Florida Netroots

Thursday, February 7, 2008

Florida Netroots Has Moved

Our new address is: FloridaNetroots.com.

Please update your bookmarks, update the address on your blogroll, and switch your RSS feeds and/or subscriptions over to the new location. Thank You.

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

FDP Netroots Coalition

The Netroots in Florida have an official caucus within the Florida Democratic Party and it has now launched its own website: FDP Netroots Coaltion.

So what is the organization about?

The Netroots Coalition was created to help bring together bloggers and Netroots activists who support the Democratic Party. The mission of the organization is to contribute to the growth and influence of the Democratic Party, to establish and maintain a Democratic online community, and to promote the party and all party candidates for Democratic leadership throughout the state and nation. We also seek to assist and encourage Florida Democrats, including clubs, county, and grassroots organizations to get online and establish a communication network and promote online participation among Democrats.

That's a tall order! You can help by becoming a member or simply giving a donation.

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

So, what's up on the "internets" lately:

Amendments

I just had to include this quote from an article written by Ernie Padgett for the Ocala Star-Banner titled Tax Amendment diverts attention from real issues:

So what do our state leaders do? They draw attention away from their failures to address numerous important state issues. Homeowners insurance is just one example.

Tens of thousands of our citizens have either had their property insurance canceled or they had to drop their coverage because of sky-high premiums. The governor and Legislature should have stayed focused on the insurance crises instead of manufacturing another crises as a diversion.

We are now told that the state knows best when it comes to running city and county governments and local school districts.

Actually, the governor and Legislature are not qualified to run local governments. They are out of their league when it comes to being responsible for the day-to-day delivery of vital local services and for educating our children. Local officials elected by and working with local citizens are the best qualified for these challenges.

Here is the crux of these state-created crises: They say local governments spend too much money resulting in high property taxes. Hello? Almost without exception, each year the Florida Legislature imposes unfunded mandates on local governments and school districts. Now, they have the nerve to say these same local governments must be fiscally controlled by the state.

He captures the frustration with the current situation quite well. I mentioned the issue of unfunded mandates in an earlier posting, but sometimes its best to hear it from someone who's been there. Ernie Padgett served as a Jackson County commissioner from 1980 to 1984 and as county administrator in Jackson, Santa Rosa and Manatee counties from 1987 to 2007.

kansasr at Daily Kos writes about Florida's OTHER election on Jan 29

Florida is in a financial mess at the moment. The state is facing severe cuts because of sales tax revenues are not meeting projections because of what is truly a recession down here. Property sales are almost non-existant.

But in true Republican fashion, rather than try and come up with a bi-partisan, comprehensive long term solution, they seem to be throwing fuel on the fire, while cutting funding the the fire departments that will be needed to deal with the inferno. It's been estimated that the average savings from this initiative will be around $300 (sounds like the Bush tax rebate of a few years ago!). But the long term ramifications are far more severe. And even at $300 per household, local governments are bracing for an additional round of belt tightening, even more severe than what was required from last years mandated rate reductions.

The figure I heard was $240 per household or basically $20 a month in savings which could potentially be offset by other rate hikes. The gist of it is, you won't really save much if any money and passing the Amendment will make the existing inequities even worse.

The Florida Progressive Coalition has a couple good round-ups of articles about the Property Tax Amendment as well as the Gay-bashing Amendment: Update on the Crazy Conservative Amendments and Update on the Horrible Conservative Amendment Movement in Florida.

I wonder if their next update is going to be called "Update on the Batshit Crazy Amendments" because that's really what they are.

In other news ...

Blast Off - Bill McCollum hates the Constitution

Florida Kossacks - Nine Florida candidates among DFA's Grassroots All-Stars

Alison Morano - Statement on January 29th - Democrats Vote

Talk To Me - Time Capsuled ... a must read in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King.

Friday, January 11, 2008

Democrats: Vote in the Florida Primary

Seriously, your vote matters, despite what you may have been told to the contrary. We will have an important role in choosing the Democratic Nominee for President and our delegates, ultimately, will be seated.

In a previous diary, I provided quotes from Howard Dean, Nancy Pelosi, former DNC Chair Don Fowler and Senator Carl Levin all essentially saying that Florida's delegates will be seated by the Democratic Nominee at the Convention.

To add to the list of people who've said our votes matter and our delegates will be seated, I give you Senator Bill Nelson:

"By virtue that it's basically a two-person race on the Democratic side and a four-person race on the Republican side, Florida now becomes critical," Nelson said. "Florida is the first big state primary prior to Super Tuesday, a week later, when 22 states are going to vote."
...
Nelson noted Florida is a more demographically diverse test for the candidates than Iowa and New Hampshire, which should impact financial contributions and some voters' opinions going into Super Tuesday.

He also expected Clinton and Obama to storm the state in the two days before the primary, even though they and other Democratic presidential candidates were told by Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean to avoid the state until after the South Carolina primary for Democrats on Jan. 26. The Republican primary in South Carolina is Jan. 19.

As for the national parties excluding convention delegates from Florida and Michigan, which also moved up its primary date to the displeasure of Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina, Nelson expects that issue will be resolved before the weeklong events go live on TV.

"They want to win in November," Nelson said. "Can you imagine them not seating two big states?"

No, I can't! That's why many of us in the netroots have been saying over and over again that our votes matter and that our delegates will be seated.

Even the media is starting to change their tune somewhat. Ken Quinnell at the Florida Progressive Coalition wrote The Latest on the Florida Democratic Primary which provides a good round-down of articles from the Florida press illustrating the importance of our state's primary. Yes, even for us Democrats!

I've found a few more:

The Orlando Sentinel: Presidential primaries: Moment of truth waits in Florida:

Florida's primary on Jan. 29 should result in a big turnout. It will be the first primary state to have absentee ballots (with voters submitting same as early as Christmas Day), as well as early voting, which means that ballots can be cast at certain polling places beginning on Jan. 14 so as to prevent long lines on the regular voting day. Most of all, the instigator to vote early on Jan. 29 may be the fact that the state's property-tax-reform measure is on the ballot, and, for many municipalities, there are local offices to be filled.

To be sure, the national Democratic and Republican higher-ups aren't happy with Florida moving this year's primary to a date before Super Tuesday (Feb. 5) and have imposed sanctions in terms of cutting the number of convention delegates. But the truth is that any candidate getting a solid vote in Florida -- where the population mirrors the nation -- will have a leg up on Super Tuesday and the national convention.

TC Palm - State Democratic primary vote means more than ever

What makes this election even more interesting is the fact that the Democratic Party candidates agreed not to campaign in Florida prior to the primary due to Florida’s non-compliance with the bipartisan agreement on primaries. It was suggested that states such as Florida and Michigan, which violated the agreement, not be allowed to rally at the Democratic National Convention, but this is not likely to happen.

The candidate(s) will be in control of the late August convention and will want to have their delegates seated. As opposed to the delegate conventions of the 1960s, today’s conventions serve more as rallying functions than playing key roles in determining election results. To not seat Florida’s Democratic delegation would show disunity in the party and the Democratic candidates cannot afford such an episode.

News 4 Jax - 3 Weeks from Florida's Primary, Some Ask: Why Vote?

Local party officials said they are still hopeful Florida's delegates will have a voice at the conventions, and the result of this month's primary will determine how those delegates vote.

"I assure you the delegates will be seated," Duval County Democratic Chairman Travis Bridges told Channel 4's Jim Piggott. "When the nominee is selected the nominee has the choice of seating or not seating delegates. There is no nominee that is going to exclude Florida."

First Coast News - Florida's Primary: Will Everyone's Votes Count?

