Will Weatherford on failed Dolphins stadium vote: Told ya so

@MarcACaputo

Last night's crushing defeat of the Miami Dolphins stadium effort was a matter of some vindication for House Speaker Will Weatherford, who has taken a measure of heat from the club and a few fans for refusing to resurrect a bill that would have fully authorized a referendum.

As a result, we only have partial results. But it's a big part: nearly 61,000 counted ballots and a 43-57 percent rejection.

So the Dolphins looked headed for defeat had the Legislature voted on the bill that stalled in the House.

"As I said all along, public financing of the SunLife Stadium had significant challenges. The referendum result was just one more example," Weatherford, a Wesley Chapel Republican said. "The Dolphins are a great Florida team, and I hope the leadership will focus their energy on constructive and collaborative solutions."

Keep hoping, Mr. Speaker.

Dolphins owner and billionaire Steve Ross threw a tantrum when he didn't get his way, hurled a veiled threat at Weatherford and others and paid no attention to his own complicity in his own failures.

Indeed, this deal had problems from the start. An early poll showed how troubled the initial stadium deal was with Miami-Dade voters. The Dolphins ignored the results and attacked the pollster. Ross said he didn't want a public vote. There's a reason for that.

Since the May 3 session ended, the Dolphins have shown anything but a desire to be constructive, at least regarding public dialogue about what happened to its bill in the Florida House. And the portion of its fans or the general public who are utterly clueless about how the Legislature works are all stirred up by the Dolphins-spread myth that Weatherford killed the bill.

That's an exaggeration. The Dolphins bill stalled in the House.

First: it never was put on the agenda in the House budget committee by Chairman Seth McKeel. The budget committee was its last committee stop. Technically, under legislative process, that's a major killer.

Second: a similar measure that passed the Senate cleared that chamber too late in the session to make it easy to take up in the last week in the House without a two-thirds vote. I said as much in this column and repeatedly indicated in blog posts and on Twitter that the Dolphins' had problems. I was ignored. Had the bill arrived in time (on Monday before about 5 p.m. in this case) the House Rules Committee could have put it on the agenda to be voted on. It didn't. The rules committee, chaired by Rep. Rob Schenck could have made a special effort to agenda the bill "if received" by the Senate. But it didn't. So blame Schenck, too, as well as Dolphins-opposing members of his committee like future speakers Richard Corcoran and Jose Oliva.

Third: Oliva is a good example of the real nexus of opposition: Miami-Dade's Republican delegation in the House. A majority opposed the Dolphins bill. Why? Perhaps because, under the structure of representative government, they held the office most-close to constituents in the Legislature and realized that the people of Miami-Dade didn't want this (cf. the results last night). And they were stirring up opposition among other Republicans of the Florida House, where the GOP has a majority. The ring leaders: Carlos Trujillo, Michael Bileca and Jose Javier Rodriguez (who's a Democrat).

Now there's a good chance that, had the bill hit the House floor, it would have passed by a simple majority vote of the 120 members if nearly all the Democrats stuck together and about 20 Republicans had gone their way.

But to get the bill there, Weatherford would have had to go out of his way to resurrect the bill. That's not so much as killing as refusing to render aid. And it happens with hundreds of bills every lawmaking session. It's the process. It's can be ugly sausage-making. It sucks for advocates. But it is what it is. What made the Dolphins so special is that a rich guy lost and then attacked a fellow Republican.

So let's review: McKeel, Schenck, Corcoran, Oliva, Bileca and Rodriguez all played a role. They have a four major things in common:

1) They're members of the House.

2) They opposed the Dolphins deal and worked to kill it

3) None is named Will Weatherford.

4) All can say: I told ya so

As I said all along, public financing of the SunLife Stadium had significant challenges. The referendum result was just one more example. The Dolphins are a great Florida team, and I hope the leadership will focus their energy on constructive and collaborative solutions.

Weatherford hit "right" tone in first session as House Speaker

TALLAHASSEE — Few Florida politicians were known for being more likable and reasonable than House Speaker Will Weatherford.

But that was before the 2013 legislative session thrust the 33-year-old Wesley Chapel Republican to the forefront of the state's most contentious issues.

By last week, Weatherford was better known for being the roadblock to accepting $51 billion in federal aid to expand Medicaid. Or to government workers, the man who pushed hardest to dissolve the state's pension system. Or to public school teachers, the champion of a proposal that would allow parents to demand that some public schools be transformed into charter schools.

