State: Running mates draw the line

TALLAHASSEE -- In a meaty, pointed debate on Thursday night, the two running mates in the governor's race underscored the deep division between the Republican administration and the Democratic challengers.

Lt. Gov. Frank Brogan, for example, predicted doom if voters approve a constitutional amendment to shrink class sizes in public schools, warning that local schools would lose flexibility and that students could be forced to switch schools mid year.

State Sen. Tom Rossin, the Democrat who wants Brogan's job, supported the class size initiative and accused Brogan and Republican Gov. Jeb Bush of trying "to bring a veil of fear and intimidation to every level of government, and this is a good example."

It went on like that for an hour.

Brogan's take: All is well.

Rossin's take: No, it's not.

It was a far more spirited debate than the one TV viewers saw two weeks ago between Bush and Democratic candidate Bill McBride, who will face off again Tuesday in a radio debate.

The running mate face-off was broadcast live on Thursday on public television stations across the state from the studios of WFSU-TV in Tallahassee. Each candidate was given two minutes for an opening statement, and each was asked a series of questions by TV and radio reporters.

Each got one minute to answer and a minute to rebut his opponent's answer. That led to some open exchanges, such as one on the appropriate use of the controversial FCAT.

Bush and Brogan have used the test to chart progress, then reward and punish schools. McBride and Rossin say that it should be used only to assess students' strengths and weaknesses and that students from poor families start at a disadvantage.

"It's all code for: "Let's go back to the old system where we just raise people's taxes, and there's no accountability, where as long as everybody feels good, it's OK,' " Brogan said. "Failure in Florida is no longer an option."

Rossin shot back: "The FCAT is being used as some kind of rod, if you will, to punish schools because of the socioeconomic area they're in. . . . No one is suggesting that we go back to anything."

Rossin and Brogan often are described as two of the most likable men in the state Capitol, but they found little to like about each other's positions on Thursday night.

For most of the debate, Brogan defended his team's agenda for the past four years, especially on education and finances. Near the end, however, Brogan challenged Rossin and McBride to produce plans for reducing drug costs and protecting the environment, areas in which the Democratic campaign has been vague.

Brogan said Rossin and McBride should be obligated to say where and how they would find the billions of dollars needed to institute the class-size amendment.

"Which taxes would you raise?" Brogan asked. "Which new taxes would you create in order to fund all of the $30-billion in new initiatives that you promised you would give the state?"

McBride has proposed a 50-cent-a-pack increase in cigarette taxes to improve education and the lifting of certain sales tax exemptions. But Rossin didn't mention new taxes. Instead, he said Bush and Brogan have plundered the state budget, irresponsibly cutting taxes for the rich and refusing to address a looming budget deficit estimated at $1.4-billion to $4-billion. When Bush took office, the state had a surplus of $3-billion, he said.

"These tax cuts that they have taken for the past 31/2 years have put the state in a tremendous hole," Rossin said. "If we had bonded that money, we would have something like $18-billion for schools, for lowering classroom size, for prescription drugs, for those kinds of things citizens of this state want."

For eight years, Rossin, 69, has represented a sprawling district that runs from Palm Beach County on the east coast to Lee County on the Gulf coast. For the past two years, he has been Senate minority leader, a role that cast him as the governor's chief critic in the Senate.

Brogan, 49, is a former teacher, principal and superintendent from Martin County who was elected state education commissioner in 1994. He serves as Bush's chief legislative lobbyist.

Brogan said he and Bush have more work to do, but "it has been a wonderful four years." He said the administration has provided some money to defray drug costs for poor seniors, and "we are protecting our environment in a way I don't think anyone could have ever thought possible."

As they sparred over runaway development, Rossin accused Bush of doing virtually nothing to stop it. The governor backed a bill requiring counties to consider the impact on roads, schools and water supplies before they approve new developments, but it's toothless and unfunded, he said.

Brogan said, "Well, Tom, you haven't liked an answer I've given yet, and you probably won't like this one either.

"A typical reaction to any problem by some in the Florida Legislature is simply to throw more money at it and then worry about how it's spent later."

The funding will come, "'but first, we have to create an accountability-based system," Brogan said.

Rossin: "That's just baloney."

Brogan: "I told you."

Back to State news

Contact the Times | Privacy Policy
Standard of Accuracy | Terms, Conditions & Copyright

Special Links

Lucy Morgan

From the Times state desk