(Click on titles for full summary)

EDUCATION:

• HB 867 (SB 862)/FAILED: Relating to Parent Empowerment in Education by Rep. Trujillo (Sen. Stargel)
• SB 1076 / SIGNED by Governor: Relating to K-20 Education by Sen. Legg
• SB 1108 (HB 465) / SENT to Governor:  Relating to Exceptional Student Education by Sen. Gardiner (Rep. Brodeur)
• HB 7003 (SB 138) / SIGNED by Governor: Relating to Interstate Compact on Educational Opportunity for Military Children by K-12 Subcommittee (Sen. Brandes)
• HB 7009 (SB 1630) / SENT to Governor: Relating to Education by Choice & Innovation Subcommittee (Sen. Legg)
• HB 7029 (SB 904) / SENT to Governor: Relating to Education by Choice & Innovation Subcommittee (Sen. Brandes)

ELECTIONS:

• HB 0569 (SB 1382) / SIGNED by Governor: Relating to Campaign Finance by Rep. Schenck (Sen. Latvala)
• HB 7013 (SB 600) / SENT to Governor: Relating to Florida Election Code by Ethics & Elections Subcommittee (Sen. Latvala)

ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT:

• HB 4001 (SB 320) / SENT to Governor: Relating to Florida Renewable Fuel Standard Act by Rep. Gaetz (Sen. Evers)

GOVERNMENTAL REGULATIONS:

• SB 0052 (HB 13) / SENT to Governor: Relating to Use of Wireless Communications Devices While Driving by Sen. Detert (Rep. Holder)
• HB 0655 (SB 726) / SENT to Governor: Relating to Employment Benefits by Precourt (Sen. Simmons)

HEALTH CARE:

• SB 1816 / DIED: Relating to Health Care By Sen. Negron
• HB 7169 / DIED: Relating to Florida Health Choices Plus Program by Cummings

PROPERTY & CASUALTY INSURANCE:

• SB 1770 / SENT to Governor: Relating to Property Insurance by Banking and Insurance Committee

PUBLIC EMPLOYEE PENSIONS:

• SB 458 (HB 1399) / DIED: Relating to Firefighter and Police Officer Pension Plans by Sen. Ring (Rep. Rooney)
• SB 0534 (HB 599) / SENT to Governor: Relating to Publicly-funded Defined Benefit Retirement Plans by Sen. Brandes (Rep. Caldwell)
• SB 1392 / FAILED: Relating to Retirement by Sen. Simpson
• HB 7011 / FAILED: Relating to Florida Retirement System by Rep. Brodeur

TAX & BUDGET:

• HB 219 / DIED: Relating to Professional Sports Franchises by Rep. Nelson
• SB 306 / DIED: Relating to Economic Development by Sen. Braynon
• HB 1049 / DIED: Relating to Sports Facilities by Rep. Santiago
• HB 7007 (SB 1024) / SENT to Governor: Relating to Economic Development by Rep. Trujillo (Commerce and Tourism Committee)

TORT REFORM:

• SB 1792 / SENT to Governor: Relating to Medical Negligence Actions by Judiciary
• HB 7015 (SB 1412) / SENT to Governor: Relating to Expert Testimony by Civil Justice Subcommittee (Sen. Richter)

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EDUCATION:

HB 867 (SB 862)/ FAILED: Relating to Parent Empowerment in Education by Rep. Trujillo (Sen. Stargel)
Status: Passed by House; Failed on Senate Floor (04/30/13) / Vote Count: House (68-51)/Senate (20-20) 
HB 867 enables parents, by petitioning the school district, to request implementation of a parent-selected turnaround option for Florida’s lowest performing public schools. The turnaround option requested by parents must be considered for implementation by the district school board at a publicly noticed meeting if the petition is signed and dated by a majority of the parents of students enrolled in the school or students who are scheduled for assignment to the school in the following school year. The district school board may adopt the turnaround option selected by parents or a different option selected by the school board. If the district school board does not adopt the parent-selected option, it must include that option with the implementation plan submitted to the State Board of Education. The state board may approve the district’s plan or, if it determines that the parent-selected option is more likely to improve student performance at the school, require the school board to submit a plan for implementing the parent-selected option. However, if the school improves by at least one letter grade, the school no longer has to implement the turnaround option.

SB 1076 / SIGNED by Governor: Relating to K-20 Education by Sen. Legg
Status: Passed by Legislature; Signed by Governor (04/22/13) / Vote Count: House (116-0)/Senate (33-7) / Effective Date: July 1, 2013
SB 1076 aligns education with economic opportunity for graduates of Florida’s public schools, colleges, and universities to better prepare students for their future work. The law revises educational programs and targets funding to foster students’ development of technology skills in prekindergarten through college and to increase opportunities for students to earn industry certifications in high school and college. In summary, the bill makes the following changes:

• Establishes new requirements that integrate technology skills and knowledge into K-12 classrooms.
• Redefines one rigorous standard high school diploma for students entering 9th grade in the 2013-2014 school year at 24 credits.
• Establishes new Scholar and Merit diploma designations for current and future high school students earning a standard high school diploma
• Establishes performance funding provisions for public schools, school district workforce education programs, Florida College System institutions, and state universities to reward education entities that align programs with economic demands.
• Requires initiatives to help students focus on their future work while they are still in school and to target technical programs to industry needs.
• Creates a mechanism for designating Preeminent State Research Universities, based on institutional performance on 12 statutorily-established metrics.
• Revises a degree completion pilot program as the Complete Florida Degree Program which will be a formal program for online bachelor degree options in state universities, coordinated through the University of West Florida in collaboration with other state universities.
• Provides for a $10,000 Bachelor Degrees at Florida College System institutions by authorizing the waiver of Florida College System tuition and fees for the purpose of offering baccalaureate degrees for state residents for which the cost for the degree program does not exceed $10,000.

SB 1108 (HB 465) / SENT to Governor:  Relating to Exceptional Student Education by Sen. Gardiner (Rep. Brodeur)
Status: Passed by Legislature; Sent to Governor (5/1/2013) / Vote Count: House (118-0)/Senate (39-0)
The bill provides for the involvement of parents of students with disabilities in meetings, including those related to decisions regarding assessment and placement. It also requires school districts to provide exceptional student education-related services, as defined by State Board of Education rule, for a home education student with a disability who is eligible for the services and who enrolls in a public school for the purpose of receiving those services. This could increase the number of students provided education-related services in the school districts and require additional funding in the FEFP for these students. However, the fiscal impact should not be significant. Any student with a disability has a right to educational services appropriate for his or her individual needs. SB 1108 defines an Exceptional Student Education Center and specifies the accountability requirements that apply to them. The bill establishes requirements for the reimbursement of federal funds to charter schools. Finally, the bill requires applicants for renewal of a professional educator certificate to earn a minimum of one college credit or the equivalent in-service points in the area of instruction for teaching students with disabilities.

