The Fine Print

Who's responsible for the hike in Florida tolls?

Over the last few weeks there have been reminders that the tolls are going up on some 585 miles worth of roads.

Back when it appeared that Adam Hasner and George LeMieux were in the U.S. Senate race with Connie Mack I wrote a piece pointing out how Mack called tolls a tax and has been sharply critical of them.

Of course Hasner is now running for U.S. Congress and LeMieux this past week dropped out of the race.

But just a reminder about the origins of the latest rate hike:

This toll hike was authorized by HB 985, a major transportation bill that was approved by the Republican-controlled Legislature during the 2007 session. It mandates that the tolls be raised at least once every five years to keep pace with inflation. The money coming from this latest set of toll hikes will be used to push up the construction date of various road projects.

The bill since then has also become known as the legislation that authorized the millions used to construct the controversial First District Court of Appeal or the "Tallahassee Taj Mahal."

The vote was contentious in the Florida House where the final margin was 68-49 in favor of the bill and the roster of no votes included some Republicans.

Among the yes votes at the time: Hasner, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, U.S. Rep. David Rivera, State Sen. Ellyn Bogdanoff, Aaron Bean, and Rep. Will Weatherford.

The no votes in the House at the time: State Sen. Andy Gardiner, Sen. Maria Sachs (who is running against Bogdanoff), Keith Fitzgerald, Sen. Rene Garcia, and current U.S. Rep. Dennis Ross.

The vote was much more overwhelming in the Florida Senate where the legislation passed by a 37-2 margin.

The two no votes were two South Florida Republicans. The yes votes include then-Sen. Al Lawson (a candidate for Congress), Sen. Steve Oelrich (now a candidate for Congress), Sen. Ronda Storms (now running for Hillsborough County Property Appraiser), U.S. Rep. Daniel Webster, as well as Sen. Mike Bennett, then-Sen. Dave Aronberg and Sen. Mike Fasano.

And as former U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson has shown: Toll hikes can sometimes show up in campaign ads.

 

Rivera and others used leftover campaign cash on computers, cigars and meals

This past weekend the Miami Herald reported that an ongoing investigation into U.S. Rep. David Rivera was focusing on how he spent leftover campaign funds. The Herald story focused primarily on money spent by Rivera for his state Senate campaign. (In the end, Rivera dropped out of that race and ran for Congress.)

This isn't the first time that Rivera - and other lawmakers - have been asked about how they use leftover campaign cash.

Here's a first draft of a story from 2009 that I worked on for a news organization. (The reasons that the story never ran included that too much time had passed because the story focused on 2008, that the story neeeded to be more comprehensive, etc.)

But the story did include include comments from Rivera at the time.

Florida state lawmakers have used leftover campaign money on everything from new computers, cigars and meals months and weeks after they were re-elected, a review of 2008 campaign records show.

State law requires legislators running for office to shut down their campaign accounts 90 days after an election. That law also spells out how any leftover money can be used, including letting legislators give it to charity or back to donors or use it to thank voters.

But a review showed that dozens of questionable uses by legislators, with money spent on meals, gas, cigars, and trips to places such as Best Buy and Office Depot.  

Sen. Larcenia Bullard, D-Miami, spent more than $100 at an Ethopian restaurant in Miami nearly two months after she was re-elected without opposition in June 2008. Her campaign records also show she used campaign money to pay for a meeting at the New York City hotel that features a restaurant run by famed television chef Gordon Ramsay.

Bullard, who was re-elected without opposition in June 2008, denied knowing anything about the expenses when asked.

“I have no knowledge of it at all,’’ said Bullard, who said she wasn’t in New York City last summer.

Rep. Eddy Gonzalez, R- Hialeah, spent $486 for “campaign cigars” more than a month after Election Day. Rep. Ronald Brise, D-North Miami, spent money on gas and even a $2 parking charge after he was elected without opposition last June.

