A morning read of what’s hot in Florida politics.
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POLL: HUGE SUPPORT FOR IMMIGRATION REFORM AMONG 29 STATES SURVEYED, INCLUDING FLORIDA via Alexander Burns of POLITICO
Immigration reform continues to attract broad public support as the Gang of Eight compromise legislation moves through the Senate, according to a huge raft of polling conducted for three pro-reform groups: the Partnership for a New American Economy, the Alliance for Citizenship and Republicans for Immigration Reform.
In a polling memo , Democratic pollster Tom Jensen and Republican pollster Brock McCleary reveal that their surveys found ‘overwhelming, bipartisan support for the bill’ across 29 states, including Florida.
… In the state where Sen. Marco Rubio has been one of the staunchest supporters of reform legislation, 72 percent of voters said they support the legislation (including 45 percent who strongly support it) and 71 percent backed the pathway to citizenship.
MORE DATA ON FLORIDIANS SUPPORT FOR IMMIGRATION REFORM
86% – Percentage of respondents who say it’s “very” or “somewhat” important to fix our immigration system THIS YEAR.
77% – Percentage of respondents who “strongly” or “somewhat” agree that their senators should back this legislation.
54% – Percentage of respondents who say they’re more likely to vote for an elected official who backs such a plan.
QUOTE OF THE DAY: “If this bill has something in it that gives gay couples immigration rights and so forth, it kills the bill. I’m done.” –Sen. Rubio
REID KILLS GRASSLEY AMENDMENT TO IMMIGRATION BILL
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid moved to table a Republican amendment to the comprehensive immigration-reform bill, which would have imposed such stringent border-security requirements as to be a “poison pill” for the broader legislation, Roll Call reports. Judiciary Committee ranking member Chuck Grassley, who authored the tabled amendment, objected to Reid’s action.
“This so-called open and fair process is a farce,” Grassley said prior to roll call. “This is a very provocative act.” Reid’s action gained 57 supporting votes, and the majority leader advised senators to remain in Washington during the weekend of June 22-23 for votes on the immigration measure.
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EMAIL I DIDN’T OPEN: “Why are 17 Senators Protecting Rapists?” from Erica Payne of the Agenda Project
RANDOM TWEET OF THE DAY: @mikememoli: Out of context Jeb quote: “By the way, did I mention my lover was my wife?”
SPOTTED at Maggie’s List event in Washington, D.C., which Jeb Bush headlined: Sandy Mortham, Christina Johnson, Kirsten Borman, Renee Dabbs, Morgan Ortagus, Kathleen Shanahan, and Kristen Soltis Anderson. 10 members of Congress were in attendance at the event, including Jaime Herrera Beutler, Diane Black, Marsha Blackburn, Susan Brooks, Shelley Moore Capito, Renee Ellmers, Virginia Foxx, Cynthia Lummis, Martha Roby, and Ileana Ross-Lehtinen.
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AMAZON AND SCOTT REACH DEAL via John Kennedy of the Palm Beach Post
Scott and online retail giant Amazon announced a deal Thursday in which the company will open a Florida distribution warehouse bringing 3,000 jobs and $300 million in investment to the state.
Florida taxpayers would have to start paying 6 percent state sales tax on their internet purchases through Amazon, once the warehouse is housed in the state.
Scott said the deal, in discussion for more than a year — but which looked dead a month ago — was a sign that “we’ve turned our economy around.”
“Amazon will continue to work with Enterprise Florida on its ongoing projects which will include a return on any taxpayer investment, and we look forward to the company’s announcements as it chooses locations and creates jobs in Florida,” Scott said.
In the framework of the agreement unveiled Thursday, Scott and Amazon vice-president Paul Misener said the company will have the distribution facility open by the end of 2016. Under state law, once an online retailer has a physical presence in Florida, it must start collecting and remitting sales taxes.
SCOTT TO SHOWCASE FLORIDA AEROSPACE, AVIATION IN PARIS via Jim Turner of the News Service of Florida
A planned three-day air traffic controller strike in France has forced Enterprise Florida to scramble in getting its trade mission advance team on flights to reach the International Paris-Le Bourget Air Show.
