In a Twitter posting expounded on by a spokeswoman, Senate President Jeff Atwater said Wednesday that if lawmakers return to Tallahassee this summer to do anything related to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, what would make most sense would be helping people and businesses losing money because of it.
Atwater was also expected to announce later Wednesday, or perhaps Thursday, that he wants the Senates existing Select Committee on Floridas Economy chaired by Sen. Don Gaetz, R-Niceville, to look at what lawmakers should do about the damage from the spill. That would include responding to economic damage caused by perception, not just actual oil pollution on Florida shores, which so far has been minimal. The committee was created initially to deal with the extraordinary economic downturn of the last couple years and wrote a jobs bill passed by lawmakers this year.
Talk has swirled around the capital for a month, fueled in part by Gov. Charlie Crist, that lawmakers could return to the Capitol to address a variety of issues brought on by the Gulf of Mexico spill, which started after an April 20 explosion, but didnt become the major disaster it has or get the focus of the entire region until right around the end of the legislative session April 30.
The main proposal being floated, which Crist supports, is to put a ban on new oil drilling in Florida waters in the state constitution, reinforcing an existing statutory moratorium.
Many lawmakers have been cool to that, with several Republicans in the House saying privately and publicly that the ban is being suggested for political purposes, or to embarrass GOP leaders who pushed earlier this year for expanded drilling in the Gulf before the spill.
Special Session: if we do it, let's support the people and small businesses hurt by the disaster, Atwater tweeted Wednesday.
Atwater spokeswoman Jaryn Emhof said the president wasnt suggesting that legislators should have a special session only that if they do the most logical response to the disaster, which economists have said could cost the state as much as $10 million, would be to help small businesses and individuals who have lost income because of it.
Crist on Wednesday was OK with the idea of going to bat for those facing economic hardship, but still wants lawmakers to change the constitution to keep wells out of Florida water.
Asked if the prospect of reducing property taxes or approving other incentives aimed at helping Floridians and businesses hurt by the oil spill might entice the reluctant Republican-led Legislature to join his push for a special session, Crist was cautious.
"If it's not appealing to stop offshore oil-drilling, I don't know what more appeal needs to be at work," Crist said. "Certainly trying to make the people whole and our small businesses whole is a very important thing to do."
Talk about helping those who have suffered economically because of the spill ramped up earlier this week when local property appraisers noted that in past disasters some property owners have gotten help to deal with the drop in the value of their property when theyd already been assessed at a higher value. The Cabinet discussed the issue on Tuesday.
And on Wednesday, three northwest Florida House members, all Republicans, joined property appraisers from two Panhandle counties in calling for a special session on the property tax issue. Reps. Clay Ford and Dave Murzin of Pensacola and Rep. Greg Evers of Baker told reporters in Pensacola that they were asking legislative leaders to call a summer session to make the change.
Emhof said Atwater isnt suggesting that the property assessment relief idea is something lawmakers are set to consider, but said it was one idea that could be taken up.
That is something that hes open to considering and that has merit to considering, Emhof said.
Neither Atwater nor House Speaker Larry Cretul have gotten on board with Crists special session idea to this point.
Cretul, R-Ocala, issued an unusually forceful statement last month saying that a special session on the drilling issue seemed like a waste of time, and suggested Crist was raising the issue to get media coverage as he runs for U.S. Senate. A special session on drilling already banned in Florida waters by state statute is neither immediately urgent nor truly in the best interests of protecting Floridians, or our environment, or our economy; it is merely a political ploy to promote the future of politicians, he said then.
That view hasnt changed.
The Speakers criteria for support of a special session stands: it must be to meet an urgent public need that requires the Legislatures attention, and there should be an agreed upon plan with shared goals among all parties, Cretul spokeswoman Jill Chamberlin said Wednesday.
Legislative Democrats have urged the drilling ban, and cheered Crist on as hes pushed for it. The constitutional ban is their main focus, but issues like tax relief could also be of interest to some in the Democratic caucus, at least on the House side, said House Democratic spokesman Mark Hollis.
The drilling ban is the desired focus, said Hollis. But certainly our members are looking to address these issues broadly.
Tax breaks arent as simple as they once were, though, even in a Republican-dominated Legislature. The Legislature goes into the next session looking at a $6 billion budget deficit, and county tax revenues have dropped as well, so being able to simply dole out relief looks difficult.
News Service reporter John Kennedy contributed to this report
