The Political Whore

By State Rep. Rick Kriseman, D-St. Petersburg
PoHo contributor
Kriseman is blogging throughout the Florida Legislature’s 60-day session.

There is certainly no shortage of blogworthy material in Tallahassee these days. The indictment of our former speaker, Rep. Ray Sansom, has been greeted by mostly silence in the Capitol, with even my Democratic colleagues preferring to focus on the business at hand rather than score easy political points. I had thought the strong language contained in the grand jury’s indictment and the damning assessment of our legislative process would temper the culture of secrecy, but that hasn’t been the case. Participation in the budget process has been restricted to just a few Republicans, a late-filed amendment to allow oil drilling in the Gulf just a few miles off our shores was heard with almost no notice given to the amendment’s likely opponents, and a broader energy package is expected to come before the full House without prior committee or council vetting.

There’s more.

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By State Rep. Rick Kriseman, D-St. Petersburg
PoHo contributor
Kriseman is blogging throughout the Florida Legislature’s 60-day session.

Making headlines in Tallahassee this session is the “Consumer Choice and Protection Act,” a bill that in its current form offers neither choices or protection. You may have heard about it. It allows for a maximum rate hike, removes the regulatory power of the Public Service Commission, and generally just puts a strain on seniors, rural residents, and small businesses. Read the rest of this entry »

By State Rep. Rick Kriseman, D-St. Petersburg
PoHo contributor

Kriseman is guest blogging throughout the Florida Legislature’s 60-day session.

The House Democratic Caucus is imploring Speaker Larry Cretul to consider a renewable energy package. At a time when most states are moving forward with innovative policies, such as feed-in tariff, and are making real progress in adhering to a true renewable portfolio standard, Florida appears to be stuck in neutral. Even in the state senate, where at least some energy policy is being considered, the opportunity to create and invest in renewables is being diminished by a “clean” energy standard which includes nuclear power and coal gasification.

As the Ranking Democrat on the Energy & Utilities Policy Committee, my office worked with the Democratic office to craft a letter to the speaker.  In the letter, Democratic Leader Franklin Sands writes that ”after months of committee meetings and four weeks of session, the Florida House of Representatives has no energy package. None. The impression in any thinking Floridian’s mind is that we are ignoring not just initiatives that will directly benefit Florida, but ignoring a worldwide movement, and firmly embracing an obsolete status quo. With no energy policy, we risk losing badly needed federal economic recovery dollars which could spur an explosive growth in green technologies here in Florida.”

We’re just past halftime. It’s not too late for the 4th Floor of the Capitol to see the light. As long as that light is powered by a renewal source of energy.

By State Rep. Rick Kriseman, D-St. Petersburg
PoHo contributor
Kriseman is guest blogging throughout the Florida Legislature’s 60-day session.

It’s halftime in the Florida Legislature. I don’t know the exact score, but I know the people of Florida are trailing. The House, in particular has shown little sense of urgency, unless we’re tackling mandatory pre-abortion ultrasounds or some other issue of importance to certain political consultants and pollsters. We’ve spent just a few hours on the floor during the first month of session, and committee meetings are quietly winding down without passage of any significant packages.

In fairness, the budget does remain the talk of the town, and serious discussions between the two chambers are reportedly beginning. Regardless, Floridians shouldn’t expect any bold ideas from their state government. It’s business as usual up here, and unless our coaches make some halftime adjustments, hardworking Floridians will endure another losing session.

By State Rep. Rick Kriseman, D-St. Petersburg
PoHo contributor
Kriseman will be guest blogging throughout the Florida Legislature’s 60-day session.

Each member of the Florida House is allowed to file six bills per session, and this is both a challenge and a blessing. The challenge is telling a constituent that their idea may have to wait awhile, as there are no available bill slots. It’s telling a lobbyist or interest group that you can’t help them. It’s putting a cap on your own concerns or passions, then deciding which issues and ideas are most important, and if they can pass both the House and Senate. This rule is also a blessing, as good government shouldn’t necessarily mean more laws. Even with only six bills, in a part-time legislature, there simply isn’t enough time to hear every bill. Witness testimony, member questions, and debate are crammed into hurried committee and council meetings. Thoughtful deliberation is rare, often resulting in new laws with unintended, negative consequences.

One of my six bills, HB 1229, is a contamination notification bill. I filed this bill as a result of the situation surrounding the Raytheon Plant in west St. Petersburg.

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By State Rep. Rick Kriseman, D-St. Petersburg
PoHo contributor

Kriseman and his Republican colleague, Will Weatherford, have agreed to blog for us throughout the Florida Legislature’s 60-day session.

There is no “session” this week, meaning although we are in Tallahassee, only council and committee meetings can be found on the Week Two calendar, along with numerous visits from constituent groups. I spent most of Tuesday in the Energy & Utilities Policy Committee and the PreK-12 Policy Committee, where my service-learning bill passed, and where Rep. Will Weatherford presented and passed his resolution to revise Florida’s voter-approved constitutional amendment on class size by adding some flexibility to the counting process. While I understand satisfying the current class-size mandate is difficult, and that many school administrators and districts favor a re-vote because of the limited flexibility in the amendment, I do not support a change to the 2002 Constitutional amendment.

Last year, with unanimous and bipartisan support, my committee and the full House passed a bill that provided the needed flexibility for schools, and did so statutorily, rather than through a resolution sending the issue back to the ballot. Best of all, the bill still honored the will of the voters. However, because that bill did not pass the Senate this discussion has returned. Rep. Weatherford wants to go back to the voters and try and convince them they made a mistake in 2002. That is a risky proposition, because failure to obtain the support of 60 percent of the voters in the fall of 2010 means this problem won’t go away for quite awhile.

By State Rep. Rick Kriseman, D-St. Petersburg
PoHo contributor

Kriseman and his Republican colleague, Will Weatherford, will be blogging throughout the Florida Legislature’s 60-day session.

Leadership.

Like most Floridians, that’s what I’m looking for this session – again. It’s encouraging that some House Republicans have finally followed the lead of the Democratic Caucus by exploring the idea of new revenue streams. Florida can’t survive on unpredictable, unsteady sales taxes forever. True leadership requires long term thinking, which has been a rare approach to problem solving up here.

Today, however, is a day for optimism. It is fitting that we convene our session around the same time as spring training in baseball. As with each team in baseball, hope springs eternal. So while the first day of my third session begins with another bleak budget forecast, I am hopeful that leadership will squarely confront our fiscal crisis in a different manner. Maybe they’ll even give Democrats some credit for pushing them in this direction. I did say hope springs eternal, right?