Politics
Education commissioner resigns; State Education Board chair alleges Governor Rick Scott forced resignation. On Monday last week, Education Commissioner Eric Smith informed the members of the State Board of Education that he will resign his office effective June 10. Commissioner Smith has served in his current role since fall of 2007, during the first year of Governor Charlie Crist's term. Commissioner Smith has been a strong supporter of education reform, including, most notably, S.B. 6 and S.B. 736, the teacher quality bills introduced in the 2010 and 2011 legislative sessions, respectively. On Wednesday, Willard Fair, Chairman of the State Board of Education who was initially appointed by former Governor Jeb Bush, resigned in protest over the resignation of Commissioner Smith. Chairman Fair indicated that he was troubled by the resignation, strongly implying that Gov. Scott had forced the resignation of Commissioner Smith. On Thursday, the State Board of Education held an emergency conference call to discuss the resignation of the chair and the commissioner, ultimately directing the Department of Education to initiate a nationwide search for a new commissioner.
Gov. Scott appoints secretaries for the Department of Health and Agency for Health Care Administration. Last Monday, Gov. Scott announced that he was appointing Dr. Frank Farmer as the secretary of the Department of Health, and Liz Dudek as the secretary for the Agency for Health Care Administration. Liz Dudek is a long-term employee of the agency, recently serving as the interim secretary and, before that position, as the head of the agency's health care facility regulation division, Health Quality Assurance. Dr. Farmer is a former president of the Florida Medical Association and former chairman of the Florida Board of Medicine, and has an extensive military background in the Army, Air Force, and National Guard.
Drug testing of state employees, state assistance advance. On Tuesday, Gov. Scott signed an executive order to require drug testing of prospective state employees. Executive Order 11-58 requires all agencies to amend their policies to require pre-employment drug testing for all prospective new hires and for random drug testing of all existing employees. On Wednesday, the Senate Criminal Justice Committee advanced a proposal to require drug testing of state recipients of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). The proposal, S.B. 556, is sponsored by Sen. Paula Dockery, and is now in its last committee of reference, the Senate Budget Committee.
Gov. Scott orders review of taxpayer-funded hospital districts. Gov. Scott established the Commission on Review of Taxpayer Funded Hospital Districts on Wednesday to make recommendations on the role of hospital districts. The broad goals of the commission include assessing whether it is in the public's best interest to have government entities operating hospitals and determining what is the most effective model for enhancing health care access to the poor. The commission is composed of eight members: Dominic Calabro, Scott McCleneghen, Jacob Jackson, Marshall Kelley, Dwight Chennette, Brad Dinkins, Randal McElbeney, and Paul Duncan. The President of the Senate and Speaker of the House of Representatives also may each appoint a member of their respective chambers to serve on the commission. The commission must submit its recommendations to the governor and the Legislature by January 1, 2012.
Budget
House unveils its draft budget proposal, reducing the state budget to $66 billion and cutting more than 5,000 state positions. On Friday, the House unveiled its draft General Appropriations Act and related conforming and implementing bills, reducing the state budget by nearly $4 billion as compared to last year, and reducing state full-time equivalents (including numerous vacant positions) by more than 5,000 positions. The bills are scheduled to be heard on Wednesday, March 30, in the House Appropriations Committee, and will be voted out on the floor of the House on April 6 – 7 next week. The passage of each chambers' budget proposals is generally a formality in order to put the chambers in the proper posture to enter into a budget conference, which should begin during the week of April 11.
State unemployment rate down to 11.5 percent. On Friday, the Agency for Workforce Innovation announced that Florida's unemployment rate had dropped to 11.5 percent in February, a reduction of .4 percent from the previous month. This rate represents the lowest rate since July of 2010. More than 22,000 jobs were added in February, a total increase of more than 32,000 jobs as compared to February 2010. Orlando led the state in job creation, and the leading job category was professional and business services, followed by education and health services. Tempering the improved outlook is the fact that the labor force narrowed by nearly 13,000 workers. Florida's unemployment rate remains above the national unemployment rate of 8.9 percent, as measured by the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Legislature
Auto insurance fraud bills advance in the House. The House Civil Justice Committee on Thursday passed H.B. 967, a bill designed to reduce personal injury protection (PIP) fraud and the cost of PIP insurance by, among other provisions, capping attorneys' fees available from such claims. Rep. Matt Gaetz attempted to offer a strike-all amendment to strip out many of the provisions in the bill; the amendment was defeated on a germanity challenge that was ultimately appealed to the Speaker of the House. Numerous parties waived in support of the bill, including State Farm, PCI, the Florida Chamber of Commerce, and others. Opposing parties included the Florida Medical Association, the Florida Chiropractic Association, and the Florida Justice Association; the testimony of these parties primarily centered on the provisions of the bill relating to arbitrations and examinations under oath. With the exception of Rep. Gaetz, who voted against the bill, the bill passed on a party-line vote and now goes to the House Health and Human Services Committee. On the same day, the House Insurance and Banking Committee took up H.B. 1411 by Rep. Jim Boyd, a more comprehensive package related to preventing PIP fraud. Parties similar to H.B. 967 testified for and against the bill, and similar issues were raised relating to expanded use of examinations under oath. The bill passed on a party-line vote and now goes to the House Civil Justice Subcommittee.