But during a voting machine testing session Tuesday, Duval Elections Supervisor Jerry Holland said the decisions Florida's voters make on the 29th will still carry huge unofficial weight.

"We get that question a lot: 'Will our vote count?'" Holland said. "And I tell people, I say, 'The world will know who Florida selects for their two candidates.'"

Ballots will still be cast in three weeks and results will still be published. Voters across America will still know how Florida feels, even if that big "Florida" sign is missing from the convention floor this fall.

Holland believes both parties' delegates will eventually be allowed to take part in the big conventions. Neither party wants to risk angering voters in America's fourth most populous state.

You have the opportunity to influence who will become the next Democratic nominee for President. In previous years, by the time we voted, the Democratic nominee was already known. Don't give up your voice in this election.

Tell the world who you want as the Democratic Nominee - VOTE JANUARY 29TH!

Friday, January 4, 2008

Blogging Florida

Florida Primary

Florida Progressive Coalition - Like We Said, Our Votes Will Count on 1/29.

See also: The Media Still Can't Get the Story Straight. and Florida: "You're Welcome"

Florida Legislature

Progressive Florida - State House Numbers, State Senate Numbers Part I and Florida State Senate Part II

Voting Rights

Project Vote - Federal Judge Find FLa. Violated Voting Rights

Jebacy

mentelibre - Jeb's Economic Time Bomb Ready to Blow

Smashed Frog - As the Jeb-acy Turns

Tampabay Democrat - Jeb Bush and the Subprime Mortgage Crisis

Pensacola Beach Blog - Annals of Privatization - Chapter XXVIII

Education

FlaBlog - Magical design in Pinellas

Blast Off - Republicans hate education

Thursday, December 27, 2007

Legislative Update

If you think your wallet is feeling empty this holiday season, you should see the state of Florida's budget. If that isn't depressing enough, campaign season has already begun for people seeking office in the Florida Legislature. Don't worry though, we can still look back at this year and laugh through the tears.

State Budget

Tallahassee Democrat - House, Senate face $2.4B budget shortage

Choice quotes from the article:

"The cupboard is not just bare," Rep. Dan Gelber, D-Miami Beach, said Wednesday. "The cupboard is gone."
---
Sen. Burt Saunders, R-Naples, said he is telling constituents in Lee and Collier counties that "the odds are very, very slim that we'll have any money at all for local projects.

"It's pretty clear that we have extremely limited funds," said Saunders. "This is probably one of the worst budget years ever."
---
"When the gavels go down, there are hundreds of millions of dollars to spend," [Senator Al]Lawson [D-Tallahassee] said. "I never get too excited about them telling me this, but what I'm concerned about is that they'll take care of the Republicans because there's an election year coming up."
---
"If I can't ask for it with a straight face, I've got no business putting in for it," [Representative Dave] Murzin [R-Pensacola] said. "There will be community budget requests submitted with the understanding that there is no money to fund them, but politically it is better to at least ask for them."

Orlando Sentinel - The ins and outs from Tallahassee

More choice quotes:

"I've sent out two letters in the last few weeks to the organizations we've tried to help in the past," said Sen. Lee Constantine, R-Altamonte Springs. "I'm telling them, the money is not there. Unless you can convince a state agency to put your request in their budget, you're probably not going to get funded."
---
Budget chiefs Sen. Lisa Carlton, R-Osprey, and Rep. Ray Sansom, R-Destin, are already playing the Grinch role. Setting a Jan. 4 deadline for accepting hometown requests, the pair recently sent a memo to lawmakers warning that lumps of coal were more likely this year than shiny new bikes.

Citing slumping tax receipts because of the stalled housing market, they wrote, "Given this reality, we advise that you not expect to receive any general revenue funding, either recurring or non-recurring, for community budget issue requests this coming session."

Legislative Races

Sun-Herald - State House District 72 race is heating up

It seems an aide for Representative Paige Kreegal's office was instructed to contact the employer of Keith Richter, a republican challenging Kreegal for office.

After university officials were tipped off that Richter's master’s degree was from an unaccredited diploma mill, he was demoted to teaching assistant. That tip came from Kreegel's office, specifically from his chief aide Barry Millman. Lehigh activist and Richter supporter Robert Anderson, president of the civic group Lehigh Acres Watchdog, was suspicious, and asked Kreegel's office for any e-mail communication with the university. Millman denied there was any. Twice.

“We have no records responsive to your request,” Millman responded, then “There is no further response forthcoming.”

Anderson wouldn't take no for an answer, however, and made the same request of House Speaker Marco Rubio. Rubio's office provided the e-mails, in which Millman questioned Richter's credentials. House counsel and investigators looked into the incident. A report issued in November says Millman points the finger at Kreegel.

“Millman stated he was told to do these things by Rep. Kreegel,” the report says.

House District 72 includes Desoto, most of Charlotte and part of Lee County. The republican primary for this seat is August 26, 2008.

The Democrat in the race is Judy Juliano - learn more about her via her website at: http://www.julianoforstaterep.org/

Tallahassee Democrat - Term limits could be a problem for Big Bend

House Districts 8, 9 and 10 are all up for grabs due to term limits.

Democrat Curtis Richardson who will be vacating district 8 has five Democrats vying for his spot: Anthony Viegbesie, Alan Williams, Sean Shaw and Hubert Brown and Rodney Moore.

Democrat Loranne Ausley will be vacating district 9 has three Democrats and one Republican vying for her spot: Fred Varn, Michelle Vasilinda, Willie George Johnson and republican challenger Peter Boulware.

Republican Will Kendrick (formerly a Democrat) will vacate district 10 with two Democrats and one Republican vying for his spot: Julie Conley, A.J. Smith and republican challenger Don Curtis.

Also, Senate District 3 will have a rematch between Republican Charlie Dean and his Democratic challenger Suzan Franks.

Just for fun

St. Petersburg Times - Luckily, no media frenzy erupted.

Columnist Howard Troxler has some fun with a round-up of (mostly fake) news from 2007 and here's a few quotes from his humorous reflections on what transpired this past year:

Jan. 29: Legislature votes to ask insurance companies "pretty please with sugar on top" to cut rates.
---
Feb. 17:Rare fossils discovered by Pinellas student. School Board declares them to be 5,700 years old.
---
March 21: Hillsborough Elections Supervisor Buddy Johnson announces new citizen-participation game, "Precinct Hide-and-Seek."
---
May 4:Florida Legislature votes to hold 2012 presidential primary in 2008.

Don't forget, December 31st is the last day to register to vote in the January 29th primary.

Monday, December 17, 2007

Unfunded Mandates

What happens when the Florida Legislature, which is in charge of the state budget, can't afford to pay for everything? It shifts the burden to city and county budgets.

According to the Florida Association of Counties a number of unfunded mandates are passed down to our 67 counties:

Medicaid - $213 million
Department of Juvenile Justice - $100 million
Revenue Sharing Loss - $262 million - Since 1999, tax cuts by the Legislature have resulted in a series of revenue cuts to county budgets
Court Facilities - $83 million
Solid Waste Recycling Grants Loss - $17 million - Counties are mandated to do this and costs initially were picked up by grants – which were later cut from the state budget.
Special Risk Retirement, Disability and Workers Compensation - These costs cover the special needs of firefighters and law enforcement personnel
Mental Health Treatment in Jails - actual dollar amount unknown, but this is a significant recurring impact to county budgets.
Environmental and Growth Management Compliance - actual dollar amount unknown but this is a significant recurring impact to county budgets - Completion of each county’s comprehensive land use plan requires that the plan has built-in financial feasibility
Zero Tolerance - $100 million

The quantifiable total is close to $1 billion in unfunded mandates - yet the financial impact of three mandates highlighted above cannot be quantified.

