Aim of session: Try to get along
Lawmakers open 2016 with the toxic 2015 session lingering.
TALLAHASSEE — State lawmakers open the 2016 legislative session this week, and for Floridians, the fate of school dollars, tax cuts and a host of government programs may hinge on whether a handful of elected leaders can get along.
They didn’t last year, which is remembered as a toxic 2015 in Tallahassee.
But after enduring endless sniping and four sessions last year — the regular twomonth gathering followed by three special sessions — House Speaker Steve Crisafulli and Senate President Andy Gardiner now seem intent on showcasing at least an early display of unity and effifficiency.
Swift action on the leaders’ key priorities is expected soon after the session’s opening gavel Tuesday.
The House and Senate are poised this week to advance Crisafulli’s coveted legislation to enact water policies aimed at helping the Everglades, Lake Okeechobee and freshwater springs.
The two sides also are poised to approve a Gardiner favorite: measures aimed at improving educational and career opportunities for people with developmental dis-
abilities.
“I think everybody’s prepared to come up here and do our job,” Gardiner, R-Orlando, said last week.
But after a few feel-good moments early on, there are no guarantees about the course of the rest of the session.
Potential minefields include Gov. Rick Scott’s push for $1 billion in tax breaks, a proposed $3 billion gambling deal with the Seminole Tribe, the always contentious state budget, and politics — which has gotten intensely personal after a court redistricting ruling last month reshaped Senate boundaries and could force some incumbents to run against each other.
Sens. Maria Sachs, D-Delray Beach, and Joe Abruzzo, D-Wellington, are among those potential clashes, with each eyeing a southwestern Palm Beach County district.
But how recent bad history plays out in the Legislature is also an unknown. Last year, the House and Senate spent more time in conflict than in cooperation.
The Senate pushed a plan to expand health insurance for low-income Floridians under President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act, triggering a standoff with the more conservative House, which gained an ally in Republican Gov. Scott.
The regular session ground into a budget impasse — with the House even adjourning three days early — sending a clear thumb-nose to the Senate.
With a government shutdown looming July 1, a special session was needed in June to approve a $78 billion state budget.
Lawmakers later returned for sessions on congressional and Senate redistricting, which also collapsed amid tension between the House and Senate, leaving Democrats angered but gloating a bit at the failures of the Republican-led chambers.
“You can only hope that leadership has learned its lessons from last year,” said House Democratic Leader Mark Pafford of West Palm Beach.
But a major hurdle already emerging is Scott’s business-dominated tax-cut package, which would eliminate the corporate income tax for manufacturers and retailers, along with the sales tax applied to manufacturers’ equipment purchases.
Scott’s fellow Republican leaders in the Legislature are wary of permanently erasing $1 billion in tax revenue flowing into the state. Losing such cash could hamstring state government going forward, critics said, while also limiting the ambitions of legislative leaders.
“There certainly are competing priorities,” said Sen. Joe Negron, R-Stuart, whose district includes northern Palm Beach County and is set to become Senate president following next year’s elections.
He has already outlined plans to push $1 billion more toward state universities by 2018.
The governor, though, is certain to make the tax breaks a key part of his State of the State address, which he is slated to deliver to lawmakers about 11 a.m., Tuesday, shortly after the Legislature convenes.
Scott has already launched a campaign-styled effort to pressure lawmakers into approving the reductions. His political committee, Let’s Get to Work, is spending $1 million on a TV spot airing across the state that features Scott and business professionals touting the tax cut.
Scott also plans to conduct a whistle-stop tour of several cities this week, including Boca Raton on Thursday, to promote the state’s robust jobgrowth numbers.
Scott sees the tax break as central to keeping the Florida economy firing.
“I want to diversify this economy,” Scott told a House committee last month, in a rare appearance before a legislative panel. “I want more small businesses to be able to grow to big businesses.
“I want everybody to say I have to live in Florida, because I know that if I live in Florida, I can get a good-paying job. This tax reduction package is an investment in every family in our state,” he said.
More than 200 Palm Beach County officials and leaders will have a ringside seat for early action this week — converging Wednesday on the Capitol for the annual Palm Beach County Day.
Mayor Mary Lou Berger will be among five county commissioners expected to attend, along with School Board members, representatives of the county’s economic council, Florida Atlantic University, Palm Beach State College and businesses, including Palm Beach Kennel Club, which has a stake in the proposed gambling deal now before lawmakers.
The county has a range of priorities. Budget items for the Glades, road and environmental improvements, sober home legislation and authorizing slot machines at PBKC are just some of the items county officials are promoting.
“We’ll be able to make our case,” said Todd Bonlarron, the county’s lobbyist, of the meetings scheduled with legislative leaders and budget chiefs. “This is where it all starts.”