However, the strike — a protest against being integrated into the rest of the European air traffic system — isn’t expected to impact the arrival of the bulk of the Florida delegation, led by Gov. Rick Scott, that departs for Franceon Friday.
The weeklong mission, the ninth international trade delegation fronted by Scott, is expected to focus on Florida’s aviation and aerospace industries, with time set aside for meetings in Paris with unspecified, but non-aviation related French investors.
While the nearly 80-member delegation list was released this week, along with plans for a pavilion at the air show to showcase 12 Florida companies, the day-to-day agenda for the mission was still being put together.
“It’s still being worked,” Sean Helton, Enterprise Florida public relations manager, said in an email.
SCOTT WON’T TAKE STAND ON IMMIGRATION BILL via Steve Bousquet of the Tampa Bay Times
Scott recently angered some Hispanics when he vetoed a bill that would have allowed children of immigrants to get temporary Florida driver licenses, even if they didn’t have all of the necessary documents. Scott said he vetoed the bill because it was based on a policy change by President Obama, not a specific act of Congress — a move that could cost him support among Hispanic voters in Florida in 2014.
The veto, and the ferocious reaction by Democrats, was a sign that immigration is re-emerging as a political issue in Florida.
At the same time, some leading Florida Republicans have publicly endorsed the immigration reform package moving through the U.S. Senate. A print advertisement paid for by Karl Rove’s Crossroads GPS lists dozens of business and political leaders, including former Gov. Jeb Bush, Florida CFO Jeff Atwater, Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam and House Speaker Will Weatherford, R-Wesley Chapel.
Scott isn’t listed, but neither is any other sitting governor. When questioned Thursday, he wouldn’t say definitively whether he favors the Senate bill or not.
“I think Senator Rubio has really done a great job, focusing on the discussion, making sure we have an immigration policy that works. I’m happy that he’s really focused on securing our borders and having a policy that we all understand,” Scott said.
>>>The Florida Democratic Party released a video (h/t to Adam Smith) highlighting its plans to try and highlight Scott’s veto of the bill that would have allowed undocumented immigrants with Deferred Action status to obtain Florida Drivers licenses. Watch here.
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BOURBON STREET ANYONE? CHARLIE CRIST TO KEYNOTE LOUISIANA’S 2013 JEFFERSON-JACKSON DINNER ON AUG. 17
“We are proud to welcome Governor Crist to the party of Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Jackson, Franklin D. Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, Bill Clinton, Mary Landrieu and Barack Obama,” said Louisiana Democratic Party Chair Karen Carter Peterson. “We are a big-tent party, with room for a diversity of opinions on many issues, and Governor Crist’s pragmatic populism is directly in line with the traditions of the Louisiana Democratic Party.
“This will be the first time Governor Crist will be keynoting a high-profile Democratic event outside of Florida, and we are thrilled that he chose Louisiana to make his debut.”
TWEET, TWEET: @SaintPetersBlog: Odds of @TroyKinsey missing Charlie Crist speak in New Orleans on Aug. 17? Less than zero.
DEMOCRATS EXPECT JEFFERSON-JACKSON DINNER TO BRING IN RECORD AMOUNT OF MONEY via Brandon Larrabee of the News Service of Florida
HIGH HOPES FOR ALLISON TANT via Amy Keller of Florida Trend
Tapping into the star power of Democratic luminaries such as Cory Booker, says Tant, new chairwoman of the Florida Democratic Party, is one of the ways she has been working to steer dollars to Democratic groups around the state. Her main mission, she says, is to put the Democratic Party on strong enough financial footing so the party’s nominee can challenge Gov. Rick Scott in 2014.
Tant, who won the race for chairwoman in January with the backing of Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, has her work cut out for her.
… Tant, successful at assembling groups of friends and allies and “bundling” their donations for the Obama campaign, says she aims to broaden the party’s fundraising base to more “non-traditional” donors, including the thousands of new, small donors nationwide who helped propel Obama past $1 billion last year. “I know there are many donors who contributed to President Obama but have not invested in the Florida Democratic Party,” she wrote in a memo shortly before she was elected as the party’s fundraiser in chief.
