The Fine Print

The entitlement reform that Republicans aren't talking about

Later today the GOP-controlled Legislature will have done something once unthinkable:

Rein in the Bright Futures Scholarship Program, the wildly popular scholarship program begun in 1997, that has continued to grow in the cost over the last dozen years. Between 2002 and 2008 alone the cost of Bright Futures - which provides anywhere from 75 percent to 100 percent - grew from $190 million to $383 million. In the last school year, nearly 160,000 students across the state received a Bright Futures scholarship. The great majority of these students were white and attended a 4-year state university. For example, nearly 27,000 recipients alone attended the University of Florida.

The House is expected to take up and send to Gov. Charlie Crist SB 762, the tuition differential bill that would allow Florida's 11 public universities to move tuition rates to the national average. The legislation mandates that part of the money goes to undergraduate education improvements, while some of it will be set aside for financial aid.

But the most important part of the bill may be that it exempts differential tuition rates from the Bright Futures scholarship program. Translation: As universities raise tuition rates, students will become responsible for paying the higher rates instead of the state picking up the tab.

Most of the discussion about this bill has centered around the potential for 15 percent a year tuition hikes, but a bigger impact from the legislation will be what it means for some Bright Futures recipients. The Senate analysis spells out in stark terms: By the start of the 2013 school year students attending the University of Florida, Florida State University, Florida International University, University of Central Florida and University of South Florida would be paying 45 percent of the cost of their education while those attending other schools would pay 41 percent.

The bill does not apply to any students who entered a university prior to July 2007 but it means that Florida Academic Scholars - those Bright Futures recipients who now get 100 percent (or close to it depending on which school they already attend) of their tuition and fees paid - will see the value of their scholarship decline by nearly half.

This is monumental given that Frank Brogan, now the president at Florida Atlantic and former Education Commissioner, and Sen. Ken Pruitt, the sponsor of this bill, were among those who vowed to never break the promise of Bright Futures. (And of course the irony here is that the scholarship program was begun as a way to blunt criticism that lottery revenues were not being used to enhance education.)

A U.S Senate campaign may be tougher for Charlie Crist than some realize

Amid the meltdown of the 2009 session of the Florida Legislature, one theme that has resurfaced again and again is that Gov. Charlie Crist is not engaged and is already looking ahead to his next election - and his next job in the U.S. Senate.

Crist has not made his intentions publicly known yet - although the Capitol building is rife with speculation that it is a foregone conclusion that the governor will leave the governor's mansion in 2010. Some Republicans chafe at this suggestion, while other Republican legislators assume that Crist is in fact leaving.

But what may have gotten lost in translation is that a Crist bid for U.S. Senate should not be seen as automatic. There's no doubt he would become the instant front-runner but a Senate campaign would in fact be a bigger risk for Crist than running for re-election.

Consider some of these numbers:

* 7 as in 7 percent. That's how how much Crist beat Jim Davis by in the 2006 governor's race. While this is a decent margin, it's important to remember that Crist outraised Davis 3 to 1 in campaign contributions and had additional resources poured into the race by the Republican Party of Florida. Crist's fundraising machine will not have the same advantages in a U.S. Senate race because of federal restrictions on raising corporate dollars.

* 60 as in the magic number needed for firm Democratic control of the U.S. Senate. Would the Democratic National Committee be tempted to pour in millions into Florida in order to help President Barack Obama?

* 4.2 million vs. 2.5 million. That's how many more votes that Obama got in 2008 versus the number Crist received two years previously. Of course, there is always a higher turnout in a presidential election year. But what happens if the Democratic voting base is energized at the prospect of electing Florida's first black U.S. Senator - if Kendrick Meek gets the nomination - and the Republican conservative voting base is disenchanted with Crist. (Over the stimulus, over felons voting rights, over insurance, take your pick.)

* 82,663. That's the number that Mel Martinez won his 2004 U.S. Senate race by. Martinez squeaked out that victory in a year that saw the Republicans run a stellar campaign in Florida to get President George Bush re-elected. Crist won't have the same advantage.

This doesn't mean that Crist can't win. He obviously continues to enjoy healthy poll numbers despite all the problems in the state. But it's worth noting that a Crist re-election campaign would go a lot smoother than shooting for a job in Washington D.C.

Telling the truth to remain optional at the Legislature?

Call this the first installment of the "bills are dying" watch for the 2009 session.

