Senator works to mend fences with officials

State Sen. Anna Cowin, who didn't meet with a Citrus contingent during the legislative session, fills in government and business leaders on new laws.

By BRIDGET HALL GRUMET

© St. Petersburg Times, published June 22, 2000

INVERNESS -- She came to trumpet a long list of legislative accomplishments, from a law that ensures textbooks for every student to a bill that bars HMO bureaucrats from making health care decisions that belong to physicians.

State Sen. Anna Cowin, R-Leesburg, also came to the Citrus County Chamber of Commerce breakfast Wednesday to reconnect with her constituents, including the group of city, county and school officials that she failed to meet with as planned during Citrus County's legislative day in Tallahassee on March 29.

"I made a mistake," Cowin said after her speech. "You just get so wrapped up when you're in session."

She said she had been debating two bills on the Senate floor and running between committee hearings on March 29. She said she was unable to talk to the bus load of Citrus officials who wanted to lobby for and against various proposals.

Cowin hoped to meet with those officials Wednesday to discuss their concerns, but none of them approached her after her speech. "I wanted to talk to her before the votes," said School Board member Patience Nave, who had gone on the Tallahassee trip. "Now we'd just be talking about done deals."

Cowin's five-county district includes the eastern half of Citrus County. She is running for re-election this year against Rep. Everett Kelly, R-Tavares, who must leave the House because of term limits.

If Cowin gets by Kelly in the primary, she will face Democrat Leslie Scales, a member of the Marion County School Board, in the November election.

Chamber executive vice president Betty Pleacher said Cowin's speech gave the 75 business leaders at Wednesday's breakfast a valuable overview of this year's legislative session.

"When the legislative delegation went to Tallahassee in March, that atmosphere was more of a one-on-one chance to ask questions," said Pleacher, who helped organize the Citrus County legislative day. "Today was more of a broad spectrum of what happened in Tallahassee."

The legislative highlights Cowin addressed Wednesday included:

A law that puts current textbooks in the hands of students, with the goal of having a textbook that each student could take home.

The creation of a state clearinghouse that will provide information to school districts about safety programs that might work for them.

An act that provides counseling to high school students who take "dual enrollment" classes that count toward college credit. The counseling will ensure that students are taking the right classes for their career goals, Cowin said.

The inclusion of juveniles with criminal records in the "10-20-Life Act," which increases penalties for offenders who use guns in crimes.

A law that prevents HMO bureaucrats who do not have a physician's license from overriding the health care decisions that a doctor recommends for his patients.

Cowin said this year's session was rough, filled with complicated issues. The session also saw scrambling among the first class of lawmakers to be phased out by term limits, Cowin said.

"There was a real anxiety on the part of a number of people to push through a legacy," she said.

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