In other words, each year local governments are covering $1 billion of expenses that were historically the responsibility of the state, with no state funding support attached.

And while the Legislature is currently debating the largest local government revenue cut in state history, they are at the same time discussing additional unfunded mandates.

An article in News Press last month provides more detail on the expenditures passed down to counties with regards to juvenile justice: State's bills for juvenilles challeged

The state's Department of Juvenile Justice is overbilling some counties for juvenile detention costs, according to the counties' officials, and the agency lacks documentation to back up its figures.

A recent Auditor General's report supported some of those claims, saying the department did not show enough information to support its estimates and payments for holding juvenile offenders before their cases get settled in court.

...snip....

With property tax cuts already enacted by the Legislature and a $12 billion property tax relief proposal on the Jan. 29, ballot, counties say unfunded mandates like juvenile detention costs become even more difficult for them.

The article lists state estimates of what it will charge counties for holding juvenile offenders. Statewide, counties are picking up about $101.1 million.

In Collier County a commissioner mentioned the costs passed along to that county over the years:

“Since 2000 we’ve had about $8 million in unfunded mandates sent down to this county alone,” [Collier County Commissioner Frank] Halas said. “When they can’t meet their budgets they send more unfunded mandates down to us and I’m tired of it.”

Unfunded Mandates for Schools

Miami Herald - State must spend more for education

Two recommendations concern school-district funding:

• First, the state cannot continue to impose programs with which we must comply without giving us the money to do so. The class-size amendment is one of several costly examples. School districts have had to figure out how to lower class sizes or construct more classroom space without receiving sufficient state funding for the task.

• Second, even though education is a state function, local governments have increasingly been asked to fund schools. For several years, with the boom in home prices, the local cost may not have been sufficiently painful for us to complain. The percentage of state funds received dwindled, and county taxes swept in to cover the shortfalls. Now, with the real-estate decline, we can try to lower property taxes only if we insist that the state resume its responsibility for funding education.

I will ask the Miami-Dade School Board at the December meeting to adopt a resolution urging the TBRC to recommend to the state to stop unfunded mandates and to resume funding education.

Naples News - Groups lobby Collier state legisative delegation

Collier School’s Superintendent Dennis Thompson asked that the state impose no unfunded mandates on the schools that would cost the district money.

News Zap - Local officials get bad news; Legislative delegation to county: State facing budget cuts

“To start with, let’s talk about things that won’t cost you any money,” said school board member Joe Arnold as he began his presentation. He proposed a constitutional amendment to clarify the issue of classroom size.

He said that on the FCAT if students in the lowest 25 percentile do not show improvement, the school drops a letter grade. He proposed an incentive program rather than the current punitive measures.

Stricter qualification for home school teachers was one of several other educational issues Mr. Arnold raised. He said that often a student will be home schooled for a period of time. When they come back to school they are at the same level academically as when they left. He also asked that the legislature not pass any unfunded mandates for schools.

Sun-Sentinel - High quality promised, but not given

1. Get the state Legislature out of the business of creating education policy. What they collectively know about teaching and learning could fit in a thimble. The biggest obstacle to improving our public schools is posturing political hacks. One year, some yokel introduces a bill to guarantee there's a U.S. flag in every classroom. Another time, another maven decides that trans fat should be banned from meals in school cafeterias. In addition to social engineering, legislators pass countless unfunded mandates, which drain resources classroom teachers need to get their real job done.

So, when you complain about your property tax bill, keep in mind that it is not all you local government's fault, the state is culpable as well.

Monday, December 10, 2007

Florida Primary

They won't seat our delegates? Our votes won't count? Hogwash!

Yes, the DNC has every right to enforce its rules. The outcome of the Nelson lawsuit is of no surprise to me and I expect the Ausman lawsuit to meet a similar fate.

What everyone seems to be missing is how the primary process actually works. Sure, the rules committee has stripped Florida of its delegates, for now, but they don't have the final say in this matter.

Primary Timeline:

January - June: Caucuses and Primaries

February: Super Tuesday

February/March: Democratic Nominee is Known

The Nominee selects the majority of people who serve on the Convention Credentials Committee - the group that decides on things like the seating of delegates. Do you honestly think the nominee for the general election is going instruct their people not to seat Florida?

July/August: Democratic Convention (August 25-28 this year)

At the convention, the voting by the delegates is perfunctory as the person who won a majority is already known. In order to show party unity, there's usually some bargaining to ensure that virtually all the delegates vote for the nominee. It's essentially a ceremonial event.

For the last 30+ years - this is how its worked.

The only way it would work any differently is if it wasn't clear who had the majority of votes going into the convention, in which case there would be a brokered convention where candidates would likely be fighting over us.

Our delegates, both now and in the past, are selected and seated after we know who the nominee is going to be.

The difference between this year and how things worked in the past is that we get to vote before the nominee is known (January) instead of afterwards (March). How we vote will influence all the states that follow us. Political pundits in the media won't be able to help themselves from talking about it.

As for the seating of our delegates, you don't have to take my word for it.

From a December 1, 2007 article by the Associated Press:

Former DNC Chairman Don Fowler, a member of the rules panel, said stripping the delegates from Michigan and Florida — and prohibiting candidates from campaigning there during the primaries — will hurt party-building efforts in those states.

Fowler also said that stripping the delegates was unnecessary, since many party insiders believe that the eventual nominee will have them restored at the convention.

"No one at this table believes that the delegates from Florida and Michigan will be absent from the convention," Fowler told the rules panel.

Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., said in a statement: "The threat not to seat the delegates of Michigan and Florida at the Democratic convention is a hollow threat. They will be seated, and when they are, it will be plain for all to see that the privileged position that New Hampshire and Iowa have extracted through threats and pledges from candidates is on its last legs."

Under convention rules, a credentials committee controlled by the presidential candidate with the most delegates will verify the legitimacy of delegates.

Back in October I quoted from a St. Pete Times article where Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and DNC Chair Howard Dean made similar statements:

... House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a round-table discussion with reporters in Washington that the Democratic National Committee can try to enforce its rules, but the party's authority essentially ends when the convention begins.

"The reality is if you want to know if Florida is going to be seated, ask the Democratic nominee as soon as one emerges," Pelosi said.

Dean agreed.

"At the end of the day, the nominee will make a decision, essentially about who gets seated," Dean agreed.

So there you have it.

Legislative Update

Do you really trust these guys to make the right decisions about your money? If not, fire them.

Property Taxes

Naples News - Sen. Saunders: Don't expect state to pass further property tax breaks

"I don’t believe there will be much appetite in the Florida legislature to do anything additional," said Saunders, R-Naples. "I think the Legislature will stand down this coming year."

...

It isn’t just property taxes — it’s also property insurance, he said, and he noted the struggling state of the state’s economy — something he doesn’t expect will improve right away.

Insurance

Ocala Star Banner - A storm despite the calm

Florida's property insurers will pocket $3.4 billion this year, which promises to be another record-setter for many insurance companies, according to Associated Press reports. That's on top of $3 billion they made in 2006, for a two-year total of $6.4 billion.

In response Robert Hartwig, head of the industry group the Insurance Information Institute, pointed out that Florida's claims from the multiple storms in 2004 and '05 cost insurers $13.1 billion, meaning they are $6.7 billion in the hole. We're curious if that's for the industry as a whole in Florida, or just the companies that didn't flee the state when they got hit with all these claims.

In addition, Sam Miller, executive vice president of the Florida Insurance Council, explained why our rates won't drop: "You have to make money during the years there are no hurricanes," he told the AP.

Clear enough now? Lots of storms, premiums go up to pay claims. No storms, premiums go up - albeit maybe by not as much - to pay claims. Even here in the middle of the state.

