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.

 

Will Weatherford: "It's put up or shut up time" for Miami Dolphins (everyone else, too)

@MarcACaputo

The Miami Dolphins underwrote the $4.78 million cost of a referendum on whether the club gets tax money to help retrofit Sun Life Stadium.

But if the Legislature doesn’t approve the deal to steer as much as $379 million to the Dolphins, the May 14 vote in Miami-Dade won’t count.

The Dolphins club will be out of luck. And out of its money.

“The Dolphins never called us and asked: ‘How are we looking before we pay for it [the referendum]?’” said House Speaker Will Weatherford, whose chamber has stalled the legislation.

Welcome to the NFL in Tallahassee.

Weatherford and Gaetz: the happy dance partners of the Florida session

Senate President Don Gaetz often introduces House Speaker Will Weatherford, as the “taller, smarter, better-looking version of the Weatherford-Gaetz” duo. Weatherford, who at 33 is young enough to be Gaetz’s son, calls the 65-year-old “a wonderful partner and, more important, a friend.”

The state’s two most powerful legislators are adversaries in theory, but they have acted more like partners in practice as they set a conciliatory tone for the legislative session that ends this week.

Their unusual camaraderie has led to early passage of three of their four priorities and the resolution of issues that for years had been mired in special interest turf battles.

“After Monday, we will have gone through most of the major pieces of legislation that members filed,’’ said Sen. John Thrasher, R-St. Augustine, Senate Rules Committee chairman, who, a decade ago, served as House speaker.

In the last three weeks, legislators agreed on allowing physicians to package drugs, optometrists to prescribe medications, high schools to offer varied graduation standards and the sugar industry to continue taxing itself for Everglades cleanup. Each had been bitterly fought for years and all but the education bill was fueled by campaign contributions from dueling sides. More here.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/04/28/3370075/rare-legislative-accord-has-led.html#storylink=cpy

Weatherford and Gaetz school Legislature in member projects

The two most powerful men in the Florida Legislature are steering millions of dollars to community colleges in their districts.

Senate President Don Gaetz, R-Niceville, helped approve a list of allocations for state college projects that included $14 million for the advanced technology center at Panama City’s Gulf Coast State College. That amount grew from an original Senate offer of a mere $300,000, but bloomed in a last-minute addition to $17.5 millon on Saturday before shrinking to $14 million on Sunday night, all with little discussion.

Another $6.9 million was approved for a new Pasco-Hernando Community College campus in Wesley Chapel, the home of Florida House Speaker Will Weatherford.

“The speaker has been engaged in this process from the start,” said Steve Schroeder, general counsel and executive director of governmental relations for the Pasco-Hernando Community College, which now has five campuses. “He’s helped us much as he can. He’s the one who got it in there for us this year.”

Despite a promise by Gaetz and Weatherford that they would bring an unprecedented level of transparency to budget negotiations, lawmakers approved the expenditures with little discussion this weekend.

Both projects are tucked in a $74 billion budget draft that is due in final form on Tuesday. Lawmakers vote on it Friday.

 

Lawmakers agree on pay hikes for state employees

TALLAHASSEE -- For the first time in seven years, state lawmakers have agreed to give Florida’s employees automatic salary increases, ending a bleak stretch for a 150,000-member workforce that’s weathered cutbacks, pay reductions and slashed benefits.

The House and Senate agreed Saturday to pay those making less than $40,000 an automatic $1,400 across-the-board increase. Those making more than $40,000 will receive a $1,000 raise. On top of that, merit raises of up to $600 could be available as well.

In all, for those 70 percent of employees who make less than $40,000, it could mean a bump between 5 and 10 percent.

“You can’t make up for all of the damage of the greatest economic downturn since the Great Depression in one year,” said Doug Martin, a lobbyist for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, which represents 50,000 employees. “But this is very significant. This is very meaningful. This is a good day for state employees.”

The deal was struck between the House and Senate Republican leaders as they negotiate next year’s $74 billion budget, which goes into effect on July 1. The raises, however, don’t kick in until Oct. 1.

“Both (the House and Senate) wanted to recognize the fact that our co-workers in state government throughout Florida work hard every day and we appreciate their contribution to state government and their fellow citizens,” said Senate Appropriations Chair Joe Negron, R-Stuart. “Both (Senate President Don Gaetz) and House Speaker (Will Weatherford) wanted to, as our revenue picture has improved, wanted to show that in a tangible way through a salary increase.”

It’s similar to an automatic pay raise of $1,200 Gov. Rick Scott proposed for all state workers.

The proposed legislative increase will cost about $200 million, plus an additional $10.3 million for Florida Highway Patrol and Florida Department of Law Enforcement officers and staff. For the 4,000 employees in state law enforcement, they will get the same automatic pay raises that state workers do, but will receive an automatic 3 percent increase with a 2 percent raise for those with five years experience.

“We’ve had an issue with state law enforcement,” Negron said, explaining the difference in compensation for law enforcement. “Wwe spend a lot of money training the troopers, then they get hired away by local governments. They are in high demand.