With just days left in this year's session, Sen. Alex Villalobos, R-Miami, remains amazed that he can't get his "Truth in Government Act" to move very far in the Florida House again this year. Villalobos has been trying for several years to require that anyone who testifies before the Legislature to be subjected to an oath that they swear to tell the truth. The oath can be administered orally or it can be included on the appearance form that someone fills out in order to testify before a legislative panel. The legislation could be timely considering the recent Leon County grand jury report that indicted former House Speaker Ray Sansom, R-Destin, and ripped the Legislature for being too secretive in how it crafts the state budget.

"When people have so much distrust in their government and are so cynical about it, what would be the harm in requiring people to tell the truth when testifying before a committee?" asked Villalobos.

The Villalobos legislation, SB 1574, has cleared its main Senate committees and is ready to head to the floor. But the House version has stalled after making it through one committee.

House Majority Leader Adam Hasner, R-Boca Raton, said one of the potential problems with the Villalobos bill is that it would apply the same standard to "visitors to the Capitol" as "opposed to registered lobbyists." He also noted that legislative committees have the option currently to swear witnesses in if they want to do it. But that said Hasner was not ruling out that the legislation could still get passed in the waning days of the session.

"It's something with 10 days to go before the end of the session we might consider still,'' said Hasner.

CFO Alex Sink to get control of a new state agency?

Out of the ashes of the state's $95 million failed project to create a new accounting system may come an entirely new state agency that would gain oversight of several key - and expensive - technology systems embedded in Florida state government.

The Florida Senate has been moving along a substantial piece of legislation, SB 2088, that would create the Agency for Enterprise Business Services within the Department of Financial Services. While Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink would not have complete control of this new state agency, she would have a great deal of power over the operation. The Governor and Cabinet would oversee the new entity, but both she and the governor would have to agree on the executive director. The CFO would have the power to break a tie vote, a provision that could be at odds with the state Constitution since it spells out that the governor usually must be on the prevailing side for something to be approved.

(Of course if Sink were to run for governor, then the power would fall to the next CFO, who could be Senate President Jeff Atwater.)

The duties of this agency are not unsubstantial. One of its major duties would be to help oversee the creation of a new state accounting system to keep track of bills and state spending. Project ASPIRE was intended to replace the state's accounting system but Sink suspended the project in 2007 after the state had spent nearly $100 million and was nowhere near finishing the project.

But the new agency would also be tasked with maintaining a watch over several other big technology systems, including the PeopleFirst personnel system and the MyFloridaMarketplace purchasing system, which are run by the Department of Management Services. These two major systems - which are run by outside companies in contracts worth more than $465 million - have their contracts come up for renewal in 2010 and 2011.

Special session anyone?

With one of the biggest budget deficits ever in the history of the state of Florida it's probably not too surprising that crafting a budget deal wasn't going to go smoothly.

But the time for state lawmakers to strike an agreement on how to fix Florida's budget is rapidly running out. Because of the state's 72-hour "cooling off" period the budget is supposed to be on lawmakers desk by April 28. (It's worth noting that it doesn't have to a printed copy. Senate President John McKay one year placed a CD on every desk.)

Yet even with technological advancements it means that the budget probably needs to be locked down within the next 6 days.

The problem is the complicated mix that now exists: A $1 a hike in a cigarette tax, increased gambling, the use of dozens of fee hikes to generate additional revenue, the reliance on stimulus funding, the large sweeping of dedicated accounts known as trust funds and proposed budget cuts.

Each of these elements are totally dependent on each other. Unravel one part of it and it unravels the entire budget.

And while taxes and gambling are getting a lot of attention it would be wrong to downplay the significance of the proposed budget cuts that are still included in the rival spending plans. The Senate budget, for example, cuts reimbursement rates to hospitals, HMOs and nursing homes while the House only cuts nursing homes.

Then there's what may be the biggest cut: State employee salaries. The Senate is proposing a 1 percent cut of all state employees above $100,000, a move that only saves about $9 million. The Senate is using that money so that state workers don't have a health insurance premium hike for the coming year.

By contrast, the House's sweeping salary proposal cuts $340 million from the budget. The proposal to slice salaries anywhere from 4 to 5 percent depending on salary level goes beyond just rank and file state workers. It also applies to state university employees and faculty.

The deadline could force people to become pragmatic, but it wouldn't be a shock if this can't get worked out in time for a May 1 adjournment.

Bringing home the budget money still alive in 2009

As well noted by several news organizations, a Leon County grand jury last Friday ripped into the budgeting process of the state Legislature, noting that power and secrecy appeared to be the main factors in figuring how certain items made it to the budget.

