Weighty issues fill homestretch

Legislators pushed through the Jessica Lunsford Act and a "force with force" law. But heavy work's ahead this week.

By STEVE BOUSQUET
Published May 2, 2005

TALLAHASSEE - Time is rapidly running out for the Florida Legislature.

With five days left in the 2005 session, lawmakers have once again postponed the most difficult decisions to the final days.

The last week of the session begins today with most major issues unresolved amid increasing evidence of gridlock and the clock a factor in deliberations.

The session is expected to end by 6 p.m. Friday.

The unfinished business affects the lives of almost every Floridian: growth management, Medicaid overhaul, changes to the class size amendment, laws affecting civil lawsuits and citizen initiatives to amend Florida's Constitution, lobbyist disclosure requirements, and regulation of the state's first voter-approved slot machines in Broward County.

The session opened eight weeks ago with a challenge to senators and representatives from Gov. Jeb Bush.

"This is not the time for timid tweaks to the status quo," Bush said in his annual State of the State address. "This is the time for bold, brave ideas in Florida that will shape our future and define us as dreamers, builders and problem solvers."

Work is nearing completion on a $63.5-billion budget, the one bill that lawmakers must pass each session. But not all spending issues have been resolved, and the House and Senate remain deadlocked on spending for projects in a number of areas, including parochial projects in lawmakers' districts.

At a Sunday evening barbecue for senators, Senate President Tom Lee, R-Brandon, criticized the House for inserting too many "turkeys," or hometown projects, in the budget.

"The turkeys are the big problem," Lee said. "The governor's going to veto them all. Why should we give him the pleasure? He should veto them. Lawton (former Gov. Chiles) would have vetoed them. It's the greed and arrogance of not following the process that bothers me more than anything."

Rep. Joe Negron, R-Stuart, the lead House budget writer and a defender of member projects, said: "The legislative priorities of the House and Senate are important to me and I want to ensure that they are funded in the budget."

Besides the budget, lawmakers have been busy on a variety of issues over the past two months.

They debated at length the fate of Terri Schiavo, but senators refused to join with the House and Bush to intervene in the case of the brain-damaged woman, who died March 31.

Lawmakers passed a law allowing Floridians to "meet force with force" when attacked, and Bush signed it last week.

They changed the law to allow low-income parents to enroll children in a subsidized health insurance program year-round, not just two months a year. Bush plans to sign it soon.

They voted to impose mandatory prison terms and more electronic monitoring of sex offenders after a 10-year-old Citrus County girl was abducted and slain. Bush is expected to sign the Jessica Lunsford Act at the Capitol today.

In Florida, both houses of the Legislature are firmly controlled by Republicans, and the atmosphere is more peaceful than it has been in years. But philosophical differences still separate the two chambers.

The House is more conservative, and more inclined to embrace the business community's agenda, than the Senate. At the same time, a small band of independent-minded Republican senators is willing to challenge the popular two-term governor.

Some of the same senators refuse to support Bush's plan to weaken the class size amendment and raise teachers' minimum pay to $35,000 statewide.

One of them is Republican Sen. Dennis Jones of Treasure Island. He said Bush will get a "responsible" budget from the Legislature, but he may not get much else.

"As far as any priority initiatives, it's a little early to tell," Jones said. "But it doesn't look like it's going to be a major session for him."

Sen. Jim King, R-Jacksonville, also disagrees with Bush on some policy issues. But the former Senate president said five days can be an eternity in a 60-day session.

"Nothing is dead," King said.

--Times staff writer Lucy Morgan contributed to this report.

[Last modified May 2, 2005, 01:35:17]