Story here.

Democrats urge Medicaid special session, Weatherford says it 'doesn't make sense'

Pressure is mounting on Gov. Rick Scott to call a special session to end the Legislature's impasse on Medicaid expansion. U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson and the 14 Democratic members of the Florida Senate sent separate letters today making that very request, but Scott isn't likely to oblige them if he doesn't think Republican lawmakers are ready to deal.

At stake is $51 billion in federal funding to providing insurance coverage to 1 million low-income Floridians. House Republicans blocked that from happening during the regular session, which ended Friday.

Neither Scott nor Senate President Don Gaetz  have said they would support reconvening the Legislature to address the issue. House Speaker Will Weatherford was cool to the idea when the Times/Herald spoke to him today.

"I don't know what it would achieve," Weatherford said. "Unless there was an agreement of what the session would do, calling one doesn't make sense. We would have to have some agreement on policy, other than drawing down on federal funds."

Weather would not say what type of alternative plan he thinks would make a special session a good idea.

Scott may not be keen on calling a special session if he's not assured the Legislature is fully on board and ready to compromise. In 2010, the Florida House famously adjourned a special session convened by then Gov. Charlie Crist after only 49 minutes of work, rejecting his proposal to initiate a ballot referendum on offshore drilling.

Why Dolphins owner Stephen Ross — not Speaker Will Weatherford — owns stadium deal death

@MarcACaputo

Success has many fathers in the Florida Legislature. The Miami Dolphins-stadium deal is an orphan.

And it will probably stay that way, ironically, thanks to the man who wanted it most: Stephen Ross, the Dolphins owner.

When the plan to use up to $380 million in taxpayer money to subsidize stadium upgrades died on Friday, Ross sent out a threatening-sounding statement that bashed House Speaker Will Weatherford, essentially accused him of lying and stopped just short of promising to campaign against him.

“I am certain this decision will follow Speaker Weatherford for many years to come,” Ross said in a statement.

“I will look to play an important role in fixing the dysfunction in Tallahassee and will continue to work to create good jobs in Miami Dade and throughout South Florida.”

Just before the statement came out, I asked Weatherford what his reaction would be if Ross or his supporters threatened to spend money against him.

“Oh, wow,” Weatherford said in a voice that sounded anything but surprised or worried. “Good for them.”

Are you scared?

“No,” Weatherford smiled.

Stuffed with projects, budget easily passes Legislature

In one of the tamest sessions in recent history, lawmakers on Friday reached an accord on the state budget at 6:50 p.m., more than five hours before the deadline

At $74.5 billion, it was the biggest budget in state history, stuffed with spending that nearly everyone, Democrats and Republicans, found something to like. It passed by a vote of 106-11, with 32 Democrats joining Republicans in support of it.

“We have a budget that we can be proud of,” said Rep. Betty Reed, D-Tampa. “I can go home and tell my constituents that we have a good budget, that we did the best we could.”

The budget comes stuffed with new spending, including:

Forget the drama, House Democrats won't boycott budget

Despite all the drama from the past couple of days, don’t expect a big clash on the state’s $74.5 billion budget on Friday.

Florida House Minority Leader Perry Thurston, D-Plantation, said Thursday the Democrats won’t be voting along any prescribed party line when the budget come up for a vote.

“There will be some who will voting for the budget, and they’ll have legitimate reasons to vote for it, which I think are legitimate reasons,” Thurston said Thursday.

Thurston said he will be among those Democrats voting against the proposed budget as a protest for the House’s refusal to expand Medicaid and a disputed vote Wednesday that gave a tax break for manufacturing equipment.

But he said other Democratic lawmakers, like Rep. Alan Williams, had every right to endorse the budget with a “yay” vote because of issues that help state workers and teachers. Williams’ district is in Leon County, which has about 20,000 state workers. State workers are getting automatic raises between $1,000 and $1,400, plus bonuses up to $600.

“It’s time that they should be compensated, so if Alan Williams, who has been fighting on this issue, wants to vote for it, he should vote for it,” Thurston said. “He has every right to, he’s the catalyst who has done the right thing. He can tell his constituents, ‘That’s why he voted for it.’”

Williams said he still opposes the House’s stance on Medicaid, but he won’t let it stand in the way of his support of the budget.