Sen. Paula Dockery, R-Lakeland, spent $2,386 at Best Buy on Sept. 14 to replace a “stolen computer.”  The purchase came nearly three months after she was re-elected without opposition. She said her home was burglarized and the thief took off with the computer she used to do campaign reports.

Rep. Ron Saunders, D-Key West, spent money on gas at convenience stores and money on meals at restaurants in both Tallahassee and Key West in the days after his Republican opponent withdrew from the race. Rep. David Rivera, R-Miami, spent  $5,400 at Best Buy the day before the election on “information technology.” He then made two more trips to Best Buy and spent nearly $3,000 in December.

Rivera said he bought equipment, including computers and printers, to put together mailers to thank voters. He was allowed to keep the computers once he was done using it for campaign work.

“You also get to keep the paper clips you buy during  a campaign,’’ said Rivera. “I’m not the first candidate to buy a computer for a campaign.’’

 

 

 

 

 

Crist admits veto process isn't "perfect" but insists he did not target legislators

Gov. Charlie Crist this week defended his decision to veto $371 million from the state's new budget and insisted that he did a "top line" review of budget projects.

“I don’t really pay attention to who the member is and gave specific instructions not to do that for me,’’ Crist told the Florida Tribune.

Crist made this statement even though his own budget staff drew up a 44-page document that listed individual projects in the state's $70 billion budget and which member was associated with it.

Crist also admitted that the budget process isn't "perfect" when being asked about why he vetoed nearly $10 million for Shands at the University of Florida.

Read more about it here.

10 things in the state budget you may not know about

Gov. Charlie Crist could act sometime Thursday on the $70.4 billion budget that state lawmakers adopted during their spring session.

Many salient facts about the budget have been reported including that it's bigger than what Crist himself proposed, that it includes money for items only if Congress kicks in extra federal help, and that it contains many projects pushed by the two budget chiefs in the Legislature.

But there's always some interesting odds and ends that haven't gotten much attention. Some of these spending items are perennials and have been in the state budget for years and are unlikely to get vetoed by the governor.

Still it's a testament to what can get wedged into a 444-page document.

1. School funding study - $100,000. The budget sets aside $100,000 to hire an “entity located outside the state of Florida” to study the state’s school funding formula and review it for the “sole purpose of recommending any improvements to the existing formula that would better reflect the varying characteristics of each of the 67 school  districts.” This study – which is due by Jan. 1, 2011 - is also supposed to assess the “equity” of the current school funding formula.This is a big deal for South Florida lawmakers still upset with a 2004 change to the state’s school funding formula that used to steer more money to urban school districts to cover higher living expenses. Legislators especially from Miami-Dade County want someone outside the state to look at whether the revamped formula is fair. This could be the prelude to another big fight next year over school funding.

2. Some college students helped, some college students hurt. There has been publicity surrounding the proposed changes to Bright Futures - the popular merit based scholarship program paid out of Lottery ticket sales. But less noticed was a decision by state lawmakers to actually increase the amount of financial aid set aside for needy college students.

Legislators for example cut by $1 a credit hour the money available for Bright Futures. This cut, however, could even be a bit larger since $25 million is contingent on getting extra money from the federal government to help with Florida's Medicaid bill. The move comes at the same time lawmakers increased tuition by 8 percent and universities are authorized to raise tuition even higher. But lawmakers also helped out Bright Futures students attending community colleges that offer four-year degree programs. 

Funding for two financial aid programs that help students at private schools - including the Florida Resident Access Grant - was cut by 4.1 percent.

But lawmakers did give a slight increase for need-based financial aid provided to both public and private school students. The maximum amount per award would go from $2,069 to $2,235.

Legislators also passed HB 5201 to accompany the state budget. This would make permanent changes to Bright Futures - including making the scholarship amount a flat rate in the budget instead of tying it tuition hikes - and would increase eligibility requirements over the next four years. This same bill also contains language that establishes the doctor of pharmacy program for the University of South Florida at the polytechnic campus in Lakeland. (It would not be all that surprising if Crist vetoes this bill.)

