A morning read of what’s hot in Florida politics.
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JEB, MARCO TIED ATOP PPP’S LATEST POLL
Public Policy Polling’s monthly look at the 2016 Republican field for President finds essentially a 4 way tie at the top – Marco Rubio has 16%, Jeb Bush and Chris Christie 15% each, and Rand Paul 14%. Paul Ryan at 9%, Ted Cruz at 7%, Rick Santorum at 5%, Bobby Jindal at 3%, and Susana Martinez at 1% round out the potential candidates we tested.
It’s now been almost 6 months since PPPstarted doing regular polling of the 2016 race. The only candidate who’s shown any real momentum over that period of time is Paul, whose support has doubled from 7% to 14%. Rubio’s shift from 18% to 16%, Bush’s from 12% to 15%, and Christie’s from 14 to 15% are all within the margin of error. It is worth noting though that this is the first time Rubio hasn’t held at least a 4 point lead over the other Republican contenders.
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HOUSE TO VOTE AGAIN ON REPEALING OBAMACARE via the New York Times
The 37th time won’t be the charm. But House Republicans are charging forward anyway this week on a vote to repeal President Obama’s signature health care overhaul, which will put the number of times they have tried to eliminate, defund or curtail the law past the three-dozen mark.
The repeal vote, which is likely to occur Thursday, will be at least the 43rd day since Republicans took over the House that they have devoted time to voting on the issue. To put that in perspective, they have held votes on only 281 days since taking power in January 2011 … That means that since 2011, Republicans have spent no less than 15 percent of their time on the House floor on repeal in some way.
ROS-LEHTINEN, YOUNG TARGETED WITH OBAMACARE ROBOCALLS via Alex Leary of the Tampa Bay Times
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee launched robocalls in the districts of two Florida Republicans as the GOP-led House plans its 37th vote to repeal Obamacare.
The calls target Reps. C.W. Bill Young and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen. President Obama won both districts in 2012, though Young and Ros-Lehtinen have consistently voted against the health care law.
“The DCCC is paying for automated phone calls so the people of Florida can connect with Congressman Young and demand that he stand up against House Republican leadership and move forward and strengthen our health care, not join the partisans in Congress who want to put insurance companies back in charge,” the organization said.
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DOLPHINS FILL POCKETS OF TOP SCOTT STRATEGIST via Sunshine State News
Campaign disclosure reports show Multimedia Services Corp., a firm linked to Scott strategist Tony Fabrizio, was paid a significant chunk — to the tune of $1.6 million — of the money spent by the Dolphins’ political action committee Friends of Miami First. The committee burned through $4.5 million in three weeks alone.
But the Fabrizio firm may have received even more money from the failed effort because the committee was not required to report money spent before the special election was scheduled.
Just last year, Fabrizio received more than $350,000 in research and consulting fees from another failed referendum effort to build three destination casinos in South Florida. The group was largely funded by Malaysian developer and gambling giant Genting Group.
MORE TROUBLE FOR SCOTT-BACKED MANUFACTURING BILL
The First Amendment Foundation is asking Gov. Rick Scott to veto one of his signature pieces of legislation because of what appears to be a mistake.
In a letter emailed to Scott, the foundation points to a section of the bill (HB 7007) that makes it a second-degree misdemeanor to receive some confidential information related to unemployment compensation. The foundation believes that the bill was intended to make it a violation for a public employee to release the information, in line with federal rules. “This amendment, while perhaps a drafting error, is patently unconstitutional, and [we] respectfully request that you veto the bill,” wrote Barbara Petersen, the president of the foundation, in a message that appeared on the governor’s Sunburst site.
The proposal, which includes a manufacturing tax cut that is one of Scott’s top priorities, is already under siege for questions about whether it required a two-thirds majority in the Legislature because of the impact on local governments’ tax revenues. Democrats have said they expect the measure, which passed by a simple majority, to be challenged in court.
SCOTT MUST REAPPOINT THREE AGENCY HEADS, OTHERS via Steve Bousquet of the Tampa Bay Times
The “jobs governor” was unable to get his jobs czar confirmed by the Florida Senate in the 2013 legislative session, and that means Gov. Scott must reappoint Jesse Panuccio as head of the state Department of Economic Opportunity.
The Senate also adjourned without confirming two other high-level Scott appointees: John Armstrong, director of the Department of Health and the state surgeon general, and Secretary of Corrections Mike Crews.
Sen. Jack Latvala, who handled confirmations as chairman of the Senate Ethics and Elections Committee, has said that the failure to confirm Armstrong was no accident because the health chief, a former USF medical school executive, alienated some senators with his attitude.
“Our committee never looked at him,” Latvala said. “But he can come back next year. The governor can reappoint him. There were some issues with his relationships with some members of the Legislature and the way he interacted with them — a little behavior management.”
Crews was the most surprising oversight. The straight-talking prison boss went through Latvala’s committee with flying colors and impressed lawmakers with his forthright handling of two escapes from a Largo work release center last year that resulted in rape and murder.
