The Political Whore

By Jim Johnson
PoHo Contributor

Jim Johnson is the creator of The State of Sunshine blog.

Today is the 16th day of the 2009 Legislative session.

While it is a busy day in both houses, only a few bills are noteworthy:

Florida House of Representatives

The Governmental Affairs Policy Committee will hear House Bill 497 by Rep. Chris Dorworth, providing for registration and training of paid petition signature gatherers. Special interest groups often pay people to gather signatures, the bill would require them to register with the state and be trained.

The same committee will hear House Bill 1295 by Rep. Rich Glorioso, which would repeal the requirement that a portion of appropriations for new state buildings are used for art.

House Bill 983 by Representative Antiere Flores will be heard in the Health Care Regulation Policy Committee. The bill would require women seeking abortions to undergo an ultrasound or sign a document declining the ultrasound.

House Joint Resolution 1013 by Rep. Adam Hasner — the “Save Our Secret Ballot” amendment — will be heard in the Policy Council. This bill proposes to amend the Florida Constitution to provide that any voting for, among other things, “designations or authorizations of employee representation, the right of individuals to vote by secret ballot shall be guaranteed.” The same language is being proposed in state legislatures across the country.

The State Universities committee will hear House Bill 499 by Rep. Steve Crisafulli. The bill will allow State University Boards of Trustees to raise building fees and Capital Improvement Trust Fund fees paid by students. These fees are collected from students to build, renovate, and maintain campus buildings.

Florida Senate

Senate Bill 216 by Sen. Charlie Justice will be heard in the Ethics and Elections Committee. The bill would prevent local governments from spending tax dollars on issues before the voters — even for so called “voter education” measures — unless they are purely factual in nature.

The same committee will hear a controversial bill. Senate Joint Resolution 1906 by Sen. Mike Haridopolos proposes an amendment to the Florida Constitution to limit state and local government revenues and require voter approval of new taxes and fees. Specifically, the changes would be:

• Replaces the existing state revenue limit based on Florida personal income growth with new state revenue limits, and creates a local government revenue limit.
• Limits property tax revenues based on changes in local growth and school enrollment changes.
• Requires excess revenues to be deposited into budget stabilization funds and provides for distribution of the excess funds.
• Authorizes voters to permit the collection of revenues in excess of the limit.
• Authorizes the Legislature and the local government governing body to approve emergency taxes by a supermajority vote.
• Prohibits state and local government from imposing new taxes, fees, assessments, or charges for services without first obtaining approval by a supermajority vote of electors voting on the issue.
• Prohibits the state and local government from incurring multi-year debts or financial obligations without adequate cash reserves.

The Judiciary Committee will hear Senate Bill 1574 by Sen. Alex Villalobos. The bill will require any person who wishes to address a committee of the Florida Legislature to take an oath or affirmation, either written or oral, prior to addressing the committee, declaring that he or she will speak truthfully.

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