Fla. Senate budget chief Latvala taking House colleagues to task
TA L L A H ASS E E — S e n a t e Appropriations Chairman Jack Latvala said Monday he was glad to have made it “a third of the way” through the annual legislative session.
“Only 14 more weeks to go,” Latvala, R-Clearwater, told the Capital Tiger Bay Club during a lunchtime appearance a few blocks from the Capitol.
Presumably he was joking, as lawmakers are more than two-thirds of the way through the 60-day session, with the scheduled end May 5. But uncertainty surrounds a timely ending — and the possibility of a special session — because the House and Senate remain far apart on their budget bills.
Lat vala said lawmakers c oul d p u s h f i n a l b u d ge t negotiations right up until July 1, when the new budget year begins. If it goes beyond that, Latvala said, continued spending would be in the hands of Gov. Rick Scott, who has clashed with House leaders over deep cuts in economic development and tourism programs.
“I know there is no way the House of Representatives will ever allow that to happen,” Latvala said. So I know we will be done by July
Lat vala’s prediction on the budget negotiations was part of his unvarnished commentary on the state of Tallahassee as seen through the eyes of a powerful, veteran lawmaker.
Latvala, who was edged out for the Senate presidency by Sen. Joe Negron, R- Stuart, after more than three years of maneuvering, said he came into the 2017 session with “high hopes,” but is clearly disappointed with House leaders.
He ticked off a lit any of issues, including higher-education reforms, Everglades restoration, economic development, health care coverage and water policy as issues he says the state should be addressing.
“Instead unfortunately, we got involved in all-out assault on Florida’s economic development apparatus,” Latvala said, referring to the House’s plan to abolish the economic development agency Enterprise Florida and to sharply cut funding for tourism-marketer Visit Florida.
L a t va l a a l s o c r i t i c i z e d House efffffffffffforts to limit “home rule” by cit y and governments, including legislation to pre-empt the ability of the local governments to regulate vacation homes.
“We’ve got an unprecedented assault on home rule, absolutely unprecedented,” Latvala said. “They (House members) think they know more than anybody else elected by the same people on the same ballot.”