Lakeland Ledger - Businesses now have coverage option in Citizens Insurance

Citizens Insurance is the state-run insurer of last resort. Typically, homeowners - and now business owners - get their property insurance through Citizens when they can't obtain it through other carriers due to the age of their property, construction type, the property's location in a high-risk area or failure to meet other insurers' eligibility guidelines.

What happens to the state budget if we get hit by one or more hurricanes?

Tax Reform

Florida Emerald Coast - State tax commission gets an earful

The 25-member commission can place proposed constitutional amendments directly on the ballot. Several people at the meeting were convinced that the board could bring about tax reform the Florida Legislature has failed to provide.

"Give Floridians a choice. Our legislators have proven they cannot do this," said Adam Guillette, the head of Florida’s chapter of Americans for Prosperity, who pushed for a "taxpayer protection amendment."

"You are our only hope."

We need to make the tax system more fair, which will reduce the tax burden for those who need it most, while still generating the necessary revenue to provide the services the public expects. Make sure your legislator is talking about actual tax reform, not merely tauting tax cuts for their own short-term political gain.

Legislative Delegation

Okaloosa County - Members of the delegation are holding a public meeting from 6-8 p.m., Tuesday, Dec. 18. The meeting will take place in room 128 of the Okaloosa-Walton College campus.

See Calendar

Contact your local legislative delegation to find out about meetings in your area: Contact information for all County Legislative Delegations

Tuesday, December 4, 2007

You Tube Candidate: Bill Ramos

I did a quick search on You Tube to see if I could find any candidates for state office and I found one for the Florida House who recently posted some campaign videos: Bill Ramos.

Bill Ramos is running for District 81 which consists of parts of Martin and St. Lucie Counties. In the 2000 general election, according to the district's statistics, it voted George Bush 48.8%, Al Gore 48.9% and Ralph Nader 1.2%. At the time the district had 41,766 registered Republicans, 29,650 registered Democrats, and 18,031 registered Independent/Other parties.

The seat is currently occupied by Republican Gayle B. Harrell who is term limited.

Bill Ramos ran against her in 2006:

Gayle Harrell: 54.3%
Bill Ramos: 45.7%

There are currently 4 other people vying for the seat: Republicans Robert E. Bailey, Michael DiTerlizzi, Jeff Gorman and Democrat Adam Fetterman.

The Florida Department of State, Division of Elections Fundraising report:


Michael DiTerlizzi   11,588.00  Filed 09/20/2007
Adam Fetterman       46,454.01  Filed 04/10/2007
Jeff Gorman           2,172.51  Filed 09/13/2007
Bill Ramos            3,517.35  Filed 03/27/2007
Robert E. Bailey           N/A  Filed 10/17/2007

Here's the campaign video:

View: Ramos campaign videos

For more information, visit the Bill Ramos for State Representative website.

Monday, December 3, 2007

Legislative Update

Let's hope our legislators were too busy enjoying the holiday to cook up any new schemes for legislative session:

Taxes

TCPalm - State Senator Mike Fasano: Legislature's proposal offers Floridians long-needed tax relief

Erm, the republican sales pitch on the property tax amendment has begun.

TCPalm - S. Curt Kiser: In the long term, Florida needs tax reform more than tax relief

Florida’s lawmakers are once again scrambling to shore up the state budget to deal with a slumping economy. It’s human nature to deal with the here-and-now. But Florida needs a plan for the long haul, not just the next election cycle.

The property-tax break the Legislature proposed for the statewide ballot won’t change Florida’s systemic fiscal problems. We need tax reform, not just tax relief.

Florida’s current economic troubles shouldn’t come as a real surprise. Two years ago, the nonpartisan LeRoy Collins Institute at Florida State University released an important economic study, "Tough Choices: Shaping Florida’s Future," warning that the real estate boom would end and leave a budget hole. Some leaders ignored it, because Florida was swimming in revenue. Now the predictions have come true.

Ocala Star-Banner - Updating our archaic tax system

The Florida Legislature has tried seemingly everything to deal with the state's fiscal crisis, which centers on a $1.1 billion shortfall that seems to be growing by the day: they've drained trust funds, proposed auctioning off toll roads, raised tuition fees while cutting education spending, shaved funding for health care programs, foisted much of the burden onto local government, forced departments to cut jobs or simply agreed not to fill state job vacancies.

Well, almost everything.
What they haven't done is the obvious, especially for a state that depends so heavily on a sales tax as a key source of revenue - boost sales tax revenues.

The idea is to review items currently exempt from sales tax to see if those exemptions still make sense and applying the state sales tax to Internet transactions. Nothing new. I did find this bit amusing:

Now, recall leaders in Tallahassee did kick around the idea of sales tax reform earlier this year. House Speaker Marco Rubio pushed for a steep hike in the sales tax in order to eradicate property taxes, a bit of unrealistic political pandering that died, thankfully, when people realized it lightened the fiscal load of the wealthy by refitting it onto the backs of the poor and the working class.

Less amusing was this Pensacola News Journal article: Tax revolt could push Rubio to a higher office.

Hey, I'm all for making the tax system more fair in the state, but lets not reward the guy who came up with the looniest and most irresponsible plan just because you like the fact that he's screaming the loudest on the issue.

Sun-Sentinel - ... Senator Steve Geller answers questions about property taxes.

Department of Citrus

Lakeland Ledger - Report Critical of Citrus Department

Florida citrus growers could save up to $844,350 in their tax money by eliminating the Lakeland-based Florida Department of Citrus and integrating its functions into the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services in Tallahassee.

Or they could save $61.8 million - the department's current annual budget - by eliminating the citrus agency and its programs entirely.

Those are two of the six options outlined in a Nov. 16 report from the Florida Legislature's Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability, which was assigned the task of reviewing the Citrus Department and recommending whether it should continue or face sunset.

The Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability (OPPAGA)is assigned the task of performing a "Sunset Review" to determine whether or not a state agency needs to continue to exist. OPPAGA reports to the Joint Sunset Committee of the Florida Legislature.

Agencies currently under review are: Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Department of Citrus, Department of Environmental Protection, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles and Water Management Districts. You can find copies of OPPAGA's interim reports on the sunset reviews page of their website.

Legislative Delegations

December 4th

St. Lucie County Legislative Delegation: Meeting, public hearing. IRCC Kight Center for Emerging Techologies, 3209 Virginia Ave., Fort Pierce 9 a.m.-4 p.m., (561) 279-1 633.

Polk County Legislative Delegation: Legislators will be meeting with the County Commission at 10 a.m. on Dec. 4 in the commission chambers as part of an all-day series of meetings with constituents in preparation for the 2008 legislative session.

December 5th

Okeechobee County Legislative Delegation: for more information please contact Chairperson: Senator J. D. Alexander, 122 East Tillman Ave., Suite 1
Lake Wales, FL 33853, Telephone: (863) 679-4411, Fax: (863) 679-4413

Seminole County Legislative Delegation: 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Wednesday in County Commission chambers at 1101 E. First St., Sanford. The delegation will hear from the public on matters of statewide concern and will talk about local bills that were drafted and filed with Rep. Alan Hays, R-Umatilla, by last month.

To find out about meetings of your local legislative delegation please contact them, you can download: Contact information for all County Legislative Delegations

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Blogging Florida

I'm back from Thanksgiving break! I got to argue with my Republican relatives and take my nephew to the Florida Caverns State Park and Wakulla Springs where we saw some manatees. Here's the latest from the Florida blogosphere:

Blogging Project

Florida Progressive over on FLA Politics posted a new project for bloggers: Reporting the State House and Senate Districts

It seems there has been a desire from everyone for more coverage in state politics and elections, rather than federal coverage. I admit I’m unknowing myself in a lot about what goes on in local politics around the state, so that’s why I hope this new project will help increase everyone’s knowledge on this. It is particularly important now as we try to take back at least one of the legislative chambers, so we can get this state back on the right track and just as importantly, so we have a stake in the redistricting process that will shape Florida politics for the next decade.

