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No Floridians on global warming panel

By TIMES WIRES
Published March 10, 2007

Florida is considered especially vulnerable to global warming (for evidence, just check out the new issue of Sports Illustrated, which shows Raymond James Stadium, Dolphin Stadium and the St. Pete Times Forum underwater). But you won't find any Floridians on the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi chose a mix of liberals and moderates such as Reps. Ed Markey of Massachusetts and Earl Blumenauer of Oregon for the panel. Republican leader John Boehner chose rabble-rousers such as Jim Sensenbrenner of Wisconsin. The question remains: Why don't we hear more from Floridians on such a big issue?

Legislators worry about pants, labels

Now that the deadline to file bills for consideration this session has passed, let's consider a couple that give pause. As in, "Lawmakers were spending time on this?" One, filed by Democratic Sen. Jeremy Ring of South Florida, states that a food is misbranded "if the label does not contain each ingredient in the food, including spices, flavorings, and color additives." Another, filed by Democratic Sen. Gary Siplin of Orlando, is entitled "an act relating to the indecent wearing of below-waist underwear." It would require that students who wear their pants halfway down their bottom be suspended for up to 10 days for the fashion faux pas.

Is a seating chart that important?

In Sarasota three local Democratic Party leaders quit Thursday in a dispute sparked by the seating chart for a weekend gala, gutting the party's upper ranks just days before a pivotal city election. The Sarasota Herald Tribune reported that former county party chairman Henry Bright and his wife, Virginia, resigned when they discovered they would have to sit next to - and possibly take the stage with - their rival, Harold Miller. Current chairman Phil Rains responded to their resignations by resigning himself, frustrated because his attempt to broker a peace accord between the warring factions had backfired. "Once I got involved in the seating arrangements, I realized that a potential problem could arise," Rains said in an e-mail. It's not the first time a big party function has caused fallout. GOP and Democratic leaders in the region all have had their turbulent events, fighting over menus and seating charts. But rarely do such spats cause this much upheaval just days before a party's biggest fundraising event of the year. The Democrats are flying in U.S. House Majority Whip James Clyburn, D-S.C., to be the keynote speaker.

On the agenda

On Monday, the state's dimming budget forecast is expected to grow even gloomier when new tax revenue figures come in. Resigned lawmakers have quietly begun putting together lists of possible budget cuts. This will be a significant challenge to the optimism that Gov. Charlie Crist has created in Tallahassee thus far.

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[Last modified March 10, 2007, 01:53:19]