Hold on to your wallet, FL Legislature extends session until May 8th

[wrobert]

Still struggling with trying to come up with a budget, the legislature is sticking around another week to see what they can accomplish. Passing a budget is the only thing that they must do in 60 days. But, alas, 60 days was not enough.

 

[30ashopper]

Still struggling with trying to come up with a budget, the legislature is sticking around another week to see what they can accomplish. Passing a budget is the only thing that they must do in 60 days. But, alas, 60 days was not enough.

I found this on that Sayfire site - sounds like they've been getting a lot of work done, just not the budget.

That work included passing and sending Gov. Charlie Crist 227 bills out of 853 filed in the House and 1,286 in the Senate.

Some bills that made it to the governor's desk are being touted as potentially lifesaving measures.

One would authorize the Department of Health to track prescription drugs dispensed by pharmacies and clinics to crack down on abuse that's claimed thousands of lives. Another would let police pull over drivers solely for failing to buckle their seat belts. Current law permits officers to issue seat belt citations only in connection with other violations.

More than 1 million customers of the state-created Citizens Property Insurance Co., now Florida's largest homeowner insurer, can expect to see average annual premium increases of 10 percent under a bill designed to shore up its shaky financial footing.

Each of the 11 state universities would be able to raise tuition, now among the nation's lowest, by up to 15 percent annually including systemwide increases ordered by the Legislature due to passage of a bill endorsed by Crist although he hasn't yet signed it. The governor, business leaders and university officials say tuition must go up to maintain and improve the schools' quality and access.

Besides bills, the Legislature voted to put three proposed state constitutional amendments on the 2010 ballot out of 30 filed in the Senate and 16 in the House.

One is a property tax relief measure Crist pushed for. It would reduce a cap on annual assessment increases for properties other than primary homes, which already have a lower limit, and offer an additional exemption to new homeowners who haven't owned a house for at least eight years.

The other amendments would provide an extra property tax break to military personnel serving overseas and repeal public financing of election campaigns for governor and state Cabinet posts.

While Crist scored a final day victory with passage of the property tax amendment, lawmakers rejected two of his climate change initiatives. One would have required power companies to generate 20 percent of their electricity from renewable sources including nuclear, solar and wind by 2020. The other would have adopted California's stiffer emission standards for new cars sold in the state.

The class size amendment voters put in the Florida Constitution in 2002 survived another challenge from opponents, including school officials and most Republican lawmakers, who say it's too expensive and diverts money from other education needs.

A ballot proposal that would have loosened the limits, which range from 18 to 25 students per class depending on grade level, passed in the House but failed to get a Senate vote.

A late push by business and oil interests to open Florida waters as close as three miles from the beach to offshore drilling also sputtered when the Senate refused to consider a House-passed bill.

TBO.com - Florida News From AP

 

[30ashopper]

An even bigger list -

TBO.com - Florida News From AP

We sure do seem to get stuff done around here. Too bad the federal government isn't this efficient.

 

[beachmouse]

However the anti-bestiality bill one more failed after not making it out of committee on the House side. I think the sheep and goats need a better lobbyist.

C'mon people, Baaa Means No already.

 

[Matt J]

Interesting that all of our libertarians are excited about a law that allows the government to track your prescriptions. God knows they've never used information to do bad things. :roll: Followed by a law that expands law enforcement powers to pull you over. What if I have a black shirt on and the officer thinks I don't have a seat belt on? We let motorcyclists choose not to wear a helmet. The rest seems to be tax cuts that should cause even more problems next year.

Thanks to Charlie and the Legislature for stripping that paddle out of hands before we head north up sh!ts creek.

 

[Matt J]

However the anti-bestiality bill one more failed after not making it out of committee on the House side. I think the sheep and goats need a better lobbyist.

C'mon people, Baaa Means No already.

Say it with a shirt:

T-Shirt Hell :: Shirts :: BAAAAAA MEANS NOOOOO

 

[30ashopper]

Interesting that all of our libertarians are excited about a law that allows the government to track your prescriptions. God knows they've never used information to do bad things. :roll: Followed by a law that expands law enforcement powers to pull you over. What if I have a black shirt on and the officer thinks I don't have a seat belt on? We let motorcyclists choose not to wear a helmet. The rest seems to be tax cuts that should cause even more problems next year.

Thanks to Charlie and the Legislature for stripping that paddle out of hands before we head north up sh!ts creek.

I don't agree with everything that got passed or shot down, but I like the fact that they are getting things done. For example I wasn't a fan of the recent sin tax increases, and I'm not a fan of the DNA thing for people who are not convicted which I see as a rights violation. I like the tuition increase approval, the voucher strengthening, the property tax amendment, and the fact that Mr. Charlie's green emmissions crap didn't get passed. Generally it seems we have a good balance.

 

[wrobert]

Interesting that all of our libertarians are excited about a law that allows the government to track your prescriptions. God knows they've never used information to do bad things. :roll: Followed by a law that expands law enforcement powers to pull you over. What if I have a black shirt on and the officer thinks I don't have a seat belt on? We let motorcyclists choose not to wear a helmet. The rest seems to be tax cuts that should cause even more problems next year.

Thanks to Charlie and the Legislature for stripping that paddle out of hands before we head north up sh!ts creek.

But he is still a nice guy so we need to www.keepcharliecrist.com. Come on, sign the petition.



Quite a few times it is hard to reconcile newly passed legislation against previous actions. I guess it really does matter who has the best lobbyist.

 

[doxiegirl]

But he is still a nice guy so we need to www.keepcharliecrist.com. Come on, sign the petition.



Quite a few times it is hard to reconcile newly passed legislation against previous actions. I guess it really does matter who has the best lobbyist.

You know what they say, nice guys finish last.

 

[Bob Wells]

This was interesting

Miami - Riptide 2.0 - Conservatives Want To Keep Crist's Influence Limited to Florida

Conservatives Want To Keep Crist's Influence Limited to Florida

By Kyle Munzenrieder in Politicks
Wednesday, Apr. 22 2009 @ 3:01PM

In politics nothing is ever guaranteed, but lets be honest the conventional wisdom is that come November 2010 Charlie Crist will be attending his electoral victory party. The only question is whether he'll be popping the champaign for a re-election to the Governor's mansion or a Senate victory.

A group of solidly conservative Republicans would much rather keep him in Tallahassee it seems, as they've put up a petition website called "Keep Charlie Crist."


The Buzz speculates that the people behind the petition may have a slight Anti-Crist bent. Charlie was never a famous of the hard core righties. If he stays on as Governor he'd only stay be in Tallahassee for four more years, and once he's gone there may not be a Senate vacancy. Even if there was, he might not be as popular as he is now. Whereas if he runs for Senate he could conceivably stay there, pulling the Republican party and their national ideology to the center, for years.


Of course, if Charlie doesn't run for Senate the chances of a Democrat winning the seat go up immensely.