OK, the door to power and prominence is about to close on Florida's term-limited legislators. It's a blow to the ego, I get it. But what's with the nauseating, never-ending farewell speeches?
Sure, after eight years, wanting a few moments in the sun is understandable. But, have you been listening to what's going on in the two chambers? Good Lord. Some of these legislators are offering up a dizzying array of collaborative blather. And it's more like a farewell tour than a farewell speech.
Here's the worst part: It all happens during the last two weeks of session. And it happens in prime time, while the real business of the Legislature -- the people's business -- goes begging.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think I've seen it written anywhere in state statutes that long, self-congratulatory speeches on the House or Senate floor are required before a lawmaker can end his or her term. Nevertheless, they persist. Year after year. Gumming up the works as they go.
The last thing I want to do is pick on one or two term-limited legislators. But it just so happens that in the Senate on Monday, kicking off this dreadful parade of prattlers was Larcenia Bullard, D-Miami. Bullard self-eulogized and strolled down memory lane for more than an hour. Then she followed up her speech with a video. Followed by friendly colleagues who chimed in with tributes. All told, she took a substantial chunk out of the session. What she didn't take, Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey, did. His speech sucked up half an hour. And by the time real business resumed, the senators had fallen woefully behind.
You won't find speechifying going quicker over in the House, either. Brad Drake, R-Eucheeanna, isn't actually term-limiting out, he's stepping aside to allow Marti Coley to run for re-election in their newly drawn district. Nevertheless, Drake must have got bitten with the talkies Tuesday, because he waxed nostalgic for more than an hour.
And it's not just the action on the Senate or House floor that goes haywire. It's the dozens of bills and the hundreds, perhaps even thousands, of people somehow corraled and left waiting in committees and subcommittees. I saw this firsthand on Tuesday.
I was among a standing-room only crowd waiting for the start of a 10:45 a.m. Senate Health and Human Services Appropriations Subcommittee. Why waiting? Because the subcommittee members couldn't get there. They were delayed on the Senate floor. Between the weight of Senate business and the farewell speeches of Gary Siplin, D-Orlando, and Dennis Jones, R-Seminole, the subcommittee meeting didn't begin until after noon.
Committees throughout the Capitol complex got a late start Tuesday, thanks mostly to speeches.
I can't speak for all committees. But in our subcommittee, dozens of ordinary citizens showed up to give extraordinary testimony. They drove hundreds of miles to get to the state capital in time for the meeting. Notably they included victims of medical malpractice, including two sets of parents whose infants had died.
By the time the meeting started, Subcommittee Chairman Joe Negron, R-Stuart, announced his intention to move the meeting along because it could not be extended, and if the subcommittee ran out of time on amendments in particular, they would die. Period. It was a chilling, perhaps even intimidating message to folks who had brought their passionate message all the way to Tallahassee to be heard by their lawmakers. They kept their remarks short, as they were told, or they waived their right to speak altogether.
It made me angry, I admit.
I don't blame Negron. He is no more at fault than any other member of the Florida Legislature or the go-along-to-get-along system that clearly puts more emphasis on itself than it does on the people it serves. Sadly, that's the effect of self-serving speeches and the culture of a forced departure in the Florida Legislature.
The truth is, legislators don't really want to listen to farewell addresses. If they moved those goodbye speeches to some nighttime event locale -- The Moon, let's say, or the Civic Center, it would flop like an old mattress. No one would show up.
If I were the god of the term-limited and their speeches, I would tell every one of them, "You want to drag your pals down memory lane? Take them to Andrews' or Clyde's or any watering hole some evening. Have a few beers. Maybe if you pick up the tab, a few of them might even listen."
It's just a question of priorities, that's all. I vote for putting ours on the people's business.
Reach Nancy Smith at nsmith@sunshinestatenews.com or at (850) 727-0859.
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