Bogdanoff, Domino officially enter state Senate race

Republican state representatives Ellyn Bogdanoff, of Fort Lauderdale, and Carl Domino, of Jupiter, officially jumped into the race for Sen. Jeff Atwater's Broward-Palm Beach state Senate district, releasing formal statements on Wednesday.

Atwater, Senate President and North Palm Beach Republican announced Tuesday that he will run for chief financial officer, creating a wide open race for the coastal state Senate district that runs from Fort   Lauderdale to Juno Beach.

About 35 percent of the district is in Broward County with the rest in Palm Beach. Republicans have a slight edge in the district, with 39 percent of voters registered Republican and 36 percent registered Democratic in the last election.

Bogdanoff was elected in a 2004 special election. She served as the Majority Whip from 2006 until 2008 and now serves as the chairwoman of the House Finance & Tax Council. Her House District stretches also stretches up the coast, running from Dania Beach to Boca Raton.

Domino was elected in 2002 and served as Majority Whip between 2004 and 2006. He now chairs the House budget committee that oversees seniors spending. Domino's House district includes the portion of the Palm Beach coast running from North Palm Beach to Jupiter as will as parts of Palm Beach Gardens.

Republican Nick Loeb, of Delray Beach, also has announced plans to run for the state Senate seat.

See below for the statements by Bogdanoff and Domino.

Bogdanoff to announce state Senate run on Wednesday

With state Sen. Jeff Atwater, R-North Palm Beach, officially in the race for chief financial officer, state Rep. Ellyn Bogdanoff, R-Fort Lauderdale, said she plans to make an announcement Wednesday that she is running for Atwater's Senate district, which runs up the coast from Fort Lauderdale to Juno Beach.

Bogdanoff also was considering potential runs for CFO or attorney general but wanted to wait until Atwater finalized his political plans before making up her mind. In the end, she decided a move to the Senate was "a natural progression."

"I like public policy and I enjoy the process," she said.

Bogdanoff said she will likely make the formal announcement Wednesday by sending out a statement without "a lot of fanfare."

Bogdanoff was first elected to the House in a 2004 special election and currently serves as the House Finance & Tax Council chairwoman. Her House district runs from Dania Beach to Boca Raton and overlaps with part of Atwater's Senate district.

Rep. Carl Domino, of Jupiter, is another potential Republican candidate for the seat.

Bogdanoff's announcment also could trigger another political domino with Broward County Commission Ken Keechl saying last week that he hadn't ruled out a run for Bogdanoff's House seat.

More signs that the MDC half-cent tax bill is dead

As if Thursday's frustrated comments by Miami-Dade lawmakers weren't evidence enough, two powerful Florida House Republicans signaled Friday that a bill that could be the college's financial salvation is dead.

Members of the Miami-Dade delegation faulted Fort Lauderdale Republican Rep. Ellyn Bogdanoff for not releasing the measure out of the House Finance and Tax Council she chairs.

"I don't like the policy," Bogdanoff said Friday, saying she opposes measures that could raise taxes -- as well as bills that would benefit only one part of Florida. "I am setting state policy."

House Speaker Larry Cretul would have to override Bogdanoff -- a very rare move -- to take the bill to a vote Friday afternoon, the last day of the regular legislative session. Cretul sounded decidedly lukewarm about that idea Friday morning.

"There's a process and I'm trying to stay with the process," Cretul said, adding the tax idea could use more deliberation and suggesting the bill was in Bogdanoff's hands. "That's more a local issue. Again, it is related to a tax, so that's why we have a tax and finance committee chair."

He also expressed concern about setting a precedent allowing one college to have an advantage over the others.

--Alex Leary and Patricia Mazzei

Blame going around with MDC tax bill withering

"It doesn't look good," Rep. Juan Carlos Zapata, a Miami Republican, said Thursday of the future in the Florida House of his bill that would let voters decide on a half-cent optional tax for Miami Dade College. Friday is the last day for the bill to be taken up, in the unlikely event that Speaker Larry Cretul puts it to a vote.

After the measure passed unanimously in the Senate Monday, what's holding it up in the House?

"Ask [Rep.] Ellyn Bogdanoff. Ask [Rep.] David Rivera," Zapata said. "There are people on our delegation deliberately blocking this legislation, and I think they should 'fess up."

Bogdanoff, a Fort Lauderdale Republican, chairs the House Finance and Tax Council -- which, wary of any measure that could raise taxes, did not move the bill forward to the House floor. Rivera, a Miami Republican and House budget leader, denied stalling the measure.

