James Call
It’s the lull before the storm. In the spring, salmon swim upriver, swallows return to Capistrano and 160 lawmakers descend on the state capitol to decide how to spend billions of dollars.
That’s next week, this week people catch their breath before a 10-week sprint of budget debates and whether to change regulations governing alcohol, gambling, and marijuana.
Florists, chefs, and bartenders are all double-checking their supplies to accommodate an increase in business comparable to a two-month long Seminole-Gator football weekend. Lobbyists, agency heads, and activists are finalizing their strategies to engage in a springtime celebration of self-government.
Before tackling how to balance a state budget or develop a state water policy, among other things, Gov. Rick Scott is in Philadelphia Monday and Tuesday looking for work.
Scott is in Pennsylvania poaching jobs. In the midst of the of the coldest winter in 40 years he intends to draw a comparison between Florida’s “Perfect Business Climate,” and the high taxes and regulations policies promoted by PA Gov. Tom Wolf.
“Gov. Tom Wolf’s proposed tax increases and mandates on businesses,” Scott said, “will no doubt be heavy blows to Pennsylvania families.”
A Wolf representative called the visit a “political stunt,” and the Harrisburg Patriot-News said it is an act of war. The newspaper threatens to steal one Disney character for each PA job Scott poaches, apparently unaware that this is Florida and we have plenty of goofy, daffy characters to spare.
State economists have a busy week preparing for the session. On Monday, the Revenue Estimating Conference will discuss tobacco tax revenues. Wednesday it meets about Medicaid funding, Thursday lottery revenue is on the agenda and Friday highway-safety revenue is on the tab.
Those meetings are in addition to release of a local government pension report by the LeRoy Collins Institute Tuesday and an “iBudget” hearing Thursday by the Agency for Persons with Disabilities – iBudget program is for patients in the Medicaid waiver program.
Despite economists’ projections for a billion dollar surplus, it appears getting to a balanced budget is going to be as interesting as anything Disney has imagined.
The state may lose $2 billion in federal money for the Low-Income Pool program for failing to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, the Speaker of the House said he isn’t counting on $200 million from a Seminole gambling compact for the budget, and Scott wants $673 million in tax cuts.
Assembling the pieces of a budget is just one puzzle lawmakers will try to solve this year. Medicinal marijuana advocates hope they will also find a way to implement the law passed last year.
This week, advocates expect to finalize language for a glitch bill stopping the circle of hearings, workshops and challenges preventing the state from implementing the law. A hearing on a set of rules is scheduled for March 2 and a group of stakeholders wants lawmakers to step in and stop the bickering.
However, support for legislative action appears to be waning.
“Oh, you’ll see a dog and pony show in a couple of weeks but that’s all it will be,” said one veteran lobbyist who added, “put me as far away from that comment as you can.”
That was odd.
Then I had this exchange with House Democratic leader Mark Pafford.
Question: “Are you willing to talk to the speaker about the need for a glitch bill to get the compassionate cannabis medical act of 2014 implemented?
Pafford: “Sure, you know it’s interesting the Speaker and I speak, which is what you are supposed to do and he’s been great, every time I’ve ever spoken with him. And you know, this is something that seems to have some traction, I mean clearly, one of the most expensive polls occurred in November. And that poll would suggest that 58 percent of Floridians feel that we need to have a bigger discussion about marijuana, the medical use.
“And so, absolutely, I don’t think anyone should be afraid of that like they were four years ago. I think this is an issue that could be tied to quality of life. I think certainly we should put in standards where it’s not being abused. But I think it can help more than 1,400 people. I think that’s generally where it stands today 14 – 1,500 kids.”
A spokesman later called to say that Pafford isn’t planning to discuss a glitch bill with the Speaker.
Okay, that was odder.
Then there was an exchange with Ryan Wiggins. Wiggins represents Holley Moseley, who lobbied for passage of the Charlotte’s Web law on behalf of her daughter who is afflicted with epilepsy. Moseley was the patient advocate for a negotiated rule-making session that produced the rule that is the subject of a public hearing on March 2.
Feb. 4 after growers expressed discomfort with ownership and finance provisions under discussion, Moseley was visibly upset. And here’s what Wiggins said at the conclusion of the Feb. 5 negotiations when it was suggested that there would be a challenge.
“We’ll absolutely need the legislature to come to the table here and fix this,” said Wiggins. “We’ve shown that this rule is going to continue to run around in circles if this rule is challenged again.”
And here’s what Wiggins said Friday in an e-mail exchange about a glitch bill; no challenge has been filed but a request for hearing tends to foreshadow one.
“We are still hopeful the new rule will not be challenged, but if it is, getting these kids access to Charlotte’s Webb as quickly as possible is the priority. Any glitch bill or legislation that expands 1030 will further delay implementation of Charlotte’s Web and thus continue to jeopardize the lives of Florida’s epileptic children,” said Wiggins, also expressing thanks to the Senate President and House Speaker for their commitment to implementing Charlotte’s Web this year.
The response illustrates how the advocates are caught in a Sophie’s Choice; there are children who need medicine. To get it does one sacrifice a child for good legislation or does one accept flawed legislation for the health of a child?
“We are the hostage of bad language,” said Louis Rotundo in July after the first public hearing on the Charlotte’s Web law.
Political reporting is often like writing about shadows – you see the effect, if not always the action. Something has cast a shadow on the horizon for a glitch bill; its future does not seem bright at the moment.
In a couple of weeks, we can expect a dog and pony show for marijuana bills already filed but this week the Capitol political media bubble will take a deep breath.