Legislature overrides two more vetoes of former Gov. Charlie Crist for leadership funds and agriculture bills. On Thursday, the House and Senate overrode two vetoes of former Gov. Crist. The first veto was of the so-called "leadership funds" bill, H.B. 1207. The bill increases the individual disclosure threshold from $100 to $5,000, revises Florida election law to comport with recent federal case law (which, among other issues, struck down Florida's regulation of Internet communications and issue elections), and authorizes the leader of each political party conference of the House and Senate to establish a separate, affiliated party committee to support the election of candidates of the leader's political party. Supporters of the bill allege that it will provide more transparency, while critics allege that the bill will concentrate powers in the hands of House and Senate leaders. The second veto was of H.B. 7103, a comprehensive agriculture bill that, among other things, expands eligibility for a local business tax exemption for persons who sell agriculture products, prohibits a county from enforcing any regulations on agricultural land if the regulated activity is regulated by a state of federal entity, and exempts incorporated farms from being required to obtain a local occupational license to farm and sell their own products.
Farm photography bill scaled back. On Monday, Sen. Jim Norman significantly revised S.B. 1246 in the Senate Agriculture Committee. The bill as filed would have made photographing or trespassing on farm property a felony, but immediately came under significant criticism from various groups, including animal rights groups, who allege the bill would "aid and abet criminal animal abuse." The amended bill scales the criminal penalty back to a misdemeanor and revises the criminal act to entering onto a farm and produce audio or video records without the permission of the owner of the farm. Sen. Gary Siplin, who ultimately supported the bill as a protection for the poultry industry, urged the committee through an amendment to revise the criminal penalty to a misdemeanor. As amended, the bill passed the committee on a unanimous vote. The next stop for the bill is the Senate Criminal Justice Committee.
Gov. Scott signs education reform bill. On Thursday, Gov. Scott signed S.B. 736, the education reform bill that substantially revises laws governing teacher contracts, evaluations, and compensation. Most significantly, the bill ends tenure contracts for new teachers, an initiative that has not had serious momentum since the late 1990s. National and state education unions predictably criticized the bill; the Florida Education Association labeled the bill an "unfunded mandate" on local school districts, while the American Federation of Teachers criticized the Legislature for "ramming" through the legislation. On the other side, well-known education reformer Michelle Rhee hailed the initiative as a "landmark bill."
House Medicaid managed care reform legislation voted out of committee, cleared for the floor. On Thursday, the House Appropriations Committee voted out H.B. 7107 and 7109, which substantially revise Florida's Medicaid program. The bills create eight managed care regions throughout the state and require the Agency for Health Care Administration to contract with managed care plans in each region to provide long-term, primary, and acute care for Medicaid recipients. A last-minute strike-all amendment added a non-economic civil liability cap of $300,000 for personal injury or wrongful death claims based on medical negligence of a Medicaid provider. The House proposals continue to differ significantly from the Senate proposal, S.B. 1972, in that the House proposals not only divide the state into fewer regions (eight, as opposed to 19), but also differ on the approach to cost containment. In the House proposals, Medicaid costs will be contained through the use of an achieved savings rebate, while the Senate proposal imposes a medical loss ratio on all managed care plans. The House proposals also continue to exclude a smaller population of Medicaid recipients, relative to the Senate proposal. The House bills will be debated on the floor on March 29. Meanwhile, the Senate proposal will be heard in the Senate Health Regulation Committee on Wednesday, March 30.
House union paycheck protection headed to the Senate. On Friday morning, the House passed H.B. 1021 by Rep. Chris Dorworth, after hours of polarized debate between Republicans and Democrats. The bill prohibits state and local employee payroll deductions for dues or assessments of an employee organization, and further prohibits public employee payroll deductions for political purposes without written authorization of the employee. The bill passed on a party-line vote and now heads to the Senate. In the Senate, a similar proposal, S.B. 830, has the strong support of sponsor Sen. John Thrasher and is now in its last committee of reference, the Senate Budget Committee.
Marnie George of The George Group assists Foley on a variety of government and public policy matters as a consultant.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