"We all do -- we've all signed a letter" backing the bill, Rivera said, laying responsibility for the bill's holdup on Bogdanoff and Zapata. "Everybody supports the bill. It is one of those issues that has united the delegation."

Later, Zapata said Rivera would be in meetings higher up with House leaders, in a position to know what might be going on.

Could there be a split among Miami-Dade Republicans?

"I don't know that the delegation is unanimous on the issue, but I know there's overwhelming support for it," said Miami Republican Rep. Marcelo Llorente, another House budget leader.

"We had the majority of the members of the delegation meet with Speaker Cretul [Wednesday]," said Rep. Anitere Flores, also a Miami Republican. "I can't speak for every member of the delegation."

Bill to curb "doctor shopping" heads to gov

An attempt to curb prescription drug abuse and stop Florida's burgeoning pain clinic industry by creating a statewide drug-monitoring database is on the verge of becoming reality after passing the Florida House on Thursday.

The measure by Representatives Marcelo Llorente, R-Miami; Kelly Skidmore, D-Boca Raton; and Kurt Kelly, R-Ocala; will create a statewide database will track the prescriptions written and filled for addictive medications, including narcotic painkillers, such as oxycodone.

Doctors, pharmacists -- and, in some cases, law enforcement -- can then use that information to identify people who are "doctor shopping," a term that refers to the practice of going doctor to doctor looking for prescriptions.

It cleared the House 103-10, after nearly 90 minutes of debate. A similar proposal passed the Senate last week, and it now heads to the governor.

"Let's end the practice of doctor shopping," Llorente said. "Let's do what we can to put the pain mills out of business."

Proposed watercraft age rule change dies in Senate

A bill to increase the age for those operating a personal watercraft, prompted by the death of a Broward teen, failed to clear the Florida Senate Friday.

The proposal, which failed 15-19, would have increased the minimum age for operating a personal watercraft to 16, up from 14. It also would bar watercraft owners from allow those under 21 from operating the watercraft unless that person had a Florida boating identification safety card.

Sen. Nan Rich, D-Weston, first filed the bill last year, after Cypress Creek freshman Tyler Goldberg, 14, died after crashing his personal watercraft into a dock in 2007.

"It's not a senseless bill," Rich said. "A child in my district died as have many other children."

But opponents objected to the changes. and some argued that it wasn't fair to hold Florida teens to one set of rules when those laws couldn't be applied to those from surrounding states.

Florida's "41st senator" passes away

Longtime state Senate aide Joan Glickman died Wednesday, according to the Broward legislative delegation office.

Glickman served as a Senate aide for former senators Howard Forman, now Broward Clerk of Courts, and Darryl Jones, of Miami. She also worked as an aide for current Sen. Frederica Wilson, D-Miami.

Glickman's tenure and personality prompted some to refer to her the state's "41st senator."

No additional details on her death were available Thursday.

Frequent porn users in the Legislature?

During a discussion of state sales tax exemptions and other possible tax changes at Tuesday's Senate Democratic Caucus meeting, Sen. Eleanor Sobel, of Hollywood, tossed out an idea the budget analysts in the room hadn't yet studied.

"Have you looked at adult entertainment in terms of the additional revenue that could generate?" Sobel asked.

Sobel isn't the first to float a higher tax on porn or other forms of adult entertainment to help get the state through hard times. Last week Sen. Carey Baker, a Eustis Republican, said he'd heard the idea from other legislators as well.

Baker said he'd be open to considering an additional sales tax on porn. But Senate Democratic Leader Al Lawson, of Tallahassee, said other lawmakers might have personal reasons to oppose a porn tax increase.

"We might have some frequent users in the Legislature, and that might cause a problem," Lawson said.

A woman's place is in the Senate

What can you expect from a Legislature that, year after year, can't muster the votes for a constitutional amendment enshrining equal rights for women and men?

Still, it was shocking to see a press release from the Senate Democratic Caucs this week that said Nan Rich of Weston would "make history'' as leader for the 2010-2102 term. The first Jewish woman, perhaps?

Nope, the first woman to lead the Democratic caucus in the Florida Senate.

Keep reading about Rich and the lack of pantyhose-wearers at the Capitol here.

Rich to make history as Senate Democratic leader

State Sen. Nan Rich of Weston is expected to be elected tomorrow as the first woman to lead the Senate Democratic caucus. Her term will begin in 2010.

Rich served in the Florida House from 2000 to 2004 before joining the Senate. She's a stalwart advocate for women, children and social services.