Florida doesn't have a year-round Legislature. But it felt that way this week.
With the 2012 session starting early because of redistricting, lawmakers, staff and lobbyists traipsed back up the hill to start committee meetings.
True, the meetings included little real action. But committees got a clearer picture of the redistricting process, while also hearing presentations about tricky issues such as Medicaid reform and budget problems at the Agency for Persons with Disabilities.
While in town, Republican senators formally chose Niceville Sen. Don Gaetz to become the next Senate president.
Also, in Jacksonville, former Democratic Rep. Audrey Gibson won a special election to replace Sen. Tony Hill, who announced his resignation to take a job with the city's new mayor.
The focus at the end of the week centered on Orlando, where Republican presidential candidates Thursday night kicked off a conservative fest with a debate on Fox News Channel and ended with a stunning straw-poll victory by Georgia businessman Herman Cain.
OLDIES BUT GOODIES:
Before most committees even met, the Office of Insurance Regulation weighed in on an issue that has long bedeviled the Legislature.
OIR dramatically reduced proposed sinkhole-premium increases for customers of Citizens Property Insurance Corp. The decision, which came after an outcry from residents of sinkhole-prone areas such as Pasco, Hernando and Hillsborough counties, will raise sinkhole rates by a statewide average of 32.8 percent -- less than one-tenth of a 447 percent average increase requested by the Citizens board.
Citizens' officials have said they were required to seek huge increases after lawmakers passed a measure this year that called for "actuarially sound" rates for sinkhole coverage. Sen. Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey, praised Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty after the decision to scale it back.
"This is a victory for consumers,'' Fasano said. "I applaud OIR and Commissioner McCarty for their decision, which will allow some people to stay in their homes.''
During committee meetings, lawmakers got briefed on other issues that seem to pop up again and again.
As an example, Agency for Health Care Administration officials talked about seeking federal approval to extend a Medicaid managed-care pilot program and to go statewide with managed care.
Justin Senior, acting deputy secretary for Medicaid, said federal officials are almost certain to require that the pilot include what is known as a "medical loss ratio.'' That would require managed-care plans to spend 85 percent of the money they receive on patient care.
Lawmakers this year rejected a medical-loss ratio in favor of a profit-sharing concept with HMOs. Senate Health and Human Services Appropriations Chairman Joe Negron, R-Stuart, blasted the federal government's stance, saying "they're dictating unilateral terms of surrender.''
Also, Agency for Persons with Disabilities Director Mike Hansen let lawmakers know the agency's financial problems this year might be deeper than expected.
After long-running deficits, lawmakers this spring required APD to come up with plans to deal with budget shortfalls. That has already led to cuts, but Hansen said August spending was $7.6 million more than projected and that the agency could be short about $15 million to cover a 2010-11 deficit.
"If we had every agency run amok like this, we would be in chaos and look a lot like Washington,'' House Health and Human Services Access Chairman Dennis Baxley, R-Ocala, said.
GAETZ ON PARADE:
As chairman of the Senate Redistricting Committee, Gaetz had a busy summer attending public hearings across the state.
But he's about to get a whole lot busier.
Republican senators Monday formally chose Gaetz to succeed Senate President Mike Haridopolos after the 2012 elections. Gaetz, who made millions in the hospice industry and later became a schools superintendent, said his priorities will include creating jobs and limiting the size of government.
"Florida must become the cradle of common-sense solutions,'' Gaetz said. "Florida must be the state that's known for fair play and rational regulations."
Before he gets the gavel, however, Gaetz will have to shepherd the politically volatile redistricting process. The details of that process became clearer this week, as Gaetz said his committee will take up a redistricting bill the week of Dec. 5.
Also, the House and Senate redistricting committees set a Nov. 1 deadline for the public to submit proposed maps. Senators also will have to meet that deadline for offering maps, though House members will have until Nov. 14.
One of the senators who will watch the redistricting process closely is Gibson, who won a special election Tuesday in District 1. Gibson beat three other Democrats, including former Rep. Terry Fields, in a primary and later cinched the seat when her only remaining opponent -- a write-in -- left the race.
The district stretches from Jacksonville to Daytona Beach and was drawn to increase the chances of electing black candidates. Such districts likely will play an important legal and political role in next year's redistricting.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK: "They used to be awful, then they got bad, now they're just a little less bad'' -- Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, after a new poll showed Gov. Rick Scott's approval rating rising to 37 percent.
