The Legislature took no public testimony on the need for a $9-million-a-year chiropractic school at Florida State University. The Senate Appropriations Committee discussed the issue Feb. 19, 2004, during which two Democrats repeatedly questioned why the project was being rushed through along with funding for an Alzheimer's center in Tampa named for former House Speaker Johnnie Byrd's late father.
EXCERPTS:
To hear a portion of this exchange, go to sptimes.com and click on the link attached to this story.
Sen. DEBBIE WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, D-Weston: "I'm not really understanding why we're taking the unprecedented step of passing legislation with major - no other way to define them - with major turkeys, in advance of the allocations that we're normally assigned in the budget process ... So what we're doing is, we're taking the unprecedented step of building edifices to our own members and their family members when we have programs already in place to support these appropriations? I don't understand why we're taking this step now ... This is extremely unusual."
Sen. DURELL PEADEN, R-Crestview (the bill sponsor): "This bill addresses some of the dire problems we're going to have in the future. I don't think there's any way to circumvent that ... The interest we have in the area of Alzheimer's and taking care of seniors, the interest we have in children, the interest we have in research and development as it concerns cancer, we're addressing these problems in a timely manner."
Sen. RON KLEIN, D-Boca Raton: "I've got concerns about why we're taking up major policy issues in an appropriations bill that never had a substantive committee hearing."
PEADEN: " "... The chiropractic school has been studied, and the need validated, in our state."
KLEIN: "We had a big long multiyear debate on whether to have a medical school at Florida State University and ultimately, after a lot of policy considerations, it was determined by the majority of the Legislature that it was a good idea. I don't remember having any discussion, whether it's a good idea or not, to have a chiropractic school ... "
WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: "If the Senate president (Jim King) is the one that decided that this is the way it should happen, then maybe someone from the Senate president's office should be behind the podium, telling us why this is necessary. Someone should be here, making an explanation. The rules are the rules. It's just not the answer."
(Long silence)
Sen. DAN WEBSTER, R-Winter Garden (chairman): "Any other questions?"
KLEIN: "Mr. Chairman?"
WEBSTER: "Yes."
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KLEIN: "I think we deserve an answer on this. There's no comments here ... There's nobody here. It's unbelievable. This is $30-million of taxpayer money."
PEADEN: "The MGT plan is in place. FSU has done this study. They've already hired an individual that's already begun the process to implement a program. Our duty is to appropriate the money, based on the merits."
