Infuriating, depressing session
St.
Petersburg Times Editorial
By
Tim Nickens, Editor of Editorials
(Progreso
Weekly Editor’s Note:
After
you’ve read this editorial, we ask that you to think about our
South Florida state legislators — especially those in the majority
party who are republicans — and ask what they did to combat this
outright case of runaway and irresponsible government. Their answers,
if they had the courage to accept the questions (objectively), may
disgust you. A case in point, for example, would be Rep. David
Rivera: What did he do with his time while in Tallahassee this
session? If you are as fed up with politics as usual in Florida as we
are, we suggest you take it out on our legislators next time they are
up for reelection. “Throw the bums out” would not be a bad motto
to live by… at least until we’ve replaced a good number of them.)
The
further I get away from Tallahassee, the worse the Florida
Legislature looks.
When
you spend years watching messy lawmaking up close, as I did in the
1980s and ’90s, you get accustomed to the rhythms of the legislative
process. The personalities become familiar; the political maneuvering
and policy fights become routine. I’ve spent less time in the capital
this spring than almost any other in the last 22 years. But through
the Internet and live broadcasts on the Florida Channel, I’ve seen
enough.
This
is among the most depressing, infuriating legislative sessions in
memory.
Journalists
of earlier eras talk about the audacity of the Pork Chop Gang in the
1950s and early ’60s, the rural conservatives whose iron grip finally
was broken by the courts and redistricting. I am prone to bore
younger colleagues by recounting the 1987 services tax debacle — and
I remain convinced Florida is still suffering from the failure of
Gov. Bob Martinez and state legislators to stand firm. They caved and
repealed the services tax after six months, and the Legislature
hasn’t passed broad tax reform since.
But
the 2009 Legislature is hard to beat in terms of abysmal leadership,
misplaced priorities and disrespect for the institution. Lawmakers
are lucky this is not an election year and that the memories of too
many voters are too short.
The
contributing factors to this discouraging debacle are clear. A deep
economic recession that created a record $6 billion budget shortfall
would rock any legislature. But instead of approaching this crisis as
an opportunity to create a broader, fairer tax base, lawmakers are
taking the easy way out. They are relying on federal stimulus money,
a cigarette tax increase, higher fines and fees — and hoping for
better days ahead. It takes less backbone to require a guy who wants
to fish from shore to buy a license than it does to stare down a
lobbyist and close a sales tax exemption.
On
top of the economic meltdown, add the ouster of the House speaker
just before the session and then his indictment by a grand jury. Rep.
Ray Sansom, R-Destin, would not have been a particularly inspiring
leader with an enlightened agenda. But his replacement as speaker,
Rep. Larry Cretul, R-Ocala, had no plans to lead, no agenda and no
broad base of support. He is a placeholder. Combine a leadership void
with a bunch of inexperienced legislators who have no apparent grasp
of policy or history, and special interests and political hacks will
exploit it.
That
is why a nasty elections bill loaded with every bad idea imaginable
to suppress voting rights emerged in the final weeks. That also is
why developers and shortsighted Republicans came so close to
dismantling growth management laws and had the gall to personally
attack Department of Community Affairs Secretary Tom Pelham on the
House floor. Pelham has served under two Republican governors, and he
was working on these issues before many of these legislators were out
of college. He wants to control sprawl and protect the environment,
and he has smart ideas about revising growth management laws; his
critics want to pave over what’s left of the state and think the
overdevelopment that got us into this mess will get us out.
But
the most devious maneuver was the last-minute House Republican effort
to open up state waters to offshore drilling. It was a well-planned
surprise attack financed by unnamed energy interests and backed by
Associated Industries, the business lobby that cares more about the
bottom line than the shoreline. Fortunately for our beaches and our
tourist industry, Gov. Charlie Crist and the Senate refused to go
along. But it raised more questions about the motives and values of
Rep. Dean Cannon, the Winter Park Republican who is in line to be the
next speaker and was the sponsor of this oil slick.
There
are some systemic reasons that the Legislature is out of touch with
most Floridians and lacks perspective. The eight-year term limits are
too short, and the redistricting process is too partisan.
Particularly in the House, lawmakers tend to be from the most
strident wings of their political parties and assume leadership
positions before they know the issues.
Legislators
could improve the situation if they would accept constructive
criticism. The grand jury that indicted Sansom recommended more
transparency in the budget process and campaign finance reforms.
Legislators dismissed the presentment and went right on conducting
key budget negotiations in private.
If
they will not respond to a grand jury, then Floridians have to force
them to change their ways. The Times‘
editorial page today is calling for a constitutional amendment to
extend the sunshine requirements that already apply to local
governments to the Legislature. The public’s business should be
conducted in public, regardless of whether it’s being done in city
hall, the county courthouse or the state Capitol.
