A morning read of what’s hot in Florida politics.
THE WEEK AHEAD
After more than a year of controversy and legal wrangling, jury selection is expected to start Monday in the trial of George Zimmerman, who is accused in the Seminole County shooting death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin.
But while a media horde gathers in Sanford, more-routine business of meetings and conferences will take place across the state. Also, the Florida Democratic Party will hold its annual Jefferson-Jackson soiree in Broward County.
The News Service of Florida has a preview of the week’s events here.
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FLORIDA BRACES FOR ZIMMERMAN TRIAL via Margie Menzel of the News Service of Florida
With 200 news organizations expected in Sanford for the second-degree murder trial of George Zimmerman, which starts Monday with jury selection, Florida is in an unwelcome spotlight again in the racially charged case.
The consequences could be far-reaching, but they’re not likely to affect state laws — and certainly not the “stand your ground” self-defense law that became the focus of controversy and led to calls for change after Trayvon Martin’s death in February 2012.
Protests spread across the country after Zimmerman, then a 28-year-old neighborhood watch volunteer, shot and killed the 17-year-old Martin but wasn’t arrested for weeks. It was up to the Sanford police to decide whether he would go free under “stand your ground.” Longstanding tension between Sanford’s black community and its law enforcement grew. By April 11, 2012, when Zimmerman turned himself in, Gov. Rick Scott had appointed a new state attorney to the case and named a panel to review the “stand your ground” law. Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton had led rallies in Sanford.
Zimmerman is half white, half Hispanic; Martin was black. Zimmerman was armed; Martin was not. When no arrest quickly followed Martin’s death, his family brought in attorney Benjamin Crump, who drew national attention to the case. Demands for an arrest swelled, especially after the release of a 911 tape in which a police dispatcher told Zimmerman not to track Martin’s movements.
“Are you following him?” asked the dispatcher. “Yeah,” Zimmerman replied. “Okay, we don’t need you to do that,” said the dispatcher. “Okay,” Zimmerman said. That call was followed by others from residents of the Retreat at Twin Lakes, the gated community where Martin was visiting his father. On the 911 tapes, screams and then a gunshot are heard.
But with no witness to Martin’s death, the evidence has been fiercely debated in court, online and in the media. Whose voice was screaming for help? Who attacked whom first?
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JEB BUSH TO HEADLINE MAGGIE’S LIST EVENT THIS THURSDAY HONORING FISCALLY CONSERVATIVE LEGISLATORS via contributor Karen Cyphers
Jeb Bush is headlining a Maggie’s List event to honor fiscally conservative women serving in the 113th Congress this Thursday. The list of 20 women honored this year are those who believe in fiscal conservatism, less government, more personal responsibility and strong national security. Maggie’s list was founded in 2010 in Florida, and is chaired by Sandra Mortham, former Florida Secretary of State. Miami congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen is the only Floridian to be honored this year. Although women comprise more than 56 percent of voters, they represent less than 20 percent of those elected to Congress. Maggie’s List was founded to address these electoral inequalities and improve representation of fiscally conservative women. The group is active in recruiting, endorsing and raising funds for such candidates. Four states have never elected a woman to federal office, and in total, 293 women have served in the US Congress.
“I am proud to be a part of this event honoring fiscally conservative women serving in the 113th Congress,” said Bush in a statement. “It is a leading voice that rejects the misguided belief that women are inherently liberal voters. In a short time, Maggie’s List has risen to a level of national prominence electing and supporting conservative women.”
SHAKY DEMOCRATIC GOVERNOR’S RACE COULD BENEFIT CRIST via William March of the Tampa Tribune
The potential three-way Democratic primary for governor in 2014 already appears to be fracturing the Democratic Party in ways that could benefit former Republican Gov. Charlie Crist if he seeks the nomination.
As Crist and Tampa’s Alex Sink deliberate whether or when to announce their own candidacies, former state Sen. Nan Rich of Weston is making inroads in the party’s liberal or “progressive” wing, including women.
Several of those liberal activists, many of whom don’t trust Crist, say a split between Rich and Sink among these voters could help Crist.
They see little difference between Rich and Sink in their positions on state issues that liberal voters consider important – women’s reproductive rights, public education, gay rights, the environment and gun safety.