HB 7003 (SB 138) / SIGNED by Governor: Relating to Interstate Compact on Educational Opportunity for Military Children by K-12 Subcommittee (Sen. Brandes)
Status: Passed by Legislature; Signed by Governor (4/10/2013) / Vote Count: House (116-0)/Senate (36-0)
This bill reenacts provisions of law establishing and implementing the Interstate Compact on Educational Opportunity for Military Children and provides for future legislative review and repeal of the compact in 2016. Participation in the compact enables member states to address educational transition issues faced by military families as they transfer from various states and school districts in accordance with official military orders. States are required to enact the compact into law in order to join the compact, which the Florida Legislature did in the 2008 Regular Session. Currently, 45 states and the District of Columbia are members of the compact. Since enactment in 2008, Florida’s compact legislation has included a repeal provision which requires automatic repeal of the compact after a period of time, unless reauthorized by the Legislature. The Legislature last reauthorized the compact in 2010, and provided for repeal of the compact in three years, which is May 11, 2013. In addition to reauthorizing the compact and providing for future legislative review and repeal of the law, the bill also specifies that compact membership dues must be paid within existing resources by the Department of Education.

HB 7009 (SB 1630) / SENT to Governor: Relating to Education by Choice & Innovation Subcommittee (Sen. Legg)
Status: Passed by Legislature; Sent to Governor (5/3/2013) / Vote Count: House (76-42)/Senate (31-7)
The bill includes several provisions that increase charter school accountability and transparency:

• Prohibiting a charter school, upon termination of the charter, from expending more than $10,000 without prior written permission from the sponsor, unless such expenditure was included within the annual budget submitted to the sponsor, or is for reasonable attorney’s fees and costs during the pendency of an appeal, or is for reasonable fees and costs to conduct an independent audit.
• Requiring an audit to be completed by an independent third party within 30 days after a charter school is notified of nonrenewal, closure, or termination.
• Prohibiting charter schools from executing contracts that contain acceleration clauses requiring expenditure of funds based on closure, or notification of nonrenewal or termination and from executing contracts that extend beyond the term of the school’s contract with its sponsor.
• Providing retracting power to the sponsor in case of violation of contract provisions.
• Providing disclosure requirements for charter applicants of previous charter schools that were subject to corrective action or financial emergency recovery plans.
• Requiring sponsors to submit to DOE specific information for each application received to be compiled in a summary report regarding the number of applications received, approved, denied and withdrawn each year.
• Prohibiting employees of the charter school or the charter management organization and their spouses, from serving on the charter school governing board.
• Requiring DOE to develop a proposed statewide standard charter contract by consulting and negotiating with school districts and charter schools and to provide it to the Governor, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the President of the Senate by November 1, 2013.

The bill also includes several provisions to expand charter school growth and flexibility:

• Allowing charter applicants to submit a draft charter by May 1 each year, with an application fee, and to receive district feedback on material deficiencies by July 1, prior to final submission on August 1.
• Allowing high-performing charter schools to determine their own capacity and enrollment caps and allowing them to increase those caps under certain circumstances.
• Providing statutory clarification that provisions affecting instructional personnel contracts, do not apply to charter schools under certain circumstances.
• Clarifying that district K-12 educational facilities not being used to support public education be made available to charters and requiring the charter school to pay maintenance costs of the facility.
• Authorizing out-of-state operators to qualify for high-performing status to operate schools or systems in Florida under certain circumstances; requiring the State Board of Education to adopt the review and qualification process in rule.

HB 7029 (SB 904) / SENT to Governor: Relating to Education by Choice & Innovation Subcommittee (Sen. Brandes)
Status: Passed by Legislature; Sent to Governor (5/3/2013)
The bill includes several provisions that increase access to digital and blended learning options by:

• Expanding the pool of eligible applicants who can apply for state-level approval to include individuals or organizations that provide individual online courses, including, but not limited to, massive open online courses (MOOCs) that are measured by state assessments.
• Creating a district innovation school pilot program that encourages schools to engage in a whole school transformation using blended learning models in exchange for flexibility and exemption from certain statutes.
• Allowing districts and providers to offer part-time virtual instruction for K-12 students in all courses, rather than only those courses that are measured through statewide assessments or end-of-course-exams.
• Providing an opportunity for providers without sufficient prior, successful experience in offering online courses to receive conditional approval from the Department of Education to offer only courses measured through statewide assessments or end-of-course exams. The conditional approval is only effective until the provider has sufficient data to apply for provider approval in accordance with current law and State Board of Education rule.
• Allowing students enrolled in one school district to enroll in an online course offered by any other district in the state, without limitations.
• Prohibiting a school district from requiring a public school student to take a virtual course outside the school day or on the school grounds.
• Clarifying, for home school students, that eligibility be verified upon enrollment, for purposes of funding through the FEFP. Home education students must still meet applicable eligibility criteria for participation in virtual education courses.The bill increases accountability for digital learning options in the following way:
• Requiring providers to maintain a minimum level of services to parents and students, instead of locating an administrative office in the state.
• Requiring the Department of Education to develop an online catalog of available digital learning courses provided pursuant to 1002.37, 1002.45, and 1003.498, F.S., that provides specific information for each course, including completion and passage rates and a method for student and teacher users to provide evaluative feedback.
• Requiring FLVS to provide information in their required report about operations occurring outside the state as Florida Virtual School Global, as well as operations within the state.
• Requiring the Auditor General to conduct on operational audit of the Florida Virtual School, including Florida Virtual School Global and to submit the final report to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives no later than January 31, 2014.
• Providing evaluation and funding methods for individuals or organizations that provide individual online courses, including MOOCs.