3. Anti-abortion counseling-$2 million. Legislators expect Crist to veto HB 1143, the health care bill that includes the requirement that women get an ultrasound if they are seeking an abortion during the first trimester. They have purposely held the bill back so there is time to mount a campaign to convince Crist to support it. What's lost in the dust-up is that more than a year ago Crist intervened and saved the state's crisis counseling program from getting cut. This program - which was started while Jeb Bush was in office - provides money for pregnancy support centers and advertising for billboards that direct people to a hotline. Lawmakers this year spared it from any cuts. There was a provision added that states 85 percent of the money will be used for "direct client services, website maintenance and Option line."

4. Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty's summer homework. McCarty has been a constant target of some lawmakers the last few years especially after he urged Crist to veto last year's property deregulation bill. This year the Office of Insurance Regulation did lose 10 positions in the new budget, but its funding level was close to last year's spending. Lawmakers, however, have demanded that McCarty produce by Sept. 1 a detailed report of all residential property insurance rate filings submitted during the last fiscal year. The report has to include lots of information including the name of the OIR actuary who reviewed the rate filing and the days it took for regulators to act on the filing request. This move comes in the wake of grumbling that McCarty's office opposed some of the insurance proposals floating around this past session even though his office was approving rate hikes.

5. Motorcycle safety awareness-$250,000. This is a reduction in funding from last year, but the budget this year directly orders the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles to provide this money to just one group: American Bikers Aiming Toward Education of Florida Inc. This is a group that lobbies on behalf of bikers and led the charge to repeal the requirement that bikers 21 or older must wear a helmet. The president of the organization says his group should get the money because it has a motorcycle safety awareness program in place that has helped reduce motorcycle deaths in Florida.

6. Banning assault rifles. The Sun-Sentinel first reported that there was a push to block Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink from using any money to purchase assault rifles for her fraud investigators. This led to a mocking ad from the Republican Party of Florida that prompted Sink to accuse the party of making fun of law-enforcement officers. Just to bring it full circle the final version of the budget included the provision that Sink's office cannot purchase "assault-type weapons."

7. Cancel this lease, we mean it. Last year the Legislature wanted to get a better handle of how land the state owned and how much office space it leased. Lawmakers weren't totally satisfied with the response they got from the state's main landlord - the Department of Management Services. This year's budget goes out of its way to specify how, when and where certain state offices are to be closed due to budget cuts. The budget orders the closing of 10 driver license offices around the state stretching from Fort Walton Beach to Vero Beach. But there's also language that lists the address and locations of other state offices in Key West, Chipley and Tallahassee that are to have their leases ended. Lawmakers also ordered the cancellation of a lease payment for a copier in a Key West office and for postage meters in several locations.

8. Unlicensed activity media campaign - $600,000. This has been in the budget for years, but it gets scant discussion. The state sets aside money to "publicize the dangers" of unlicensed real estate activity and unlicensed accountants. The money to battle unlicensed real estate activity can be used to pay for media production and advertising materials from a non-profit corporation that represents the largest number of licensed real estate professionals. The money to educate the public about unlicensed accountants will be spent in consultation with a company that represents the largest number of licensed CPAs.

9. Florida International University/Department of Health-$32.5 million. This has already gotten some publicity as a project associated with Rep. David Rivera, R-Miami and the powerful budget chief. But what's interesting is that the state plans to borrow money to construct and manage the building.

10. Free orange juice - $240,000. Of course what would a Florida welcome station be like if there wasn't free orange juice available to visitors. The Department of Citrus is authorized to spend this much for "citrus juice" to be handed out at the state's four welcome stations located in Escambia, Hamilton, Nassau and Jackson counties in North Florida.

So who had the best session? J.D.? Atwater? Cannon? Time to vote.

