Peter Schorsch
Sixty Days — A prime-time look at the 2019 Legislative Session
The Last 24
Good Wednesday evening. In the words of Sen. Ben Albritton, “Please remember: What you just saw here today is a big deal.” The Wauchula Republican was speaking at a momentous occasion in the Capitol: The announcement of the creation of a new group to help Florida’s older population. “The Coalition for Silver Solutions will conduct their advocacy efforts throughout the ongoing legislative session, and will then bring leading strategists together to discuss long-term policy options,” the group said. “These efforts will culminate in a Silver Summit late this year, just ahead of the 2020 Legislative Session.” Sixty Days went gray early, but always declines the senior discount. Here’s your nightly rundown.
Go for the silver: “We are so blessed to have so many elderly residents, and (their numbers are) going to continue to grow.”
Ethical moves: A bill that would tighten ethics requirements for state employees and office holders won easy unanimous approval.
Workers’ comp reform stalls: A push by Florida’s business community to tackle the state’s workers’ compensation insurance laws could be poised to fail again this year.
Unbundle us: The Senate unanimously passed a proposal to ban the Constitution Revision Commission from “bundling” multiple topics in single constitutional amendments.
Lance Christian Whitaker memorialized: The Senate honored a late Jacksonville policeman by voting to name a stretch of highway after him.
Defending his agency: With the House looking to ax his agency, Enterprise Florida head Jamal Sowell went to bat for it.
Emergency management: DEM leader Jared Moskowitz says storm relief funding is a top priority this Session.
Ashley Moody talks dope: The Attorney General spoke about her goals to combat the opioid epidemic — and what help she needs from the Legislature.
Sunscreen and coral reefs: An effort to outlaw sunscreens with ingredients that harm reefs is in trouble.
David Rivera off the hook: House Speaker Jose Oliva said that he won’t take action against the former lawmaker, who owes nearly $58,000 in fines from a state ethics case.
Under wraps: Government agencies could not release photos, video, or audio of the “killing of a person in an act of mass violence” under a bill the Senate passed.
Sanctuary unanimity: Senate Democrats unanimously decided to oppose a bill by Republican Sen. Joe Gruters to address so-called “sanctuary cities.”
Check your tanks: Legislation that would require regular septic tank inspections began moving in the House.
Quote of the Day
“We constantly use the Sadowski Trust Fund as what I like to refer to … as budgetary spackle. We just scoop some out when we see a crack in the [budget] … and we slap it in there.” — Rep. Evan Jenne, a Dania Beach Democrat, debating the House plan to sweep money from the state and local affordable housing trust.
Your Metz Husband Daughton-sponsored question of the day is:
How old do you have to be to become Governor of Florida?
As always, click here to tweet your answer to @MHDFirm. The first person with the correct answer will get a shout-out in tomorrow’s 60 Days!
Yesterday, we asked: Which state Senators tied in the 1992 Florida Senate President’s race and agreed to each serve a one-year term?
Answer: “Jacksonville Republican Ander Crenshaw (1992-1993) and Quincy Democrat Pat Thomas (1993-1994).”
Congrats to Geoffrey Becker (@geoffreyb89) first to tweet the correct answer!
Bill Day’s Latest
3 Questions
Last week, Sen. Tom Lee had enough. In a meeting with insurance lobbyists, the former Senate President and Thonotosassa Republican — a member of the Banking and Insurance Committee this year — threw down the gauntlet. He, shall we say, vented his frustration over tort reform measures every year overtaking his effort to get the state’s no-fault auto insurance system repealed. We finally caught up with Lee after Wednesday morning’s Senate floor session to get his side of the story. (Questions and answers have been edited for brevity and clarity.)
Q: Can you clarify what the conversation was that caused a lot of consternation among members of the insurance lobby?
Lee: I was invited to a meeting and I attended — I mostly listened. I had a few choice things to say, but I feel like, you know, I’ve had a piece of legislation I’ve been trying to get heard and I can’t seem to get heard, can’t seem to get it in committee. It’s been one anti-consumer, pro-business, anti-lawyer piece of legislation after another, and I just want to be treated with some respect and some fairness and to have some balance to what the committee’s moving to the floor. And so, you know, I’m dealing with very primitive, blunt weapons in middle management of The Process. But I have a unique set of skills and I will wield them as I feel appropriate to make sure that everyone’s viewpoints are represented down here, not just that of big business.
