The Florida Senate isn't wasting time.
Senators this week tackled perhaps the most controversial issue of the legislative session, overwhelmingly approving plans to redraw boundaries for Senate and congressional districts. At the same time, Senate President Mike Haridopolos moved quickly to revive a controversial proposal that would privatize prisons across the southern half of the state.
The House worked at a slower pace, maneuvering bills through committees without bothering to go to the House floor. But Speaker Dean Cannon gave the first clear indications of how the House wants to approach the budget, going along with Gov. Rick Scott's push for more education funding but rebuffing major Medicaid cuts for hospitals.
"The House budget will prioritize K-12 education," Cannon wrote.
MAPPING THE FUTURE:
After months of hearings, the Senate voted 34-6 to approve new political boundaries for Senate and congressional districts.
Perhaps the biggest surprise was the amount of bipartisan support for the plans, with seven of the Senate's 12 Democrats joining Republicans to vote in favor.
"This was a true bipartisan vote on maybe the most contentious issue in politics,'' said Haridopolos, R-Merritt Island.
But that didn't quiet opponents, who contend the maps are an incumbent-protection plan that will keep the GOP in firm control of Florida politics. The Senate votes are the first step in what likely will be a drawn-out process that will include legal challenges.
"The maps passed today protect every incumbent senator and ensure another decade of complete Republican control of Tallahassee,'' Florida Democratic Party Chairman Rod Smith said after the votes Tuesday. "And the Florida Constitution is no less offended by a Democrat voting to protect their seat than a Republican voting to do the same.''
The debate will shift across the Capitol in the coming week. The House Redistricting Committee is scheduled to vote on its proposals Jan. 27 with a floor coming as early as Feb. 2.
SENATE UNLOCKS PRISON PRIVATIZATION:
Haridopolos, Rules Chairman John Thrasher, R-Jacksonville, and Budget Chairman J.D. Alexander, R-Lake Wales, were peeved when a Leon County circuit judge blocked a plan to privatize prison facilities in 18 counties.
The judge said lawmakers improperly approved the plan in budget fine print, instead of in a regular law. That led this week to the Senate pushing forward with a bill that would revive the plan.
On Friday, Haridopolos said he will send a controversial prison-privatization plan to another committee for review following concerns by Sen. Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey, for closer review of the initiative -- which initially was scheduled only for a hearing in Thrasher's Rules Committee.
Fasano, R-New Port Richey, sent a letter to Haridopolos arguing that bills dealing with the privatization plan are of "such a magnitude" that they deserve to be heard by three committees that focus on criminal-justice and government-oversight issues.
Haridopolos released a memo a short time later saying he would send the primary privatization bill, SB 2038, to the Budget Committee, which is chaired by Alexander, a chief proponent of privatization.
HOUSE RELEASES BUDGET ALLOCATIONS:
Two weeks into the 2012 session, House budget leaders followed through on promises to push forward with writing the new budget, despite sentiments in the Senate for going slow until more economic data are made available.
In releasing budget allocations -- the determination of how much each part of the budget will include -- Cannon said the chamber would honor Scott's call to pump an additional $1 billion into public education.
But the Winter Park Republican chose not to commit to massive cuts to hospital reimbursement rates as proposed by Scott, a former health care executive.
In a memo, Cannon pointed to a plan that lawmakers passed last year to transform Medicaid into a statewide managed-care system. Though Cannon did not specifically mention Scott's proposal, the memo said the House wants to use the managed-care plan to change Medicaid funding for hospitals.
"The House will continue to work toward a simplified hospital funding model, consistent with the Florida Medicaid reform enacted into law last year, recognizing that this effort will require more time-consuming, meticulous work and the investment of stakeholders,'' Cannon's memo said.
The House plan sets aside $100 million -- with three-quarters of that money recurring -- for lowering taxes. Scott proposed deducting $23 million for tax cuts this year, with a constitutional amendment allowing for further reductions.
The House blueprint would also set aside $1 billion in reserves, a longstanding goal of both chambers.
UNEMPLOYMENT:
Providing a backdrop for all budget negotiations, the state's economy continued to move in the right direction. The state's unemployment rate in December fell 0.1 percentage points to 9.9 percent, the first time since April 2009 that the state's jobless rate fell below double digits.
Gov. Scott was quick to point out that more than 140,000 jobs have been created since December 2010 --an accolade the Democrats say ignores opportunities lost because of decisions made by Scott to refuse federal transportation money and plans to privatize prisons.
INTERNET CAFES DRAW GOVERNOR'S FIRE:
Taking his strongest stand yet, the governor this week said he believed Internet cafes are illegal or should be illegal as he inserted himself into a high-profile feud.
With opposing factions jockeying for position on the issue of expanded gambling in the state, Scott defended the state's lottery program but said the storefront cafes, which offer computerized slots and other sweepstakes games, are skirting the law.
Meanwhile, the House and Senate continue to spar over whether to ban the storefront operations or heavily regulate the nearly 1,500 venues now operating across the state. The Senate Regulated Industries Committee on Thursday approved a bill to regulate the cafes.
STORY OF THE WEEK: The Senate approved its plans to redraw political boundaries or state and congressional districts, a development expected to be followed in the House over the next few weeks.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK: "It's gambling in every sense of the word." -- Rep. Scott Plakon, R-Longwood, who sponsored a bill to ban Internet cafes.
