Weekly political notes from The News Service of Florida
By Jim Turner and Dara Kam
TALLAHASSEE — Warning, “They are coming here. They are coming after us,” Florida Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis wants the Legislature to take steps next year to offset new hiring at the Internal Revenue Service under a law signed this week by President Joe Biden.
Patronis, who is running for re-election, rolled out “Four Pillars of IRS Protection” that he wants state lawmakers to consider as a hedge against the new federal law, which includes funding to hire 87,000 IRS employees — not just agents — over the next 10 years.
“There is documented evidence that the IRS targeted Tea Party groups in 2013, and no doubt the IRS under the Biden administration would do the same to many businesses and organizations in Florida who have professed a love of freedom,” Patronis wrote. “Florida must force IRS bureaucrats to think twice before once again targeting conservatives.”
Patronis wants the Legislature to require state-chartered banks to generate regular reports on IRS engagement to “help identify any potential patterns of discrimination and highlight how the new auditors are targeting the middle class and small businesses;” set up a civil-liability trust fund to provide some legal assistance for small businesses in tax cases; require new IRS agents to register with the state to access account information; and set criminal penalties for enforcement of any law that was based on a “viewpoint or political discrimination.”
Former state Rep. Adam Hattersley, a Riverview Democrat who is running against Patronis in November, called the CFO’s proposal “an ill-timed attempt to change the conversation. Floridians aren’t fooled.”
Trying to rally supporters ahead of the elections, Republicans have locked onto the 87,000 hiring figure, which includes all aspects of the IRS, from agents to customer service. The hiring is included in the law known as the Inflation Reduction Act.
Gov. Ron DeSantis, while campaigning Sunday in Phoenix for Arizona U.S. Senate candidate Blake Masters and Arizona gubernatorial hopeful Kari Lake, said IRS agents will be used to go after people the government doesn’t like.
“They are going to be sicced on working people; contractors, restaurant owners, people that drive Ubers. They’re not going after the billionaires,” DeSantis said.
U.S. Sen. Rick Scott, the former Florida governor who chairs the National Republican Senatorial Committee, warned potential IRS job applicants Tuesday that their potential employment might be short-term if the GOP takes control of the U.S. House and the U.S. Senate in November. He said in an open letter that “we will immediately do everything in our power to defund this insane and unwarranted expansion of government.”
Democrats contend most of the additional auditing will focus on more-affluent people.
“Contrary to the misinformation from opponents of this legislation, small business or households earning $400,000 per year or less will not see an increase in the chances that they are audited,” Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen wrote Aug. 11 to IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig.
RUNNING WITH A POSSIBLE MATE
As Democratic gubernatorial candidate Charlie Crist shed some love on Madison County during a campaign stop this week, he was joined by Miramar Mayor Wayne Messam.
Messam and his wife, Angela, joined Crist for a series of North Florida campaign events in advance of Tuesday’s primary election. Crist is duking it out with Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried for the chance to get in the ring against Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis in November.
Messam is on a list of more than two-dozen potential running mates the Crist camp leaked in June. So could the Madison whistlestop offer any insight into whether the South Florida mayor might appear on the ticket if Crist wins the primary?
When queried by The News Service of Florida, Crist’s team played coy, saying no one is traveling with Crist for the duration of a statewide tour, except for staff.
Messam’s appearance in Madison, however, could have been aimed at pumping up local support in the rural county just an hour’s drive from the Capitol.
“Madison County is my second home, and you all know why,” the former Florida State University football player told people gathered at a downtown Madison park on Monday.
Messam recounted the story of being befuddled in a business algebra class at FSU as a sophomore, when he locked eyes with a classmate and “fell in love on site.”
“And it is one of your daughters, my bride, my wife, Angela. … She brought me to Madison County. Her family embraced me, and you all embraced me as a community,” he said, before introducing Crist to supporters. “And I would not be standing here without Angela and without all of you.”
ABORTION POLITICS
A poll of Floridians conducted the second week of August by the Public Opinion Research Lab at the University of North Florida found the U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v Wade in June has made 51 percent of respondents more likely to vote in November.
Meanwhile, 59 percent strongly oppose making abortion illegal in all cases, with another 12 percent somewhat opposed.
Of course, the numbers swing when broken down by party.
“Without the protections of Roe, the likelihood of a strict or outright ban on abortion being introduced in Florida increases dramatically, and this looks to be mobilizing Democrats to the polls — 78 percent said the decision made them more likely to vote in November,” UNF political science professor Michael Binder, the lab faculty director, said in a statement. “But among Republicans, most (54%) said they are at least somewhat supportive of an outright ban.”
TWEET OF THE WEEK: “In two years I’m running for Congress.” — Rapper Luther Campbell (@unclelukereal1)
