By Brandon Larrabee, The News Service of Florida
Despite all the action underway during the legislative session over the last week, the Capitol seemed like a place stuck in past decades.
The death of former Gov. Reubin Askew, one of the most important figures in Florida history, triggered nostalgia for the days when the teetotaling chief executive worked to safeguard the environment, repair scandal-tarnished courts and open government business to the public.
Askew’s passed away on the same day that the Florida Supreme Court threw out a medical malpractice law approved by the Legislature 11 years ago — and subject to controversy ever since. Both events came a couple of days after former Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink, who first ran for statewide office in 2006, once again stood before voters, this time in a special congressional election that was instead won by Republican lobbyist David Jolly.
And while the Legislature spent the week on present and future concerns, GOP lawmakers devoted much of their time to discussing one of the party’s golden oldie issues: Tax cuts.
The legislative session isn’t history yet — not even close — but the week was a reminder that even once it has ended, its effects can be felt for years.
‘ONE OF THE GREAT LEADERS’
With the exception of the late Gov. LeRoy Collins, Askew is seen as perhaps the most influential politician in Florida history.
The prim, almost prudish Democrat was first elected in 1970, defeating incumbent Republican Claude Kirk, the first GOP governor in the modern era.
Askew won again in 1974, becoming the first governor in Florida history to be elected to successive four-year terms. (Many, though not all, earlier governors were barred from running for more than one term, or could only run for two-year terms, depending on the Constitution at the time.)
Florida was in the midst of a population and development boom when Askew took over as chief executive. The state was still grappling with racial tensions prompted by the U.S. Supreme Court decision that put an end to school segregation. The devoutly religious Askew, born in Muskogee, Okla., was on the opposite side of many other Southern politicians, as well as many of his Pensacola constituents, in his call for racial reconciliation.
Askew clashed with conservatives over a “straw poll” opposing school busing, offering his own proposal asking voters if they wanted to keep schools integrated. Neither was binding, and both were approved.
The governor led a drive to reform the state’s judicial system after two state Supreme Court justices were forced out of office. He successfully pushed for a constitutional amendment requiring public officials to disclose information about their financial affairs and forcing government records into “the sunshine.” On the environment, Askew backed legislation creating water management districts and requiring local comprehensive planning.
“He was a visionary. He saw issues, whether they were in areas of racial fairness or educational opportunities or environmental protection, in a generational perspective, not just what’s going to be the best position for the next election. He led by his personal example and by the wisdom of his ideas and the strength of his passions,” said former U.S. Sen. Bob Graham, a Democrat who also served as governor.
Jeb Bush, Florida’s first Republican governor elected to successive four-year terms, also praised Askew in a statement.
“Florida has lost one of the great leaders who played a pivotal role in shaping the trajectory of our state during a time of substantial growth and change,” Bush said. “He led on contentious issues, fought for equality and did what he believed was in the best interests of Florida families. Governor Askew always put principle before politics, and I was fortunate to know him, seek counsel from him and learn from his years of service.”
‘DISAPPOINTING, AS USUAL’ RULING ON MED MAL LAW
After more than a decade of legislative and legal battles, the Florida Supreme Court had the final say on a 2003 law limiting damages in medical-malpractice lawsuits. It was unconstitutional, the justices said in a 5-2 ruling.
The court sided with the family of a Panhandle woman who died of complications after giving birth. In doing so, justices also sided indirectly with plaintiffs’ lawyers who have fiercely opposed limits on so-called “non-economic damages.” Physicians and insurance companies, who have made a priority of reining in medical-malpractice lawsuits, came out the losers.
“At the present time, the cap on non-economic damages serves no purpose other than to arbitrarily punish the most grievously injured or their surviving family members,” Justice R. Fred Lewis wrote.
The two most conservative justices dissented.
“This court has previously recognized the existence of a medical malpractice insurance crisis as a legitimate state interest,” Chief Justice Ricky Polston wrote. “Further, it is undisputed that increasing the quality, availability, and affordability of health care for Floridians is a legitimate state interest. And the Legislatureâs policy choice of enacting a cap on non-economic damages in medical malpractice cases is rationally related to these state interests.”