The budget item that drew the jury's wrath was Rep. Ray Sansom's decision to place $6 million in the Public Education Capital Outlay portion of the budget for a project that the jury decided was really money to help build an aircraft hangar for a well-connected Panhandle developer.

The PECO list - which is funded from a tax collected on utility transactions - has been a constant source of tampering with over the years. The University Center that surrounds Florida State University is a prime example as a project whose funding was greatly accelerated while T.K. Wetherell (now the FSU President) was in power.

And the practice hasn't ended even with this year's severe budget crunch. The Senate budget contains $11.4 million for the University of South Florida Polytechnic campus in Lakeland even though the Florida Board of Governors recommended that the campus receive $11.6 million over the next three years including just $3.7 million in the upcoming fiscal year that starts July 1. That's the amount that is contained in the House budget.

PECO appropriations are not handled by the Education budget committee in the Senate. These projects are usually added with the concurrence of the budget chairman, who this year is Sen. J.D. Alexander, R-Lake Wales.

House would force federal candidates to resign to run

The Florida House has unveiled its version of a sweeping elections bill - and surprise! - it's got a handful of major differences than the Senate bill that passed out of the Senate Ethics and Elections Committee.

One difference is that the Florida House would restore the "resign to run" law for federal candidates. Back in 2007 state legislators - anticipating the possibility of Gov. Charlie Crist as a vice presidential candidate - changed the law to let candidates for Congress or other federal office run without having to give up their state office. (This was the law that tripped up Secretary of State Katherine Harris back in 2002.)

This change would not really affect Crist even if he does run for the U.S. Senate because candidates in Florida cannot run for two offices at the same time. But it would affect candidates such as Dan Gelber, the Miami Beach Democrat running for U.S. Senate. Under the current law Gelber could run for Senate without resigning his spot in the Legislature. The move would also cover any current members of the Legislature toying with the idea of running for Congress.

Some other differences between the two bills:

* Lets disabled voters use touchscreen machines until 2016. The current deadline is 2012.

* Gives the governor the right to extend early voting hours and days by executive order declaring an emergency.

* It does not include the provision that lets out-of-state political committees operate in Florida without complying with registration and reporting requirements.

* It would give third-party registration groups 5 days to turn in voter registration forms instead of the 48-hour deadline in the Senate measure.

* It has slightly different language regarding talking to voters in line. Instead of having a 100-foot buffer zone around anyone in line outside the polling place the House legislation says that no one can offer advice to anyone standing in line. The House does not have the provision that states that no one with a tape recorder or video camera can talk to someone in line.

But despite those differences, the House legislation does contain several of the other major elements of the Senate bill including changes to the executive committee structure of political parties, change in voter ID requirements and the recreation of leadership funds.

The House version is scheduled to be heard on Friday morning.

Senate elections bill would shake up parties and 2010 races

With less than three weeks left in the session, the Senate is about to unveil a major elections measure that could greatly reshape the 2010 elections, as well as change the role of the two political parties.

The Senate Ethics and Elections Committee on Thursday will consider SB 956 - a so-called "shell bill" sponsored by Sen. J.D Alexander. Sen. Alex Diaz de la Portilla has come up with a 72-page amendment that covers everything from the purging of voter names from the rolls, voter registration, interviewing voters outside of polling places, allows for the recreation of leadership funds by the Senate President and House Speaker, and gives sitting lawmakers more control over the state party.

Some of the major changes include:

* The bill alters the makeup of the executive committee for political parties. The governor would lose his right to appoint 10 members to committee, which is the measure that allowed Gov. Charlie Crist get Jim Greer into his current post as chairman of the Republican Party of Florida. Instead the governor would get to appoint up to the number of elected state senators from that party - which is a higher figure. But the new language would also allow legislative leaders from both chambers to appoint the same number as the governor - without the "concurrence" of the current party chairman. (An earlier version of this post misstated how this would work.)

* Allows political committees formed in other states to work in Florida - without having to comply with any laws requiring registration or disclosure of finances.

* Allows potential candidates for office to do polls testing the waters without having to open a campaign account first. Political parties could also do polls on potential candidates and share the results.

* Expands the type of help that political parties can do on behalf of candidates, including spending unlimited amounts on "communications media."

* Gives the speaker, Senate president, minority and majority leaders the green-light to create leadership funds that were previously banned. (Although it can be argued that legislators can sidestep this prohibition by setting up their own committee of continuous existence.)

