The Political Whore

By Jim Johnson
PoHo Contributor

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

Today is the 48th day of the 2009 Legislative session.

The House and Senate passed their versions of the budget last week, and will start meeting this week in a conference committee to iron out the differences. Conference committee meetings for Monday have been cancelled. Here are the remaining highlights:

Florida House of Representatives

The Finance & Tax Council will hear House Bill 167 by Rep. Joseph Abruzzo. The bill creates a sales tax holiday for specific energy efficient appliances. From July 20 through July 28, sales tax will not be collected on the first $1,500 of the selling price of a new energy-efficient product purchased for noncommercial home or personal use.

The same committee will hear House Bill 439 by Rep. Ron Reagan. The bill sets statewide standards for the use of cameras at intersections to capture license plates of those who run red lights. Currently, a number of local governments have approved the cameras, but with varying standards.

The Council will also hear a proposed committee bill that repeals a number of sales tax exemptions, as well as creating a three-day “Back-to-School” sales tax holiday on clothing and school supplies and a three-day hurricane preparedness sales tax holiday. The revenue lost from the sales tax holidays is offset by the revenue collected from the repeal of exemptions.

The Full Appropriations Council on General Government & Health Care will hear House Bill 425 by Rep. Scott Plakon. The bill makes a number of changes in the Department of Business and Professional Regulation, including:

• Specifying that the Florida State Boxing Commission must approve the sanctioning organization for amateur mixed martial arts events, and
• Establishing procedures that give a restaurant owner the discretion, with local approval by ordinance, to allow patrons to bring their dogs onto outside patio eating areas

Florida Senate

The Community Affairs Committee will hear Senate Bill 2262 by Sen. Don Gaetz. The bill makes a number of changes in the Department of Business and Professional Regulation, including:

• Specifying that the Florida State Boxing Commission must approve the sanctioning organization for amateur mixed martial arts events, and
• Establishing procedures that give a restaurant owner the discretion, with local approval by ordinance, to allow patrons to bring their dogs onto outside patio eating areas

The same committee will hear Senate Bill 2040 by Sen. Nancy Detert. This bill creates a certification program for 911 emergency dispatchers. Currently, certification for dispatchers is voluntary. The bill requires all dispatchers to be certified by October 2012.

Also in Community Affairs, Senate Bill 2422 by Sen. Andy Gardiner will be presented. The bill, an omnibus transportation bill, includes a provision giving the Tampa-Hillsborough Expressway Authority (THEA) the authority to issue its own bonds, without having to seek the state’s review and approval as is currently required. The bill would authorize the Board of the THEA to approve the issuance of bonds. The cumulative effect of these changes would be to shift the final decision from the state-wide perspective of the Governor and Cabinet to a local perspective. THEA would retain the option of going through the DBF. The bill also specifies that THEA shall not have the power to pledge the credit or taxing power of the state, the City of Tampa, or Hillsborough County, meaning none of these entities would be legally liable for repaying the bonds. While a default upon the bonds of THEA would not result in a legal obligation to pay off the bonds, the state or another party may determine it has a moral obligation to do so. In addition, it is possible the bond rating of the State of Florida or of other Florida bond issuers may suffer adversely from default upon the THEA’s obligations.

The Transportation Committee will conduct a confirmation hearing for two appointees to the THEA: Greg Truax and Don Phillips, both residents of Tampa.

The Transportation and Economic Development Appropriations committee will hear Senate Bill 1212 by Sen. Lee Constantine. This bill makes changes to statutes related to public transit, deemed necessary for the SunRail project in Orlando to move forward. The controversial provision in the bill allows the Department of Transportation to contractually indemnify from liability any freight rail operator (CSX), or its successors, from whom DOT acquires a real property interest in the rail corridor. This bill is vigorously opposed by Polk County interests because it would effectively re-route CSX trains through Lakeland and Winter Haven. It would also affect Tampa, providing a potentially expensive challenge for the development of commuter rail in the Tampa Bay area.

The Criminal and Civil Justice Appropriations Committee will hear Senate bill 448 by Sen. Nan Rich, which actually makes bestiality a crime. Apparently, despite the efforts of prosecutors in the State of Florida, persons who are actually caught in the act of sexual intercourse with an animal cannot generally be charged with or convicted of a sex-related crime — only animal cruelty.

The Education Pre-K – 12 Appropriations Committee will hear the Senate version of a controversial the House passed last week. Senate Joint Resolution 1828 by Sen. Stephen Wise. This bill proposes an amendment to the Florida Constitution to change the class size requirements:

• For pre-kindergarten through grade 3, the maximum number of students that could be assigned to each teacher in an individual classroom is raised from 18 to 21, but the school level average cannot exceed 18 students.
• For grades 4 through 8, the maximum number of students that could be assigned to each teacher in an individual classroom is raised from 22 to 27, but the school level average cannot exceed 22 students.
• For grades 9 through 12, the calculation method is limited to the average number of students at the school level, which cannot exceed 25 students.

The vote in the House, 78 to 41, was along party lines.

The Finance & Tax Committee will hear Senate Bill 942 by Sen. Eleanor Sobel — The bill creates a sales tax holiday for specific energy efficient appliances. From July 20th through July 28th, sales tax will not be collected on the first $1,500 of the selling price of a new energy-efficient product purchased for noncommercial home or personal use.

The same committee will hear Senate Bill 1502 by Sen. Mike Fasano — The New Markets Development Program will encourage capital investment in low-income communities in rural and urban areas by allowing state taxpayers to earn credits applicable against specified state taxes by investing in community development entities that make qualified low-income community investments in qualified active 64 low-income community businesses that create jobs.

The General Government Appropriations Committee will hear Senate Bill 2626 by Sen. Mike Haridopolos. The bill will make a significant number of changes to Florida’s telecommunications laws. The bill creates the “Consumer Choice and Protection Act.” It allows telephone companies (Verizon, BellSouth, Embarq, etc) to operate most of their services outside of regulation – mainly to provide competion with un-regulated cable, wireless, and VoIP companies. Florida residents with only basic service would still have the protection of regulations; but add any non-basic service (call-waiting, caller ID, voice mail, etc), and the company is freed from most regulations.

The Higher Education Appropriations Committee will hear Senate Bill 2682 by Sen. Ken Pruitt. The bill implements some of the recommendations of the Florida College System Task Force and the State College Pilot Project. The biggest change requires Community College graduates to get priority over out-of-state applicants for transfer into Florida’s state universities. (Community Colleges can also change their name to “State College” if they are accredited for granting baccalaureate degrees.)

Senate bill 1304 by Sen. Arthenia Joyner, will be heard in the same committee. The bill transfers the Johhnie B. Byrd, Sr., Alzheimer’s Center and Research Institute from an independent center to the University of South Florida.

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