ELECTIONS:

HB 0569 (SB 1382) / SIGNED by Governor: Relating to Campaign Finance by Rep. Schenck (Sen. Latvala)
Status: Passed by Legislature; Signed by Governor (5/1/2013) / Vote Count: House (79-34)/Senate (37-2)
The bill includes the following major provisions:

• Eliminates committees of continuous existence (CCE) and provides for an orderly transition process through de-certification on September 30, 2013; however, the bill retains the $250 aggregate reporting limit for former CCEs reporting “multiple uniform contributions” (formerly “member dues”) as a political committee (PC).
• Removes the “3-pack” exemption that allows PCs to run political advertisements jointly endorsing 3 or more candidates outside the scope of the contribution limits in Chapter 106.
• Provides for unlimited contributions to PCs supporting/opposing candidates, in lieu of the current $500/election limit.
• Authorizes county political party executive committees to contribute an aggregate of $50,000 to each non-statewide candidate, in addition to the aggregate limit of $50,000 for all other political party contributions.
• Limits political party turn backs from candidate surplus funds to $25,000.
• Prohibits candidates who switch races from “double-dipping” contributors for maximum contributions in both races.
• Increases the amount certain successful candidates can contribute to an office account, and expands the permissible uses of such funds.
• Allows a successful state candidate to retain up to $20,000 of campaign funds for reelection.

HB 7013 (SB 600) / SENT to Governor: Relating to Florida Election Code by Ethics & Elections Subcommittee (Sen. Latvala)
Status: Passed by Legislature; Sent to Governor (5/3/2013) / Vote Count: House (115-1)/Senate (27-13)
This bill increases the number of days available for early voting by requiring a minimum of 8 days and allowing up to a maximum of 14 days, beginning on the 15th day before an election that contains state or federal races and ending on the 2nd day before the election. Early voting must be offered each day from the 10th day before an election that contains state or federal races through the 3rd day before the election. Early voting may be offered, at the discretion of each county’s supervisor of elections, on the 15th, 14th, 13th, 12th, 11th, or 2nd day before an election that contains state or federal races. As such, early voting on the Sunday before the general election may be offered at the discretion of each county’s supervisor of elections, but is not required. This bill increases the number of hours available for early voting by requiring counties to offer early voting for a minimum of 64 hours and allowing early voting for a maximum of 168 hours during the early voting period. Early voting must be offered for no less than 8 hours (instead of 6 hours required under current law) and no more than 12 hours per day at each site during the early voting period. Finally, HB 7013 applies a 75-word limit to the first of multiple summaries in a joint resolution proposed by the legislature. The bill specifies that the 75-word limitation does not apply to any ballot summary revised by the Attorney General to correct deficiencies identified by a court.

ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT:

HB 4001 (SB 320) / SENT to Governor: Relating to Florida Renewable Fuel Standard Act by Rep. Gaetz (Sen. Evers)
Status: Passed by Legislature; Sent to Governor (4/30/2013) / Vote Count: House (77-39)/Senate (33-1)
HB 4001 repeals the entire Florida Renewable Fuel Standard Act from the statutes, thereby removing the requirement that all gasoline sold or offered for sale in Florida by a terminal supplier, importer, blender, or wholesaler shall be blended gasoline. The bill also removes the requirement that each terminal supplier, importer, blender, or wholesaler include in their monthly report to the Department of Revenue, the number of gallons of blended and unblended gasoline sold.

GOVERNMENTAL REGULATIONS:

SB 0052 (HB 13) / SENT to Governor: Relating to Use of Wireless Communications Devices While Driving by Sen. Detert (Rep. Holder)
Status: Passed by Legislature; Sent to Governor (5/2/2013) / Vote Count: House (110-6)/Senate (39-1)
SB 52 creates the “Florida Ban on Texting While Driving Law.” The bill prohibits the operation of a motor vehicle while manually typing or entering multiple letters, numbers, symbols, or other text in a handheld wireless communication device, or sending or reading data in the device, for the purpose of non-voice interpersonal communication. The bill makes exceptions for emergency workers and interpersonal communications that are conducted without manually typing the message or without reading the message. The prohibition is enforceable as a secondary offense. A first violation is punishable as a non-moving violation, with a fine of $30 plus court costs that vary by county. A second violation committed within 5 years after the first is a moving violation punishable by a $60 fine plus court costs. The bill allows for the admissibility of a person’s wireless communications device billing records as evidence in the event of a crash resulting in death or personal injury. In addition to the fines, a violation of the unlawful use of a cell phone which results in a crash will result in 6 points added to the offender’s driver license record and the unlawful use of a cell phone while committing a moving violation within a school safety zone will result in 2 points added to the offender’s driver license record in addition to the points for the moving violation.

HB 0655 (SB 726) / SENT to Governor: Relating to Employment Benefits – by Precourt (Sen. Simmons)
Status: Passed by Legislature; Sent to Governor (5/3/2013) / Vote Count: House (76-41)/Senate (25-13)
HB 655 prohibits local governments from requiring an employer to provide certain employment benefits not required by state or federal law. The term “employment benefits” is defined as anything of value that an employee may receive from an employer in addition to wages and salary. The term “employer” is defined as any person who is required to pay a state or federal minimum wage to the person’s employees. The bill does not limit the authority of local governments to establish a minimum wage or provide employment benefits not otherwise required under state or federal law for its own employees or for the employees of an employer contracting with, or receiving a direct tax abatement or subsidy from, the political subdivision. The bill further specifies that provisions of the act do not apply to a domestic violence or sexual abuse ordinance, order, rule or policy adopted by a local government. The bill also creates an 11-member Employer-Sponsored Benefits Task Force to analyze employment benefits and the impact of the state preemption of the regulation of such benefits. Task force findings and recommendations are to be included in a report submitted to the Governor, the President of the Senate, and the Speaker of the House by January 15, 2014.

HEALTH CARE:

SB 1816 / DIED: Relating to Health Care By Sen. Negron
Status: Died in Senate returning messages (04/29/13) / Vote Count: House (N/A)/Senate (N/A)
This bill expands the Florida Healthy Kids Corporation (FHKC) to revise legislative intent to include a new program, Healthy Florida. This program would be eligible to draw down federal dollars, originally intended to expand Medicaid under the PPACA, to be used to allow individuals under 138 percent of the Federal Poverty Level to purchase private health insurance plans. The bill modifies FHKC’s corporate governance structure, medical loss ratio guidelines for health plan contracts, and corporate responsibilities. The bill provides definitions, eligibility criteria, enrollment, and benefits for the Healthy Florida program. The FHKC is also authorized to make changes to the program to negotiate for the approval of the Healthy Florida program with the federal Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), if necessary. The bill includes a conflict of laws statement indicating that if there is a conflict between a provision in the bill and the PPACA, the provision must be interpreted to comply with the requirements of federal law.

