the bombastic billionaire.

“He’s tough, he’s smart, and he’s got a great future,” Trump said.

Rubio’s Democratic critics weren’t so kind.

“Florida Democrats knew that once Americans got to know Marco, they would see what those of us in the Sunshine State have known all along: Rubio is nothing more than a self-centered career-politician heavy on ambition and light on substance,” party Chairwoman Allison Tant said in a statement issued after the result became clear.

But other politicos agreed with the sentiment Trump voiced about Rubio’s future in the Republican Party, even if they disagree with Trump on almost everything else.

“If you know Marco, you know this is a guy who is young and still wants to be a meaningful force and positive force in American political life,” said Rick Wilson, a Republican political consultant who worked for independent efforts backing Rubio.

How that will manifest itself, though, was unclear. By the end of Thursday, Rubio had already ruled out running for vice president, governor or senator — something that seemed to leave open only the possibility of another presidential bid in 2020 should this year’s GOP nominee falter.

FALSE ALARM

In the closing days of the legislative session, predictions about a messy end to the budget showdown between Scott and lawmakers were rampant — and dire. Scott would use his line-item veto to devastate House and Senate priorities; Senate Appropriations Chairman Tom Lee, R-Brandon, told reporters that the governor might hack $500 million from a spending plan that totaled $82.3 billion when passed.

That wasn’t even the wildest idea. Scott might veto the entire budget, something almost never done. And whether he nixed the entire budget or just a hefty portion of it, the relationship between the governor and the Legislature had deteriorated to the point that there was open talk of veto overrides — another unusual step.

Scott’s office offered few clear answers, and the governor almost always plays his cards close to the vest when asked about whether he will sign or veto legislation. Then, out of the blue, Scott announced Tuesday that he would sign the budget while trimming just $256 million from the spending plan — a modest amount for a governor known for using his veto pen like a Ginsu when it suits him.

By releasing his budget announcement on the same day when many political journalists would be focused on the presidential primaries, Scott seemed to be aiming for minimal coverage. While he has worked to portray the spending plan as a victory, the governor got very little of what he wanted from the Legislature.

“Before I came into office, Florida was raising taxes and fees and there is no doubt that I will always want more tax cuts and more jobs,” Scott said in a statement released by his office Tuesday. “I look forward to continuing to work with the Legislature to find more ways next year to return money back to families all across Florida.”

The budget bumps up per-student spending on public schools by 1 percent, moving it to a record amount. It spends more than $713.5 million on education construction projects and funds $151 million for restoration of the Everglades and an area lawmakers are calling the Northern Everglades.

House and Senate leaders indicated that the veto list was reasonable enough to distance themselves from any talk of overrides or open confrontation. House Speaker Steve Crisafulli, R-Merritt Island, said Scott “has used his veto in a prudent and fair manner.”

It helped that few of the lines struck from the budget were big-ticket items. The biggest cut was nearly $15 million for construction of the Center of Innovation Technology Education at Eastern Florida State College.

The only other vetoes of $10 million or more were the elimination of $11 million to build a performing arts center at Pasco-Hernando State College, and the removal of $10 million for “quiet zone” improvements near railway lines.

Scott also left in place some of the things most important to legislative leaders, like $20 million to pay for the state share of a downtown Orlando campus for the University of Central Florida, a top priority of outgoing Senate President Andy Gardiner, R-Orlando.

The happy talk was a relief for those involved in the political process for another reason: Barring a court decision or other unforeseen issue, there will be no special session in 2016, a break from last year’s three additional gatherings in Tallahassee.

On Thursday, the Legislature finally sent the budget to Scott. He signed it and vetoed the projects he said he would.

LEGISLATIVE FALLOUT

Even with the budget out of the way, some officials were feeling the effects of what lawmakers did or didn’t do in the session that ended in March — and even what happened further in the past.

Barry Gilway, the president and CEO of state-backed Citizens Property Insurance, said inaction by lawmakers to address a spike in water-damage claims could reverse years of work to shrink the company.

Gilway warned the company’s board that policyholders can expect to see annual rate hikes that approach 10 percent in South Florida, where water-damage claims have been the most prevalent.

Gilway told the board that the company will need to do a better job making lawmakers aware of the potential damage to the insurance industry in Florida unless restrictions are placed on a controversial insurance practice known as “assignment of benefits.”

“I just don’t believe that we got the story across that this is a crisis, this is going to reverse all the improvement we’re seeing in the overall marketplace over the last two to three years,” Gilway said.

Assignments of benefits often arise when homeowners need repairs for problems such as water damage. Homeowners sign over benefits to contractors, who ultimately pursue payments from insurance companies.

Meanwhile, the Florida Board of Governors — which oversees the state’s university system — was facing up to the news that Florida Polytechnic University wouldn’t meet accreditation by its original deadline. Under a 2012 bill establishing Florida Poly, it was supposed to get the OK from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools by December.

The university is hoping to get a final decision on its “candidacy” — the first step in accreditation — this June, following a visit by SACS officials last week. Florida Poly then wanted the association to visit again in the fall, in hopes of completing the process at the end of the year.

But SACS informed the university that it couldn’t do both site visits in the same calendar year, President Randy Avent said. Board of Governors members were not pleased.

“I just have to tell you we all sat up here fat and happy thinking that this was going just the way we should, and I for one am disappointed to hear it this way. … Maybe you ought to go back and look at the people you have working on this to make sure that you’re being fully informed and that we’re being fully informed,” board member Norman Tripp said.

A bill Scott signed along with the budget, though, extends the deadline for accreditation until December 2017.

STORY OF THE WEEK: U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio suspends his presidential campaign, ending the hopes of the only remaining full-time Floridian in the race and giving another boost to businessman Donald Trump.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK: “The Senate president, exercising his privilege as a caucus of one, decided to shut things down. That is the unequivocal truth.”—Marc Dunbar, a partner with the Jones Walker law firm and a lobbyist who represents the owner of Gulfstream Park Racing in Broward County, on the failure of a major gambling bill in the 2016 session. Gardiner denies that he blocked the measure from reaching the floor.

by Brandon Larrabee, The News Service of Florida

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Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News