Inside the Tallahassee bubble, Floridians’ wishes don’t matter

We saw this week how the Florida Legislature does what the Legislature wants, not what Floridians want.

Floridians want a ban on military-style firearms and high-capacity magazines after the Marjory Stoneman Douglas massacre. The Legislature wants neither. So Floridians, at best, will get only modest changes to gun laws. As always, Republicans will keep the emphasis on the shooter, not the weapon. Schools will get help with security, but there will be no guarantee of that help being permanent. Which bring us to the next item.

Floridians want more help for traditional public schools. The Legislature wants to help charter schools and private schools. So for the second straight year we got an education bill that strips money from public schools — another step toward privatizing education.

We got all this for many reasons. The National Rifle Association still rules Tallahassee. Republican redistricting, especially in the House, has given GOP ideologues control of the chamber. And no one would stand up House Speaker Richard Corcoran, R-Land O’ Lakes.

A year ago, Corcoran rammed through another education monstrosity that undercut public schools. He did it again this year, telling Senate President Joe Negron, RStuart, to take it or leave it. As in 2017, Negron took it.

Among other things, the legislation will make it easier to dissolve teacher unions. This has nothing to do with education policy. Republicans run the Legislature. Teachers tend to vote for Democrats.

Last year, the Legislature created socalled Schools of Hope — charters that can set up near low-performing public schools. The rules just came out in January. This year, the Legislature created Hope Scholarships for students who complain of being bullied and can get public money to attend private schools.

But the students don’t have to prove that they were bullied. The legislation doesn’t address what happens to the bully. Parents who want taxpayers to pay for their child’s education at a religious school could scam this latest expansion of private school vouchers.

Corcoran portrays these bills as reforms and himself as the outsider challenging the bureaucrats. He called his chamber “the most pro-student, pro-parent, pro-education House in history. We will — and we have — taken on any interest, endured any slander, and broken down barriers to ensure every child has access to a world-class education.” If Corcoran runs for governor, he should include some of those lines in his announcement. Corcoran has aimed all his actions as speaker at GOP primary voters.

Floridians also would like a break from ever-rising insurance costs. The Sun Sentinel’s Ron Hurtibise reported last week that the double-digit rate request by one of the state’s largest property insurers is just one of many.

Companies blame Hurricane Irma, which did most of its damage in the Lower and Middle Keys and Southwest Florida. Recall, however, that Irma was the first storm to bring significant wind damage since Wilma in 2005. Recall also that all the public help for property owners was designed to avoid rate shock after a storm. What happened? Where is the Legislature?

Similarly, auto insurance rates keep rising. Again this year, legislators discussed ending the no-fault system that helps to keep rates high. Again this year, the insurance industry pushed back and the Legislature did nothing.

Insurers note that Florida has one of the higher rates of traffic deaths. To reduce that — and thus to reduce the cost of insurance — the Legislature could ban texting while driving. Forty-six states have done so. In Florida it remains a secondary offense. Law enforcement officers can stop drivers only if they are committing another violation.

And it will stay that way for another year. Though multiple, credible studies show that distracted drivers can be more dangerous than drunken drivers, the Legislature didn’t act. A ban passed the House but died in the Senate over fears of racial profiling.

One vote in the Senate would have killed the school safety bill. You can appreciate why even those who wanted an assault weapons ban voted for it. The bill would provide money for more mental health counseling.

But if the bill had failed, perhaps senators would have started over. Perhaps they would have produced a better bill. Perhaps Floridians would have gotten more like what they wanted instead of what the Legislature wanted. Again.

Randy Schultz’s email address is randy@bocamag.com.