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Politics

GOP lawmakers see sobering job ahead

Insurance and property taxes loom on the horizon, but incoming leaders promise action.

By STEVE BOUSQUET AND ALEX LEARY
Published November 22, 2006

ADVERTISEMENT [AP photo] New House speaker Marco Rubio, center, greets Gov. Jeb Bush Tuesday, on his way to being sworn in.

TALLAHASSEE - The Legislature's new Republican leaders took charge Tuesday and offered a gloomy assessment of life in Florida: a place of soaring property taxes and homeowners insurance and too much partisanship.

The downbeat critique was the new leaders' way to emphasize to voters that they got the message from the Nov. 7 election, and they promised to help find answers to the state's most pressing problems.

"While we may disagree on how to accomplish it, everyone agrees that Florida must address the twin threats of rising property taxes and rising property insurance," said Rep. Marco Rubio, 35, of Coral Gables, who took the oath of office as the first Cuban-American House speaker in Florida history.

"Reject the political culture we have inherited," Rubio added, drawing on a broader theme of a disillusioned electorate, "and in its place create one worthy of the great people whom we serve and the great causes that await."

His counterpart for the next two years will be Senate President Ken Pruitt, 49, of Port St. Lucie. Pruitt also departed from typical Republican themes of hope and optimism.

"There are families hanging on week by week," he told senators, "wondering if the next tax bill or insurance hike will crush their hopes or force them, as too many have done, to leave our state. My fellow senators: The system is broken and must be fixed."

Thirty-six freshman House members and seven new senators also were sworn in to new terms. Republicans will maintain their dominance of both chambers: 79-41 in the House and 26-14 in the Senate.

Members of both parties, red roses pinned to their lapels, warmly embraced each other and introduced each others' families.

Rep. Dan Gelber, D-Miami Beach, the House minority leader, called Rubio "my adversary and my friend," and said their personal bond would help meet voters' expectations that politicians be less partisan.

Still, Gelber issued a direct challenge to the ruling party, saying the Republicans should help reduce the growing number of children without health care, raise teacher salaries and student graduation rates above the national average, and alleviate spiraling property insurance costs.

"Let's get to work now. Floridians are waiting for us," Gelber said.

But Rubio and Pruitt said action on property insurance and insurance premiums can wait until a special session in January or the regular session in March.

"It's a good time to be a state representative because both sides know we must get some things done," said Rep. Betty Reed, D-Tampa, one of 12 new lawmakers from the Tampa Bay area.

Among the returning lawmakers was Sen. Gary Siplin, D-Orlando, who was convicted of grand theft in August. He remains a senator while he appeals.

Staff writer Jennifer Liberto contributed to this report.

[Last modified November 22, 2006, 06:04:10]