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
U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla. Traveling throughout the country, the Republican presidential hopeful is the only candidate who has put forth a significant tax plan. What makes Rubio’s proposal appealing is how it addresses taxes important to the economy, including eliminating the capital gains tax, the death tax and the tax on dividends. Rubio is also calling to lower the corporate tax from 35 percent to 25 percent. Still, there is room for some improvement because his proposal would only cut the marginal tax rates for upper income individuals and small business from 39.6 percent to 35 percent.
State Sens. Jeff Brandes, R-St. Petersburg, Alan Hays, R-Umatilla, and Travis Hutson, R-St. Augustine. All three of these Republican senators voted against Medicaid expansion and their leadership. Good for them for sticking to their conservative principles.
State Rep. Gayle Harrell, R-Stuart. Some of the advocates of Medicaid expansion questioned critics of the plan, asking if the expansion doesn't go through what should the working poor do. The Stuart Republican told TCPalm Newspaper, “I encourage them to continue to look for jobs that pay a little bit more and get insurance.” Harrell is spot on here. Health care is a major reason why people look for better jobs and Medicaid expansion could have made too many Floridians content where they were.
Duval County Supervisor of Elections Jerry Holland. This Republican’s “save money, increase turnout" mantra is over the target. Duval is the only county in the state with its own independent county election cycle in November, March and May. Holland says the current system proves to be inefficient and leads to lower voter turnout. He suggests that city elections take place in the fall gubernatorial cycle so local governments would only incur one-time election costs rather than separate costs for each cycle.
THOSE WHO DID NOT MAKE THE LIST
Medicaid Expansion Supporters. Florida Sen. Bill Montford, D-Tallahassee, said “accepting billions in federal money for Medicaid will let lawmakers use state revenues for other purposes.” What are those “other purposes"? Montford also said there was no choice but to support Medicaid expansion, acting as if Medicaid expansion isn’t passed it’s the end of Florida’s Medicaid system. Of course, other supporters also dropped the ball, including Sen. Aaron Bean, R-Fernandina Beach, who denied Medicaid expansion was Medicaid expansion.
U.S. Rep. David Jolly, R-Fla. There is already a ban on drilling along Florida’s coast to 2022. But if you were to listen to Jolly, one would think drilling is expected to take place tomorrow. Yes, there’s a bill from U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., to start drilling 50 miles off the Florida coast by 2017, but does anybody think President Barack Obama will sign it? Jolly’s bill would continue to extend a ban on offshore drilling through 2027. Unless Obama signs Cassidy’s bill, there’s no reason not to wait until 2022 and see if the ban needs further extending.
State Attorney Angela Corey. This Republican just kicked off her re-election campaign for a third term as a state attorney. Corey’s main claim to fame was her role in looking at the shooting death of Trayvon Martin by George Zimmerman. Corey was widely criticized by attorneys for her “overreaching” in trying to obtain a conviction by charging Zimmerman with a second-degree felony with the killing of Martin. Many critics believed Corey should have gone with a manslaughter charge instead. Zimmerman was found not guilty. Corey has a reputation of this with her pursuits rejected by jurors or overturned by higher court. She could be in some jeopardy, especially as a University of North Florida poll from March found her in bad shape in Duval County.
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.