HB 7169 / DIED: Relating to Florida Health Choices Plus Program by Cummings
Status: Died in House returning messages (04/30/13) / Vote Count: House (71-45)/Senate (N/A)
HB 7169 uses the infrastructure of Florida Health Choices (FHC) to implement the Florida Health Choices Plus Program (FHC Plus). The program will assist uninsured Floridians to gain access to affordable health coverage, products and services. Uninsured parents and Social Security Income-eligible disabled adults with incomes under 100% of poverty who are not eligible for Medicaid are eligible. Enrollees in FHC Plus will receive $2,000 to fund a contribution amount for responsible expenditures (CARE) account to purchase health coverage, products and services in the FHC Plus marketplace. Each enrollee must make a monthly individual contribution of $25 to the account, and may make additional contributions to increase their buying power. Employers, local governments, and charitable organizations may also make contributions. In addition, non-disabled enrollees must meet the same work requirements as TANF enrollees. The bill also expands the current FHC program by allowing all individuals and employers to participate FHC. Employers must use a defined contribution method of participation, and must give employees the option of taking unused contribution amounts as salary. The bill creates the Florida Health Care Market Task Force within the Legislature to study and make recommendations on: strategies for allowing state employees to participate in FHC with a defined contribution; methods for increasing the capacity of our current health care workforce, particularly advanced registered nurse practitioners and physician assistants; and options for reducing federal control of the Medicaid program. The task force will consist of seven members, three appointed by the Senate President, three by the Speaker of the House of Representatives and a chair appointed jointly. The bill requires the task force to submit a report to the President and Speaker by January 1, 2014.

PROPERTY & CASUALTY INSURANCE:

SB 1770 / SENT to Governor: Relating to Property Insurance by Banking and Insurance Committee
Status: Passed by Legislature; Sent to Governor (5/2/2013) / Vote Count: House (111-6)/Senate (32-1)
The bill makes the following changes to the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund, Citizens Property Insurance Corporation, and Public Adjusters:

Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund (CAT Fund)

• Renames the “Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund Finance Corporation” to the “State Board of Administration Finance Corporation.”
• Extends the CAT Fund assessment exemption for medical malpractice until May 31, 2016.
• Repeals outdated language for the $10M additional coverage for specified insurers and the Temporary Emergency Options for Additional Coverage.
• Requires the CAT Fund submit to the Legislature and Financial Services Commission an annual Probable Maximum Loss (PML) report for the upcoming storm season.

Citizens Property Insurance Corporation (Citizens)

• Exempts Citizens from “exchange of business” restrictions to facilitate the operations of the clearinghouse.
• Adds a professional structural engineer to the Florida Commission on Hurricane Loss Projection Methodology.
• Reduces the maximum Citizens’ policy limit from $2 million to $1 million and further reduces this amount by $100,000 a year for 3 years to $700,000. Allows for an exemption in certain counties in which the Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR) determines do not have a reasonable degree of competition.
• Prohibits Citizens from covering structures commencing construction after July 1, 2014, seaward of the coastal construction control line.
• Allows the Governor of Florida to appoint a consumer representative to the Citizens Board of Governors in addition to the current two appointments.
• Clarifies a private company’s offer within 15 percent of Citizens’ rate for a new policy and no greater than the current rate for a renewal makes the policy ineligible for coverage with Citizens.
• Requires that Citizens disclose potential surcharge and assessment liabilities with each renewal notice.
• Allows insurers who take policies out of Citizens to use Citizens’ policy forms for 3 years without approval from the OIR to use the forms.
• Establishes an office of Inspector General at Citizens to be appointed by the Financial Services Commission.
• Requires Citizens to prepare an annual report on Citizens’ loss ratio for non-catastrophic losses on a statewide and county basis.
• Subjects Citizens to the purchasing of commodities restrictions under s. 287.057, F.S. 2013 Summary of Legislation Passed Committee on Banking and Insurance
• Establishes the Citizens clearinghouse by January 1, 2014.
• Requires the establishment of a process to divert commercial residential policies.
• Requires that companies participating in the clearinghouse must either appoint the agent of record or offer a limited servicing agreement.
• Requires that agents are to be paid Citizens commission or the company’s standard commission, whichever is greater.
• Clarifies that the 45-day notice of nonrenewal applies to policies submitted to the clearinghouse.
• Provides that independent and captive agents are granted and must maintain ownership of records including policies placed in Citizens.
• Allows captive companies to approve their agents limiting servicing agreements with each participating company.
• Requires Citizens to submit to the Legislature and Financial Services Commission an annual PML report for the upcoming storm season.

Public Adjusters

• Prohibits a public adjuster from receiving compensation from any source over the statutory fee cap. Applies disciplinary provisions in current law to public adjusters who violate the statutory fee caps through any maneuver, shift, or device.
• Repeals the current provision that for any claim filed with Citizens, a public adjuster cannot charge more than 10 percent of the difference between Citizens’ initial offer and the amount actually paid.
• Requires a public adjuster to meet or communicate with the insurer to try to settle. Prohibits a public adjuster from acquiring any interest in salvaged property, without the written consent of the policyholder.

PUBLIC EMPLOYEE PENSIONS:

SB 458 (HB 1399) / DIED: Relating to Firefighter and Police Officer Pension Plans by Sen. Ring (Rep. Rooney)
Status: Passed by Senate; Died in House messages (04/30/13) / Vote Count: House (N/A)/Senate (34-5)
SB 458 substantially amends provisions specifying how insurance premium tax revenues must be used in police and firefighter pension plans. Premium tax revenues equal to the amount received in 1997 must be used to fund benefits in existence in 1999. The increase in additional premium tax revenues between 1997 and 201 . Plans with a long-term funded ratio of less than 80 percent must use 50 percent of their post-2012 increase in premium tax revenues and accumulated premium tax revenues to pay the plans’ actuarial deficiencies. Twenty-five percent of the post-2012 increase must fund base benefits, and 25 percent must be placed in a defined contribution plan to fund special benefits. Plans funded greater than 80 percent must use half of the post-2012 increase in premium tax revenues for defined contribution benefits, and the other half for the base benefits.

SB 0534 (HB 599) / SENT to Governor: Relating to Publicly-funded Defined Benefit Retirement Plans by Sen. Brandes (Rep. Caldwell)
Status: Passed by Legislature; Sent to Governor (5/1/2013) / Vote Count: House (71-45)/Senate (22-18)
This bill provides that the state is not liable for any obligation relating to any financial shortfalls in any local government retirement plan. The bill requires each public pension plan, except the Florida Retirement System, to submit the following information to the Department of Management Services (DMS):

• Annual financial statements in compliance with Government Accounting and Standard
• Board’s “Statement No. 67, Financial Reporting for Pension Plans” and “Statement No. 68, Accounting and Financial Reporting for Pensions”
• Annual financial statements which use an assumed rate of return on investments and an assumed discount rate that are equal to 200 basis points less than the plan’s assumed rate of return
• Information indicating the number of months or years for which the current market value of assets are adequate to sustain the payment of expected retirement benefits as determined in the plan’s latest valuation
• Information indicating the recommended contributions to the plan based on the plan’s latest actuarial valuation and the contributions necessary to fund the plan based on the financial statements using alternative actuarial assumptions, stated as an annual dollar value and a percentage of valuation payroll.

