Without tax dollars, Miami Dolphins owner must decide whether to spend own cash

via @doug_hanks

Without tax dollars at his disposal, how much money will Stephen Ross spend on Sun Life Stadium?

That’s the question looming over the billionaire owner of the Miami Dolphins in the wake of the Florida Legislature denying his request for both state and county dollars to fund about 45 percent upfront of a $350 million stadium renovation. The team claims the 1987 stadium will be rendered all but unusable in the next five to 10 years without a major rehab, including removing the former Florida Marlins dugouts. Ross’s top aide last week said public dollars were mandatory for the project to proceed.

“I was asked was there a chance Mr. Ross will go forward without a private-public partnership,’’ Dolphins CEO Mike Dee told reporters on April 26. “My answer was no.” In April, Ross told CBS 4 of the Tallahassee bill: “If it stumbles... there won’t be a renovation.”

While Ross has preemptively rejected funding the full $350 million project — which included a canopy to shield the seats from sun and rain — he has not said whether a more modest renovation is possible. One portion of the proposal involved ripping out about 9,000 cheap seats in the top rows of the stadium and adding about 3,000 pricier ones near the field.

Those changes would reduce Sun Life’s capacity by 13 percent to about 65,000, which could help the Dolphins avoid television blackouts that the NFL imposes when the stadium has too many seats to sell on game day.

“He needs to look at the [upgrades] that will pay for themselves’’ said John Vrooman, a Vanderbilt University economics professor who studies stadiums. “I don’t think the roof is going to pay for itself. Cutting back on the marginal seats in the upper deck...creates excess demand [and] inflates the prices for the other seats. That is a positive move” for Ross.

More here.

Miami Dolphins campaign blasts Florida House

@PatriciaMazzei

Jorge Arrizurieta and H.T. Smith, who co-chaired the Miami Dolphins' campaign for a subsidized renovation to Sun Life Stadium, bashed the Florida House of Representatives late Friday for squashing the football club's plans.

Lawmakers ended the annual legislative session without taking up a Dolphins-backed bill that would have allowed Miami-Dade County to ask voters if they wanted to raise the hotel-tax rate to fund part of the $350 million in upgrades.

"While the Tallahassee politicians found time to raise the contribution limits for their fundraising, they said they couldn't find time to let the people of Miami-Dade make their voices heard," the men said in a statement.

Read the full statement below.

Legislators pass plan to do end-run around lawsuit challenging Everglades leases

Florida Legislators used a bill to change wetlands regulations to block a lawsuit against the state for approving two no-bid, 20-year lease agreements with sugar and vegetable farmers.

The leases were approved by the governor and Cabinet in January and are now being challenged in court by the Florida Wildlife Federation, which alleges the leases allow the sugar growers to continue to farm without reducing their pollution levels. 

The provision was added to HB 999, a wide-ranging bill that changes environmental regulations. The House voted 106-10 late Friday while the Senate voted 39-1 and sent the measure to the governor.

The sugar industry said in a statement that the legislation was needed to "avoid obstructionist litigation from some extreme environmental activists" and to complete the state's clean-up efforts that are part of the Everglades settlement legislators also ratified.

Former U.S. Sen. Bob Graham appealed to legislators to reject the bill on Thursday. Graham, a member of the Florida Conservation Coalition, said it was clearly intended to end the litigation.

The Senate on Thursday stripped the bill of other provisions opposed by environmentalists , including a three-year ban on local fertilizer ordinances and a measure to prevent local governments from imposing local wetlands regulations.  

 

Edgar wins reappointment to the PSC on 26-13 vote, after tough critique

The Florida Senate hit a snag late Friday as it the final day of session was winding down when a routine confirmation of Public Service Commissioner Lisa Edgar took a surprise turn as legislators spent a half-hour in vigorous debate before confirming her 26-13.

Edgar, who is seeking a third term on the board that regulates utilities, was criticized by several senators for too pro-utility while supporters said she was well-qualified and deserved another four years in the $130,000 job. She was appointed to the post by Gov. Rick Scott, after a commission dominated by legislators nominated her for a third term. 

Sen. Jack Latvala, R-Clearwater, led the opposition as supporters and opponents crossed party lines. As chairman of the Senate Ethics and Elections Committee, he had previously voted to confirm Edgar but decided he wanted to raise his concerns about her voting record. 

"She does not do an adequate job of representing the ratepayers and consumers of the State of Florida,'' he said. He said she could have been more aggressive in holding utilities accountable before allowing FloridaPower & Light and the former Progress Energy to charge customers for pre-construction costs for nuclear power plants.

Bill to ban 'unconstitutional' foreign law dies on last day

A controversial bill that critics say is rooted in anti-Sharia legislation and proponents say merely ensures U.S. and Florida rights are guaranteed in court is dead this session. It's the third year the bill, which called for American law to trump foreign law that isn't constitutional in family courts in Florida, has failed.

The bill was scheduled for a third reading Friday, but it would have taken a unanimous vote to advance the bill in the Senate. The bill's sponsor, Sen. Alan Hays, R-Umatilla, decided not to try for a unanimous vote because on Thursday, the bill (SB 58) failed to get the two-thirds vote needed to bring it to the Senate floor and the vote was 25-14, one vote short.

While its sponsors and supporters, including the Christian Family Coalition, say the bill isn't targeting religious groups or any particular country and was protecting rights of women, the bill was protested during the year by some Islamic and Jewish organizations as well as the American Civil Liberties Union and Family Law section of the Florida Bar. 

The bill passed the House April 18th by a vote of 79-39. 

Gov's tax break may be in limbo but there may be no takers on a legal challenge

Did Florida legislators pull a fast one on Gov. Rick Scott when they passed a manufacturing tax break late Wednesday but left it in legal limbo?

