They're trying to force a poll of legislators on reconvening to vote. The contract oversight bill had bipartisan support.
By Associated Press
Published July 15, 2005
TALLAHASSEE - House Democrats want the Legislature to override Gov. Jeb Bush's veto of a bipartisan bill that would increase oversight of efforts to privatize state government jobs.
The Democrats announced Thursday that 20 of them have sent certificates to Secretary of State Glenda Hood asking for a special legislative session aimed at overriding the bill. If 32 certificates - 20 percent of the Legislature - are submitted, Hood would have to poll all legislators on whether they favor returning to Tallahassee.
The Republican governor has never had a veto overridden during his seven years in office, and his party holds a wide majority in both the House and Senate. It would take a two-thirds vote in both chambers for the vetoed bill to become law.
The bill (SB 1146) would have created a commission to approve state contracts worth more than $10-million and to adopt rules for state agencies that contract out work. It would have given the commission oversight of the Center for Efficient Government and directed the center to use a more stringent process for overseeing contracts.
The measure, which passed the House 116-2 and the Senate 39-0, came in the wake of questions about several state contracts, including one running the state payroll system. That effort was plagued with glitches.
House Democratic Leader Chris Smith of Fort Lauderdale said all 36 House Democrats are willing to turn in certificates, which would at least require a poll of members. But Smith said he also hoped some Republicans will join the effort.
But not all Democrats in both chambers are on board. Sen. Al Lawson, D-Tallahassee, who represents thousands of state workers who have been skeptical of contracting out government work, thinks Bush is genuinely interested in fixing some of the problems.
Lawson praised Bush's February appointment of Democrat Tom Lewis to head the Department of Management Services, which oversees contracts. He expects Lewis to recommend contracting changes to the Legislature.
"You've got to give Tom Lewis a chance to do the job," Lawson said. "... Even though 1146 was vetoed, I think the governor's willing to work through it."
Bush was traveling to hurricane-hit areas Thursday and unavailable for immediate comment.
But his spokesman, Jacob DiPietre, said Bush's efforts to outsource state government work had saved taxpayers money and improved services.
In his veto message last month, Bush said the bill would have created too much additional bureaucracy that would "overburden and complicate, rather than simplify and strengthen, the procurement process."