SB 1392 / DIED: Relating to Retirement by Sen. Simpson
Status: Substituted for House Bill 7011; Died on Senate Floor (04/30/13) / Vote Count: House (N/A)/Senate (N/A)
SB 1392 makes the following changes to the Florida Retirement System (FRS), for members initially enrolled in the FRS on or after July 1, 2014:

• Changes the vesting period in the Pension Plan from 8 to 10 years;
• Mandates that Elected Officers’ Class and Senior Management Service Class members may only join the Investment Plan
• Changes the default for members who do not affirmatively choose a plan from the Pension Plan to the Investment Plan
• Closes the Senior Management Service Optional Annuity Program to new members
• Changes the out of service disability retirement vesting period from 8 to 10 years.

The bill also lowers the employee’s contribution rate from 3 percent to 2 percent for all members of the Investment Plan.

HB 7011 / DIED: Relating to Florida Retirement System by Rep. Brodeur
Status: Passed by House; Died on Senate Floor (04/30/13) / Vote Count: House (74-42)/Senate (18-22)
This bill makes changes to the FRS:

• Closing the pension plan (defined benefit) to new enrollees, and requiring all new enrollees to participate in the investment plan (defined contribution), effective January 1, 2014
• Providing an additional death benefit to members of the Special Risk Class initially enrolled in the FRS on or after January 1, 2014
• Maintaining the current disability benefit for members initially enrolled on or after January 1, 2014;
• Expanding the investment options available to investment plan members; and
• Closing the Senior Management Service Optional Annuity Program to new participants and prohibiting elected officials from joining the Senior Management Services Class, effective January 1, 2014.

The bill does not impact the ability of any current FRS enrollee to select participation in the pension plan or the investment plan. Changes included in the bill only pertain to members initially enrolled in the system on or after January 1, 2014. The bill provides that a proper and legitimate state purpose is served, which includes providing benefits that are managed, administered, and funded in an actuarially sound manner.

TAX & BUDGET:

HB 219 / DIED: Relating to Professional Sports Franchises by Rep. Nelson
Status: Died in committees of reference (03/22/13) / Vote Count: House (N/A)/Senate (N/A)
The bill allows Major League Soccer to serve as a league authorizing a location for the purposes of certification of a new or retained professional sports franchise facility under current section 288.1162, Florida Statutes. Certification under this section would allow the owner of a facility to receive a distribution of $2 million per year from sales tax revenues for up to 30 years, to be used essentially for the acquisition, construction, reconstruction, or renovation of the facility, and payment of debt service on bonds used for these purposes. The bill increases the number of applicants allowed to receive such certification from 8 to 9, and reserves the new certification for a Major League Soccer team. The bill also adds Major League Soccer All-Star games to the list of events which are exempt from the sales tax on admissions pursuant to section 212.04, F.S. It further replaces a group of specified NBA events with all events associated with the NBA All-Star week on the list of events exempt from this tax.

SB 306 / DIED: Relating to Economic Development by Sen. Braynon
Status: Passed by Senate; Died in House messages (04/29/13) / Vote Count: House (N/A)/Senate (35-4)

SB 306 allows Miami-Dade County to levy the additional professional sports franchise facility tourist development tax under s. 125.0104(3)(n), repeals the corporate income tax deduction for “international banking facilities,” and creates a sports development funding program. The Revenue Estimating Conference (REC) estimates that repealing the corporate income tax deduction for international banking facilities will increase revenues deposited into the General Revenue Fund by approximately $13.5 million annually. The REC has not evaluated the impact of the sports development program, but total distributions under the program are limited to $13 million annually.

HB 1049 / DIED: Relating to Sports Facilities by Rep. Santiago
Status: Died in committees of reference (04/22/13) / Vote Count: House (N/A)/Senate (N/A)
This bill directs the Department of Revenue (DOR) to annually distribute $2 million to the certified applicant, to be used for construction, reconstruction, expansion, or renovation of a motorsports entertainment complex, paying debt service on bonds issued for that purpose, construction, reconstruction, expansion, or renovation of transportation or other infrastructure improvements necessary for the motorsports entertainment complex, and paying for advertising of the motorsports entertainment complex or of the county or municipality where the complex is located. The annual payments are not to last more than 30 years. HB 1049 also provides for a tax exemption on building materials used to construct an eligible motorsports entertainment complex. The bill also allows an applicant which has previously been certified as a new or retained professional sports franchise facility to receive a second certification enabling the applicant to receive an additional $2 million per year in sales tax refunds. The additional refunds are not to last more than 30 years.

HB 7007 (SB 1024) / SENT to Governor: Relating to Economic Development by Rep. Trujillo (Commerce and Tourism Committee)
Status: Passed by Legislature; Sent to Governor (05/01/13) / Vote Count: House (68-48)/Senate (37-3)
This bill modifies and revises various programs and activities administered by the Department of Economic Opportunity and increases transparency and accountability of businesses participating in these programs and activities. Most notably, HB 7007 expands the availability of the sales tax exemption for machinery and equipment from new or expanding businesses to all businesses. Under the bill, industrial machinery and equipment is exempt from sales tax when it is purchased for use in Florida by a business that manufactures, processes, compounds, or produces for sale tangible personal property at a fixed location.

TORT REFORM:

SB 1792 / SENT to Governor: Relating to Medical Negligence Actions by Judiciary
Status: Passed by Legislature; Sent to Governor (5/6/2013) / Vote Count: House (77-38)/Senate (27-12)
This bill allows a health care practitioner or provider who may be called as a witness in a medical negligence action to consult with his or her attorney. During a consultation, the practitioner or provider may disclose information disclosed by a patient or records created during the course of care or treatment of the patient. However, the bill prohibits the attorney from being a conduit for ex parte communications between the practitioner or provider and the defendant or the defendant’s insurer.
The bill also revises informal discovery procedures under chapter 766, F.S., to authorize the defendant and his or her insurer to conduct ex parte interviews of a claimant’s treating health care providers. Finally, SB 1792 limits the class of individuals who may offer expert testimony against a defendant specialist in a medical negligence action. These experts must specialize in the same, rather than similar, medical specialty as the defendant.

