THE CAPITAL, TALLAHASSEE, March 5, 2010....Gov. Charlie Crist should have been among friends when he gave his State of the State speech to a legislative joint session dominated by Republicans.
But by the time Crist finished defending his support for the federal economic stimulus and re-selling a gambling expansion already rejected once by Republican leaders, Crists best friends were House and Senate Democrats not the crowd he is courting in his campaign the GOPs U.S. Senate nomination.
"This is the first time in the three years that the governor has been here that there was excitement from the Democrats," said Senate Democratic Leader Al Lawson of Tallahassee. He hit a home run among the Democrats by acknowledging how what they were able to do in Washington helped the state of Florida.
Boffo reviews from Democrats are not what the governor was seeking. But so went the reaction to Crists 36-minute speech, his last State of the State as governor.
While Democrats leapt to their feet at the governors acknowledging the importance of Washingtons stimulus aid, Republicans responded with a shoulder as cold as that citys icy winter. While Crist urged lawmakers to be measured not by the passion of our rhetoric, but by our ability to be problem solvers, most Republican problem solvers sat on their hands.
The governors lame duck status also was apparent in the reactions of GOP leaders.
"It's easy to say that about the stimulus when you're not going to be here in a year when there's a stimulus flame-out," House Majority Leader Adam Hasner, R-Boca Raton, said after the speech.
And Senate President-designate Mike Haridopolos, R-Merritt Island, ignored Crists admonition on rigid ideology, saying "he listed out a lot of good ideas, but every one of them has to be paid for without raising taxes or fees.
Crist seemed to be expecting the chilly Republican reaction. He also managed a few veiled swipes at Republican primary opponent Marco Rubio, the former House speaker who has emerged as the darling of the partys right and even further right.
You should know, however, that our practical solutions will serve only to further inflame the extremists," Crist told the chamber and those watching on evening television.
Take heart, knowing that it is we problem solvers - and not they - who will move our Florida forward, he said. We must accept being in the arena means enduring the hecklers in the cheap seats."
While Crists big speech provided a chance for him to go on the offensive against Rubio, who polls show has overtaken the governor's once formidable primary lead, it was also a defense of his four years as governor. Crist said the property-tax cut he pushed the Legislature to approve in 2008 has indeed led to significant decreases over the past three years, although he acknowledged that lower home values contributed greatly to property taxes declining by almost $3 billion between 2007 and 2009.
Crist also talked up legislation he vetoed last spring that would have effectively deregulated the property insurance industry in an attempt to lure more insurers to the state and also implored lawmakers at length to come back to the table in his effort to forge a gaming compact with the Seminole Indian Tribe.
"On a personal level, you should know, I'm not a big fan of gambling either," Crist said of the gaming deal. But Crist, who included more than $400 million in anticipated revenue from the deal in his budget proposal, urged lawmakers to recognize that "personal biases have to give way to a broader and more important reality."
"Isn't that more helpful to Floridians than engaging in hollow ideological posturing that achieves nothing?, Crist asked the House members and Senators gathered.
Mmmm. Maybe not, this election year. After all, Crists question may have been answered with the silence emanating from those in his own party.
SHADOW BOXING
Speaker Larry Cretul calls Seabiscuit his favorite movie with the lawmaker from Floridas horse country captivated by the tale of the undersized Depression-era racehorse.
But Groundhog Day may be the film that best captures Cretuls experience as speaker. Hell be leading the chamber through a second year of deep budget cuts and of course there is that shadow, former House Speaker Ray Sansom.
With Sansoms resignation from the House a week before session, Cretul sought to carve a new path and shed his image as the accidental speaker. His session-opening remarks focused on his drive to rid the Legislature of the kind of shadowy budget maneuvering that led to Sansoms downfall.
"Last year, we changed the budget process to make it more transparent," Cretul said in a speech longer and more detailed than last years tepid and brief introduction. "We released budget allocation information to all the members and to the public. We made sure that all budget proviso was vetted and discussed openly in conference. Because it was the right thing to do, that's why we did it. This year we will continue opening up and bringing more transparency to the budget process."
Cretul said he wants to be remembered not for replacing Sansom, but for steering the state through its worst economy in years. But the fact that he was still talking about what felled Sansom a year after taking the gavel from him showed that may be easier said than done.
DOWN TO BUSINESS
This weeks big speeches prefaced quick action, as lawmakers tried to break from the starting gate by placating business groups and beefing up ethics standards.
Lawmakers approved a delay in a steep increase in the state's unemployment compensation tax, heeding warning from a united business lobby that the spike could spark more layoffs by recession-strapped employers. Crist signed it into law before his evening State of the State address.
The Senate also made good on a promise to swiftly address questions about ethics at the Public Service Commission, approving a measure (SB 1034) changing the way the PSC operates, including limiting off-record communications and how quickly people can move from the commission into lobbying it. The House is expected to soon approve the reform.
The Senate also approved a bill (SB 1158) shielding the states concealed weapons trust fund from legislative raids, despite opposition from several Democrats angered by the special protection given the gun lobby. The House also will embrace this top priority of the National Rifle Association in coming days.
A host of other measures moved through committees this week, with several being cleared for floor votes. Included in the House and Senates coming attractions is a Republican-driven effort to ask voters in November to relax the strict class-size caps for public school classrooms. The measure cleared a Senate panel this week in its last stop before the floor, with Democrats looking to unite in an attempt to block the three-fifths backing in both chambers needed by supporters.
STORY OF THE WEEK: If a governor gives a State of the State address and all the applause comes from the opposition party, does that governor have a home in his own party? Its a question that will be answered more fully as the Crist-Rubio Republican U.S. Senate primary stretches into the summer, but Crists last address as the state chief executive this week perhaps provided a big clue.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK: "It was very quiet up in the front of the room," Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink, a Democrat seated in the front of a House chamber mostly full of Republicans cool to Crists State of the State address.
