MAJOR BILLS SET FOR SENATE FLOOR FIRST WEEK
The Senates proposed overhaul of the way teachers are paid, ending tenure and phasing in short-term contracts where teachers are evaluated in part on student performance, is set for a vote next week. The bill (SB 736) is on the floor calendar for a likely vote on Wednesday, March 9, just the second day of the legislative session. While not as controversial as last years proposal, the measure is still disliked by the teacher union and many rank and file teachers. Gov. Charlie Crist vetoed a similar proposal last year Gov. Rick Scott is in favor of the plan. The Senate has frontloaded several major pieces of legislation and on the first day of the session on Tuesday it will take up a proposed constitutional amendment (SJR 2) saying that Florida residents cant be forced to buy health care, which would put the state at odds with the federal health care law. Also up for a vote the first week in the Senate will be the proposed new revenue cap for the state. Lawmakers are proposing to change the Constitution to limit revenue using a formula based on inflation plus population growth, rather than the current personal income growth formula. Backers say it will be a more restrictive cap. Opponents say the state hasnt ever bumped up against the less restrictive cap so its not really needed. The joint resolution (SJR 958) is on the special order calendar for Thursday, March 10.
KERRY ASKS LaHOOD FOR REJECTED FLORIDA RAIL FUNDS
Following Florida Gov. Rick Scotts rejection of $2.4 billion in federal funds to build a high-speed rail between Tampa and Orlando, U.S. Sen. John Kerry and other Northeastern senators are hoping to cash in on Floridas decision to abandon the project. Kerry and nine other senators wrote a letter to Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood last Friday urging the Obama administration to divert the funding earmarked for Florida to the Northeast corridor. Our states are ready to put these funds to good use to improve our existing high-speed rail service, reduce congestion and create jobs, they wrote. Kerry and the other senators noted that more than 250 million passengers ride the rails along the Northeast corridor annually, a number that is expected to increase 60 percent by 2030. Ridership on the Acela Express high-speed train has grown by 600 percent since its inception nine years ago, according to the letter. Scott rejected the federal high-speed rail funding on Feb. 16, calling the proposed project a boondoggle that would wind up costing Florida taxpayers millions more than expected. Kerry hopes the Northeast can once again benefit from other states rejecting federal high-speed rail funding -- the Obama administration steered $2.9 million to Massachusetts last December after governors in Ohio and Wisconsin rejected $1.2 billion in federal support. Kerry said that the Northeast corridor, despite operating the countrys only high-speed train, has received less than 2 percent of the $10.5 billion provided by Congress for the High-Speed Intercity Passenger Rail Program. We believe this is an insufficient investment in the Northeast corridor, given our regions position as a population and economic mega-region, the senators wrote. Scott and LaHood met on Friday and LaHood gave the Florida governor a week to reconsider his decision after Scott asked for more information about a revised plan.
AP: HARIDOPOLOS BOOK REMAINS UNPUBLISHED
Senate President Mike Haridopolos was paid $152,000 in taxpayer money for a book he wrote on politics for Brevard Community College four years ago, but it was never published, The Associated Press reported Monday. Haridopolos was paid $38,166 a year for four years to write the book, "Florida Legislative History and Processes" in lieu of a regular teaching assigment at the college. The book hasnt been published in traditional form one copy of a manuscript exists at the college. Brevard president Jim Drake told the AP that the book, mostly Haridopolos' advice on running for office, is useful and will soon be distributed to students. Drake said the manuscript may be used as part of a question-and-answer session between students and Haridopolos, who is now running for the U.S. Senate and is about to start his first of two sessions as president. Haridopolos is now a lecturer at the University of Florida.
COMING UP THIS WEEK
SCOTT PLAYS TOUR GUIDE
Gov. Rick Scott is planning a two-day blitz that will encompass four snow-weary cities to tout Floridas sunshine and bring a few folks down for a visit. Scott is planning visits to Washington, D.C., New York, Philadelphia and Chicago to hawk the state's sun, sand and more springlike temps. After his Chicago stop on Wednesday, 120 raffle winners will hop on a chartered plane and head back to Florida with the governor to spend four days in Orlando. The promotion is part of Visit Floridas Share a Little Sunshine Tour, a marketing effort courtesy of Disney and Southwest Airlines and dozens of other Florida tourism industry players.
OBAMA TO SOFLA THIS WEEK
President Barack Obama will be in Miami Beach on Friday to trumpet his agenda and to raise money for Democratic U.S. Senate candidates. Obama has been stumping outside the capital for increased spending on infrastructure and education and at the Miami stop is expected to continue that. The fund-raiser will be for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.