HB 7015 (SB 1412) / SENT to Governor: Relating to Expert Testimony by Civil Justice Subcommittee (Sen. Richter)
Status: Passed by Legislature; Sent to Governor (4/26/2013) / Vote Count: House (70-41)/Senate (30-9)
An expert witness is a person who has developed skill or knowledge in a particular subject, so that he or she may form an opinion that will assist the fact-finder during a hearing or trial. In evaluating whether testimony of a particular expert witness will be admitted in a Florida court, the court looks at whether or not the underlying basic principles of evidence are generally accepted within the scientific community. The standard is known as the Frye standard. This bill rejects the Frye standard and provides a three-part test to determine whether or not expert testimony will be admitted in a particular case. This bill adopts a standard commonly referred to as the Daubert standard, which requires the court to determine if (1) the testimony is based upon sufficient facts or data; (2) the testimony is the product of reliable principles and methods; and (3) the witness has applied the principles and methods reliably to the facts of the case.

Legislators adjourned last week without passing legislation that had been filed that would have either used federal money to extend coverage to more than a million people or used state money for a smaller subsidy.

Billions to Florida
Under ‘Obamacare’ – the 2010 Affordable Care Act – the federal government promised to pay all of the Medicaid expansion costs during the first three years and the vast bulk after that. Obamacare would send more than $50 billion to Florida over the next decade.

“By blocking passage this session of a plan that would dramatically help 1.2 million of Florida’s low-income and working families, many Floridians are disappointed and will continue, despite the session’s end, to expect the governor and Legislature to approve a bipartisan health coverage expansion compromise that relies upon available federal funds,” said House Democratic Leader Perry Thurston.

He called on Gov. Rick Scott to call lawmakers back to Tallahassee “at the earliest convenience to pass a bipartisan health coverage expansion plan for Florida’s working families.”

Scott now onboard
In February, Scott announced that he would support a Medicaid expansion. It was a dramatic turnabout, after Scott had waged a three-year-long political and legal battle against the federal health care law.

Republicans, who were in the majority in both the state House and the Senate this year, made it clear they would not approve the Medicaid expansion. Both came up with different proposals to meet the health care requirements.

The Senate wanted to use millions of dollars in federal money to create a new system for helping people get private coverage. The House wanted to reject federal dollars, but create a subsidy using state money for people to buy insurance.

The Senate architect of the health care effort, Sen. Joe Negron, said that there’s no way any sort of compromise on the issue would emerge. “The chasm between the competing visions is too wide to overcome,”  he said.

Negron described his plan as an “entrepreneurial approach” that would help people get health insurance. Though the plan would rely mostly on federal funding, Negron tried to reinforce that it is not an expansion of Medicaid, which has long been maligned by Republicans in both chambers.

“Nothing in this bill expands Medicaid,” Negron said. “We don’t want to expand Medicaid.”

Negron’s plan, which was backed by Scott, would use the Florida Healthy Kids Corp. as the vehicle for offering health insurance to people whose incomes are up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level. Florida Healthy Kids Corp. has long run the KidCare program, which offers heavily subsidized private insurance to children from low- and moderate-income families.

Senate rejected
House members voted 74-45 to reject the Senate proposal, which was offered as an amendment to the House bill. Rep. Mike Fasano, a New Port Richey Republican who spearheaded the amendment, was the only GOP member to cross party lines and support it. All Democrats voted for the amendment.

The vote came after about four hours of debate, with Democrats saying the Senate plan would provide needed health coverage to the working poor and Republicans saying the state shouldn’t rely on the debt-laden federal government to pay for expanded care.

War on ‘Obamacare’
Democrats repeatedly said the House bill was ideologically motivated. The Senate proposal would offer coverage to roughly 1 million people, who were described by Rep. Jose Javier Rodriguez, D-Miami, as “casualties” of a broader battle.

“The war on Obamacare is really what this comes down to,” Rodriguez said.

Fasano implored his fellow Republicans to vote for the amendment, asking them to not “follow the script.”

“Follow your heart today – follow your heart, and support this amendment,” Fasano said.

Stuck with costs?
But other Republicans said the Senate plan would be akin to expanding Medicaid, which the GOP has long criticized for spiraling costs. Also, they repeatedly pointed to the federal government’s budget problems and raised questions about the long-term financing of the Senate plan.

“Make a stand for your state, because this is not (about) ideology,’’ said House Health Care Appropriations Chairman Matt Hudson, R-Naples. “This is practicality.”

More broadly, however, Republicans focused heavily on the Senate plan’s reliance on federal funding. Some lawmakers said Washington would have to use borrowed money to pay for a health expansion, while others raised concerns that Florida ultimately could be forced to swallow costs for the coverage.

“What happens when we are forced to pick up a tab that we cannot afford?” asked Rep. Jason Brodeur, R-Sanford.

Political fallout
Democrats have seized on the differences between Scott and the GOP-controlled Legislature to push back against the idea that Scott had a successful session.

“The nation’s most unpopular governor attempted to use the 2013 legislative session as an Extreme Makeover: Political Edition. … Rick Scott knows he’s in trouble, and voters see through his electioneering about-face,” said Max Steele, a spokesman for the Florida Democratic Party.

“Despite ample opportunities to pass a bipartisan health care solution that enjoys the backing of Republican Governor Rick Scott and the Florida Senate, House Republican leadership dropped the ball,’’ Thurston said.

But not everyone was unhappy that a Medicaid expansion and the Senate health proposal failed. The conservative James Madison Institute issued a statement night pointing to potential problems with the Affordable Care Act and praising the House for not getting pressured into a “rash decision.”

“In this case, taking no action instead of the wrong action was a wise decision by Florida’s leadership,’’ Bob McClure, president and CEO of the institute, said in the statement. “Expanding a badly flawed program such as Medicaid – which already consumes an inordinate share of the state budget – would not even necessarily benefit those whom it’s intended to help.”

Scott could call lawmakers back for a special session on the issue. Negron said whether that will happen or whether the effort will wait until next year was up to legislative leaders and the governor. He thinks it is “improbable” that lawmakers would return to Tallahassee for a special session to address the issue.

Now with the James Madison Institute in Tallahassee, Sanchez is a former Miami Herald Editorial Page writer, listed in Who’s Who in America, and is a multi-award winner in the field of journalism.

He will speak during a May 15luncheon at New World Landing starting at 11:30 a.m.

He shared the 1983 Pulitzer Prize with his Miami Herald Editorial Page colleagues for a series of editorials on the influx of Haitian refugees being held at the Chrome Detention Center in Miami.

For more information, call Kathryn Thompson at 723-2423.

