State Rep. Dave Murzin sent out a report on the legislative session that has been extended another week so that the House and Senate can work out a budget for next year.
Murzin writes, “The extended Session is not without precedent, and House Republicans believe that it is more important to get the budget done right than to do it quickly. Although the budget process took a little longer than anticipated, it is important that the priorities of both the House and the Senate are fairly represented in the final budget.”
He says the House is trying to identify spending reductions to balance the budget long-term and “create a stable financial environment for Florida’s economy to rebound.”
Murzin did vote to accept nearly $2 billion in federal stimulus money to extend the length of time that unemployed workers receive assistance. Part of the $2 billion will be used to increase the weekly unemployment benefit by $25.
“To help put Florida’s economy back on track and generate jobs for Floridians,” Murzin voted for House Joint Resolution 1013 which calls for a constitutional amendment be placed on the ballot to guarantee the Right to Vote by Secret Ballot, including votes on union representation. The bill passed 74-44. Local State Rep. Clay Ford was a co-sponsor of the bill.
House Bill 315 is another bill that Murzin supported. According to Murzin, “the bill the maximizes their choice for the use of their Prepaid College Plan dollars by permitting the use of the funds at any learning center recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.” This bill was tabled on April 28 (Murzin’s report is dated 5/4/09).
That bill was replace by Bill 609 that instead limits the expansion of use of the funds to “any eligible educational institution as defined in s. 529 of the Internal Revenue Code.” This bill passed unanimously on April 29. I’m not sure why Murzin didn’t mention this bill instead of CB 315.