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Governor accentuates positive, rallies GOP

Jeb Bush speaks as a uniter, rallying fellow Republicans and avoiding divisive topics. Outside, about 2,000 protesters tick those off.

TALLAHASSEE - Surrounded by patriotic imagery, Gov. Jeb Bush opened an election-year session of the Florida Legislature Tuesday with an upbeat speech touting improvements in education, the economy and the environment.

"The state of our state is stronger than ever," the governor said. "Florida is in a better position to serve our people and face our future."

But in a divided state that likely will again play a pivotal role in a presidential election, a starkly different scene played out on the Capitol grounds.

As Bush gave lawmakers a glowing assessment of Florida in his sixth State of the State address, about 2,000 protesters, most of them black, marched outside the Capitol, demanding a higher minimum wage, better health insurance and an end to privatization and the FCAT.

"We know what the state of Florida is, it's bad," said march organizer Bishop Victor T. Curry of Miami, who compared Bush's reliance on standardized tests in schools to barriers once put up by segregationist Alabama Gov. George Wallace.

Bush dismissed the protest as political posturing, saying more blacks attend Florida colleges, more state business is done with black vendors and more black students are taking college prep classes. "So I have to discount part of this, that it has something to do with the 2004 election," Bush said.

Inside the Capitol, Bush was doing his own share of political maneuvering.

In a significant departure for the two-term governor, Bush's speech was more of a rallying cry to fellow Republicans than an ambitious policy blueprint. It sought to unite factions of a party that feuded almost constantly last year but must be together if his brother, President Bush, is to win Florida in November, and Republicans are to win an open U.S. Senate seat.

Bush's remarks came against a backdrop of military hymns and returning soldiers in uniform, as lawmakers opened their joint session with a tribute to those serving in Afghanistan and Iraq, including Rep. Carey Baker, R-Eustis, who served 14 months with the Florida National Guard. Divisive issues were rarely mentioned, unlike a year ago when Bush defiantly urged lawmakers to repeal the costly class size amendment voters passed in 2002.

On Tuesday, Bush never mentioned class size. Neither did he raise problems in the Department of Juvenile Justice, embroiled in controversy after the death of 17-year-old boy from an untreated ruptured appendix.

Also missing: references to lawmakers' plan to require doctors to notify parents before performing an abortion on a minor, or plans to make it harder for voters to amend the state Constitution.

House Speaker Johnnie Byrd promoted the abortion notification amendment in his opening day speech while Senate President Jim King listed the constitutional amendment change as a top priority.

Bush said he supports both measures. "There will be time to do that," he said. "I wanted to talk about the principled priorities I see."

In his speech, Bush said graduation rates are rising among all racial groups, the achievement gap in test scores between whites and minorities is narrowing, the Everglades restoration is succeeding and the number of jobs in Florida is rising. He also urged lawmakers to better finance colleges and universities in 2004-05 so that rising student achievement eventually translates into significantly more college graduates.

Bush's one major proposal was far from a surprise. He urged lawmakers to help him overhaul Medicaid, whose costs have nearly doubled since Bush took office in 1999. The state faces another double-digit increase next year.

On Friday, state economists raised their estimates for the state's Medicaid costs in 2004-05 to $14.27-billion, some $393-million more than anticipated just four months ago. Plus, the state is facing a deficit of about $315-million this fiscal year.

"We're fighting a battle against reducing benefits, and we're losing ground every day," Bush said.

But even his Medicaid overhaul is politically modest in the short term. Bush will seek lawmakers' approval to ask federal officials to allow Florida to overhaul Medicaid next year so that it no longer would be an entitlement and more resemble private insurance.

Democrats dismissed the governor's view as too rosy. They said the Republican record of $8-billion in tax cuts since 1999 has cut government services too much and that too many Floridians struggle without high-paying jobs or health insurance.

The governor mentioned only in passing the 100,000 low-income children of working parents on the waiting list for the Healthy Kids subsidized health insurance. And he only briefly noted his plan to kick out of the Healthy Kids program any families who have access to employer insurance, even if the cost is prohibitive.

"The governor touted a program that is failing children," said House Democratic Leader Doug Wiles of St. Augustine. "They're showing us we don't have a lot to look forward to this session."

Democrats also countered Bush's education claims, saying Florida ranks 26th in teacher salaries and 40th in per-pupil spending. And they argued that Florida's gain in student achievement was slower than other states'.

Democrats said nearly one-third of Florida's new jobs are in businesses tied to tourism, with average salaries of $17,000 a year.

"The job creation and economic prosperity that the governor speaks of has not reached into the homes of my community," said Rep. Arthenia Joyner, D-Tampa. "The folks in my district work too many jobs for too little salary and too few benefits. ... We believe this is an utterly embarrassing economic record."

That view prevailed outside the Capitol as hundreds rode early-morning buses to Tallahassee from cities as far away as Miami and Pensacola to rally and listen to speeches criticizing Republican initiatives. Among the speakers were the Rev. Jesse Jackson and Gerald McEntee, president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.

More than two-thirds of marchers were African-American, although many stressed their concerns stretched beyond racial lines.

"These issues are really multicultural and multiracial ... whether white, black or brown, hunger hurts, unemployment hurts," said Jackson in an interview before the march began. "If you can't keep your job, you can't keep your house or educate your child; those are depression times and we deserve better."

- Times staff writer Alisa Ulferts contributed to this report.