Cost for the lunch is $20 for guests, $10 for students and members are free.

http://www.pnj.com/article/20130509/BUSINESS/305090004/Prize-winning-journalist-to-address-Economics-Club?nclick_check=1

Maybe. There were certainly a lot of pieces there, in particular, ideas. Here’s some of what we saw and learned:

A Medicaid Victory. The buzz at dinner was optimistic. Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives Will Weatherford was supposed to be the first keynote speaker of the evening. He had to cancel, but for a good reason: The Florida House was voting that night on whether to expand Medicaid eligibility in order to accept new federal subsidies created by ObamaCare. Medicaid, by the way, has problems. Some studies have found patients on Medicaid have worse outcomes than similar patients who have no insurance at all. And then, of course, there is the question of whether the states should be expanding a program that already eats a quarter of the typical state budget at a time when states are strapped for cash. The promise of federal funding to pay for the expansion has proven too enticing for some states to turn down, but there’s no guarantee that federal funding will continue indefinitely.

As you might expect, this crowd was acutely aware of these issues. Robert McClure, President of the James Madison Institute, filled in for Weatherford; when he relayed the news that the Florida House had just voted down Medicaid expansion, the entire room broke into sustained applause. Since the meeting, the Speaker has continued to hold the line, and the legislature has adjourned the session without taking any federal money for Medicaid expansion.

Care that Makes Sense for the Those Who Really Need It. Florida does have an alternative idea for how to fix Medicaid. At a panel the very next morning, Christie Herrera, of the Florida-based Foundation for Government Accountability, detailed the success that Florida’s Medicaid pilot program has had since it was enacted in 2006. The pilot program, which operates in three Florida counties, shifts Medicaid from a fee-for-service setup to one that puts coverage choices in the hands of patients. The program has saved Florida money while improving patient satisfaction. Herrera told the story of several patients who are considered “medically complicated.” That means they have multiple conditions requiring specialist care that must be coordinated. Those covered under Florida’s new Medicaid have access to case managers; that kind of care coordination isn’t available under a system that simply pays doctors fees calculated by formula for their services. Florida is currently waiting to see if the federal government will OK its waiver application and allow the state to expand its Medicaid reforms to the entire state.

We Now Have Regulation by Tweet! At the panel on the rule of law, Hester Peirce of the Mercatus Center reminded us of just how unaccountable the director of the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is. The director alone sets the budget, writes the rules, and decides when to bring enforcement actions. The current director, Richard Cordray, has now established the precedent of enforcement by Tweet. Yes, he has used Twitter to announce enforcement actions. The director cannot be removed from office, except by the President under narrow circumstances.

Cordray, you’ll remember, became director through a “recess appointment” that President Obama purported to make when Congress was not actually in recess. Panelist Todd Gaziano of The Heritage Foundation identified that action as one of the top five unilateral White House actions that were contrary to the rule of law.

The Higher Education Revolution Is Coming. At the panel on higher education, Michelle Rhee-Weise reminded us that disruptive technologies always enter the marketplace first as “just good enough” to compete. Yes, there may be some things that online learning can’t do as well as the traditional classroom model. But if online learning is already good enough to be an alternative for some students, then it is only going to get better over time. There should be no doubt, therefore, that online learning will transform higher education.

Neal McCluskey of the Cato Institute cautioned, however, that the current accreditation system and federal aid setup will continue to be real barriers to innovation in higher education. Accreditation, he explained, looks at inputs, not outputs. Meanwhile, the ubiquity of federal aid gives colleges an incentive to capture that flow of funding by including a lot of frills in the campus experiences they offer and running as many warm bodies to graduation as they can. Short of ending federal aid, McCluskey suggests aid be tied to student performance, so as to give students an incentive to be smarter shoppers of higher education.

Broccoli Hypotheticals Are Always a Good Option. The idea that unions might have too much power can be tough to explain to some people; they figure that since unions represent workers and workers are a sympathetic lot, then whatever unions demand must be just and right. At the panel on labor reform, Joe Lehman of the Mackinac Center suggested the strategy of taking collective bargaining out of the context of labor. Ask: What if we had collective broccoli bargaining? What if everybody had to get their broccoli through collective bargaining with one supplier. And suppose we all had to buy (though probably not eat) as much broccoli as that collective bargaining agreement specified. What could go wrong with that system? Well, that’s the system we have for labor.

Many Teachers Disagree with the National Education Association. At the same labor panel, Gary Beckner talked about the work of the Association of American Educators, a non-union professional organization for teachers. Unlike the NEA, which tells its members what they think, the AAE regularly polls its members. Most of public school teachers who are AAE members support school choice programs.

The Hydrocarbon Is Our Friend. Mark Mills of the Manhattan Institute gave us the good news in the energy sector: The United States is now a net exporter of oil and will soon be a net exporter of hydrocarbons. According to Energy Information Administration, 80 percent of all new energy for the next 20 years will come from hydrocarbons—about the same proportion as now. Fracking and horizontal drilling are part of the story here, but only part, said Mills. Those technologies have been around for four decades. What’s really changed is that new technologies tell us where the energy-rich deposits are so that we know where to drill. Mills calls it “smart drilling.” Who could be against that?

But shouldn’t we be in favor of clean energy? Panelist Chris Horner of the Competitive Enterprise Institute provided a few choice points about clean energy: Whenever you hear clean energy hyped as the next growth sector, just remember that solar has been proclaimed ready to replace oil since the ’90s—1891 to be exact. No environmental rationale can ever make crony capitalism work. Taxing high-productivity sectors in order to subsidize low-productivity sectors and businesses leads to—wait for it—lower productivity. Europe has embraced clean energy. Europe has also lost manufacturing capacity in the last five years. And don’t buy the jobs argument for clean energy either, warned Horner. Just about everything creates jobs. Computer viruses create jobs. Natural disasters create jobs. Are we in favor of computer viruses and natural disasters?

An Intellectual Smorgasbord. The conference also featured discussions on delivering the freedom message, defending religious liberty, alternatives to the welfare state, what’s wrong with the Common Core curriculum and how states can resist federal encroachment in education policy, the changing media landscape, how to use social media to advance your message, and fundraising. This author couldn’t get to all the sessions, obviously, but heard great things about all the sessions, especially the session titled: “Confronting Common Core: Strategic Discussion.” We heard Michelle Malkin was there, tweeting about the session! The Massachusetts-based Pioneer Institute co-hosted the discussion.  For more about Common Core, see the institute’s Common Core Toolbox, or the work of The Heritage Foundation’s Lindsey Burke.