HASHTAG FOR THE WEEKEND: #FLJJ2013
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BRANDES CONTINUES TO CHAMPION PRIVACY RIGHTS, THIS TIME ON PRESCRIPTION DRUG DATA
State Sen. Jeff Brandes has been a staunch advocate of privacy rights, co-introducing a bill to limit the use of drones by law enforcement, and attempting to limit the ability for cell phones to be searched during routine arrests.Thursday, Brandes added to this list his concern over the recent release of about 3,000 records from Florida’s Prescription Drug Monitoring Program that were issued without patient notification or consent, and penned a letter to Florida Department of Health Surgeon General John Armstrong urging communication between the agency and the legislature in the handling of this matter.
Specifically, Brandes requested that as DOH conducts its investigation in the matter it provide findings to the Legislature so that lawmakers may review statute or seek remedy should it be necessary. Brandes articulates the “careful balance” between public policy that protects privacy and policies that give law enforcement the tools they need to prevent prescription drug abuse — a balance that has become increasingly challenging to strike.
FLORIDA CHAMBER NAMES LARRY METZ ITS MOST VALUABLE LEGISLATOR
Senate President Don Gaetz and House Speaker Will Weatherford today joined the Florida Chamber of Commerce’s Board of Directors to present the Florida Chamber’s Most Valuable Legislator award to Representative Larry Metz. The Chamber said Rep. Metz received the honor for “his unwavering determination and steadfast leadership to remove junk science from the courtroom and improve Florida’s legal climate.”
Updating the state’s expert evidence standard from the 90-year-old Frye Standard to the Daubert Standard has long-been a priority of the Florida Chamber’s Coalition for Legal Reform. During the 2013 legislative session, lawmakers passed HB 7015, expert evidence legal reform, and Governor Rick Scott signed it into law last week.
“Thanks to the great work of Rep. Metz, Florida’s expert evidence standards now move into the 21st Century and join 20 other states already using a pure Daubert Standard – a multi-faceted test to determine the admissibility of expert testimony,” said David Hart, Executive Vice President for the Florida Chamber of Commerce. “Updating Florida’s expert evidence standards will help improve on Florida’s 41st worst legal climate ranking and will allow Florida’s state courts to join the U.S. Supreme Court, all federal courts and every state in the Southeast in using the Daubert Standard.”
For Rep. Metz, the third time was the charm. For three years in a row, Rep. Metz sponsored the Florida Chamber’s legal reform priority to modernize expert testimony standards.
TWEET, TWEET: @MarcACaputo: Florida Chamber of Commerce names Rep. Larry Metz “most valuable legislator.” Sounds like he has a for-sale pricetag
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CITIZENS’ GILWAY CITES REAL POSSIBILITY OF HURRICANE ASSESSMENTS OF 45% OR MORE
In response to a recent Palm Beach Post article that questioned the substantiality of post-hurricane tax assessments, Citizens Property Insurance Corp. President and CEO Barry Gilway authored a letter to the editor in an effort to clear up the misconceptions regarding the state’s assessment risk.
“Assessments are not a scare tactic. They are a real possibility, based on hard dollars and statistics,” said Gilway. According to Gilway, “assessments could climb as high as 45 percent of premium for a Citizens policyholder and 2 percent of premiums for a non-Citizens policyholder. On a $2,000 policy, that would be $900 and $40, respectively, for a single year. If that were not enough to cover the shortfall, additional emergency assessments could be charged to all Florida policyholders over multiple years.”
While not mentioned in the letter, it is also important to note that storms that are likely to deplete Citizens’ funds and trigger assessments by it are likely to have a similar impact on the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund, triggering additional post-hurricane tax assessments and reducing the Fund’s ability to meet its obligations for subsequent storms.
FLORIDA AGAIN LEADS IN FORECLOSURES, BUT MAYBE THAT’S NOT A BAD THING
Florida and South Florida returned to the top of the nation’s foreclosure rankings in May, but that probably isn’t as bad as it sounds, RealtyTrac Inc. says. “These are inevitable foreclosures that need to happen for the market to be completely healthy,” said Daren Blomquist, a spokesman for the Irvine, Calif.-based listing firm.