FLASHBACK TO SEPT. 2011 — MY BLOG POST: “News that Nan Rich may run for Governor has to be music to Charlie Crist’s ears“
… “But what Crist should really hope for is Crist vs. Rich vs. Alex Sink. In this scenarion, Rich and Sink would split the base vote, while Crist would run up the score with African-Americans, his base in Tampa Bay, conservative Democrats and teachers. Crist wouldn’t even need a majority of Dems to back him to win the party’s nomination.”
WITH RE-ELECTION LOOMING, ADAM PUTNAM POLISHES CONSERVATIVE BONA FIDES via Aaron Deslatte of the Orlando Sentinel
lorida conservationists have been searching for years to find a Republican standard-bearer to take some responsibility for defending the Sunshine State’s unique natural spaces.
Plenty of Democrats give lip service to protecting the environment, but they have little power in the GOP-dominated Legislature and no seats on the Cabinet.
Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam, now officially seeking a second term, comes from an agricultural pedigree and possesses a deeper knowledge of the state’s rural and natural spaces than perhaps any other statewide politician.
His office spearheads energy policy, and he has made Florida’s threatened rivers, springs and water bodies a stated top priority.
But his first-term record is an aggregation of political pragmatism and trade-offs so far.
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BATTLE OVER SICK LEAVE REACHES GOVERNOR’S OFFICE via Margie Menzel of the News Service of Florida
A bill that would prevent local governments from setting sick-leave standards for workers hasn’t reached Gov. Rick Scott’s desk yet, but it certainly has reached his office.
Scott will have to choose between the business lobby, which strongly supports the bill (HB 655), and workers and their supporters who sent 11,000 petitions to the governor’s office this week, delivered in strollers by working moms who said they would benefit from a veto.
The bill would thwart a citizens petition to the Orange County Commission last year, signed by more than 50,000 people. That petition effort would put the question of mandated sick leave up for a countywide vote.
If it passed, businesses with 15 or more workers would have to provide paid sick leave.
“The organizers of the earned sick-time ballot measure identified a legitimate problem,” said Rep. Joe Saunders, D-Orlando. “The unfortunate reality is that Orange County is leading the state in the number of workers who can’t take a day off if they or their children get sick.”
But business leaders reacted with alarm. Tom Feeney, president and CEO of Associated Industries of Florida, said if local governments could force employers to provide more benefits than state and federal law already requires, they would go to other states.
FSU, UF VOTE TO INCREASE TUITION OVER SCOTT’S OBJECTIONS via Tia Mitchell of the Tampa Bay Times
So far, universities have been reluctant to side with Scott. Most say they can’t reject the tuition increase because it’s required by state law, and they don’t want to offset it elsewhere because they have plans for the money.
The final picture will become clearer when each university presents its 2013-2014 work plan to the state Board of Governors later this month. Most have the tuition increase and other fee hikes in their preliminary budgets.
In accepting the 1.7 percent increase, FSU and UF’s boards said they would use half the money for financial aid. UF will use the remaining half for building maintenance projects that have been delayed during years of budget cutbacks.
>>>Speaker says ‘balance’ needed on tuition: “We’ve got to find that balance where we have affordable tuition, but also it’s the right amount of tuition that allows our universities to be world class and have the quality we desire,” said the Wesley Chapel Republican. “At the end of the day, he’s the governor of the state, and whatever we pass he has to decide if he wants to sign it,” Weatherford said. “So if he decides he does not want there to be a tuition increase next year, we probably won’t have one.”
SCOTT SIGNS BILLS ON CHECK CASHING, FORECLOSURES via the News Service of Florida
Gov. Scott signed 34 bills into law on Friday, including measures (HB 217) that require check-cashing companies to report checks worth $1,000 or more to a new state online database and another (HB 87) that could speed up the foreclosure process. HB 87 would reduce from five years to one the length of time a lender could pursue a claim after a foreclosure action.
Advocates argued the length of the foreclosure process has resulted in abandoned homes that have hurt property values. During committee testimony, critics of the bill said shortening the statute of limitations on filing foreclosures may hurt consumers by encouraging quicker foreclosures and preventing banks from working with borrowers.
The check cashing database, intended to prevent workers’ compensation fraud, is not expected to be funded until 2014. The measure was recommended by a work group under Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater. The work group estimated that “shell” companies created to bilk workers’ compensation claims have cost the state $1 billion a year through checks cashed with money services companies.