Embrace the Tools, but Don’t Forget What We’re Here to Do. National Review’s Jim Geraghty participated in the media session and wrote a short report on it. Here’s some of his food for thought on the role of social media:

[W]hile we need to be embracing social media and providing our news stories and arguments and ideas in ways that are more bite-sized, I have this nagging fear that we might lose, or perhaps slightly devalue, some of what we’re here to do. There is no such thing as investigative tweeting. A Facebook graphic is two sentences at most, a picture, and perhaps a hashtag. Theoretically, you can use Tweets and Facebook graphics as bait, designed to bring people to the long-form, meatier pieces, but I wonder how many people retweet a headline without actually clicking through to the story.

Good Work. A few folks won awards for their outstanding contributions to the cause of liberty. First, The Heritage Foundation awarded the 2013 Salvatori Prize for American Citizenship to the Claremont Institute. The $25,000 Salvatori Prize is named after late entrepreneur and philanthropist Henry Salvatori. The Claremont Institute was founded in 1979. It’s mission is to “restore the principles of the American Founding to their rightful, preeminent authority in our national life” by “recovering a limited and accountable government that respects private property, promotes stable family life, and maintains a strong national defense.” Among the Institute’s notable projects are the Claremont Review of Books and the Publius and Lincoln Fellowships for rising young conservative leaders.

Also, The Heritage Foundation and the Franklin Center for Government and Public Integrity awarded the 2013 Breitbart Award to Michelle Malkin for the tenacious truth telling she does through her websites MichelleMalkin.com and Twitchy.com. The Breitbart Award is named after social media pioneer Andrew Breitbart who died unexpectedly of heart failure last year at the age of 43.

Talk about “Dudes in Suits.” Rep. Trey Radel (R-Fla.) was the keynote speaker at the closing lunch, and he introduced us to his favorite phrase “dudes in suits.” He has found the phrase helpful in explaining free market, limited-government positions to his constituents: Who do you want making decisions about your health care? About how to spend your money? About where you are going to get your education? A bunch of dudes in suits in Washington, D.C., or you? Essentially, he’s saying what Milton Friedman said in his classic Free to Choose, but in a slightly hipper manner. Oh, he’s also shown you can talk that way while running as a Tea Party candidate to upset the Republican establishment and win a seat in Congress.

Stay Loose and Conserve. Rep. Radel challenged conservatives to loosen up in order to connect with their audiences better. (Radel is fluent in Spanish and dances the salsa.) He should have checked out the Saturday strategy session that focused on the ideas of the American Conservation Ethic. Yes, there was plenty of serious discussion, primarily focused on the need for a better understanding of how free markets, private property, and the ingenuity of free individuals will solve environmental problems. All good and important stuff, but then the falcons and the albino crocodile showed up. Falconer Robert Miller and Sean Haflick, star of the TV show The Python Hunter, each generously gave some of their time so that we could get some face time with a few of nature’s more enigmatic creatures. Haflick left the snakes behind, which was just as well, since many of us were heading back to Washington, D.C.

(All the pictures in this post are ©2013 Shealah Craighead Photography.)

Posted on 05/03/13 02:45 PM by Alex Adrianson

http://www.insideronline.org/blogarchive.cfm?month=5&year=2013

State lawmakers had a week-long funeral for proposals to expand health coverage to tens of thousands of low-income Floridians.

But as the legislative session ended Friday, piles of other bills met the same fate.

The House, for example, let die a Senate proposal that would have given motorists a break on their vehicle-registration fees. The rub: It would have required eliminating a longstanding tax credit for insurance companies.

Other dead bills ranged from a measure to overhaul the Florida High School Athletic Association to a proposal to change sentencing laws for juveniles who commit murder or other serious crimes.

Also dying were a bill that would have made it harder to seek punitive damages in lawsuits against nursing homes, proposals to revamp the regulation of assisted-living facilities and an attempt to pass what had become known as the “anti-Sharia law” bill.

Each session, hundreds of bills die, some without even getting heard in a committee. But perhaps the most-controversial issue of this session — expanding health coverage — died a slow, public death before getting put out of its misery Friday.

Legislative leaders made clear throughout the week that the prognosis was not good for reaching agreement on such a plan. House and Senate Republicans decided weeks ago they wouldn’t expand Medicaid to carry out the Affordable Care Act, but they took vastly different approaches in trying to come up with an alternative.

That didn’t stop House Minority Leader Perry Thurston, D-Fort Lauderdale, from immediately reiterating a call Friday night to hold a special session to take up the issue again. House Democrats and Gov. Rick Scott backed a Senate bill that would have used federal Medicaid money to offer private health-insurance to roughly 1 million people, but House Republicans rejected the federal money and proposed a smaller-scale program that would have offered state subsidies.

“Despite ample opportunities to pass a bipartisan health care solution that enjoys the backing of Republican Governor Rick Scott and the Florida Senate, House Republican leadership dropped the ball,” Thurston said.

But not everyone was unhappy that a Medicaid expansion and the Senate health proposal failed. The conservative James Madison Institute issued a statement Friday night pointing to potential problems with the Affordable Care Act and praising the House for not getting pressured into a “rash decision.”

“In this case, taking no action instead of the wrong action was a wise decision by Florida’s leadership,” Bob McClure, president and CEO of the institute, said in the statement. “Expanding a badly flawed program such as Medicaid — which already consumes an inordinate share of the state budget — would not even necessarily benefit those whom it’s intended to help.”

Some of the issues that died Friday were tangled in broader bills that died. For example, the Senate included the proposal to reduce vehicle-registration fees in an omnibus insurance bill that never got taken up in the House.

But the anti-Sharia law bill (HB 58), which would restrict courts from applying foreign law in family-related cases, was publicly put to rest Friday morning by Senate President Don Gaetz, R-Niceville, after it failed to clear a procedural hurdle Thursday. Gaetz singled out bill sponsor Alan Hays, R-Umatilla, for trying to get the measure passed.

“Senator Hays did all he could to advance the bill,” Gaetz said.

But the Anti-Defamation League, which opposed the bill, had a less-charitable view, issuing a news release saying the Senate “sidestepped embarrassment for Florida” by preventing the measure from moving forward. While the bill was dubbed the “anti-Sharia law” and was widely perceived to target Islamic law, the Anti-Defamation League said the measure would have prevented Florida from recognizing divorces granted in Israel to Jewish couples.

Passage of this bill would be another unnecessary, legislatively manufactured inanity for the State,” said David Barkey, the group’s national religious freedom counsel.

By The News Service of Florida

http://www.northescambia.com/2013/05/going-going-gone-bills-die-at-end-of-session