TWEET, TWEET: @PaulFlemming: Day 64 of @AGPamBondi being a heartbeat, mental breakdown or impeachment away from the Governor’s Mansion. LG-free for 9 weeks and 1 day
SAFETY NET HOSPITALS SCRAMBLING TO PREVENT $65 MILLION VET via Tia Mitchell of the Tampa Bay Times
Gov. Scott may veto $65 million in hospital Medicaid funding, although safety net hospitals are mustering all their resources in order to change his mind.
The money is related to the state’s transition to a new formula for paying hospitals for Medicaid, one that depends on services provided to patients instead of how long they are in a particular hospital’s care. The Legislature provided the extra funding to help reduce the losses over 40 hospitals faced under the new formula, with safety nets among the worst hit.
Since learning on Monday that Scott was considering a veto of the transition dollars, hospitals have been working overtime to change that course.
The DRG formula and transition funding is located in budget language and a separate implementing bill, instead of as a single line item that Scott could veto. Depending if and how Scott vetoes the DRG funding, it could be open to challenges.
As threats of line-item vetoes by Gov. Scott loom large over the Legislature’s recently-approved budget, he’s taking the unusual step of forcing some organizations to agree in writing to forfeit taxpayer money if they don’t generate the tax revenue they’re promising.
Working with chief of staff Adam Hollingsworth and budget director Jerry McDaniel, Scott on Wednesday sent letters to three groups seeking multi-million dollar appropriations in the budget: a rowing center in Sarasota, the IMG Sports Academy in Bradenton and the Florida Horse Park in Ocala.
“This letter confirms our representation that the Rowing Center – Sarasota County project will bring a positive return on Florida’s investment,” Scott wrote to Paul Blackketter, president of the rowing center organization, Suncoast Aquatic Nature Center Associates, Inc.
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ADAM PUTNAM QUIETLY FILES FOR RE-ELECTION via The Associated Press
Florida Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam is running for re-election.
Putnam, a former member of Congress, last month quietly opened a campaign account for the 2014 election. He made no formal announcement at the time.
The move should end any lingering questions that Putnam may mount a primary challenge to incumbent Gov. Rick Scott.
The relationship between Putnam and Scott has been strained. Scott has been skeptical about some of Putnam’s legislative initiatives and nearly vetoed bills backed by the Agriculture Commissioner.
EMAIL I DIDN’T OPEN: “One month away!” from San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro (sorry, Fla. Dems, but he’s not that exciting.)
FAU PRESIDENT STEPS DOWN AFTER STORMY SCHOOL YEAR via the News Service of Florida
Florida Atlantic University President Mary Jane Saunders has given 90-days notice that she will resign the post and return to the faculty ranks, noting recent “controversies” have been “distracting to all members of the University community.”
In the past year, the Boca Raton-based school has faced scrutiny over: a $6 million gift by private prison company GEO Group for the naming rights university’s football stadium; the administration’s reaction to an exercise in which students were asked to write the name Jesus on a piece of paper and later stomp on the paper; and a professor whose blog postings questioned if the mass elementary school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, and the Boston Marathon bombings were staged events.
“The issues and the fiercely negative media coverage have forced me to reassess my position as the President of FAU,” Saunders wrote in her resignation letter. “I must make choices that are the best for the University, me and my family. My hope is that in the future, news stories and public discussions about FAU will return to the accomplishments of our faculty, students and staff across all of our campuses.” Saunders pointed to the school’s accomplishments in her three years at the helm, including the opening of the Charles E. Schmidt Medical School, a doubling of applications to the university, and the completion of$70 million, 30,000-seat on-campus football stadium.
A spokeswoman for the state university system said the hope was to have an interim president in place by the fall.
INJUNCTION REMAINS AGAINST NEW PIP LAW
The 1st District Court of Appeal has upheld an injunction that keeps the state from imposing key parts of a 2012 personal-injury protection law, as the fight over the auto-insurance overhaul remains in the court system. The appeals court ruling, which also called for an expedited treatment of the case, was signed Friday. Leon County Circuit Judge Terry Lewis ruled March 20 the law illegally prevents accident patients from using PIP claims to pay for treatment by acupuncturists, chiropractors and massage therapists. He also found fault with the law’s lower limit on how much will be paid for non-emergency medical care.
Gov. Rick Scott and state Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater championed the law as a means to reduce auto insurance fraud. Scott signed the law in May 2012, with key provisions going into effect on Jan. 1, 2013. Lewis wrote on April 17 that he issued the injunction against an automatic stay by the state to “prevent the potential harm to citizens injured in automobile accidents who, under the present PIP statute, may not receive necessary medical care.”
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IT’S TURKEY DAY!
A 10-YEAR LOOK AT TAXWATCH’S VETO-TO-TURKEY RATE via contributor Karen Cyphers
Florida TaxWatch prepares to release its list of “turkeys” today, having scoured the $74.5 billion budget for items that were adopted outside of established procedures, which did not have opportunity for public review, or which non-competitively benefit a specific interest or area of the state. This process — which by TaxWatch’s admission is “imperfect and subjective” — raises red flags about spending items but does not attempt to judge a project’s worthiness. Nevertheless, worthiness is what governors ultimately consider in the decision of whether to approve or veto a particular item.
