Monday, January 9, 2012

2012 Legislative Session: Major Issues Facing Florida Lawmakers

Published: Sunday, January 8, 2012 at 1:54 a.m.
Last Modified: Sunday, January 8, 2012 at 1:54 a.m.

Facts

LEGISLATURE ON RADIO, TV & INTERNET

There are several ways to watch what is going on in Tallahassee on a daily basis.
The Ledger and its online services, including legislative links at www.theledger.com/florida, blogs and facebook offer a way to monitor activity in the House and Senate. Also, radio and television stations will broadcast daily reports, and the House and Senate are on Facebook and Twitter. Most representatives and senators also have their own websites.

STATE OF THE STATE
Tuesday, Gov. Rick Scott will give his second State of the State address at 11 a.m. It will be live on Tampa Public Television station WEDU, (Channel 3) and Bright House cable TV station Bay News 9, and many commercial stations plan to cut away for parts of the speech and will report on it during their evening news programs.

EXTENDED SESSION COVERAGE
The Florida Channel provides gavel-to-gavel coverage from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily over the Polk County Government Channel on Bright House Cable Channel 622. Comcast offers it on Channel 33, and Verizon will have it on Channel 20. When the Polk County Commission meets, however, that meeting will be shown instead.

REGULAR BROADCAST REPORTS
Local network television stations cover the Legislature in their daily news coverage. Local public stations covering the 2012 session of the Florida Legislature include:
WEDU Television, Channel 3, Tampa: "Capitol Update," 5:30 p.m. Mondays through Fridays beginning this Tuesday; and "Florida Face to Face" at 11:30 a.m. Sundays.
WUSF Radio, FM 89.7, Tampa: "Politifact," 7:30 a.m. Mondays; "Legislative Update," 7:30 a.m. Thursdays; and "Florida Matters," 6:30 p.m. Tuesday and 7:30 a.m. Sundays. Legislative coverage also will be featured throughout the day.
WMFE Radio, FM 90.7, Orlando "Capitol Report," 6:30 p.m. Fridays along with reports on its regular daily news program, "All Things Considered."

ON THE WEB
The Ledger has continuing coverage and links to information on the Legislature at www.theledger.com/florida. Daily Facebook and Twitter reports also will be available.
The Florida Channel also has daily coverage, including the governor's Tuesday address, through live streaming over five separate channels at www.wfsu.org/tfc/. Daily coverage is also on Twitter at twitter.com/floridachannel.
Online Sunshine is the Florida Legislature's website and shows actions on bills, bill language and biographical information about individual legislators at www.leg.state. fl.us/.

THE BUDGET

Sales tax revenues continue to lag with the economy; experts say the state may face another $2 billion deficit. Gov. Rick Scott and top lawmakers have vowed not to raise taxes, and Scott wants to increase funding for public education. He would make up the difference by slashing Florida's $20 billion Medicaid health insurance program for the poor. Some senators see an out: delaying a budget vote until after the session's scheduled end in March in hopes of an improving economy diminishing the budget shortfall.

GAMBLING

A push by gambling companies to allow new casinos in Florida makes this one of the hottest topics.

Two South Florida Republicans have filed a bill to allow three ?destination resort? casinos in the Miami

area. Lawmakers are selling the legislation as way to create jobs and reduce gambling by shuttering an estimated 1,000 ?sweepstakes caf?? slot parlors. Horse and greyhound racetrack owners want to offer the same casino games if granted to new destination resorts. The lobbying battle pits large Las Vegas casino owners and international gambling companies against tourism operators and lawmakers who oppose casinos on moral grounds.

HIGHER EDUCATION

Scott drew attention last fall when he criticized anthropology and other liberal arts degrees, requested a list of university employee salaries and began circulating a controversial Texas higher education reform plan. Scott says he wants to make higher ed more accountable. Among the ideas: Forcing universities to be more transparent about the graduation rate and salary potential in each degree field, promoting science and technology programs over the liberal arts and revising the tenure system for faculty. Some overhaul seems likely. But legislative leaders do not agree with all of Scott's ideas and some want

to postpone much of the debate until next year.