The ruling stemmed from the February 2006 death of 20-year-old Michelle McCall, who gave birth to a son at Fort Walton Beach Medical Center but died days later because of complications from severe bleeding.
Republicans, who have often warred with the trial bar over the years and pushed the caps through the Legislature in 2003, were predictably upset by Thursday’s decision.
“Disappointing, as usual, from them,” Senate Rules Chairman John Thrasher, R-St. Augustine, said when asked about the justices’ ruling. “But we’ll see what we have to do to address it.”
It wasn’t clear whether or how lawmakers would attempt to overturn the court’s decision through legislation during the current session. But no one was ruling it out yet.
JOLLY IS JOLLY AS SINK SINKS
While much of the state’s political and business establishment had been focused on the legislative session underway in Tallahassee, the national media and a handful of big-money groups were zeroing in on another corner of the state: Pinellas County, where Sink was attempting a comeback and Jolly was looking to move from K Street to the U.S. Capitol.
In the end, Jolly won the contentious and expensive special election on Tuesday to replace his former boss, the late Republican Congressman C.W. Bill Young. The swingy district, which Young and President Barack Obama both won in 2008 and 2012, was monitored by strategists and analysts looking for tea leaves about the November elections that will decide who controls Congress during Obama’s last two years in office.
As usual, the winning side portrayed the victory as a signal about what would happen almost eight months from now.
“Tonight, one of Nancy Pelosiâs most prized candidates was ultimately brought down because of her unwavering support for ObamaCare, and that should be a loud warning for other Democrats running coast to coast,” U.S. Rep. Greg Walden, chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, said in a press release after the vote.
Also following the script, Democrats tried to play down the idea that the defeat was, in fact, a defeat.
“Tonight, Republicans fell short of their normal margin in this district because the agenda they are offering voters has a singular focus — that a majority of voters oppose — repealing the Affordable Care Act that would return us to the same old broken health care system,” Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, a congresswoman from Broward County, said in a release.
MO MONEY, MO TAX CUTS
At a Wednesday meeting in an obscure corner of the Knott Building, state economists huddled and predicted that the state would take in about $150 million more over the next 16 months than current estimates called for. It didn’t take long for House Speaker Will Weatherford, R-Wesley Chapel, to decide where the money would go.
“Obviously, a lot of it’s going to be spent on tax cuts,” he told reporters.
Lawmakers had already set a goal of $500 million in reductions in taxes and fees, following a benchmark set by Gov. Rick Scott last year. That overall number isn’t likely to change even with the new revenue figures, but it does give lawmakers more wiggle room.
On Thursday, the Senate Appropriations Committee unanimously amended a proposal (SB 156) by Chairman Joe Negron, R-Stuart, to reduce the vehicle registration fees. Under the revised proposal, motorists would potentially save between $20 and $25 per vehicle registration, depending on the size of the vehicle.
The reduction would collectively save motorists about $309 million during the upcoming 2014-15 budget year, with the new rates going into effect Sept. 1, and about $395 million the following fiscal year, when they would be in effect for the full 12 months starting July 1.
A similar House proposal (PCB 14-04) was unanimously backed Thursday by the House Finance and Tax Subcommittee, even as Democrats complained the reduction was more about getting Scott re-elected than fiscal policy.
“There is a great line in ‘The Wizard of Oz’ that I like. ‘Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.’ I feel like we need to take the curtain down,” said Rep. Jared Moskowitz, D-Coral Springs.
Other tax bills were also moving. The Senate Commerce and Tourism Committee on Monday unanimously supported a measure (SB 792) by Sen. Anitere Flores, R-Miami, that would lift sales taxes on clothes, school supplies and electronics for three days at the start of August.
And the Senate Communications, Energy and Public Utilities Committee approved a plan by Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam (SB 1076) to cut in half the sales tax that businesses pay for electricity and funnel about half of it to an education facilities program.
STORY OF THE WEEK: Former Gov. Reubin Askew, one of the most important figures in state history, died at the age of 85.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK: “I’m waiting on the day when somebody gets indicted on the Thursday before the election, and they get elected because everybody’s already voted and they can’t get their ballot back.”–Sen. Jack Latvala, R-Clearwater, on the dangers of voting by mail.