Among the other bills signed on Friday, SB 390 prohibits organizations from holding themselves out as veterans service organizations if they’re not.
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ELECTIONS SUPERVISORS CONTINUE CONFERENCE
The Florida State Association of Supervisors of Elections will continue its annual summer conference. Marco Island Marriott Beach Resort, 400 South Collier Blvd., Marco Island.
FLORIDA SUPREME COURT INITIATES LAWYER “PROFESSIONALISM PANELS” TO HALT DECLINE IN STANDARDS via contributor Karen Cyphers
Attorneys take note – and for that matter, dissatisfied clients as well. The Florida Supreme Court ordered Thursday that professionalism complaints against attorneys will now be subject to local “professionalism panels” that will determine if complaints get sent to the Florida Bar for further action. Reacting to this decision, Miami attorney Barton Sacher sent an email to local reporters deeming it “The Jackass Rule”, and prompting South Florida Business Journal writer Paul Brinkmann to solicit feedback from more attorneys. The Court expressed that the crisis of unprofessional conduct among Florida attorneys in the mid-1990s has been at least somewhat mitigated by a campaign to halt the decline in standards, but that “significant problems” are still apparent.
In its unanimous opinion, the Court stated that surveys of lawyers and judges continually suggest that professionalism “is one of the most significant adverse problems” impacting the practice of law in Florida today. Instead of attempting to codify an entirely new code of professionalism, the Court instead required that each circuit Chief Judge create a professionalism panel to receive and resolve professionalism complaints — informally, if possible.
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BLOG POST OF THE DAY: AN OBSCURE BUDGET PANEL MAY BE ON THE VERGE OF TREMENDOUS POWER via Gary Fineout for his blog, The Fine Print
This week the 1st District Court of Appeal rendered a really, really important decision. And in some ways the practical effect of the ruling may be not be as important as the court’s opinion on the scope and power of the Florida Legislature.
… Why? Because the court opinion could open the door for the governor and top legislative leaders to make serious budget decisions without ever taking it to the vote of the full Legislature.
That’s because one part of the lawsuit dealt directly with whether or not the Legislative Budget Commission had the power to approve the initial transfer of funds that allowed the department to begin the privatization effort. (Some of the history of the LBC – which is a 14-member panel of lawmakers – I delved into previously here.)
In short, the commission was created in order to make adjustments to the annual state budget when the Legislature is not in session. The commission can take up budget changes given to them by either the governor or the chief justice of the state Supreme Court.
… (I)t can be argued that if the decision remains then legislative leaders with the consent of the governor could make significant changes to the budget absent a vote by the full Legislature.
The state law that covers the budget commission states that the budget panel cannot eliminate an existing program or initiate and commence a “new program.” But under Ray’s ruling it would appear that the commission itself must should be given “deference” in deciding what means.
WEATHERFORD TO CONTINUE PUSHING FOR PENSION CHANGES via the News Service of Florida
After barely falling short in the Senate during this year’s session, Speaker Will Weatherford plans to try again in 2014 to revamp the state retirement system. Weatherford wants to close off the traditional pension system to future employees and require them to enroll in 401(k)-style “defined contribution” plans.
During an interview this week on The Florida Channel’s “Florida Face to Face” program, Weatherford reiterated his position that changes are needed because of an unfunded liability in the pension system. “I think it’s an issue that we should continue to debate,” Weatherford said. “We want to work with our friends in the Senate. We passed it out of the House. It came up about two votes shy in the Senate. So we’re going to work with those senators who voted ‘no’ and see what it would take to get them to vote ‘yes’ and see if we can’t work out a bill that meets the needs of our state but is also responsible.”
LEGISLATIVE STAFFING MERRY-GO-ROUND
On: Mara Stierman has joined the legislative staff of Rep. Mike Fasano as district executive secretary.
Off: Christine Hunter, who recently retired from Fasano’s office.
On: Nicki Guffey has joined the House Local & Federal Affairs Committee as an administrative assistant.
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HD 61 CANDIDATE ED NARAIN INVITES YOU TO A SPAGHETTI DINNER
On Saturday, July 13, the campaign for Democrat Ed Narain will hold a fundraiser for his bid for the Florida House District 61 seat.
