Ryan Ray
Tallahassee’s withering June heat seems to have made sunshine fashionable again in the Florida Capitol.
As House and Senate lawmakers conferred during the weekend to reconcile their disparate budget proposals, transparency was the tool of choice for certain key budget writers.
Going against the usual appropriations grain where budget priorities are wheeled and dealt among lawmakers in private, conference subcommittee co-chair Sen. Jack Latvala, for one, was naming names and forcing public decisions in this year’s budget.
Asked about his move to “link” together House-sponsored projects in Senate’s recent TED appropriations budget offer — forcing a choice between one related project or another, Latvala told assembled reporters after a Sunday afternoon meeting:
“I wanna bring some of these issues to a conclusion. They want things, I want things: Rather than trying do it, you know, out of the sunshine or over the phone or whatever, I’m just trying to do it out in front of God and everybody.”
It was a little good old-fashioned horse trading in public view, a day after American Pharoah won horse racing’s first Triple Crown in 37 years.
That’s in keeping with the spirit of Rep. Ben Albritton‘s comments Sunday during a meeting of the General Government/Agriculture and Natural Resources budget conference. He responded to a question about why sponsors are required to list their names next to member-requested water projects as part of a new House process on that budget silo, initiated by House budget chief Richard Corcoran.
“Maybe you’re not the person to ask this,” began Democratic Sen. Oscar Braynon, who is seeking to bring home state funding from his seat on the panel. “I just wondered why that process with the members and everything. Maybe I need to ask Chair Corcoran, but you mentioned it so maybe you know the thought process behind why a specific member’s name on it as opposed to, ‘It’s for the state.'”
“My understanding is, it’s about transparency,” Albritton said. “At the end of the day, if you’re interested in a project, you’d be interested enough to put your name on it. And if you’re going to fight for it, be interested enough to put your name on it. So you’re certainly welcome to ask Chair Corcoran any questions you might have, senator, on why he did that, but that’s my understanding. And certainly as the chairman of the House, I support his position.”
In the end, Latvala — the Florida Senate’s “Dark Star” — said the push for more openness and accountability is all about getting finally getting a long-delayed budget in the books.
“You know, I’m a flexible guy. I just wanna do what my colleagues on the committee, what the consensus is from them. That’s why I asked their opinions.”
