Florida GOP feud to flare up again
Strong-willed politicians sure to fight on health care again
TALLAHASSEE — After a bruising political battle that split the GOP-led House, Senate and Gov. Rick Scott, lawmakers are back home, with a government shutdown averted, tax cuts passed and hospitals avoiding deep funding cuts.
But bitter resentment remains, and the feud could affect Florida residents in many ways, as lawmakers next year again consider slashing taxes, expanding health coverage and increasing education and environmental funding.
“By the end of the regular and special sessions, what came through was how personality-driven it was,” said Susan MacManus, a University of South Florida political science professor. “You have strong-willed individuals in each chamber with high ambitions.”
The fight over health care for low-income Floridians is almost certain to arise again.
The $1 billion approved by Washington for the Low Income Pool, a voluntary
Medicaid program paying hospitals for care for the poor and uninsured, is a more than 50 percent cut of what was projected, and it will fall to $600 million next year.
That means lawmakers will look for more state funds to prevent steep cuts to hospitals, making it harder to boost education spending and cut taxes — two perennial priorities of Scott.
Senate President Andy Gardiner, R-Orlando, was rebuffed by House Republicans in his push to expand health coverage using federal Medicaid funds under the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, this year. He indicated that struggle isn’t over after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of Obamacare health-plan subsi- dies on Thursday.
But neither House Republicans nor Scott are in any mood to compromise on Medicaid expansion, or any other part of Obamacare. Scott and House leaders blasted the court’s decision.
In an interview, Gardiner said, “there’s always time for healing” among the Legislature and the executive branch. But there will be less time for that next year.
The next session starts in January, two months earlier than normal, and committee meetings to craft legislation begin in September.
At the same time, some Senate leaders are still seething over Scott’s veto of $461 million in projects from this year’s budget.
Gardiner was most upset about vetoes eliminating funding for programs for disabled patients and students, as was his predecessor, Sen. Don Gaetz, R-Nice- ville. Gaetz also took umbrage at the way Scott threatened senators with vetoes during the height of the heath care battle.
“[Scott] promised that he would punish the constituents of those legislators who disagreed with him, and he kept his promise,” Gaetz told the News Service of Florida.
Sen. Jack Latvala, RClearwater, in contention to be Senate president after Gardiner in 2016, is compiling a report of all the jobs that would have been created by the killed projects.
House leaders, however, were pleased with Scott’s vetoes.
“In the totality of it, I think he did a great job of recognizing we’re not dealing with Monopoly money,” said Rep. Richard Corcoran, R-Land O’Lakes.
The gridlock between the House and Senate not only delayed the budget, but resulted in just 227 bills passing during regular session, the fewest in at least 15 years.
Continued ill will between Republican leaders in each chamber doesn’t bode well for a Legislature that will have to tackle the sticky issue of the Seminole Gaming Compact, part of which expires this summer. Lawmakers could also be forced to redraw Congressional or state Senate districts if a court rules against them.
Both issues are cumbersome and difficult to handle — with gambling interests fighting among themselves and lawmakers keenly watching how their districts shift — even when both chambers are getting along.
There’s also the contentious issue of the leadership of the Republican Party of Florida, led by chairman Blaise Ingoglia, also a House member from Spring Hill. Senate leaders pulled their campaign funds from the party in January after his election as chairman and haven’t returned them.
The conflicts all make for strong headwinds against progress on high-stakes issues facing lawmakers, who will be looking to ramp up election campaigns heading into 2016.
Gridlock, though, carries its own cost.
“Overall for the public, it makes Tallahassee look like Washington, and they don’t like either one of them,” MacManus said.
grohrer@tribpub.com.