Leon County Commissioners are narrowing down their priorities for the 2021 legislative session. Included in their list are several grant requests for projects and some suggestions on policy decisions.
Usually, while the state legislature is in town, Leon County Commissioners use the time to ask for help funding different projects. The county’s lobbyist Jeff Sharkey says it’s typically an advantage of being in the state’s capital. But he says this year, things could be different because coronavirus concerns could lead to reduced access.
"There’s still really no schedule for reopening, we’ve heard a lot of different scenarios," said Sharkey. "But it’ll certainly be a more controlled environment which will make our efforts on behalf of the county as important as ever to be able to get to members in their offices."
Sharkey also says a tighter budget is expected this year as a result of money being shuffled to cover COVID-19 related issues. Andy Johnson is Assistant to the County Administrator. He says the county hopes to match its requests with priorities lawmakers are already likely to be thinking about.
"We’ve seen a trend towards disaster preparedness type items like the first two you’ll see here on this list that I’ve highlighted. Which involves installing backup generators at critical Leon County facilities that we can use during and after any sort of a natural disaster," said Johnson.
The county wants 650,000 dollars to purchase generators for libraries, community centers, and a special needs shelter. The county also wants 500,000 dollars to help with Amtrak Station repairs. Johnson says the county hopes restoring the rail service will allow for more transportation in and out of Tallahassee.
"Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama have made some significant process in recent years restoring service between New Orleans and Mobile, Alabama hopefully to start by 2023," said Johnson. "However, Florida has not yet joined those efforts to extend the service East from Mobile into Florida."
The county isn’t just looking for money from the legislature, Leon leaders want policy changes too--like an independent public health agency that doesn’t answer to the Florida Department of Health. County Administrator Vince Long says the COVID-19 crisis is an example of why the change is needed.
"There have been many occasions whereby we at the local level have been interpreting data and extrapolating data for local purposes and have been at the point of making decisions on healthcare-related matters," said Long. "Where they could clearly not assist us because that direction may have been counter to the direction of the state or the Governor."
Other policy decisions the county is pushing for include expanding Medicaid and supporting the prohibition on vaping products being sold to those under the age of 21. The change would create a requirement for retailers who sell only vaping products to obtain a license to sell tobacco.
