Wednesday morning the Hillsborough County Commission approved a resolution sponsored by Kevin Beckner that puts them on record as wanting to kill legislation moving in Tallahassee that would require the Children's Board of Hillsborough County and seven other children's services councils with taxing power throughout the state to seek voter approval to stay alive every six years, beginning later this year.
But whether that letter of condemnation will have any impact on the bills moving through both the senate and house is dubious at this hour.
The legislation is being sponsored in the Senate by Republican Joe Negron, who its been reported proposed the legislation in part because of his anger that the children's board in his district of Martin County, intend to spend $2 million on a new building for their headquarters (Negron's bill is also supported by Eastern Hillsborough area Senator Ronda Storms).
The Commission at times got into heated debate discussing the merits of the proposal, with no bigger advocate for it than Jim Norman, who if he has his way will become a state senator as he leaves the local board later this year. Norman said he didn't support killing the bills, but instead amending them. He stressed that he believed the Hillsborough Children's board was "effective, and we wouldn't put it on referendum. But maybe Palm Beach, or Pensacola?," he asked might be worthy of a recall.
(In 1998, Hillsborough residents voted to establish a board with taxing authority that would fund agencies that help children).
Other commissioners seemed to support Norman's sentiments, but as Children's Board CEO Luanne Panacek said, current law allows the county commission the power to ask for a referendum on their board at anytime, and thus was not fair, particularly because the bill also requires that all of the children boards would have to go up for approval on a referendum this year, which Panacek said, would mean it might mean the end of the board, since she doesn't believe enough people know about the good works they do in the county to go before them requesting taxpayer funds.
This article appears in Apr 7-13, 2010.