In recent years, Florida Republicans have contrasted the way government is run in the Sunshine State with the dysfunction in Washington, D.C., insisting things were run smoothly in Tallahassee. That fiction was exposed Friday as the two chambers of the state Legislature were at each other’s throats over congressional redistricting.
Republicans have nobody to blame but themselves for the problems in state government. For more than 15 years, the GOP has controlled the governorship and both chambers of the Legislature. Currently, Republicans have a veto-proof majority in the House and a solid majority of the Senate. Rick Scott sits in the governor’s mansion and all three state Cabinet officials are Republicans.
But despite the GOP's iron grip on the strings, things are a mess in Tallahassee. Earlier this year, the two chambers could not agree on Medicaid expansion and the budget, prompting a special session. The Senate remains divided with factionalism as the seemingly never-ending contest between Jack Latvala and Joe Negron to be the next president of the chamber drags on. There’s talk about divisions in the House and a coup against Eric Eisnaugle, who is penciled to take over as House speaker after the 2020 elections.
In the latest round, the second special session, mandated by the Florida Supreme Court to handle congressional redistricting, blew up on Friday with the House and Senate failing to agree on a final map or even extending the session. The Senate and the House failed to reach a last-minute agreement on Friday on congressional districts after a week of battling over maps.
It’s not as if the Republicans didn’t have time to plan things out. But Tom Lee’s changes to the base map this week proved a sore point. And so they should. In fact, Lee's aspirations were as much a reason for Friday's implosion as anything else. In spite of his denial, it's apparent he wants as much of Hillsborough County as possible for himself, setting up a run for Congress which would be helped considerably by moving Dennis Ross from his Polk County base.
Were that not so, Lee might have pushed to help Dan Webster, first Republican speaker of the House in Florida in 120 years, keep his Central Florida congressional seat.
The House, apart from respecting the court's role, was in no mood to help Lee after he pushed for Medicaid expansion and led the Senate Appropriations Committee earlier in the year.
Why didn't Sen. Bill Galvano go to the wall for Lee on Friday? Galvano made noises about compromise, but he is the Cheshire cat who sits and waits for the third special session, when a new Senate map will be drawn. He is intelligent, knows intrinsically when to fight the good fight. On top of that, Galvano might not have forgotten Lee was the last senator to sign on for his presidency.
Now the state Supreme Court is poised to draw up the congressional districts because of the Republican failure in Tallahassee. Since it was formed in the 1850s, the GOP has usually stood against legislating from the bench. It’s no coincidence that Abraham Lincoln, the first Republican president, rose out of political obscurity by going on the attack on the Taney Court after the Dred Scott decision. There have been exceptions, of course, including in the 1930s when the Supreme Court struck down much of FDR’s New Deal. But, for the most part, Republicans have stood by that principle even when it comes back to bite them, including in recent years as John Roberts sticks to “just calling balls and strikes” and votes against repealing Obamacare.
By giving the state Supreme Court the power over drawing up districts, the Republican majority in Tallahassee is ceding power from the legislative branch to the judicial branch, taking away power from the people and their elected officials and giving it to seven judges appointed by the governor.
Four-and-a-half years after Dean Cannon took over as speaker of the Florida House by promising to rein in the judiciary, the Florida Legislature punted on drawing up congressional districts and handed things over to the state Supreme Court. Conservatives and Republicans have every right to feel betrayed by the Republican-dominated Legislature.
This is like watching Superman cut himself with razor blades. The party in power, our party, is headed off the rails. And we'd better pull ourselves together before it's too late.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com and Nancy Smith at nsmith@sunshinestatenews.com or at 228-282-2423. Twitter: @NancyLBSmith