Q: Was a specific promise made that if that one bill doesn’t move, nothing insurance-related moves?
Lee: Well, I don’t have that authority and I don’t have that power. All I can do is make my best effort to ensure that what we bring to this floor, what we work (on) with the House, at the end of the day, is fair too and protects the consumers that are in between the dog and the fire hydrant, and that is the insurance industry and the trial bar. And those are the people we’re here to represent and we just need to make sure that we don’t give one party too much power. I think it’s been a little lopsided.
Q: Does no-fault repeal, then, have any better chance of passage now than previous years?
Lee: I think it’s going to be in the mix. My perspective is (that) it’s been held hostage for bad-faith reform, and there’s probably a way to clean up the bad faith law, to codify it a bit, so that there’s more certainty and predictability and reliability by the parties in a lawsuit. But the devil’s in the details. I think we can get (my) bill up next week and get it out of committee and put it in play, (but) we’ve got a long way to go till the floor, and then we’ve got to work with the House. But of all the insurance bills that are moving through the system, the mandatory bodily-injury bill is the one that is identical to what they’re doing in the House.
… I feel like a lot of these insurance issues are going to get tied together … You have to have a package that’s fair for everybody, and you might move the needle one way in one piece of legislation, to favor one side, and move it in another way on another piece. In the end, it needs to be balanced. But I just don’t know whether the chambers are going to be able to agree on broad insurance reform this year.
Lobby Up
The Florida Department of Veterans’ Affairs was funded at $112 million in the 2018-19 budget. Among the line items was a $250,000 appropriation to help veterans get service dogs to help them cope with issues ranging from post-traumatic stress disorder to traumatic brain injury.
Canine companions are proven to help reintegrate combat veterans into society, but there’s a Florida-based program that does far more than simply provide a trained dog and a leash.
K9 Partners for Patriots has veterans take part in the training process — they spend weeks learning about PTSD and how to deal with its symptoms, all the while training their future companion, and the program doesn’t cost them a cent.
K9 Partners for Patriots has even partnered up with St. Leo University and the University of Central Florida to conduct an evidence-based study of the program to show, with scientific data, how effective service animals are for treating PTSD and other conditions, so they’ve partnered up. But the program — provided at no cost to veterans — and the study needs money to keep chugging along.
To get an appropriation to cover the costs, K9 Partners for Patriots has retained lobbyist Carole Duncanson. If their request is granted, research could show prove just how effective service animals are in helping veterans thrive after they return home.
Breakthrough Insights
The Next 24
The state university system’s Board of Governors will meet after holding meetings of the Academic and Student Affairs Committee, the Audit and Compliance Committee and the Budget and Finance Committee. Committees start at 9 a.m., with full board estimated to start at 2 p.m., Florida A&M University, Tallahassee.
The Gulf Consortium Board of Directors, which works on issues related to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, is scheduled to meet at 9 a.m., Hotel Duval, 415 North Monroe St., Tallahassee.
The Florida Supreme Court is scheduled to release its weekly opinions at 11 a.m. (Releases in recent weeks, however, have been canceled or delayed because of the addition of three new justices to the court.)
In other scheduled meetings:
— The House Health & Human Services Committee meets. The agenda includes a bill to allow importing of less expensive drugs from Canada. That’s at 8 a.m., Morris Hall, House Office Building.
— The House Judiciary Committee meets. The agenda includes a bill to define “anti-Semitism” and prohibits discrimination in public schools based on religion. That’s at 8 a.m., 404 House Office Building.
— The House Education Committee meets. The agenda includes a bill to place term limits on county school board members. That’s at 8:30 a.m., Reed Hall, House Office Building.
— The House Commerce Committee meets. The agenda includes a bill on the licensure of unarmed security guards. That’s at 10:30 a.m., 212 Knott Building.
— The House Public Integrity & Ethics Committee meets. The agenda includes a bill to undo a state law allowing elected officials to create what is known as “blind trusts.” That’s at 10:30 a.m., 404 House Office Building.
— The House State Affairs Committee meets. The agenda includes a bill to regulate autonomous vehicles, also known as self-driving cars. That’s at 10:30 a.m., Morris Hall, House Office Building.
