Lawmakers have long list for 2018

TALLAHASSEE — Florida lawmakers and Gov. Rick Scott outlined ambitious agendas Thursday for January’s legislative session, despite concerns about hurricane cleanup costs and a spate of other expenses.

Scott unveiled plans for $200 million to encourage adoption of foster children, $21 million to help citrus growers hurt by Hurricane Irma and $10 million for child welfare investigators.

“We have the revenues,” Scott said during the Associated Press’ pre-session planning meeting in the Capitol. “Revenue is continually growing ... it all comes down to how you allocate the dollars.”

But those revenues could soon get wiped away by an expanding spending wish list. Scott hasn’t released his full

budget recommendation to lawmakers yet but has said he’ll push for $1.7 billion in spending on the environment, $63 million for teachers to spend on school supplies and $38 million in pay raises for state law enforcement.

House leaders want to pay for hurricane cleanup and study setting up a statewide gasoline reserve to reduce fuel shortages during evacuations. Senate leaders want to make permanent an expansion of the Bright Futures scholarship.

Both Scott and the House want to put more money in reserves as well, but Senate leaders have suggested using more reserve funds to pay for Irma costs, which could reach as high as $650 million. The House also wants to eliminate local projects unrelated to hurricane cleanup or preparedness, while the Senate has consistently pushed for local projects.

“I haven’t been through a session yet where everybody’s gotten what they wanted,” said House Republican Leader Ray Rodrigues of Estero. “Just because there’s a lot of requests today doesn’t mean those requests are going to be fulfilled.”

Despite complete GOP control of state government, squabbling between Scott and lawmakers has been typical in recent years. Next year, animosity and fierce infighting between Republicans in the House and the Senate threatens to grow even more as election season approaches.

Sen. Jack Latvala, R-Clearwater, a leader in the Senate in charge of the budget, is running for governor. House Speaker Richard Corcoran, R-Land O’Lakes, is likely to get in the race next year.

Latvala bashed Corcoran’s attempt this year to eliminate Visit Florida, the state’s tourism promotion group, and other economic development programs, suggesting the move was more about boosting a potential run for governor than solving a problem.

“It’s about how many times you can get your name in a headline,” Latvala said. “A lot of what they do is politically motivated.”

Corcoran was scheduled to speak at the event but canceled for a family event and sent Rodrigues instead.

Latvala also sees the House’s hand behind a recent set of bad headlines for the Senate. Sen. Jeff Clemens, D-Atlantis, resigned after his affair with a lobbyist was leaked. Latvala was initially told of the affair last May. It was separately reported Latvala was followed by a private investigator who took a photo of him kissing a lobbyist on the lips earlier this year, though Latvala denies any impropriety.

“I am convinced that a lot of what’s going on is an organized effort to tear down the Senate prior to session and make us weak so that we have a hard time standing up on the issues we care about,” Latvala said.

Even so, the Senate tried Thursday to get its agenda on track.

Senate President Joe Negron, R-Stuart, stressed his efforts to clean up Lake Okeechobee and push for expanding Bright Futures scholarships before he was peppered with questions about his moves to change the Senate’s sexual harassment policies.

“We have zero tolerance for sexual harassment in the workplace,” Negron said.

Amid the infighting, lawmakers must also wrestle the budget crunch and other major issues, such as the ongoing opioid addiction crisis. Scott has said he’ll push for $50 million on addiction treatment and prevention programs, as well as for bills to limit the number of days opioids can be prescribed at a time.

“It’s horrible for that person and it’s also horrible for the family,” Scott said. “Anything we can do to help somebody not become addicted or to recover, we’re going to try to do it.”

The 60-day session begins Jan. 9.