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Internal squabbles no longer hobble black Democrats, paving the way for addressing election reform in the Legislature.
By SHELBY OPPEL
© St. Petersburg Times, published January 29, 2001
TALLAHASSEE -- Still bitter over the controversial presidential election, black Democrats find themselves more cohesive and potentially influential than at any time since Republicans took control of the state Legislature.
When the Legislature convenes March 6, black lawmakers will fill 22 seats in the 160-member Legislature, up from 20 last year. The internal wounds that in past years hobbled the black caucus -- and the Democratic Party -- have begun to heal.
It isn't lost on either party that a vast majority of African-Americans voted for President Bush's opponent, Democrat Al Gore. The public fallout from Bush's win in Florida means pressure is on the entire Legislature and Gov. Jeb Bush to address a top priority of the black caucus: election reform.
The new climate "is going to give us somewhat of a larger platform to represent our constituencies even more effectively," said Rep. Frank Peterman, a St. Petersburg Democrat.
"I think this gives us an opportunity to get our message heard more than it has in the past."
The 16 House members and six senators, all Democrats, who make up the black caucus don't kid themselves that numbers alone will get their proposals passed into law. Republicans outnumber Democrats 77-43 in the House and 25-15 in the Senate.
But it is a far more unified minority party than three years ago, when white Democrats in the House abruptly ousted Willie Logan, a black former state representative, from the House leadership. The move angered blacks and divided the Democrats, further diluting the party's strength.
Then, in 1999, black former state Rep. Rudy Bradley of St. Petersburg split from the Democrats to join the GOP.
This year, in contrast, the partisan battles during Florida's presidential election have helped reunite black legislators with the Democratic Party, said state Rep. Frederica Wilson, the caucus chairwoman. Black lawmakers compose more than one-third of the minority party in the House.
Term limits, or losses at the polls, have ushered Bradley and other divisive figures out, and Wilson said current members have taken a "vow" to speak with one voice on issues important to their communities.
"I don't expect any of them to be peeled away for promises outside the black agenda," Wilson said.
That agenda includes taking action on recommendations of a state election reform task force, due March 1. But the caucus agenda goes further to include adequate funding for the law school at historically black Florida A&M University, securing HIV testing for inmates released from state prisons, and requiring the state to purchase textbooks that include African-American history.
The caucus gained one House and one Senate seat this year, notably in districts that were not drawn to increase minority representation in the Legislature. Among the 13 freshmen and nine returning lawmakers, the caucus includes four attorneys, a real estate developer, former city council and school board members, and an elementary school principal.
"It's not your traditional members anymore," said state Rep. Chris Smith, a veteran caucus member and Fort Lauderdale attorney. "It's not just your civic activists from black communities."
Smith said he's pleased with the way Republican leaders have treated caucus members so far, particularly in terms of committee assignments.
House Speaker Tom Feeney named black freshmen legislators as vice chairmen of four house councils, which help determine what bills are voted on by the full chamber, and Senate President John McKay named four black senators as committee vice chairmen. Several freshmen even got coveted first-floor spaces in the Capitol parking garage.
The governor, who alienated caucus members with his executive order ending race and gender preferences in university admissions and state contracting, has invited caucus members to meet with him during the session. They plan to accept, in contrast to last year, when a majority of the caucus ignored his invitation to lunch at the Governor's Mansion.
Republicans and Democrats have reason to take care of the black caucus, with lawmakers slated to redraw their district lines in 2002. When that occurred in 1992, black and Hispanic lawmakers helped the GOP cluster minority voters together in the new districts and elect more minority lawmakers. It also served to send more Republicans to the Legislature overall, by draining traditionally Democratic voters from the areas around the new districts.
Amid the optimism, some veteran caucus members are skeptical.
"I really don't expect great accomplishments out of this session as it relates to individual bills making it to the governor's desk," said state Sen. Kendrick Meek of Miami, elected to the Legislature in 1994.
"I've just seen it before. There were times that I really felt that certain things were going to happen, and they didn't."