“I can’t in good conscience not support the individuals who sent me here,” Williams said. “My job, along with Sen. Bill Montford, D-Tallahassee, was to get a pay raise for state employees. You can’t let perfect get in the way of what’s possible.”

Some Democrats had previously opposed certain things about the budget, but many are now on board. Millions in pet projects help. But for Rep. Mark Danish, D-Tampa, the teacher raises have dramatically improved.

The state is spending $480 million on the raises, but in earlier drafts, teachers had to wait until June 1, 2014 to get their raises and they were tied directly to merit. But that language has since been amended, allowing the raises to be issued earlier and leaving it up to school districts and unions to determine how to distribute the raises.

“Most of the budget looks good,” said Danish, who is a teacher himself. “Some of the worst problems have been taken out of it. There are still things in the budget I don’t like, but overall, it’s the best we can hope for.”

Will Weatherford refutes Dan Marino: "It's an uphill battle for the Dolphins"

@MarcACaputo

Former Miami Dolphins quarterback Dan Marino told us early today that House Speaker Will Weatherford told him that a measure to subsidize Sun Life stadium's renovations with tax money has "a good chance" of passing the Legislature.

Asked about that, Weatherford had an entirely different recollection. In fact, it might not even get a floor vote in the Florida House. And if it does, there's a strong chance the measure would take a two-thirds vote to pass (a high bar).

Here's Weatherford:

"It was interesting. When he was there, he was talking about autism and autism awareness. He didn't bring up the Dolphins bill. Somebody in the office said something about Dolphins. He said, 'Oh, yeah. By the way. I'm supposed to tell you that I'm in favor of that bill.' And we had a good chuckle about it.

"No. I didn't say whether the bill would pass or die. I said the bill's still alive. Everything's alive until Day 60. But whether or not it passes the Florida House has yet to be seen."

Procedurally, isn't there a high bar for this to come over?

"I would say it's an uphill battle for the Dolphins," Weatherford said.

 

House Speaker Will Weatherford on what he said to Dan Marino re: Dolphins stadium bill: "I didn't say whether the bill would pass or die."

"It's an uphill battle for the Dolphins,

After bashing "spoiled" House Speaker Weatherford, Wasserman Schultz blocked from saying hi in person

@MarcACaputo

Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz sharply criticized Florida House Speaker Will Weatherford on Wednesday in Tallahassee only to get blocked from saying hi to the Republican when he was presiding over his chamber a half hour later.

“That’s OK. I’m a big girl. I was pretty pointed in my remarks about him directly,” Wasserman Schultz said when asked about the snub.

“Spoiled little children,” she said, repeating a line from her press conference when she bashed Republicans for not expanding Medicaid.

Weatherford suggested that an aide’s blocking of Wasserman Schultz’ from ascending the speaker’s rostrum wasn’t personal.

“I was tied up at the time ;),” he wrote in a Twitter reply to the Tampa Bay Times’ Katie Sanders, when she noted that “Jeff Atwater gets to approach @willweatherford on the rostrum. @DWStweets, not so much.”

“Thanks for coming by to see us @DWStweets Always a pleasure to see you. Hope you didn't get bored by the reading of the bills,” Weatherford wrote later.

Wasserman Schultz stops by Tallahassee about once a year and was in town to raise money for her campaign and raise awareness about Weatherford's role in stopping the state from expanding Medicaid under Obamacare.

“In my experience, when we duke it out in the arena -- the arena of ideas when I was here– people were able to separate these things. Unfortunately, because we have extremists who have a stranglehold on the Republican Party, apparently that has changed quite a bit since I was last here,” she said.

“Will Weatherford should be ashamed of himself," she said. "This is a guy who, in his own family, needed the benefit of Medicaid when his brother was ill and now is denying a million Floridians the same opportunity.”

The back-and-forth between the two is probably political gold for Weatherford. He gets to tussle with Wasserman Schultz, one of the nation's most-recognizable Democrats, and that can only raise his profile.

Senate kills Weatherford top priority of pension overhaul

After months of calling pension reform a top priority in his inaugural year as Florida House speaker, Will Weatherford could do nothing Tuesday as his plan went down to defeat in the Senate.

A third of Senate Republicans joined Democrats in voting 22-18 against an amendment that would have banned new state workers, teachers and county workers from joining the state’s $132 billion pension system, and steer them instead toward private, 401(k)-style investment plans, shifting the risk from taxpayers to workers.