* Subject the executive director of the state Elections Commission to Senate confirmation. (Diaz de la Portilla had a long-running battle with the elections commission that he largely won. During that time, he accused the executive director of being biased against him.)

* Requires election supervisors to regularly get information from the U.S. Social Security Administration on whether people died and to purge the names of dead voters within 7 days.

* Gives the Secretary of State the right to call for recounts instead of waiting for the canvassing commission to order them.

* No one shall "solicit" information from voters standing in lines outside of polling places whether in person or by means of "audio or visual equipment."

* Creates a new section of law that says all election matters are "preempted to the state" unless set out by law.

* Would block potential voters from having their registration information verified on Election Day. All new applicants must have their registration validated before that day.

* Would change the law to say that if a "vacancy in nomination" for a race does not occur if that candidate did not properly qualify.

Top donors have stake in session outcome

The first quarter fundraising totals for the Republican Party of Florida and the Florida Democratic Party came in late Friday. On the surface, they show that the majority party still has the upper hand in the state despite President Obama winning Florida during last year's presidential election.

The Republicans reported raising $3.92 million to $1.21 million for the Democrats.

The other tidbit to gleaned from the fundraising reports is that many of the top donors during the first quarter have a stake in the battles being waged on the legislative front. While the state budget had been the main item of the session, legislation dealing with regulation of phone rates, renewable energy standards, property taxes, gambling and the make-up of the Low Income Pool council have been heard this session.

Here's a rundown of some of them:
AT&T: $100,000 to Republicans; $45,000 to Democrats
Florida Power & Light: $85,000 to Republicans; $42,500 to Democrats
HCA (and its various political committees): $150,000 to Republicans; $30,000 to Democrats
TECO Energy: $90,000 to Republicans; $46,000 to Democrats
Florida Medical Association: $100,000 to Republicans; $10,000 to Democrats
Realtors PAC: $100,000 to Republicans; $15,000 to Democrats
Palm Beach Kennel Club: $35,000 to Republicans; $15,000 to Democrats
Dosal Tobacco: $20,000 to Republicans; $10,000 to Democrats
CSX Transportation: $15,000 to Republicans; $5,000 to Democrats

Stem cell research, blackberries and bans on Cuba travel? Find it in the budget

Article III, Sec. 12 of the Florida Constitution reads: "Laws making appropriations for salaries of public officers and other current expenses of the state shall contain provisions on no other subject."

The respective House and Senate budgets that rolled through committees this week both contained a long-running legislative practice: Placing so-called "proviso" language into the annual spending bill that could - depending on your legal view - go beyond the intent of that constitutional prohibition cited above.

Proviso language is essentially a legislative mandate that must be fulfilled as a condition of receiving the money. And it usually sets up a showdown with the governor, who has the power to line-item veto items in the budget. But the governor cannot wipe out "proviso" unless he also wipes out the actual money that goes with it.

Over the years there have been numerous fights over proviso, such as when former Senate President John McKay tried to use the budget to order Leon County to take out speed bumps on the way to the Tallahassee airport. Former Gov. Jeb Bush complained several times that proviso intruded on his executive powers. In recent years, lawmakers have responded by using separate "implementing" and "conforming" bills that accompany the budget in order to steer clear of a constitutional dispute.

But that hasn't ended the use of proviso to carry out interesting policies.

Rep. David Rivera, R-Miami and the House chairman of the budget panel that oversees school spending, placed two interesting bits of proviso in the budget. He put in a requirement that the community colleges and universities cannot use any state money on research trips to Cuba or any other "state sponsor of terrorism" as defined by the U.S. government. University professors could use private money for such trips, but Rivera's language is very broad. It says that state money cannot be used to "implement, organize, direct, coordinate or administer...activities related to or involving travel" to such countries. Translation: Even if a private grant paid for a trip, it would be illegal to use state money to say, place a phone call to a travel agent.

Rivera put another clause in the university budget that dictates that state money "shall not be used to support embryonic stem cell research." Both moves comes at a time when President Barack Obama is changing federal policies regarding stem cell research and travel of family members to Cuba.

"I can't stop the Obama administration from engaging in this activity at the national level but I can do everything possible to making sure Florida's taxpayers are not subsidizing this,'' said Rivera earlier this week.

Rivera is not alone in the artful use of proviso language. The Senate budget has language that makes it clear that funding for hospice, Medicaid payments to doctors and HM-Os, and nursing home is contingent on the passage of the Senate legislation that hikes the state's cigarette tax by $1 a pack. It also has language regarding the controversial SunRail commuter rail project.

Other interesting proviso language: