By James Call
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wfsu/local-wfsu-967542.mp3
Tallahassee, FL – It's the final day of the Florida Legislature's 2011 Session. Lawmakers will conclude their work with a budget vote after 10:16 Friday night the end of a 72-hour waiting period that began once the spending proposal was delivered to lawmakers. James Call reports, while waiting for the budget vote, the Legislature spent it's final day debating a wide range of issues, from Medicaid Reform to Growth management.
Expecting to work late into the night Friday morning Senate Democrats gathered to plot strategy to block Republicans from resurrecting any bills that had died in committee. Absolutely, if we cannot kill a bill then it is over. If we can kill it then we are protecting the few that are left.
Senator Arthenia Joyner chaired the meeting. She was addressing specifically a proposal to deregulate a variety of professions, like hair stylists, sports agents and interior designers. The Democrats are too few in number to defeat a proposal on a up or down vote. However if two republicans vote with a Democratic block then they deny the majority a two-thirds vote needed to take up a bill that had not been heard in committee.
"Ya gotta to give me a little more than that. That wasn't heard in committee you gotta give me a little more than that."
Senator Tony Hill wants straight facts, facts without spin about a proposal that would remove most state oversight of growth management decisions. Charles Pattison, president of 1000 Friends of Florida called the bill scheduled for debate, the biggest change in growth management laws in 25 years.
"It all seems to be driven by this false idea that the regulatory and growth management process has blunted the economic recovery and even economic development in general that is totally false but that is being used because it resonates well with people to say jobs or economic development is what we have so let's get this out of the way."
When lawmakers arrived in Tallahassee in April they said this would be a session focused on jobs. More than a million Floridians are out of work and economic growth appears to be flat. While lawmakers debated an Arizona immigration law, approved more regulations of third party voter registration groups and placed a cap on the health care budget, job creation seemed to fade into the background.
"I was going through it with my staff today and I said, Gentleman look there is nothing out there on the horizon that will come to the Senate floor."
Senator Mike Fasano spoke last Friday when budget negotiations were about to enter the final stage.
"Either from our own committee process or the House, House bills that in many ways create jobs or stimulate the economy or put people back into some of these unoccupied homes, absolutely nothing. Maybe somebody will correct me but I haven't seen anything."
Representative Lake Ray is willing to correct his Senate colleague. He and others say the job creation is in the state budget. Fasano was speaking to direct job creation and Ray and other Republican lawmakers prefer to address the subject more conceptually. Florida is slowly recovering from the Great Recession and many policy makers, like Ray, are focused on putting things in place to enhance that recovery.
"There are a lot of things that are included in that budget discussions have been related to ports. We were able to fund some port projects in Miami that particular project has the ability to bring us about 35,000 jobs by deepening the channel. Of course it won't be that project alone but it will be a series of things connected with that. Also puts in position for long term opportunities with the post-Panmex opening of the Panama Canal."
The Legislature took its cue from Governor Rick Scott in trying to better position Florida for the post-recessional global company. The budget also contains 300 million dollars in tax cuts as part of an effort to create a better business climate to entice companies to move to Florida.