“One of the reasons they work for government is not for the salary,” said Sen. Jack Latvala, R-Clearwater. “They haven’t had raises in six or seven years. It’s for the pension and if we want to continue to have the quality of employees that we have, we need to continue to offer that pension.”

The setback came at the exact moment Weatherford, 33, faced a filibuster on the House floor among Democrats who wanted to draw attention to the House’s refusal to tap federal dollars to give health care coverage to 1 million uninsured Floridians.

“You always know you’re never going to get everything you asked for,” Weatherford said late Tuesday. “It came up a little bit short, but it was a great debate and I’m grateful to the Senate for giving it an opportunity to be heard.”

Weatherford has made much of his concern that the Florida pension system, which is about 86.9 percent funded, poses a dangerous risk to state finances. It’s a concern he shares with the Florida Chamber of Commerce the James Madison Institute, a Tallahassee libertarian think tank. Weatherford’s father-in-law, former House Speaker Allan Bense, sits on the boards for both.

But Weatherford couldn’t convince members of his own party in the Senate that the pension system should be closed down to new employees. Instead, he got a forceful and emotional pushback from Latvala, a frequent sparring partner, who argued the pension serves as a reliable pillar for lowly paid workers.

During a memorable floor debate, Latvala welled up as he told the story of two firefighters near Lake City, Brett Felton and Josh Burch, who perished in 2011 fighting a blaze. They made about $26,000, he said.

“That’s barely the federal poverty level,” Latvala said. “They worked for their pension. One firefighter’s family was able to collect the survivor’s benefit, and he was in his 20s, and his family collects $1,200 a month. That’s what’s left of their dad. That’s what’s left of their husband.

“I do not understand why we want to experiment around and why we want to take these people who are protecting us every single day and put them in a system just because it works in private business,” Latvala said, pointing out that those in the private sector aren’t risking their lives for the public good.

Republicans joining Latvala’s insurrection were Charlie Dean, R-Inverness, a former sheriff; Nancy Detert, R-Venice; Miguel Diaz de La Portilla, R-Miami; Greg Evers, R-Baker; Anitere Flores, R-Miami; Denise Grimsley, R-Sebring; and John Legg, R-Trinity.

Latvala openly acknowledged what other Republican leaders in the Senate would not: Weatherford had demanded the vote.

“We all know this is the speaker’s priority for the year,” Latvala said during debate, addressing his comments to Senate President Don Gaetz, R-Niceville. “We all know the speaker asked for an up-and-down vote on this, and that’s what we’re doing. I appreciate very much your commitment, Mr. President, that once we do this up-and-down vote, once it’s down, it goes away and we get on with other business that we have.”

Minutes after the vote, Latvala explained that Gaetz promised him that once Weatherford got a Senate vote, the issue wouldn’t come up again this year.

“Sometimes you’re the dog, sometimes you’re the hydrant,” he said. “I’ve been telling Will for two or three months that he didn’t have the votes over here, Now he sees it, black and white.”

Gaetz would not confirm that he had made such a promise.

“Well, I guess if Sen. Latvala said it, it must be true,” Gaetz told reporters.

After the failed amendment vote, Sen. Wilton Simpson, R-Trilby, decided the overall bill, SB 1392. Unlike Weatherford’s preference to require new employees to enroll in private investment plans, Simpson’s bill only encouraged them to do so while still allowing them to enroll in the pension system. But after the vote against Weatherford’s measure, Simpson gave up.

“There’s no support for it in the House,” Simpson said.

“It’s dead.”

Weatherford's pension overhaul not dead yet

Ethics and campaign finance reform await Gov. Rick Scott’s signature. A sweeping education bill has been passed. And an elections bill is expected to be passed this week.

All were among Florida House Speaker Will Weatherford’s top priorities this session.

With less than a week left, it looks as if one main priority, pension reform, has stalled out, adrift in the the flow of bills between the House and Senate. Weatherford, usually so chipper about his prospects, sounded last week as if he’s willing to concede that his wish to get HB 7011 passed won’t be fulfilled.

“Hey, we’re three for five so far,” Weatheford told reporters Friday. “We’d like to be five for five, but there are no guarantees.”

Don’t fall for Weatherford’s sudden humility.

Weatherford has been pushing for a Senate vote all session on HB 7011, and it looks like today, for the first time, he’s got a chance.