Around the State
Governor Scott appoints Department of Transportation Secretary. Last Monday, Governor Rick Scott appointed Ananth Prasad as the new Secretary of the Department of Transportation. Mr. Prasad has worked for the department for 18 years, where he most recently served as the Assistant Secretary for Engineering and Operations and previously served as a Chief Engineer and Director of Construction. Mr. Prasad was chosen over two other candidates recommended by the Florida Transportation Commission — Thomas Conrecode, Vice President of Collier Enterprises, and Gordon Goodin, a former Santa Rosa County Commissioner.
Rep. Frank Artiles fined for living outside of his Miami district. Freshman Rep. Artiles, elected to represent District 119 last November, has admitted that he does not live in his district, potentially subjecting him to fines for every day he has lived outside of his district. Article III, Section 15 of the Florida Constitution requires each senator and representative to be a “resident of the district from which elected.” The most recent representative fined for a related violation, Rep. Reggie Fulwood, was fined in March for failing to register in his district until 15 days after the election.
Budget
Budget discussions stall while the end of the regular session looms. With only two weeks remaining in the 2011 regular session, House and Senate leaders have not yet reached agreement on the broad spending parameters of the budget, otherwise known as “allocations.” Legislators at the appropriations subcommittee level cannot begin their negotiations until the presiding officers of both chambers agree upon these broad parameters. The actual time available to produce the final budget is less than two weeks, however, as the Florida Constitution requires a 72-hour “cooling-off” period. Article III, Section 19 states that “all general appropriation bills shall be furnished to each member of the legislature, each member of the cabinet, the governor, and the chief justice of the supreme court at least seventy-two hours before final passage.” Consequently, in order to finish by May 6, the end of the 60-day regular session, the final budget must be provided no later than May 2, which appears to be increasingly unlikely as the delays continue. In the event the budget is not finished by the end of the regular session, the Legislature may either extend the regular session or adjourn and convene a special session at a later date.
Legislature
Senate idles while House moves ahead on key proposals. Last week, the Senate did not convene committee meetings or floor time in observance of Passover and Easter. The House, however, met in committees and on the floor on both Wednesday and Thursday. Significant legislation was debated and passed during these two days, including the H.B. 7095 by Rep. Rob Schenck, which bans physician dispensing of Schedule II and Schedule III controlled substances. The bill was passed on the floor with little debate and on a near-unanimous vote. The House also passed H.B. 1355 by Rep. Dennis Baxley, a sweeping elections reform bill, along a party-line vote. The reforms in the bill include registration of third-party voter registration organizations, prohibition of address changes at the polling place under a regular ballot, and reduction of the validity of initiative petition signatures from four years to two years. Finally, the House passed H.B. 7129 by Rep. Ritch Workman along a near party-line vote. The bill substantially revises the state’s growth-management process by eliminating state concurrency requirements for transportation, schools, and parks and creating a quicker process for state review of comprehensive plan amendments.
House appoints redistricting committee members and convenes first meetings. Last Monday, Speaker of the House Dean Cannon appointed members of the House Redistricting Committees and Subcommittees, appointing Speaker-Designate Will Weatherford as the chair of the committee. The House has formed a Redistricting Committee and three subcommittees — House Redistricting, Senate Redistricting, and Congressional Redistricting. On Wednesday and Thursday, the House held a joint meeting of the Redistricting Committee and Congressional Redistricting Subcommittee, as well as individual meetings of the House and Senate Redistricting Subcommittees. The committees heard several presentations on the relevant law and case law that provides the parameters for the redistricting process. Article III, Section 16 of the Florida Constitution requires the Legislature, during the regular session in the second year following each decennial census, to apportion the state into not less than 30 nor more than 40 senatorial districts, and not less than 80 nor more than 120 representative districts. The new districts will be adopted by the Legislature in the form of Joint Resolution during the 2012 regular session and must undergo mandatory state and federal legal reviews. Providing sufficient time for these reviews is the primary reason that the Legislature moved the start date of the 2012 regular session from March to January 2012.
Public Policy News Alert is part of our ongoing commitment to providing up-to-the-minute information about pressing concerns or industry issues affecting our clients and our colleagues. If you have any questions about this alert or would like to discuss these topics further, please contact your Foley attorney or any of the following individuals:
G. Donovan Brown
Tallahassee, Florida
850.513.3362
[email protected]
Marnie George
Tallahassee, Florida
850.513.3398
[email protected]
Michael P. Harrell
Tallahassee, Florida
850.513.3373
[email protected]
Robert H. Hosay
Tallahassee, Florida
850.513.3382
[email protected]
Jonathan P. Kilman
Orlando, Florida
407.244.3256
[email protected]
Paul W. Lowell
Tallahassee, Florida
850.513.3380
[email protected]
Thomas J. Maida
Tallahassee, Florida
850.513.3377
[email protected]