Narain, a longtime community activist, announced In April he is running for the House seat held by Democrat Rep. Betty Reed, Reed faces term limits after the 2014 session. He will face attorney Sean Shaw and Tatiana Denson for the District 61 seat, which covers Seminole Heights, East Tampa, Ybor City and parts of West Tampa.
The sit-down spaghetti dinner will focus on details of his platform called “People. Not Politics.” The event begins 6 p.m. at 2705 E. 24 Ave., Tampa. Organizers request a minimum $10 contribution to attend the event. For more information or to volunteer, visit www.edforflorida.com
DANE EAGLE MAY FACE PRIMARY CHALLENGE IN HD 78 via Betty Parker of the News-Press
Jim Roach, who twice ran unsuccessfully for Congress as a Democrat, has changed his party registration to Republican and plans to challenge state Rep. Dane Eagle for his legislative seat next year. Roach said he has been “more of an issues candidate than a party candidate,” and has come to the belief a Southwest Florida candidate must first win the Republican primary to win office. Roach worked at not attacking Republicans in past races, he said, and many GOP voters told him they liked his views. Roach has not filed papers yet to run against Eagle, but said he lives in the district, is well-known there and is giving it consideration. Two issues, Roach said, are his support for pension systems, which Eagle voted to reform, and his support for Medicaid expansion, which Eagle opposed.
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NEW LOBBYING REGISTRATIONS
Bo Bohannon, Marty Fiorentino, Joe Mobley, Mark Pinto, The Fiorentino Group: HDR Engineering
Charles Cilburn: Echopass Corporation
Jim Horne, Skylar Zander, Strategos Public Affairs: Distinctive Schools; Melbourne Greyhound Park
Mark Pinto, The Fiorentino Group: Florida Court Reporters Association, Jacksonville Transportation Authority, Lender Processing Services, St. Johns County, Vulcan Materials Company, Worldwide Interactive Network
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DESIGNATED DRIVERS DON’T ALWAYS ABSTAIN, UF STUDY FINDS
Maybe better call that cab, after all: A new University of Florida study found that 35 percent of designated drivers had quaffed alcohol and most had blood-alcohol levels high enough to impair their driving. Adam Barry, an assistant professor of health education and behavior at UF, and his team interviewed and breath-tested more than 1,000 bar patrons in the downtown restaurant and bar district of a major university town in the Southeast. Of the designated drivers who had consumed alcohol, half recorded a blood-alcohol level higher than .05 percent — a recently recommended new threshold for drunken driving. The results are published in the July issue of the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs.
The researchers recruited patrons as they left bars between 10 p.m. and 2:30 a.m. across six Friday nights before home football games in fall 2011. After completing a 3-5 minute interview about demographic data and alcohol-related behaviors, participants then had their blood-alcohol content tested with a hand-held breath-testing instrument. Some field-based research suggests designated drivers might drink because the group did not consider who would drive before drinking commenced. Barry also suggested that it’s tricky for anyone to accurately evaluate their own sobriety.
FLORIDA RESEARCHERS PEG BRAIN BENEFITS OF CAFFEINE via contributor Karen Cyphers
According to Sunday’s New York Times Magazine , researchers from the University of South Florida and the University of Miami were onto something when they published a study relating coffee consumption to improved cognitive performance in aging. More and more research has come to the conclusion that coffee consumption — independent from caffeine intake alone — results in lower mortality, and lower risk of Type 2 diabetes, prostate cancer, oral cancer, basal cell carcinoma, and Alzheimer’s disease. The USF and UM study looked at older adults with mild cognitive impairment, which often precedes Alzheimer’s disease, and tested the levels of caffeine in their blood. Two years later, participants were reevaluated. Those with little or no circulating caffeine were far more likely to have progressed to full-blown Alzheimer’s during that time than those who had been taking in about three cups worth of coffee each day. The same researchers from USF had previously looked at mice that were genetically bred to develop Alzheimer’s. Half of the mice were fed caffeine alone, and the other half were given actual coffee; then all were given memory tests. The coffee group did significantly better. Caffeine may not be the ultimate solution to preventing or treating cognitive disease — but for whatever its worth, that medicine isn’t a hard one to swallow.
