What’s Going On Up Here in the 2012 Florida Legislature?
THE SILLY SEASON IS HALF OVER. NO MAGIC BULLET YET APPEARS.
However, you’ll soon be able to officially say Merry Christmas - but only officially on Dec. 25.
Written by Duane Bradford. Last updated Sunday February 12th, 2012
By DUANE BRADFORD
Have you noticed that people generally hold used car dealers in higher esteem than politicians? There are reasons, many of which involve the skill of clear thinking. As this year’s Florida Legislature plods along, I’ve found a few things to help you gain the flavor of what happens when your legislators have no tax funds to spread around.
So it is that our lawmakers, axes in hand and short on wisdom, are struggling to conjure ways of appearing to “do something” for (to) their constituents this year. This also means that lawmakers also will have more time to dig deep into existing law to make some arcane tweak or two that no one will understand or notice until they feel the financial impact of the change after the body has departed.
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• Catch the flavor from a press release of Rep. Doug Holder (R- Sarasota), chairman of the House Business and Consumer Affairs Subcommittee: “As leaders continue to focus on ensuring Florida has one of the most business-friendly climates in the nation, the House Business and Consumer Affairs Subcommittee Tuesday passed crucial reforms that seek to improve Florida’s unemployment compensation system and promote job readiness among Floridians looking for work.” Among top improvements noted: The committee changed the name of the unemployment assistance program to “Reemployment Assistance Program,” its third name in recent years. The goal, said Mr. Holder, was to “reduce the tax burden on businesses” so more people aren’t added to the unemployment system.
• Rep. Denise Grimsley (R-Sebring), chair of the House Appropriations Committee, applauding Gov. Rick Scott’s budget recommendations but allowing that there is no magic bullet: "We’ve been making budget reductions for multiple consecutive years, our subcommittees are now seasoned in preparing for reductions.”
• There’s no end to the search for money. Witness: A bill to let school buses carry commercial advertisements. A local committee somewhere will have to review the ads to make sure they are appropriate. No birth control devices, tobacco or booze ads, of course.
• Adding to the list of 114 Florida specialized license plates, we have a bill to require issuance of even more specialized auto license plates. This will permit recipients of the military Silver Star, Distinguished Service Cross, Navy Cross, & Air Force Cross to display notice of these military awards on their car tags. In addition to providing funds to the state for the tag, the organizations sponsoring the tag get funds for their cause. For the “Family Values” tag, for example, Sheridan House Inc., a religious organization that “honors Christ by serving the needs of children and families,” gets a cut.
• Although withdrawn before it even was considered (but which may reappear elsewhere), there’s the annual “Tenther” memorial to Congress (HM 57), this time in a bill filed by Rep. Matthew H. “Matt” Caldwell (R-Lehigh Acres). The real estate appraiser wants to assert a state’s right to refuse to comply with “unconstitutional federal mandates or certain compulsory federal legislation” that he deems would violate the U.S. Constitution’s 10th Amendment He did not mention what the certain compulsory federal legislation was, but - hint hint -- there is heavy speculation if might be connected to new federal health care insurance spoken derisively as Obamacare - nee Romneycare if you are a Republican presidential candidate trying to beat Mitt Romney to win the party’s presidential nomination.
• If the state still does not have enough other things to be embarrassed about, there’s also the annual renewal (SM240) by Panhandle Sen. Greg Evers that directs Congress to “cease and desist from certain mandates that are prohibited by the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.” The memorial, a legislative device employed when lawmakers seem more interested in making noise rather than writing useful law, demands that “certain federal legislation be prohibited or repealed.” This legislation is also an effort promoted by an advocacy group to kill the recently-enacted federal law that expands health care to previously uninsured people.
• When it is tough to gain public recognition amidst a flock of colleagues who are trying to do the same thing in just 60 days, a sure way to do it is to invoke the death of Osama bin Laden as a milestone in conquering terrorism - as well as to gain a few points for President Obama. So Rep. Joseph Abruzzo (D-Wellington) filed a memorial (a message less powerful than a tweet) acknowledging this event. The bill was not to escape the political eyes of Republicans, however, who quickly had the memorial amended to say that bin Laden’s downfall was brought about through “a collective effort between President George W. Bush and President Barrack Obama.” Your tax dollars at work.
• Shades of Americanism vs. Communism. In the early sixties, before any current lawmakers can recall and many were not even born, Florida legislators saw Nikita Khrushchev banging his shoe on the table and vowing to crush America. It was the Cold War, and it invited all manner of political fist-waving. We were told to fill bathtubs and hide under tables. One of those concerns evolved into a mandate issued by the Florida Legislature that required all Florida public school students be taught a course explaining just what communism was. It was called Americanism versus Communism and was all-wool propaganda.
Everybody understood that. Teachers were angered about having to teach it; students were bored and snickered about it; John Birch Society members shouted praise about it. Thirty years later, clearer heads prevailing, the mandated course was stricken from the statutes. Today, the legislature is tinkering with public school curriculum again, always a sign of alarm. This time, legislators in the House and Senate are teaming to enact a bill (H1027) requiring teachers to teach students about the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 beginning next July. This covers the possibility that history books will fail to mention that event.
Perhaps the current legislative concern about what our children learn may lead to explaining other events in our nation’s recent history, including the 1914 attack by the Colorado National Guard on a camp of 1,200 striking miners in which as many as 95 people - including some women and children - were killed.
• And, sigh, with all the pressing issues in Florida apparently resolved in the eyes of our legislators, lawmaking resources standing idle, as well as an abundance of down time, Florida will soon have an official December 25th greeting - “Merry Christmas.” I did not make this up. Sen. Gary Siplin did. It is only official, though, on Dec. 25.
The Orlando Democrat also has a bill this year to let school boards adopt resolutions to let students pray in schools. It will probably be signed into law by Governor Scott as a state photographer records the event that will show the smiling faces of legislators in the background. The senator is on a run. After a long battle last year, he also succeeded in pushing into law a bill requiring school kids to pull up their pants. More of your tax dollars at work. He is an honorary member of the Orlando Carnival Association.
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