Alex Sink: Pass Tax Relief During Special Session

Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink is urging the Legislatures presiding officers to pass measures authorizing tax relief and other financial aid for businesses and individuals affected by the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

Gov. Charlie Crist has said that the special session, scheduled from Tuesday of next week to Friday, willconcentrate only on advancing a state constitutional ban on offshore oil drilling through the Legislature in time to get it on the November ballot.

Without protecting our state waters through the constitutional amendment process, the Florida we know and love is in critical danger, writes Sink, Democratic gubernatorial candidate. But you also should take this session to pass smart, meaningful legislation that will directly impact the lives of so many of our residents and offer critically needed help for our small-business owners.

As the special session gets closer, were sure to see more attempts by lawmakers to expand its purpose. Some lawmakers, including outgoing Senate President Jeff Atwater, R-North Palm Beach, and Sen. Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey, have said they would support passing additional legislation that would aid oil-spill victims.

Heres Sinks letter to Atwater and outgoing House Speaker Larry Cretul:

Dear President Atwater and Speaker Cretul:

When the Florida Legislature convenes later this month to guard against future catastrophic threats to our states economy and environment by passing a constitutional amendment to ban near-beach drilling, your members have the added responsibility to ensure that our small-business owners, citizens, and way of life are protected.

The need for a ban on near-beach drilling to prevent a future catastrophic disaster on our beaches is clear, and the time to make sure our beaches are protected is now.Without protecting our state waters through the constitutional amendment process, the Florida we know and love is in critical danger.But you also should take this session to pass smart, meaningful legislation that will directly impact the lives of so many of our residents and offer critically needed help for our small-business owners.

In our fight to save Florida jobs, the need is urgent, and the task at hand trumps all else.The cost of the actions necessary to protect Floridas economy must be the responsibility of BP and the federal government. The cost of inaction would otherwise be shouldered by all Floridians.

As Floridas top fiscal officer, I have outlined the following incentives, claims changes, and environmental initiatives to protect Floridas economy.

Mandate Speedier Claims Fulfillment
Create a single-point of entry for claimants, including plain-language forms, with requirements for review and fulfillment within 15 business days.This process should include a dispute resolution process in the case of denial, with final arbitration overseen by the government.

Tax Relief for Businesses and Residents
Authorize property tax rebates for business and residential property owners whose property values have fallen because of the oil spill, similar to hurricanes, tornados, and fires.

Pass tourism tax incentives, such as a temporary waiver of the bed tax, to help the tourism industry recover and rebound, injecting tourism spending dollars back into our economy.

Provide Job Training and Retraining
Dedicate federal government resources for job training and retraining in Northwest Florida so that our unemployed fisherman, charter-boat operators, marina workers and restaurant and hotel workers have clear opportunities to learn new skills. Include provisions to extend training to other regions if the oil begins to impact other parts of Florida.

Provide direction to Enterprise Florida and the Office of Tourism, Trade and Economic Development to focus economic development efforts in Northwest Florida with the near- and long-term goal of creating nontourism job opportunities.

Florida Environmental Endowment
Create an independently managed Florida Environmental Endowment funded by BP grants or future litigation settlements to provide resources for the study of Floridas aquatic environment.

Constitutional Amendment to Ban Near-Beach Drilling
Florida must ban oil drilling in its near-shore waters through a constitutional amendment to prevent this type of disaster from ever occurring up to 10 miles off our beaches.

The nature and challenge of expanding this special session is unprecedented. It is my hope that the solutions produced will match the size and scope of this disaster.

Sincerely,
Alex Sink.