Here’s the deal. My overall goal is to have a report for every state house and senate district in the state. These reports should include information on the district (demographics, changes in area, past federal and state election results), information on the most recent district election (issues, financial contest, results), information on our 2008 prospects (Is there a challenger….if so, who are they and how is their campaign going?), and any other relevant information on the district.

Florida Primary

ryan t at Daily Kos is angry about the primary mess: I'm not giving them a dime

What do I do? I will tell you what I am doing. I'm not giving them a dime and every time they call I am telling them that outright. I have done it twice now. I stop them dead in their tracks when they start.

CALLER: Hello sir, I am calling on behalf of Joe Candidate. We would like to ask for a donation of $150.

ME: I have a problem. Until the Democratic party decides to solve the issue with the primary voting in Florida, I am not giving a dime to any Democratic candidate. Please convey this message. Thank you.

Oy Vey! I'm as angry about this mess as anyone, but not donating to any Democratic candidate is the wrong approach. If you want to send a message to the DNC, FDP or the presidential candidates ... fine. However, your local and state level Democrats need you now more than ever - send your money to them.

Sunny at Smashed Frog is talking primary too: No Room at the Inn about how the Democratic National Convention hasn't reserved any hotel rooms for Florida's delegates. Presumably we will have hotel rooms, just like our delegates will ultimately be seated, but it'd sure be helpful if they'd stop thumbing their nose at us.

Homeless

the 13th juror writes: St. Pete fences out homeless rally. Heaven forbid people actually see that homelessness exists.

Education

John P at his own blog writes: Republicans Continue to Push Failed Education Policy

Solochek then points out that Broward superintendent Jim Notter told him “that he believes the state, and not local educators, are responsible for the stress on the FCAT and teaching to the test.” Flores states that districts have taken it upon themselves to develop practice tests, reward students for FCAT performance, etc., and states, “I strongly believe that the stress of the FCAT will be greatly reduced the day we go back to just teaching students, not teaching test takers.”

AMEN, Rep. Flores. And that won’t happen until people like you get a clue. DOE Bureaucrats and legislators like you hung obscenely high stakes on FCAT, not districts. School districts have reacted in predictable fashion to a counter-productive so-called accountability system. This is like beating your children then taking them to task because they act out at school.

Speaking of Education, a reader emailed me a link to this news story out of Port St. Lucie Florida: Where do teachers draw the line when it comes to retraining students? Anna Moore's autistic son was forcefully restrained at the Oak Hammock K-8 school.

The Herald Tribune has an entire series on special needs children: The children left behind: a year in the life of a special needs class.

I stumbled across a new blog - Bob Graham's UWF Civics Education Project - which was established to:

... to encourage young people to become more involved in politics and civic life, rather than just be cynical about such matters. This is a non-partisan blog, aimed at getting students involved in the party of their choice, but to also focus on how they can work together in non-partisan ways, regardless of their individual political views or choice of candidates. The class project is to establish, promote, and implement a series of on campus events to promote voting and civic involvement among college aged youth, as well as to support Senator Graham's goal which is to promote the passage of a state law re-establishing the teaching of civics education in Florida's public schools.

Monday, November 19, 2007

Thanksgiving

Let's set politics aside for a moment. Thanksgiving is a time to reflect on all the things you are grateful for in your life and to help those less fortunate. Florida's food banks are struggling and you can help with much needed supplies.

Associated Press - Food Pantries Struggling with Shortages

"We have food banks in virtually every city in the country, and what we are hearing is that they are all facing severe shortages with demand so high," Ross Fraser, a spokesman for America's Second Harvest — The Nation's Food Bank Network, the nation's largest hunger relief group, said Friday. "One of our food banks in Florida said demand is up 35 percent over this time last year."

Herald Tribune - Families Struggle in Boom's Aftermath

Kerby Standard, a 50-year-old licensed electrician, was laid off in August by an electrical contracting firm that had been riding high during the construction boom.

At about the same time, Standard's wife became ill. And the balloon payment came due on their $1,350-a-month rent-to-own Bradenton home, forcing them to move into a weekly rental.

Now Standard is at Dollar Dynasty, a Sarasota food bank, loading three bags of free food into the back seat of his 2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee.

"If I don't pay my rent every week I get kicked out," said Standard. "That's a hell of a thing to wake up to every day."

CNN - New Report Finds 16 Percent of All Children in Florida Don't Have Consistant Access to Meals

In Florida, 16 percent of all children live in food insecure households, which means they do not always know where they will find their next meal.

In the United States overall, one out of six children in small towns and big cities lives in a food insecure household. According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), 12 million children in the United States live in this condition -- unable to consistently access nutritious and adequate amounts of food necessary for a healthy life.

See Study: http://www.secondharvest.org/learn_about_hunger/methodology.pdf

An interactive map showing child food insecurity state by state is at: http://www.secondharvest.org/childhunger

Sun-Sentinel - Federal aid to South Florida's food banks dwindles as the need grows

Officials at the Daily Bread, South Florida's largest food bank, said U.S. Department of Agriculture commodities — surplus food and food the government buys regularly from farmers, such as rice, produce and pasta — once made up 15 percent of its total food supply. Now that's down to 11 percent. Daily Bread gives 18 million pounds of food to 700 nonprofit organizations in South Florida each year.

...snip...

The USDA drop comes at a time when one out of six Broward County residents say they suffer from hunger, according to a Broward County Food Security Survey released in June. In Palm Beach County, more than 53,000 people are enrolled in the government food stamp program, said officials at the United Way.

News Press - Time to help the needy

This year, the need is more pressing. As The News-Press has reported, The Salvation Army Pantry, the Harry Chapin Food Bank, the Cafe of Life and Amigos Center, just to name a few, are having a difficult time keeping up with the demand. As more people need food, the pantries are emptying quickly.

The economic downturn in Southwest Florida, caused mainly by the dormant real estate and construction industry, has hit the area very hard.

With an increase in unemployment and foreclosures, more people seek the help of these worthy organizations, which cannot feed all the hungry who arrive on their doorsteps.

The Florida Association of Food Banks serving all 67 counties in Florida. Please consider making a donation.

Legislative Update

Here's a few issues to think about before the legislative session convenes:

The Environment

The Ledger - Groups Organize to Save 'Forever'

Florida Forever, the program that supplies the money to buy and manage state parks and other environmental preserves, will expire in 2010. Then what?

A coalition of grassroots groups are being organized to push for extending the program at least until 2020 to finish the job begun decades ago and to find new ways to protect and manage land.

The Florida Forever Coalition is the group working on this project with the help of organizations like the Florida Wildlife Federation and the Audubon of Florida.

Environmental News Service - Florida seeks input on Northern Everglades Restoration

Florida state scientists and engineers today released a draft technical plan to protect and restore the Lake Okeechobee watershed and improve the Caloosahatchee and St. Lucie watersheds, together known as the Northern Everglades.

The "Draft Lake Okeechobee Watershed Construction Project Phase II Technical Plan" is a critical step in the Northern Everglades initiative to protect and improve the quality, quantity, timing and distribution of water delivered to Lake Okeechobee and downstream receiving waters.

The multi-phased plan, developed by three state agencies, outlines the steps needed to reduce pollution, improve the health of the natural system north of the lake and clean water flowing into South Florida's "liquid heart."

The plan will be turned in to the Florida Legislature this February.