The proposal, HB-7007, which gives every manufacturer a sales tax exemption on all industrial machines and equipment purchases for three years, was one of only two priorities of the governor. Estimated to save manufacturers about $121 million a year, it passed the House and minutes later the governor responded by signing into law two of the legislature’s top two priorities: an ethics bill and another to revise the state’s campaign finance laws.

But Democrats say the well-choreographed trade-off didn’t get the required two-thirds vote to be constitutional. If the governor signs it as expected, it could draw a lawsuit and be thrown out. It passed on a 68-48 vote, 12 votes short of two-thirds in the 120-member chamber.

“It looks like it’ll be challenged with all due speed,’’ said Rep. Perry Thurston, D-Plantation, the House Democratic leader.

Updated: Taxpayers could see half-cent tax used on stadium renovations; Dolphins say doesn't apply to Sun Life

UPDATED: The Miami Dolphins say the clause in question does not apply to them because they are not a 'municipality or county.' The story has been updated to reflect the Dolphins' statement.

A 25-word clause in a bill pending in the Florida Legislature could force local communities to face an unexpected tax for the upgrade of their sports stadiums.

The bill allows sports teams to apply for up to $3 million per year in sales tax breaks from the state of Florida. 

But the $3 million sales tax break comes with strings attached. Any sports team getting that $3 million must prove that sales have increased by $50 million after the stadium renovations. 

If the team is not able to increase sales—and by extension sales taxes—by the allotted amount, it would be forced to reimburse the state. 

But the reimbursement money wouldn’t necessarily have to come out of the pockets of the sports team. It could come instead from taxpayers in local municipality.

The Dolphins say the language does not apply to them because they own and operate the facility, not the local county.

A clause tucked deep in the bill allows a sports stadium that falls short of the increased sales target to use money from a local government’s  “half-penny” sales tax to repay the state.

The half-cent sales taxes are usually approved for specific purposes—things like education, infrastructure, healthcare, etc. Voters in cities and counties often agree to pay an extra local tax on top of the state’s 6 percent sales tax in order to provide additional resources for local initiatives. The tax rate in parts of Miami-Dade, for example, is 7 percent. 

Bill to keep foreign laws out of family court cases stalls in Senate

A controversial bill that aims to keep foreign law from being used over Florida law in family courts is “effectively dead,” Sen. John Thrasher, R-St. Augustine, chairman of the Senate’s Rules Committee, said after that body's meeting Thursday.

Democrats blocked an effort by the bill’s sponsor, Sen. Alan Hays, R-Umatilla, to get the House bill through in the Senate by a 25-14 vote. Hays needed a two-thirds vote, or 27 votes, to substitute the House version (HB 351), which passed April 18 by a vote of 79-39.

Hays said the bill aims to make sure that American law trumps foreign law in cases related to marriage, divorce and child custody cases in cases that violate state statutes or a person's constitutional rights. Opponents say the measure is based on anti-Sharia legislation. With one day left of the session, it's unlikely the bill can be salvaged this session.

 

 

Bill to keep foreign laws out of family court cases stalls in Senate

A controversial bill that aims to keep foreign law from being used over Florida law in family courts is “effectively dead,” Sen. John Thrasher, R-St. Augustine, chairman of the Senate’s Rules Committee, said after that body's meeting Thursday.

Democrats blocked an effort by the bill’s sponsor, Sen. Alan Hays, R-Umatilla, to get the House bill through in the Senate by a 25-14 vote. Hays needed a two-thirds vote, or 27 votes, to substitute the House version (HB 351), which passed April 18 by a vote of 79-39.

Hays said the bill aims to make sure that American law trumps foreign law in cases related to marriage, divorce and child custody cases in cases that violate state statutes or a person's constitutional rights. Opponents say the measure is based on anti-Sharia legislation. With one day left of the session, it's unlikely the bill can be salvaged this session.

 

 

Dolphins bring Cristiano Ronaldo's star power to appeal to fútbol fans in stadium renovation ads

@PatriciaMazzei

Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo is lending his superstar power to the Miami Dolphins in their quest for a subsidized renovation to Sun Life Stadium.

On Thursday, the Dolphins' campaign arm, a political action committee named Friends of Miami First, said it is rolling out Spanish-language television and radio advertisements and automated phone calls to voters featuring Ronaldo, one of the world's best soccer players. Ronaldo is getting paid for his efforts, campaign spokesman Eric Jotkoff said.

If Florida lawmakers sign off on Dolphins-backed legislation in Tallahassee and Miami-Dade voters approve a May 14 referendum supporting a hotel-tax rate hike to fund part of the $350 million renovation, the Dolphins have agreed to host at least 20 internationally televised soccer games at Sun Life over the next 30 years. Failing to host those games or other major sporting events, such as at least four Super Bowls, would result in up to $120 million in penalties for the team.

In trying to appeal to Miami-Dade's majority Hispanic voters, the Dolphins have played up the soccer games in Spanish-language ads. One radio spot says the team is "committed" to hosting a World Cup -- soccer's biggest tournament -- even though Sun Life in practice has little say over whether the U.S. would get to host the event at all. The team has said the stadium improvements are necessary to bring Sun Life up to standards set by FIFA, international soccer's ruling body, to host games other than friendlies.

"Hi, I'm Cristiano Ronaldo," Ronaldo, who is Portuguese, says in Spanish in the TV ad. "Me and many professional soccer players love Miami. We know that Miami has many fans. The modernization of Sun Life Stadium in Miami will establish the center of professional football in North America.

"Please vote yes to modernize Sun Life Stadium on May 14 in Miami so I can come back every year to Miami to play."

  

Listen to the radio spot and robocall below.

Ronaldo Radio

Ronaldo Phone