The Florida House set the stage Thursday for the last day of session, as bills shuttled back and forth between the House and the Senate.
Rep. Gary Aubuchon, R-Cape Coral, in his capacity as chairman of the House Rules and Calendar Committee, explained procedures for the last two days to his fellow representatives in a memo sent out before the meeting.
"During the remainder of the week, our rules do not allow us to consider anything other than returning messages, conference reports, and concurrent resolutions, noted Aubuchon in the memo.After we consider the returning messages on Message List 1, I anticipate that we will recess to await further returning messages from the Senate.
The House convened at 11 a.m. and voted to concur with the Senate on amendments for three bills, bringing the two chambers versions of bills that would adjust the burden of proof in water-permitting cases and on allowing state colleges to sell abandoned property.
The House voted 107-9 on an amendment to join the Senate in increasing the amount of corporate income exempt from the corporate income tax from $5,000 to $25,000 starting after Jan. 1, 2012. The final bill passed 110-5.
This is tax relief for Florida businesses, said Rep. Stephen Precourt, R-Winter Garden, who maintained this would be a boost for small businesses across the Sunshine State. It eliminates the corporate tax for about 15,000 businesses.
Democrats asked Precourt if the measure would create jobs and he said it would. Its definitely in the thousands of jobs that it will create or save, said Precourt. Florida is taking a step forward in reducing the corporate income tax that message alone will stimulate the economy here in Florida.
House Democratic Leader Ron Saunders asked Precourt how this measure compared to Gov. Rick Scotts call for eliminating the corporate income tax.
We arent in a position to do that fiscally, said Precourt on eliminating the corporate income tax. However he called the measure a step forward and hoped the Sunshine State would pull the plug on the corporate income tax down the road.
Democrats expressed doubts about how effective the proposal would be.
Im trying to figure out how many people a business can hire for$1,000 a year, said Rep. Jeff Clemens, D-Lake Worth.
Precourt insisted that the measure would help create a positive environment to lure businesses.
It does not provide a big tax break for businesses, said Saunders, who said it would prove a tax break of $1,100 a year. It reduces paperwork. This helps small businesses. For that reason Saunders backed the measure.
We need help for small businesses and the middle-class, said Rep. Michelle Rehwinkel Vasilinda, D-Tallahassee, who said that the state offering incentives to big businesses has not helped lower the unemployment rate --and called for more funding of education. Thats what will bring more people into the state to make it more competitive.
A large number of Democrats rose to speak on the motion and praised the measure, with Republicans applauding them. Republicans also took to the floor, praising the bill.
Its morning in Florida for sure with our economy, said Precourt. Lets go to work, as our governor would say.
Governor Scott has made reducing the tax burden on Florida businesses, with the goal of putting Florida back to work, a priority of his administration, said House Majority Leader Carlos Lopez-Cantera, R-Miami. I applaud House members, especially my Democratic colleagues, for their strong support of the governors efforts, as well as the leadership of Speaker Cannon and Chairman Precourt on this pro-jobs issue.
The current economic climate requires that our state government do everything it can to promote economic growth in the private sector, added Lopez-Cantera. It is imperative that we keep taxes low on Floridas job creators to help get Floridians back to work.
After the House passed Precourts bill, Cannon gave an overview of where things stand, and the House adjourned for more than three hours to wait for messages from the Senate.
Weve completed most of our work, said Cannon. We find ourselves, as an institution, in good shape.
The House refused to concur on a Senate version of a bill involving greyhound racing --and then recessed again for almost an hour and a half before taking up the elections bill that had passed the Senate earlier in the day.
The elections bill prevents address changes at polling places on Election Days and narrows the window for collecting petitions for constitutional amendments from four years to two years. It also would force groups collecting voter registrations to submit those registrations within a 48-hour period and set up a committee to establish the date of the 2012 presidential primary. A series of Democratic attempts to amend the measure failed on party-line votes over the course of more than an hour. The House voted to concur with the Senate after a lengthy questioning process and debate on a 77-38 vote which closely mirrored party lines.
After yet another recess, this time just less than an hour, the House received the Senate version of the bill reforming the severance packages for officials leaving municipal and local governments. While the Senate version sent to the House would allow a six-week limit on severance, the House, led by Rep. Eddy Gonzalez, R-Hialeah Gardens, tried to dig in its heels and sent back their bill which would allow a 20-week limit --as the version passed Wednesday. Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Shalimar, and Rep. Jimmie Smith, R-Lecanto, led efforts in the House to pass the Senate version. Gonzalez offered an amendment which passed 60-56. The House then sent the bill back to the Senate.
Aubuchon closed the session, praising Saunders and Democratic parliamentary point man Rep. Jim Waldman of Coconut Creek for managing structured debate during the session. Aubuchon went over the procedures for the final questioning and debate on the budget Friday, which set the stage for more than six and a half hours on the more than 40 conforming bills on the budget.
Expect a late night, said Cannon, noting that the House and the Senate cannot pass the budget till after 10:16 pm Friday --72 hours after it is published.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or at (850) 727-0859.
