Peter Schorsch
Sixty Days — A prime-time look at the 2018 Legislative Session
The Last 24
Good Wednesday evening. A law, once featured on 60 Minutes, that’s a legacy of former CFO Jeff Atwater could be headed to the dustbin of history, and you might see a constitutional amendment on gambling on your 2018 ballot. Sixty Days don’t like snake eyes. Here’s your evening rundown.
Pony up: Two measures that reform the state campaign finance system cleared a House panel with bipartisan support, leaving them one more stop before a full floor vote.
Welfare blues: A House committee advanced a measure that would create tougher penalties for welfare recipients who fail to meet program work requirements.
Sure bet? A proposed constitutional amendment aimed at limiting gambling’s expansion now has enough signatures for ballot placement.
Gavel in: A judge will consider whether life insurance companies are right that a 2016 law requiring them to track down beneficiaries is unconstitutional.
Bury this: A bill giving the Public Service Commission “exclusive jurisdiction” on below-ground transmission lines for power plant projects heads to the floor in both chambers.
Drugged dogs: A bill to ban all uses of steroids in racing greyhounds cleared a key Senate panel.
No money? The governor, lieutenant governor and Cabinet members wouldn’t be able to accept political contributions while the Legislature is in session under a bill moving through the House.
Mo’ money: A House panel approved a “strike-all” amendment to a controversial bill that would change regulations to the state’s payday-lending industry.
Orange you glad: The Florida Department of Citrus adjusted its budget Wednesday for the second time this growing season, holding out hope for a federal disaster-relief package.
Quote of the Day
“I find it interesting that the (association) seems to think that they have any credibility on drug issues…” —Sen. Dana Young, commenting on the Florida Greyhound Association. Her bill banning steroids in dogs cleared a Senate panel Wednesday. Twelve dogs tested positive for cocaine last summer.
Bill Day’s Latest
3 Questions
State Sen. David Simmons, a Longwood Republican, is one of the true veteran lawmakers in Tallahassee, having served eight years in the House and seven now in the Senate. As he enters his final year, the chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee on General Government talked about his priorities, including public education and the environment.
FP: What is your top priority right now?
DS: Hurricane Irma showed to us that we must be better prepared for the next natural or man-made disaster here in Florida. The infrastructure of our electrical and water utilities must be strengthened. One of the most effective ways of doing this is to authorize and direct the Public Service Commission to cause each utility to present a viable 5, 10, 15, and 20 year plan to dramatically improve its ability to withstand natural disasters, including an effective ability to respond to customers’ questions, concerns, and complaints. I will be filing a bill to require the PSC to get this done.
FP: You’ve talked about adjustments to House Bill 7069 for public education. What would you like to see done?
DS: The Florida Department of Education’s presentation to the Senate Education Committee in early December 2017 showed that Florida’s school districts have, over the past two years, significantly reduced the number of chronically failing traditional public schools. This is an important reduction, and a real testament to the hard work, quality, and effectiveness of our public school teachers in the face of major challenges in these schools — where students are mostly minorities who are living in generational poverty, many of whom don’t speak English as a first language.
While I applaud the intent of the Schools of Hope as a concept that is premised on the understanding that fixing chronically poor performing schools requires that we must treat the entire student. We can no longer just deal with these at-risk students only as a student from 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. during the school week. Instead, we must provide the essential social services – meals when these children are hungry, essential medical attention when they are sick, after-school character-building activities, and extra time reading and studying. These “wrap around services” are essential to educating these at-risk students. We now know that once we treat the whole student, we can help these students to be successful so that they can share in the American dream.
HB 7069, however, does not provide the practical structure or mechanism for the proper implementation of its laudatory goal. Instead, trying to implement HB 7069 is like trying to shove 25 pounds of sugar into a 10 pound bag. For example, it already designates 38 public schools with over 20,000 students as failing, and expects them to close by the summer of 2018 – without providing a good plan for educating these children. Additionally, HB 7069 does not provide adequate funding for the admittedly necessary wrap around services for these 38 schools or for another 90+ schools that need these services.
FP: What more do we need to address re: groundwater?
DS: The Florida Legislature passed landmark legislation in 2016 when it passed and funded the most comprehensive water protection act in Florida’s history. But we knew then that there was still more to do.
As such, I will be filing a bill that provides for an innovative way to assist local governments and utilities in meeting Florida and federal water quality standards in all Florida waters by creating a funding partnership between the water management districts, local governments, and local utilities. In this way, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP), Florida’s water management districts, local governments, and local utilities will be able to make the needed infrastructural improvements so as to significantly reduce their contamination of our groundwaters.
Lobby Up
“Play the lottery on your phone!”
That’s the slogan for AutoLotto, a San Francisco-based tech start-up that operates Lottery.com, a ticket management service.
They’ve hired Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney lobbyists Ivette Arango O’Doski, Marnie George, Mike Harrell, Paul Hawkes, Jim Magill, Kimberly McGlynn and Timothy Stanfield to represent them in Florida this Legislative Session, registration records show.
The company also “created a mobile app that lets users buy, play and redeem lottery tickets all on their smartphones,” according to a TechCrunch story. “To stay in compliance with lottery laws, AutoLotto also has to operate physical offices in every state where its users buy tickets.”
Breakthrough Insights
The Next 24
The Florida Public Service Nominating Council will meet to further narrow its list of possible candidates for the open PSC post. That’s at 8 a.m., 37 Senate Office Building, The Capitol.
Gov. Rick Scott and the Cabinet will meet. That’s at 9 a.m., Cabinet meeting room, The Capitol.
The House Education Committee will hear a bill that would rename two of Florida’s community colleges. That’s at 9 a.m., 102 House Office Building, The Capitol.
The Senate Judiciary will consider a bill that would expand rights to carry weapons and firearms. That’s at 10 a.m., 110 Senate Office Building, The Capitol.
Reps. Shevrin Jones, a West Park Democrat, and Rene Plasencia, an Orlando Republican, are holding a press conference on legislation proposing the expansion of a successful Miami-Dade County needle exchange pilot program. That’s at 10:30 a.m., outside the House chamber on the fourth floor, The Capitol.
Reps. Ben Diamond, a St. Petersburg Democrat, and Plasencia are hosting a press conference to discuss the lack of committee referrals for an update to the Florida Civil Rights Act of 1992 to include LGBT protections in the workplace, public housing and accommodations. That’s at 11:30 a.m., fourth-floor rotunda, The Capitol.
The Senate Appropriations Committee will consider a bill allocating $75 million a year on springs projects and $50 million annually on projects related to the restoration of the St. Johns River and its tributaries or the Keystone Heights Lake Region. That’s at 4 p.m., 412 Knott Building, The Capitol.
