During Wednesday's discussion of a bill at the Hillsborough County Commission meeting that would have required child services boards throughout the state to have to come before the voters to justify their existence every six years – beginning this year – board members questioned if they should dare forward a letter to legislators to "kill the bill", vs. politely request making adjustments.
The sentiment to throw out the legislation sponsored in the Senate by Joe Negron along with Hillsborough County's Ronda Storms was recommended by Commissioner Kevin Beckner, and strongly supported by Ken Hagan.
Whether that letter had any difference or not, the fact is that the Negron/Storms bill is done for this session, after the bill failed on a tie vote in the House Military and Local Affairs Policy Committee yesterday.
But during Wednesday's meeting at the BOCC, Luanne Panacek, the CEO of Hillsborough's Children's Board told board members that the Negron bill was "not a done deal," which is what some commissioners had said, in arguing that it might be counterproductive to alienate legislators.
This article appears in Apr 7-13, 2010.