“The current system if you have eight or 10 years experience, you’re making little more than someone who is just starting. That’s why we set it up that way,” Negron said.

Budget push for more privatization skirts transparency

Budget language that would ask the state to develop a plan to move those with developmental disabilities through a managed care system has drawn fire from some non-profits, who say it was

“We are concerned that managed care options may further cut services and reduce the inserted at the last minute without public discussion. ability of individuals with developmental disabilities to live in the community,” stated a release by the Florida Developmental Disabilities Council. “Stakeholders for those with developmental disabilities were surprised that this language appeared during the last day of the (Health and Human Services/Healthcare) budget conference process and was quickly accepted.”

The language in question was slipped into the legislative health care budget without discussion on Tuesday morning.

The new language would require the Agency for Health Care Administration and the Agency for Persons with Disabilities to develop a plan for serving Medicaid patients with developmental disabilities in a comprehensive managed care program. The program must be mandatory for all eligible recipients, competitively bid, and operated by comprehensive long-term care provider service networks for people with developmental disabilities.

“The proposed changes come in the form of language quietly added to legislation that would implement a managed care program across the state,” said another statement by another group, The Arc of Florida, which advocates for local chapters, public policies and support for people with disabilities. “That would devastate families already struggling to care for loved ones with intellectual and developmental disabilities.”

Lawmaker offended by morning prayers in Weatherford's House

Friday’s morning House Session opened as it usually does. A religious leader invited by a House member offers a prayer for guidance to the lawmakers. And as usually happens, the reverend, invited on Friday by Rep. Richard Corcoran, R-Land O’Lakes, concluded “we ask these things in the name, and through the merits of Jesus Christ, thy son and savior, amen.”

But that final invocation of Jesus Christ is a growing concern for Jewish members, according to Rep. Jim Waldman, D-Coconut Creek.

Minutes before session began, Waldman, who is Jewish, met with Florida House Speaker Will Weatherford, a conservative Christian, and told him that some Jewish members were offended.

“This year more so than others, every time the prayer comes up, it’s in Jesus’ name,” Waldman told Weatherford. “This is my seventh year talking about it, and it’s getting to be too much. It would be nice to have an inclusive prayer.”

 

Latvala spars with Weatherford on pension issue

Having already clashed on the ethics bill, Sen. Jack Latvala, R-Clearwater, and Florida House Speaker Will Weatherford, R-Wesley Chapel, are at odds again on another piece of legislation.

Weatherford has been championing HB 7011 as one of his top priorities. It would prohibit state workers, teachers and  county employees from enrolling in the Florida $132 billion pension system. Weatherford wants them instead to enroll in 401(k)-style investment plans that he says will help stave off a financial crisis with an unfunded pension years from now.

While Weatherford’s bill easily passed the House, along party lines, the Senate has yet to take it up. In fact, the chamber has drafted rival legislation, from Weatherford’s friend and business associate, Sen. Wilton Simpson, R-Trilby, that is a more moderate than Weatherford’s bill. It would only encourage workers to enroll in 401(k)s, not require them. Yet its progress has stalled as well. A Senate floor vote on it was delayed again Thursday.

Weatherford said he prefers the HB 7011, sponsored by Rep. Jason Brodeur, R-Sanford, but says he’s only requesting the Senate vote on it. He said he thinks it will pass, and isn’t asking for a vote to keep score of who supports it and who doesn’t.

But Latvala says otherwise. On Thursday, he told the Times/Herald that Weatherford is insisting on a vote despite knowing it won't pass.

“He brings it up every time I talk with him,” Latvala said. “I’ve told him he doesn’t have the votes. At this point, if he wants a floor vote, let him have it. It won’t pass.”

Time running out for Weatherford's pension overhaul

Upon becoming Florida House Speaker last year, Will Weatherford said pension reform was going to be one of his top priorities.

But with a little more than a week left in session, Weatherford has for the first time acknowledged time is running out on passing his legislation.

“Nobody ever bats 1.000,,” Weatherford told reporters Tuesday. “No one ever expects to get everything single thing they asked for at the beginning of session.”

 

Fate of pet projects depend on Scott

The room was packed last Thursday with lobbyists and agency representatives when House Speaker Will Weatherford spoke with lawmakers before negotiations began on next year’s $74 billion budget.

“As I walked into the room and took a good look around, what’s abundantly clear is that there appears to be a budget surplus this year,” Weatherford, R-Wesley Chapel, said. “That’s a good thing. We haven’t seen that in a long time.”

Everyone laughed, including the lawmakers who jammed the stage. But everyone got Weatherford’s point: After six years of anemic budgets, next year’s spending plan is healthy enough to pursue money for projects back home.

Game on.

For the Miami-Dade delegation, that’s a good thing. It’s better organized than most other counties, with a funded position that oversees what local lawmakers are doing. Other counties, like Hillsborough and Pinellas, slashed that position years ago.

Among the delegation’s top priorities: $7.5 million for the senior centers known as comedores; $1.1 million for Farm Share, a Florida City nonprofit that collects food from farms and wholesalers to feed the hungry; and $1 million for La Liga Contra El Cancer, or the League Against Cancer.