How do TaxWatch turkey alerts line up with the governor’s veto pen in reality? A ten year review of turkey history shows wide variability.
What will be the Veto-to-Turkey ratio for 2013? To Sen. Joe Negron, there should be no necessary connection between the two. He has publicly lambasted the watchdog group and its annual turkey hunt for what he considers to be a “hackneyed media gimmick.” TaxWatch president Dominic Calabro counters back regarding their turkey hunt this year: “We think they did a very good job overall, but there are some things we’ve got some questions about,” he said. Read summary of the 10-year review here.
TIGERS, ‘TURKEYS’ AND TAXWATCH
Earlier this week, eight Pinellas legislators were grilled by members of the Suncoast Tiger Bay Club on issues ranging from Medicaid expansion to legislative health insurance costs — and then turned around to rib each other on who had scored the most “turkeys”, aka hometown projects, in the budget.
Sen. Jack Latvala joked that the TaxWatch report will have a chapter on St. Pete Rep. Darryl Rouson. Among the Rouson projects that Latvala may have been referring to, the University of South Florida did well this Session, including $3.5 million for its Interdisciplinary Science Teaching & Research Facility, $10 million for the Heart Health Institute, and $5 million for its St. Pete-based College of Business. When asked by the Miami Herald if he and Sen. Jeff Brandes, also of St. Pete, helped push for the money, Rouson replied, “All of us, as a team, had something to do with it.”
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HOUSE LEADERSHIP PLANS FUNDRAISER FOR MIKE HILL, NEWLY MINTED GOP NOMINEE IN HD 2
Speaker Designates Steve Crisafulli, Richard Corcoran, and Jose Oliva will host a fundraiser for Mike Hill, the newly-minted GOP nominee in House District 2 on May 22.
The event begins at noon. The reception will be held in the Plantation Room of The Governors Club, 202 South Adams Street, Tallahassee. Invite here.
SPEAKER MIKE HILL? via Allison Nielsen of Sunshine State News
Although Hill still faces Democrat Jeremy Lau in the June 11 general election, Capitol pundits are already speculating whether the Panhandle Republican is the next “red shirt freshman” in line to become speaker of the Florida House.
… Both current U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio and future Speaker Jose Oliva won special elections that gave them a session or two head start in their races to become speaker. Rubio won his special election in January 2000 and Oliva did the same in June 2011.
MIAMI-DADE EARLY VOTERS OPPOSED STADIUM FUNDING via the News Service of Florida
The Miami Dolphins were down 14 percentage points at the polls when time ran out on their bid to pick up needed legislative support for the referendum on using hotel bed-tax dollars for upgrades at Sun Life Stadium. Of the 60,678 ballots cast toward the May 14 referendum in Miami-Dade County – both early and via mail – 34,780, or 57 percent, were opposed the Dolphins’ request, while 25,898, or 43 percent, were in favor, according to numbers from the Miami-Dade Elections Department.
Eric Jotkoff, a spokesman for the team’s stadium improvement campaign, expressed confidence voters would have approved the measure as the incomplete results were “ahead of where we projected.” “These incomplete numbers are irrelevant” Jotkoff tweeted Tuesday night. “If the 2012 election ended at a similar point, Mitt Romney would have likely won Florida.”
The special election was halted after the legislative session ended May 3 without the state House taking up measures that would have supported a requested increase in the bed tax and the use of bed tax dollars for the proposed $350 million in stadium improvements.
REPUBLICAN HOPEFUL JULIO GONZALEZ HAS GOOD HEAD START TO REPLACE DOUG HOLDER via Jeff Henderson and News Service of Florida
As Rep. Doug Holder faces term limits in 2014, Dr. Julio Gonzalez is off to an impressive head start in the race to replace him. Gonzalez is an orthopedic surgeon; a native Floridian; the son of exiles who fled Castro’s regime; a veteran of the US Navy Reserve; and former chief of staff at Venice Regional Medical Center. Goznalez has raised more than $40,000 this quarter. He is a self-described conservative, and serves as an expert witness in legal cases dealing with medical treatment. He is currently finishing his law degree at Stetson as a part-time student. Holder has filed to run for Nancy Detert’s Senate seat in 2018.
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LOBBYISTS PILED UP FEES IN EARLY 2013 via Jim Saunders of the News Service of Florida
… At least four firms — Ballard Partners, Capital City Consulting, GrayRobinson and Southern Strategy Group — topped $1 million in fees between Jan. 1 and March 31.
… At least seven firms earned between $500,000 and $999,999 during the first three months of the year.
… At least 16 firms collected between $250,000 and $499,999, and at least 28 firms received between $100,000 and $249,999.
NEW LOBBYING REGISTRATIONS
Al Lawson, John Reid, Nancy Texeira: U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform
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