State Employees

Tallahassee Democrat - If a bonus were a bonus, it might mean something

Bill Cotterell reports on a new Florida TaxWatch publication called "Food for Thought" containing suggestions for improving government performance:

The topics include such riveting ideas as "Creating a culture of innovation in Florida government," "Organically growing cost savings," "Information management" and "Data integrity." In other words, if there was a way you could bottle this stuff, you could outsell Sominex and Nytol combined.

Perhaps the most interesting little chapter is titled "State employee merit pay." Not surprisingly, the corporate-funded TaxWatch is for it. Over the years, a common thread running through many TaxWatch white papers has been a belief that, as much as possible, working for state government ought to be like working in the private sector.

But the big difference in the TaxWatch proposal is that merit pay should be in addition to general, across-the-board percentage pay raises - not instead of them.

Just so you know, the bonus this year was $673.50 after taxes and only applied to career service employees. The state has hundreds of employees who work full-time called OPS who get no benefits at all, let alone year end bonuses. Also, Florida ranks near the bottom in terms of state workers to population and cost of state personnel per resident.

For more detailed information please review the Florida Tax Watch report: "Food For Thought"

Taxes

WMBB TV Panama City - Florida to reexamine internet sales taxes

Florida’s attempts at collecting what it is owed from online shopping would be downright comical were it not for the amount of money at stake – as much as $2.4 billion in the state next year and almost $34 billion nationally. Now, with the state’s economy slumping, its budget in the red and taxpayers in open revolt, attention is turning once again to simplifying – and enforcing – Internet sales tax collections.

The topic will be addressed in the Florida Senate's Finance and Tax Committee and is also being discussed by the Taxation and Budget Reform Committee.

Bradenton Herald - Will Florida regain sales-tax money?

Florida TaxWatch has pushed for imposing the sales tax on online purchases as a way to broaden the tax base and lower property-tax rates. The state loses about $2.35 billion a year in potential sales tax on goods sold in Florida over the Internet or through other remote means, the group maintains.

The tax commission's finance committee Friday decided to require Florida to join 22 other states in an agreement to streamline their tax laws so they can begin collecting taxes on Internet, catalog and other remote sales. That's a measure McKay says will likely have the commission's universal endorsement.

"I think we ought to force online retailers to collect sales tax," McKay said. "Failure to do so puts Florida merchants at a significant disadvantage."

The Taxation and Budget Reform Commission recommended that the Florida Legislature revamp the entire sales-tax system and review all the exemptions and exclusions on the books.

Voting

News-Press - Many would-be Florida voters 'lost'

Like thousands of other would-be Florida voters, Figueroa's application went astray in a state registration process that since 2006 has become more computerized, circuitous and complex.

County election officials say the number of voters lost through Florida's central registration system is small — 90 percent of applications get voter cards.

The result is applications from more than 43,000 Floridians hoping to become eligible voters over the past 21 months were rejected by state computer programs and kicked out for special review.

After you turn in your voter registration form, follow-up and be persistant.

Housing Market

Naples News - Florida holds $2 billion in junk bonds

Think private investors are the only ones affected by the recent sub-prime mortgage fallout? Think again.

Florida holds about $2.3 billion in non-investment grade securities as it feels the effects of the bottomless mortgage market, the state’s top investment officials told the governor and cabinet last week.

Over the past several months, about $2.3 billion worth of state investments have been downgraded to so-called junk status. That said, Coleman Stipanovich, director of the State Board of Administration, told cabinet members many of the underlying investments remain sound and the SBA is not jettisoning them en masse.

Daytona Beach News-Journal - Housing slump hits home

If all you want to do is sell your house and the talk of subprime meltdowns, securitization and the Federal Reserve Bank's interest rate cuts is Greek to you, you're in good company.

For others in Volusia and Flagler counties who aren't even trying to buy or sell a house, it may seem like a mystery why the housing slump is hurting them, too. People are losing their jobs, their retirement, their savings. It started with layoffs in construction and real estate and then trickled down to harm schoolteachers, secretaries and restaurant workers.

"The gal who does my nails said her business is struggling," said Mary Spearman, president of Gulf Stream Mortgage in Port Orange. "If people cut back, that's the kind of thing they cut out. I've talked to a lot of people and this has affected all types of businesses."

Floridians are used to weathering storms, but this latest battering has taken a heavy toll.

On a personal note, I just got a letter from Countrywide encouraging me to buy a home and offering a new 40 Year Mortgage that will ensure my payments are affordable. Look, if you don't think I can afford to buy a home using a standard 30 year fixed rate mortage, chances are, I can't afford to buy a home.

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Florida Rankings - Health

This year two institutions, the United Health Foundation and the Commonwealth Fund conducted state by state analysis of our health and healthcare system. The results indicate that Florida isn't doing as well as it should.

On November 5th, the United Health Foundation issued its 18th annual America's Health Rankings report comparing Americans' health, state by state. On page 48 of the report, you'll find the results for Florida.

Florida ranked 41 this year, unchanged from last year.

STRENGTHS:
Strengths include a low rate of cancer deaths at 191.8 deaths per 100,000 population, a low prevalence of obesity at 23.1 percent of the population and a low prevalence of binge drinking at 13.7 percent of the population.

CHALLENGES:
Challenges include a high incidence of infectious disease at 41.0 cases per 100,000 population, a high rate of uninsured population at 21.2 percent and a high violent crime rate at 712 offenses per 100,000 population. Florida ranks lower for health determinants than for health outcomes, indicating that overall healthiness may decline over time.

Back in June, the Commonwealth Fund ranked the healthcare performance of all 50 states, plus the District of Columbia with the release of its report - Aiming Higher: Results from a State Scorecard on Health System Performance.

Florida scored a ranking of 43. See the Florida Scorecard tables.

Business Week recently did its own comparison based on the data from both the UHF and Commonwealth reports. In their table of U.S. State Health Systems Compared they also gave Florida an overall rank of 43.

Taxes, taxes, taxes

How do voters really feel about the Florida Legislature's "tax reform" measure? We'll find out in a mere 11 weeks on January 29th. In the meantime, there's plenty in the media and the blogosphere to offer us clues:

National Exposure

TIME Magazine - Can Florida's Tax Revolt Stay Alive?

The reformers met stiff resistance from cities and counties that rely on property taxes to keep the lights on — and, in many cases, spent like sailors during the real estate boom and now find their coffers depleted during the current real estate bust. Crist and Tallahassee also failed to convince the public how they'd achieve the cuts without injuring a school system that remains one of the most underfunded in the country. Instead of sweeping changes, the politicians now talk of incremental steps they'll pursue over the next several years to provide tax relief to homeowners, renters, snowbirds and businesses. That may not be fast enough; the state is rapidly losing its allure as a low-cost haven — so much so that a Zogby International poll this year that showed half of South Floridians and 37% of all Floridians are considering leaving the state.

Voters, however, may not wait around for lawmakers to continue tinkering. Frustrated by legislative inaction, grass-roots tax reformers are now considering following California's Proposition 13 example from the 1970s and shooting for citizen-driven initiatives to cap what local governments can spend by tying local budgets to cost-of-living increases and economic growth. "Legislators dropped the ball, absolutely," said Margie Patchett, executive director of Volusia Tax Reform, one of a dozen groups that have formed to change the property tax structure with an eye toward a possible 2010 ballot initiative. "They had a perfect opportunity to do something significant and they lacked the political will and courage to do it."

I added the emphasis on how low funding is for schools in this state. If our leaders in Florida want a stable tax base, one of the things they need to do is attract industries into the state that provide high paying jobs. The best jobs tend to require a well-educated workforce and when such industries look at places to locate their businesses, one of the factors they consider is the availability of a quality education. Higher paying jobs leads to more people who can afford to buy a home, which leads to a more stable tax base. Our educational system and our economic circumstances are connected.