LEAST SURPRISING STAT OF THE DAY: New 2012 U.S. Census estimates released Thursday show that 18.2 percent of Floridians are over age 65, the highest rate of any state in the nation.
FWC DELAYS VOTE TO BAN DEER BORDER CROSSINGS via Jim Turner of the News Service of Florida
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APPOINTED: Kathryn Ballard and the reappointment of Emily “June” Duda to the Florida State University Board of Trustees; Andrea Teves Smith to the Tenth Circuit Court; Frederick Roberts (re-appointed) to the Governing Board of the St. Johns River Water Management District.
DCF ROLLS OUT NEW LEGISLATIVE AFFAIRS TEAM
Timothy Parson will serve as the agency’s Legislative Affairs Director and Nicole Stookey will serve as the Deputy Legislative Affairs Director.
Parson previously served as the Deputy Legislative Affairs Director. Parson was part of the legislative team that led DCF to one of the most successful state sessions in recent history. Reforms advocated by DCF and passed this session will empower foster parents to make reasonable parenting decisions for children in their care, give youth the option to remain in foster care until the age of 21 in order to finish high school, earn a GED, pursue post-secondary education or begin a career, and prohibit the use of EBT cards at certain establishments such as liquor stores, adult entertainment sites and gaming facilities.
“We are pleased that Tim has agreed to take on more responsibility in his new elevated role as director,” DCF Secretary David Wilkins said. “He played a key role in our success this legislative session. With his expertise, I’m confident that we will be able to accomplish even more for Florida’s children and vulnerable adults next session.”
Stookey will begin working in her new role starting in July. She is rejoining legislative affairs after serving as the Communications Director for DCF’s Northwest Region.
FORMER U.S. COMPTROLLER GENERAL TO ADDRESS ECONOMIC CLUB OF FLORIDA
David Walker, PhD, will guest speak to the Economic Club of Florida on Monday, June 17, sharing a presentation titled “Putting Federal, State and Local Governments on a Fiscally Sustainable Course.” Walker is a former US Comptroller General and served as head of the US Government Accountability office for almost 10 years. He is also Founder and CEO of the Comeback America Initiative (CAI), a nonprofit, nonpartisan group that engages the public and assists policymakers to solve fiscal imbalances at all levels of government.
Prior to the 2012 presidential election, CAI launched a “10 Million A Minute Bus Tour” featuring Walker, who had partnered with Ross Perot in an op-ed to tout the tour and ideas such as “no budget, no pay”. The Economic Club of Florida was established in 1977 and acts as a forum for distinguished speakers on issues of the day. This month’s presentation will be held at the Tallahassee-Leon County Civic Center, A2-A3, from 12:10 pm – 1:00 pm.
HILL + KNOWLTON ANNOUNCES PROMOTION OF KELSEY LEHTOMAA FROUGE, HIRING OF BERIT HALLBERG
“Kelsey has shown tremendous growth and leadership in her time with the firm and I’m pleased to announce her promotion within the company,” said H+K Executive Vice President and General Manager Harry Costello. “Her knowledge of the Tallahassee political environment as well as the local public affairs and education spaces has helped us achieve greater successes for our clients.”
In her new position, Frouge will take an elevated role in the day-to-day management and execution of client programs and strategic communication plans. Frouge has worked for H+K for nearly three years and has more than seven years of experience in the public affairs, marketing and public relations fields, with a significant focus on public education, healthcare and insurance. Prior to joining the firm, Frouge served as a spokesperson and lead marketing professional for the Florida Department of Education in Tallahassee.
“Berit brings extensive experience in healthcare and public affairs to our healthcare provider practice,” said Costello. “We are delighted to welcome her to the office.”
Hallberg joins the H+K Tampa office from Washington, D.C. As a senior account executive, she will provide public relations counsel and expertise to the firm’s healthcare clients. Previously, she served as deputy press secretary for the public affairs office of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy. Prior to that post, she was a confidential assistant to the assistant secretary of public affairs for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
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HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Tony Desisto’s better half, Courtney, and Foyt Ralston.
