A.G. Gancarski
Back in December, the Duval Delegation heard from dozens of speakers, all with their specific asks.
The Port wants money for harbor deepening. The School District wants money for low-performing schools, as well as money to remedy safety issues and to boost technology. Jacksonville Transportation Authority: money for the Ferry. UF Health: money to overcome an anticipated $5.1 million shortfall. And so on.
The one Duval Delegation meeting speaker who said less than most observers expected was from the office of Mayor Lenny Curry. The executive branch was to flesh out its agenda later on. And indeed it did.
The big story for Jacksonville, bigger than the appropriations bills: whether Team Curry can get both houses to go along with its restructuring and extending of the Better Jacksonville Plan ½ cent sales tax to defray the Unfunded Liability for the pension plans of the city’s six unions.
The Curry administration claims, at least at this stage, that a move to a Defined Contribution formula for new hires is essential for this.
The Senate bill, sponsored by Clay County Senator Rob Bradley and Senator Aaron Bean, is identical to the House bill, sponsored by Clay County’s Travis Cummings (and with no Duval Delegation co-sponsor). There was some worry that there would be daylight between the language in the versions; while there was not, Bradley told us last week that smooth passage of the bill would be a “heavy lift.”
Time will tell. Team Curry has its lobbyists, via the Fiorentino Group, Southern Strategy Group, and Ballard Partners. The idea is that Jacksonville gets its share this time around. Marty Fiorentino quarterbacks the lobbying team.
Beyond the Pension deal, every legislator has measures they look to push through. The aforementioned Bean, for example, has a bill looking to prevent voting by non-citizens, by urging Congress to “amend certain federal laws to remove obstacles to states exercising their authority and obligation, under state and federal law, to protect the integrity of elections by ensuring that only United States citizens are registered to vote.”
The Duval Delegation’s other Senator, Audrey Gibson, also has some bills to watch. One of them, the Florida Microfinance Act, revises the Microfinance Loan Program; providing that Enterprise Florida is responsible for entering into funding agreements with loan administrators.
Another Gibson bill would establish a Water Oversight and Planning Board to address water issues in the state. A sticking point for NE Florida has been the Orlando area withdrawing water from the St. Johns. This adversely affects Jacksonville’s water security, claim locals ranging from Lenny Curry to the St. Johns Riverkeeper.
Moving to the House side of the Duval Delegation, Janet Adkins’ most interesting bill, with myriad co-sponsors, requires that DNA evidence collected in sexual offense investigations be submitted to the statewide criminal analysis laboratory system in a timely manner. In Jacksonville, the processing of “rape test kits” has been a political weapon used by Wes White against State Attorney Angela Corey. Throughout the country, there have been delays in processing rape test kits that law enforcement claims is budget driven, but most outside observers see as unconscionable derelictions of law enforcement’s duty.
Moving on to Jay Fant, his most interesting piece of legislation this session involves enacting a Motor Fuel Tax agreement with the Seminole Tribe; specifically, requiring DOR to negotiate & execute motor fuel tax agreement between state & the Seminole Tribe of Florida.
Reggie Fullwood, meanwhile, has two bills of note.
The Duval Democrat has a bill mandating “developmentally and age appropriate” sex education statewide, which currently is in the K-12 Subcommittee. As well, he sponsors the local bill that provides allowances for space and seating requirements at bar/restaurants in a specialized zone called the Riverside Avondale Commercial Character Areas. The bill would reduce requirements to 100 seats (down from 150) and 1,800 square feet (down from 2,500).
Of note: Jay Fant, whose district actually contains this area, is not co-sponsoring the bill, a measure of its fairly controversial nature in the neighborhood, where a cadre of activists seek to stymie development.
Charles McBurney, meanwhile, has a bill expanding Mental Health Services in the Criminal Justice Program which will be of local interest, given that a constant complaint on the law enforcement side is along the lines of the Duval County Jail being the city’s leading dispenser of mental health care.
McBurney is also co-sponsor of Lake Ray’s bill: Prevention of Acts of War, which is a slab of red meat for the base. This bill would give FDLE and the state greater discretion and authority in screening refugees who might want to relocate to Florida. As well, it prohibits “state, political subdivisions, agencies & employees, & persons receiving state funds from assisting with entry into or resettlement in state of certain foreign refugees & immigrants.”
Beyond these pieces of legislation, all eyes are on Paul Renner, who has been advanced as the area’s hope for a Speaker in 2022. As we have seen with the Eric Eisnaugle bid, there is still a lot of ball to be played in that game. But Renner is touted by NE Florida insiders as the most logical choice. He handled his close loss to Jay Fant with aplomb, building a friendship that many political observers wouldn’t have expected in 2014.
Of course, Renner serves the Palm Coast area now, which raises obvious questions about whether he counts as a speaker from this region. However, NE Florida will take a win wherever it can get it at this point. The era of Jim King, long since in the rearview mirror, is a lifetime ago, and an indication of the marked decline in the stroke of the Duval Delegation in Tallahassee.