As for people leaving the state, this native Floridian wouldn't necessarily be sad to see them go.

BTW, the Volusia Tax Reform organization cited in the TIME article is not a non-partisan group given how excited they are that Jeb! Bush is wearing one of their stickers or their endorsement by the local Republican Party. Now, there's nothing wrong with being partisan, but I thought readers should know that the group mentioned in the article pushing for reform are doing so from a particular political perspective.

Local Heat

Ocala Star-Banner - Panderers and charades

... Crist and the sheep who call themselves leaders in the Legislature are indeed pandering with what they call tax reform. The recent property tax reform is a charade, nothing more than a shell game that will shift more of the burden of Florida's burgeoning public service demands to cities, counties and school boards, while at the same time idiotically curtailing their ability to raise tax dollars to pay the ever-growing tab.

The hocus-pocus measure passed by the Legislature — with plenty of arm twisting by Crist, so he could disingenuously claim he delivered on a promise to cut property taxes — will presumably "cut" taxes by $12 billion over five years. Analysts say it should mean an average property tax savings of $240.

What those in Tallahassee don't tell us is that the state gave up nothing. What they won't acknowledge is while they have cut the amount cities, counties and school boards can raise to pay for essential services, those bodies will likely have to tax in other ways — through assessments, fees and local sales taxes. And when those new taxes are enacted, you can bet your property tax savings those self-serving cowards in Tallahassee will say, "Well, we tried to cut your taxes."

Lakeland Ledger - What Passes for Florida Tax Reform

This has been all about political bragging rights, not fairness or equity. The end result: A tax proposal that is even less fair, less inequitable, less able to support Florida's fiscal needs and even more difficult to fix in the future.

Polls Indicate

Palm Beach Post Poll - What Floridians think about the property tax amendment (PDF)

Property Tax Plan
53% - Yes
27% - No
20% - Undecided

Property Tax Plan (*after given arguments against)

47% - Yes
36% - No
16% - Undecided

* voters heard the amendment would benefit those who need it least, would not help first-time home buyers, and would cut into education funding.

Miami-Herald - Poll: Voters not sold on property-tax plan

Additional results to the same poll:

A whopping 77 percent said legislators did a fair or poor job on tax relief, "a very scathing indictment of a body that just produced a major tax-reform plan," Eldon said.

And that same number -- 77 percent -- of voters believe the Legislature's efforts in January to reduce property-insurance rates did very little to nothing at all. Only 10 percent said they believe rates will go down.

--snip--

Only 34 percent of voters believe the state is headed in the right direction, while 44 percent say it's heading down the "wrong track."

While 23 percent of voters surveyed rated property taxes as the worst strain on their household budgets, 25 percent said homeowners insurance was the worst. Those financial woes were followed by gasoline prices, healthcare costs, home energy rates and consumer credit-card debt.

Learn More

TCPalm.com - Tax Reform? - this article offers a little Q&A on how the tax plan would effect residents if inacted.

November 13 - FLORIDA TODAY will host a public forum called "Florida Tax Reform: What It Means To You." The session will be held from 7 to 9 p.m. at the newspaper, one mile north of the Pineda Causeway on U.S. 1 in Melbourne.

November 19 - League of Women Voters in Collier County will hold a public property tax forum at 12:30 p.m. at the Collier Athletic Club, 7th Avenue North in Naples.

November 19 - Property Tax Forum at Florida Gulf Coast University in Lee County, 7 to 9 p.m. at FGCU's student ballroom, 10501 FGCU Blvd. S., in south Lee County off Ben Hill Griffin Parkway between Alico and Corkscrew roads.

Bloggers Weigh In

FCD turns Florida Blue - Property Tax (R)eform

Florida Kossacks - Local Elected Officials - Please Stand Up

Meet Your Legislators

You have the opportunity to meet your elected officials in the state legislature at local public hearings that they hold every year. These meetings are often held prior to the start of the next legislative session right in your own community so that you can voice your concerns. Here's a run down of a few such meetings I was able to locate doing a quick Google search:

November 13 - Osceola County Legislative Delegation, noon today at the Osceola County Commission Chambers, 1 Courthouse Square. More Details ...

November 15 - Pinellas County Legislative Delegation, 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., at the Dr. William E. Hale Senior Activity Center, 330 Douglas Avenue, Dunedin. More Details ...

November 16 - Hillsborough County Legislative Delegation, Roundtables, 9:00 a.m. at the Hillsborough County Courthouse, 6th Floor, 800 E. Twiggs Street, Tampa Parking: City of Tampa Twiggs Street, Garage, 901 E. Twiggs Street. More Details ...

November 28 - Duval County Legislative Delegation, Organizational Meeting and General Legislative Hearing is Wednesday, November 28, 2007, 1:00 p.m., in the Council Chambers of City Hall, St. James Building, 1st Floor, located at 117 W. Duval Street. The purpose of the meeting is to elect a Chairman and Vice Chairman. Following the election, public testimony on general issues, legislation and appropriations will be heard. More Details ...

November 29 - Orange County Legislative Delegation, Orange County Commission Chambers located at 201 South Rosalind Ave., Orlando, 32801, from 3:00pm until completion. More Details ...

December 4 - Manatee County Legislative Delegation, 9 a.m. to noon at the Senior Enrichment Center. More Details ...

December 5 - Clay County Legislative Delegation, Organizational Meeting and General Legislative Hearing on Wednesday, December 5th from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. in the Board Room, Clay County Administrative Building, 477 Houston Street, Green Cove Springs. More Details ...

December 7 - Hillsborough County Legislative Delegation, public hearings and workshop at 9:00 a.m. on Friday, December 7, in Fred B. Karl County Center, 26th Floor Conference Center, 60 1 E. Kennedy Boulevard, Tampa (parking available at Pierce Street Parking Garage, 319 Pierce Street with the entrance on Jackson Street). More Details ...

January 3 - Pinellas County Legislative Delegation, 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., at The Hickman Theater, 5501 27th Ave. S., Gulfport. On this date, final action will be taken on all Local Bills. More Details ...

The website for the Palm Beach County Legislative Delegation has lots of useful information including a complete list of their public hearings for this year:

Tuesday, November 13, 2007 2:00 pm – 5:00 pm
South Florida Water Management District Headquarters,
B-1 Auditorium
3301 Gun Club Road, West Palm Beach

Tuesday, November 27, 2007 2:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Florida Atlantic University, Live Oak Pavilion
777 Glades Road, Boca Raton

Monday, December 17, 2007 1:30 pm – 4:00 pm
Belle Glade City Hall
110 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard, Belle Glade

Tuesday, January 15, 2008 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm
Jupiter Community Center
200 Military Trail, Jupiter ** Local Bill Hearing **

Monday, January 28, 2008 1:30 pm – 4:00 pm
The Flagler Museum
1 Whitehall Way, Palm Beach

To find information on your Legislative Delegation, type the name of your county, plus the words "legislative delegation" and search any search engine. The news section of the search engine is a good place to look as well as simply checking your local newspaper.

If you know of a legislative delegation meeting, please feel free to email me or post it to the calendar.

Hat tip to Gene Smith for the idea of posting legislative delegation meeting announcements.

Friday, November 9, 2007

Legislative Update

Reaction to the legislature's constitutional amendment on property taxes is still reververating across the state:

Back to Court?

Tallahassee Democract - Court challenge looms for tax plan

As Save Our Homes works now, resident homeowners lose built-up tax protections when they move. Homesteaders with hundreds of thousands of dollars in assessed value now safe from taxation start over, with current assessments, with the sale of their home. With portability, homesteaders could take it with them in a move.

