Welcome to The Dean's List -- an Ed Dean-style look at who Florida's political achievers were (and weren't) in the last seven days. What you see here is strictly my opinion, not necessarily the editor's or the rest of the staff at Sunshine State News.
THOSE WHO MADE THE LIST
Florida Sen. Dorothy Hukill, R-Port Orange. The Senate Finance and Tax Committee chairwoman has introduced a bill which would reduce the rental tax on commercial property from 6 percent to 5 percent. According to Vince Jackson, a real estate commentator on the Florida Radio Network, outside of New York, Florida has the highest rental tax in the country. Jackson believes lowering the tax would be an incentive to attracting more business. Hukill’s bill is a step in the right direction and, after she led the charge to cut cable and cellphone service taxes, she is increasingly becoming one of the leading tax-cutters in Tallahassee.
The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation. This governmental agency approved more than 280,000 policies to be moved from Citizens Insurance to the private sector. That’s a nice reduction in Citizens which is supposed to be the insurer of last resort. A shout-out must go to Gov. Rick Scott, who has been pushing for more homeowners to be covered by the private market. Reducing the number of Citizens customers is a good way to ensure taxpayers aren’t on the hook when a major hurricane comes. In 2012, Citizens had 1.5 million policyholders. At the end of June, there were 598,000. That’s progress.
The Winter Park City Commission. Cities and towns across Florida can do more without raising taxes and Winter Park is a role model in this regard. It has a great economy and a booming downtown. One reason for this is the City Commission voted to keep the tax rate the same as it has been for the last eight years. Mayor Steve Leary says that not raising taxes has been a benefit for Winter Park over the past few years and that trend will continue.
THOSE WHO DIDN’T MAKE THE LIST
The Florida League of Women Voters. The League sued the state Legislature claiming the congressional maps were gerrymandered. Now they are claiming the Legislature is doing it again, with regard to congressional seat District 26, currently held by freshman Republican U.S. Rep. Carlos Curbelo. League President Pamela Goodman says, "We have questions about some choices made with regard to the proposed configuration of the congressional district and we ask you to examine those districts closely as they appear to have been drawn with partisan intent.”
But where is the League’s questioning of “gerrymandering” on other congressional districts like those held by Republican U.S. Reps. David Jolly and Dan Webster? Both districts, under the base map, favor Democrats. Of course, in those cases, the League stays silent.
Florida Conservation Voters PAC. Florida’s Water and Land Legacy, the group that spearheaded the 2014 Amendment 1, is changing its name to Florida Conservation Voters. The group says it was disappointed that lawmakers didn’t spend more money on land acquisition and parks conservation. The group insists one of its main goals is to elect conservationists to public office. Really? Where are these non-conservationist officeholders? Is FCV PAC using "conservationist" as a code word for Democrat?
The Osceola County Commission. Business owners and employers, look out! The Osceola County Commission wants to be one of the few counties to ban discrimination against transgenders. They call it a new "human rights" ordinance. The law would protect gender identity and “gender expression” at the workplace but its supporters are not very clear on how the ordinance would be enforced. This is far murkier territory than an ordinance against discrimination against sexual preference. For example, gender expression is described as an extension of gender identity which brings in hair styles, clothing choices, mannerisms and other factors. This is new legal territory and, even as American culture changes, there remains a good deal of gray area. The County Commission would be wise to hold off on committing to policy that it might have to retreat on as more of a consensus develops on what it actually entails.
Ed Dean, a senior editor with SSN whose talk-show can be heard on radio stations across Florida, can be reached at ed@sunshinestatenews.com. Follow him on Twitter: @eddeanradio.