While the main political news is Gov. Charlie Crist's defection from the Republican Party of Florida, the 2010 session of the Florida Legislature is about to come staggering to a close.

Session during election years are usually free of any serious debates but this session was filled with a combination of complicated policy fights over issues like Medicaid and job protections for teachers. Yet lawmakers also spent time entrenched in divisive partisan battles over federal health care reform and whether Congress should be forced to balanced the federal budget.

So who was the most effective legislator this year?

Florida Tribune takes a closer look at a potential list and offers up 10 nominees. This list is by no means exhaustive. But readers can vote for one of the 10 nominees or they can put in another legislator that they believe is most deserving of the title.

Lawyers, guns and money

Saying they are moving to protect the "2nd Amendment right to bear arms," a House panel on Wednesday approved a measure that would place a lock box on the trust fund that is used to pay for processing concealed weapons permits as well as regulating private investigators and security officers. The bill is being sponsored by Rep. David Rivera, R-Miami and House budget chief.

This moves comes less than a year after the Legislature approved sweeping $6 million from the same trust fund only to have the decision vetoed by Gov. Charlie Crist after an outcry from gun owners who said it was wrong to use money intended to process permits on other government expenses. The veto wound up costing Florida's schools $6 million.

Marion Hammer, the long-time lobbyist for the National Rifle Association and Unified Sportsman of Florida, made it abundantly clear to legislators that her group would sue the state if the money was ever used for anything than processing concealed weapons permits. She explained that gun owners agreed to the fees back in 1987 in an effort to unify the permitting process across the state.

Hammer said when the money is "used for other purposes, they become an unauthorized tax on a constitutional right." (There is a sales tax charged on guns and ammunition, but Hammer said that is a tax on a product, as opposed to a tax on a constitutional right.)

If the bill, which is being sponsored in the Senate by Sen. Charlie Dean, becomes law then the Legislature would have to pass another bill in the future order to sweep any excess amounts in the trust fund.The legislation was approved unanimously by the House Natural Resources Appropriations Committee on Wednesday and has only one more stop before it heads to the full House.

This legislation of course raises a broader question of who's money is it anyway?

Rep. Mary Brandenburg, D-West Palm Beach, wanted to offer up an amendment to Rivera's bill that would have authorized giving back trust fund money to "contributors on a pro rata basis." This led to a brief discussion about trust funds and whether lawmakers should routinely sweep excess amounts to help balance the budget. Last year the Legislature took $588 million from various trust funds.

Rep. Ralph Poppell, R-Vero Beach, insisted that the gun trust fund was a special case, arguing "that not all trust funds were created equal." Hammer added that while she thought it was bad to sweep any trust fund that her focus was on gun owners and that she didn't want Brandenburg's amendment tacked on to the bill. Brandenburg wound up withdrawing it.

But it worth noting that various interest groups - whether it's road builders, the insurance industry or home builders - have also complained that it's unfair to take money they pay and use it for other parts of the state budget.

Sen. Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey, said earlier this week that while he wants to prevent the sweeps of trust funds used for roads and affordable housing, he also added that he's not sure he wants to have a state law that would create a "cherry picking" of trust funds. (Again it is worth noting that some trust funds - including those pledged to pay bonds and those consisting of federal money - already have similar protections.)

Former Gov. Jeb Bush took a much different viewpoint. Bush's budget chief Donna Arduin tried unsuccessfully argue that it wrong to place so much of the state budget into a lock box. Instead state policy makers should have the flexibility to balance the budget with their existing resources. Ben Watkins, the head of Florida's Division of Bond Finance, told another House committee on Tuesday that it is good for the state's bond rating to be able to tell rating agencies that excess balances in trust funds can be used in financial emergencies.

There is also another question to consider: Is it right to raise taxes or fees on other Floridians when there is money sitting in state bank accounts that isn't being spent?

Rivera, like Poppell, insisted that the trust fund used to pay for processing permits was a special case because it dealt with gun ownership.