AUTO INSURANCE

Insurance companies have complained for years that Florida's law requiring drivers to carry $10,000 worth of no fault personal injury protection leads to rampant fraud, driving up insurance costs for everyone. Scott and top lawmakers are firmly behind reform. Behind the lead of insurance agent and Rep. Jim Boyd, R-Bradenton, the House would cap attorney fees and force injured parties to first visit a licensed medical provider, ending the practice of going straight to massage therapists. Trial attorneys and chiropractors are fighting back and have defeated similar past reforms.

REDISTRICTING

The only two bills lawmakers must pass in 2012 are the budget and the once-a-decade reshaping of state legislative and congressional boundaries. The Fair Districts constitutional amendment is supposed to take politics out of the process by mandating district lines follow compact geographic boundaries and not favor incumbents, but the maps are certain to be challenged in court.

HOSPITALS

The taxing authority of Florida's 15 public hospitals has been under scrutiny by Scott, who appointed a commission to investigate whether taxpayers are getting a good deal for their money. The commission's final report recommends major public hospital authority changes. They include: Allowing voters to periodically decide if they want to maintain a hospital's taxing authority and forcing public hospitals to share tax money with any health care provider in the area who treats indigent patients.

INTERNET SALES TAX

Florida retailers are pushing for an Internet sales tax, arguing the current system unfairly rewards online

companies and hurts small businesses. Scott and top lawmakers are sympathetic but do not want to raise taxes. Their solution: Offset the Internet sales levy with a tax cut elsewhere so the burden on state

residents does not increase.

UNEMPLOYMENT

Lawmakers cut the number weeks for unemployment benefits and made it easier for businesses to challenge claims. But the tax business owners pay to fund the program is still scheduled to increase

dramatically ? from a minimum of $72.10 per employee to $171 ? leading to talk of more changes in 2012. Scott wants to link benefits to performance goals. Rep. Doug Holder, R-Sarasota, has filed a bill requiring the unemployed to take a workforce skills test. Those who fail would lose benefits if they do not complete a free training program. The bill also gives the state more time to claw back benefit overpayments.

CITIZENS PROPERTY INSURANCE

Scott has made shrinking Florida's state-owned property insurance company one of his priorities.

Citizens Insurance Corp. will no longer cover carports, screened patios or pool cages, and rates for

sinkhole coverage will increase. Scott is pressuring the Citizens board to come up with ways to shrink the company. The board's legislative proposals include removing the 10 percent annual cap on

Citizens' rate increases, mandating that the company's rates be more expensive than private insurers', reducingtypes of property Citizens will insure and making it easier for the company to drop customers.

DEREGULATION

Licensed professionals including interior designers and auctioneers defeated a bill aimed at deregulating more than two dozen professions. House leaders want to revive the professional deregulation bill in 2012. Supporters of the legislation argue that many of the education and licensing requirements exist mainly to protect job security. Opponents say the rules protect public safety and prevent unsavory business practices.

ENVIRONMENT

After repealing Florida's growth management regulations last year, lawmakers are back in 2012 with a variety of bills targeting environmental regulations. There are proposals to stop blending Florida's gasoline with ethanol, repeal septic tank inspection rules and exempt certified lawncare companies from prohibitions on fertilizing during rainy months. A bill that would temporarily ban local governments

from levying fees on developers to pay for new sewer lines, roads and schools has also been filed.

FORECLOSURES

Roughly 371,000 foreclosure cases still clog Florida's court system and some lawmakers believe the only way to get the housing market back on solid footing is to speed up the process. Sen. David Simmons, R Maitland, has a bill that would force homeowners to quickly ?show cause? why they should keep their property. Rep. Kathleen Passidomo, R-Naples, has a bill that would follow 30 other states

by establishing an alternative system for processing foreclosures outside the courts.

Source: http://www.theledger.com/article/20120108/news/120109484

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