Legislators take flight as they ground state workers

Seeking to cut costs in hard times, the Legislature banned most out-of-state travel by state employees. But the travel restriction doesn't apply to lawmakers themselves, dozens of whom are headed to national conferences this week and next at public expense.

The Senate will spend up to $24,000 to send six senators to this week's American Legislative Exchange Council conference in Atlanta and six others and a staff member to attend next week's gathering in Philadelphia of the National Conference of State Legislatures.

The House will spend as much as $31,000 to send 27 representatives to the ALEC or NCSL conferences. The House limits each lawmaker to $1,150 for one conference at state expense and the Senate will pay $2,000 for each member.

Legislators clamped down on state money used for agency travel by requiring that it get approval as a mission-critical expense. But lawmakers put no such restrictions on their own travel.

The $55,000 cost for their conference travel is the equivalent of funding 21 children in prekindergarten classes, or reinstating bonuses for seven teachers who become nationally certified, or paying for $117 in vaccines for 470 underprivileged children. Full story here.

-- Steve Bousquet

Hispanic caucus gone fishin' for lobbyist money

The Florida Hispanic Legislative Caucus has gone fishin' this weekend and hopes to reel in some big bucks to pay for its operations. The deep-sea fishing excursion, which offered "title sponsorships" at $15,000 a pop, was originally planned for late May (see flyer), but was pushed back. The fishing tournament has revived a long-running discussion about whether lawmaker-controlled charities are simply a way to sidestep the 2006 gift ban. The full story is here. 

Legislature releases fall schedule

House Speaker Larry Cretul and Senate President Jeff Atwater announced the following fall schedule for committee weeks:

October 5-9, 2009

November 2-6, 2009

December 7-11, 2009

Speaker Cretul speaks, on a variety of topics

House Speaker Larry Cretul of Ocala held forth on a variety of topics in a Times/Herald interview Tuesday. He confirmed he's considering a restructuring of the House, including whether to maintain two co-equal budget chairmen. Any changes will be completed before the next committee meetings in October, he said.

"There may be a little. There may be a lot," Cretul said of changes he's discussing with Chief of Staff Dudley Goodlette and House leaders. He cited decisions that "maybe fit Speaker Sansom better than me," and described himself as "more participatory" than Sansom.

The only question Cretul dodged was whether his predecessor, the twice-indicted Rep. Ray Sansom of Destin, should resign. "I don't think I want to go into that area. There's a process in place now," he said, referring to the select committee that will investigate whether Sansom violated the House rules in budget machinations that aided a hometown college and a prominent developer.

Cretul said he's still pondering a race for Congress in 2010, but added, "I don't rush into anything." He agreed that ex-Speaker Marco Rubio's conservatism is closer to his brand of Republicanism than Gov. Charlie Crist. He voiced disappointment in Crist's veto of a bill that would have allowed unregulated insurance rates. The massive unexpected change that elevated him to the speakership was like a "tsunami," but things have stabilized, he said.

Has federal stimulus money helped Florida's economy? "I don't think so. That's a personal opinion," Cretul said. "The unemployment rate continues to climb."    

-- Steve Bousquet

Llorente pulls out of Senate race

State Rep. Marcelo Llorente is pulling out of a three-way Republican primary for the state Senate in 2010 and setting his sights on the Miami-Dade county mayor's office in 2012.

A press release said one of his Senate rivals, state Rep. David Rivera, will attend the official announcement tomorrow, but Llorente said he is not throwing his support behind Rivera. Rivera outraised Llorente $235,335 to $133,750 in the first three months of this year.

"I felt comfortable with where we were in the senate race,'' Llorente said. "At the end of the day, my decision was about wanting to spend more time with my children at home, not in Tallahassee.''

The third Republican in the race, state Rep. Anitere Flores, raised $9,025 through the end of March. A survey last week by Florida International University associate professor Dario Moreno showed Rivera beating Flores by a 2-1 margin. More than half of the voters were undecided. Moreno said Llorente was not included in the poll, which was conducted for a private client.

The Senate district is currently represented by Alex Villalobos, who said he had been planning to help Llorente take his seat.

Fort Lauderdale attorney officially enters Republican race for Bogdanoff's House seat

David Maymon, a Fort Lauderdale attorney who is active in the Broward Republican politics, announced Thursday that he has formally joined the race for the state House seat now held by Rep. Ellyn Bogdanoff, R-Fort Lauderdale.

Maymon, 32, is deputy director of communications for the Broward Republican Executive Committee and has volunteered on several campaigns. The Broward native also leads Fort Lauderdale's Community Services Board.

Bogdanoff's announcement last month that she plans to run for the open state Senate seat created by Senate President Jeff Atwater's run for chief financial officer has created a scramble for her House seat.

House District 91 runs up the coast from Dania Beach to Boca Raton, and as the only predominately-Republican House district to include a large portion of Broward, it is expected to generate a heated Republican primary in a county otherwise dominated by Democrats.

In addition to Maymon, Soil and Water Commissioner Oliver Parker and marketing company president Yomin Postelnik also plan to run.

As a young Republican, who is well known in Republican activist circles, Maymom could be the fresh face Republicans are looking for, but he will need to work hard to make his name known to those outside local party politics.

See below to read the full text of Maymon's announcement.

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.

House passes budget 75-43, sine die to come

Closing the books on the 2009 legislative session, the House just approved the state's $66.5 billion budget by a 75-43 vote. It was a strict party line vote, with one Democrat (Kelly Skidmore) and one Republican (Ed Homan) not voting.

The House also voted 85-30 to raise the state's cigarette tax $1 a pack, with bill presenter Rep. Ellyn Bogdanoff, R-Fort Lauderdale, in the nay camp. And the to-the-wire gambling bill was approved 82-35.

Debate over two days had Republicans touting an education budget that increases per-student spending and Democrats attacking millions of dollars in new fees affecting practically all Floridians. 

"I find it troubling that the Republican Party, which touts fiscal conservatism and family values, has crafted a state budget that is held together by smokers and gamblers," said Democratic leader Franklin Sands of Weston.

Said Rep. Kelli Stargel, R-Lakeland: "We made priority choices and in doing so, we have funded every single thing that was asked in regards to this budget."

Democrats' new battle cry?

Rep. Ron Saunders, D-Key West, just tipped off Republicans to a new battle cry that Democrats will be pushing: "Mirror, mirror on the wall, who raised fees on us all?"

Lawmakers are raising a historic amount of taxes, fees, licenses and rates — about $2 billion worth — on smokers, property owners, drivers, parkgoers, sportsmen, university students and customers of state-run Citizens Property Insurance Corp.