That's kept plenty of Floridians from moving. Proponents say making the benefits - up to $500,000 - portability will kick-start the moribund real-estate market. Critics say it will further entrench the inequities inherent in Save Our Homes - the protections are greater the longer a homesteader has been in the same place. Some legal analysts say it's asking for a court challenge.

TBN Weekly - Legislators split on tax bill impact

The latest tax reform package, which must still be approved by voters Jan. 29, would increase the homestead exemption from $25,000 to about $40,000, provides an average tax savings of $240 and adds portability on tax savings from the Save Our Homes cap.

Therein lies the problem, some legal experts say. The fact that portability would give in-state home buyers an advantage over persons relocating from out of state could violate the U.S. Constitution.

Others argue that Save Our Homes shifts more of the tax burden to non-homestead property owners, which they say could be unconstitutional because it prevents business growth and discriminates against interstate commerce.

The Florida Education Association teacher's union and the Florida AFL-CIO have issues with the proposal. From the Florida Times-Union:

The unions' argument: That the tax benefits of the Jan. 29 amendment to property owners would come at too high a cost in local government services.

AFL-CIO spokesman Rich Templin said it's "possible and probable" that the union would launch a coordinated campaign with groups like the teachers union. For now, Templin said the unions' top leaders are still studying the amendment, though he noted there were already plans under way to oppose the previous amendment that was headed to voters before it was scuttled by a judge and ultimately replaced by legislators.

"We would not be starting from zero," Templin said. "We were ready to go with a grass-roots, mainstream plan to defeat the last plan, and we have not stopped. We're confident when the governor is done crisscrossing the state like a cheerleader and people start looking at this, they'll realize it will decimate their schools, parks, senior centers and after-school programs."

Orlando Sentinel - Proposal pits tax relief against cash for schools

"The current proposal does not hold education harmless, and, as promised, the FEA cannot support and will not support the current plan in its current form," [Andy]Ford [president of the Florida Education Association] said.

Tax reform or tax cuts?

Florida TaxWatch is another organization reviewing the proposed amendment:

Florida TaxWatch finds that that the plan really amounts to tax cuts – not true tax reform.

Savings are targeted almost exclusively to homestead property owners, leaving non-homesteaders and businesses with little protection from property taxes that have spiraled out of control.

Another issue is that providing more benefits to homesteaders and attempting to fix problems Save Our Homes created for them makes it much more difficult to create a future constitutional amendment to help non-homestead property that would garner enough voter support to pass. Still another problem is that heaping savings on homesteaders may naturally disincentive them from participating to try to keep local government spending under control. Read more about the Florida TaxWatch analysis here.

Ocala Star-Banner - Payton delivers sharp rebuke to Crist, Legislature on tax cuts

"Shame on you, Governor Crist. Shame on you, members of the Florida Legislature. How can you brag about cutting taxes? Do you really think the people don't understand you are taking food out of the mouth of some poor child and calling it tax reform?"

With ire and passion, Marion County Commissioner Jim Payton on Thursday chastised lawmakers before an audience of about 325 social service providers and children's supporters at the seventh annual Children First breakfast at the Ocala Hilton.

Lawmakers have agreed on a proposal, which must be approved by voters in January, that could cut property taxes by $12 billion over the next five years.

"Will you please tell me who this phantom family is who's going to take care of these little children?" the Republican commissioner continued. "Do you understand, governor and members of the Legislature, that these are children of children? They don't have a family, damn it. What do you not understand? Governor Crist and members of the Florida House and Senate, we are asking you to stop this charade. Stop this cheap political pandering for a few votes that might further some ill-conceived ambition. This morning we are calling you out, governor and members of the Legislature. Will you hear our call?"

Tax cuts

Orlando-Sentinel - Florida House speaker to continue fight for tax cuts

The Speaker plans to raise money from two lobbyist groups, Floridians for Property Tax Reform and his own 100ideas.org, to push his tax-cutting agenda. Of the former, reporter Aaron Deslatte uncovers this interesting tidbit:

In the minutes after the tax-cutting session ended Oct. 29, Rubio said he hadn't "given a lot of thought" to his next steps.

But three weeks earlier, on Oct. 8, the speaker had already asked the House's chief lawyer whether he could raise money for the group without violating Florida's fundraising-disclosure law and lobbyist-gift ban, records show.

Because the speaker did not "create, control or maintain" the group, House General Counsel Jeremiah Hawkes wrote, he won't have to adhere to a 2006 law that public officials disclose on a Web site the companies or lobbyists giving them checks.

That means Rubio could potentially raise tens of thousands of dollars from lobbyists whose clients have business before the Legislature -- and never disclose their names.

This from a guy who touts accountability.

Wednesday, November 7, 2007

Voting and Elections

Yesterday was election day in communities all across the state. Given that Florida has a storied history with regards to elections, let's look at how things stand:

A couple glitches

Orlando Sentinel - Memory card containing results of Volusia County early voting results erased.

Herald-Tribune - Sarasota County notes some voting glitches

Auditing

Herald Tribune - Voting audits can't vary, court says

A county charter amendment that many credit for helping phase out touch-screen voting machines statewide is unconstitutional, a state appeals court ruled Wednesday.

The decision will not affect the type of voting machines used in Sarasota County because the state has since passed a law prohibiting touch-screen voting machines. But the decision will reduce how much auditing of election results the county will have to do after each election.

The court ruled that counties cannot have different auditing standards than the state. The county charter amendment required an audit of 5 percent of all precincts after an election. The state law requires 1 percent.

Herald Tribune - Demand better voting audit system

To have the security of honest election results, we must have a meaningful manual audit. Then, if the tallies are wrong, we can immediately check to see why and how the machines erred.

The current law calls for an audit, only after the election results are announced, of 1 percent of the precincts and in only one randomly chosen race. The delay allows more time for ballots to be mishandled and machine software to be altered.

Paper ballots are a good start, but without proper auditing provisions in place there's no way to ensure the results are tabulated correctly. Contact your state legislators and demand they support stricter auditing provisions.

New Voting Machines

Sun-Sentinel - Experts say PBC voting machines must be upgraded soon

Like computers and other electronic devices that are outdated soon after their purchase, voting equipment in Palm Beach County apparently doesn't have a long shelf life either.

Voting machine executives told county commissioners today that there's no way the county can avoid making costly technology upgrades over the next five years and beyond.

Questions about Changes to Florida's Voting Laws

News-Press - Fla. asked to detail balloting procedures

The U.S. Justice Department has asked state election officials to provide detailed information about efforts to curb fraudulent voting, from policing voter registration drives to requiring photo IDs at the polls.

Pending that review, the federal agency is withholding approval of a handful of voting laws passed this spring, saying it needs more information to assure the changes don't discriminate against minorities.

Miami-Herald - Feds question fairness of state's new voting law

An Oct. 29 letter from the Department of Justice says the agency needs more information to decide the impact the changes will have on minority voters.

"Our analysis also indicates that the information is insufficient to enable us to determine that the proposed changes . . . do not have the purpose and will not have the effect of denying or abridging the right to vote on account of race, color or membership in a language minority group," wrote John Tanner, chief of the voting section of the Civil Rights Division.

The questionable provisions involve changes to voter ID requirements and new requirements on organizations that register voters that were passed as part of CS/HB 537 the same bill that gave us paper ballots.

Monday, November 5, 2007

Blogging Florida

Praxis issues a request of the Netroots: We need more attention on state politics Amen!

Build Florida's DEC's offers some email marketing advice: Who's on your Email list?

Change in Tallahassee urges voters to sign the Florida Redistricting Petition

Miami-Dade Dems points out that Jeb backed driver's licenses for the undocumented

Smashed Frog wants you to know about Jack Parker and his Pips