Today is the last day of the regular 2013 session of the Florida Legislature, and what are you going to say about what's happened over the past two months?
First and foremost, the story is the fact that this ideologically rigid and reactionary Legislature has turned its backs on providing health care insurance for close to a million people, by mindlessly rejecting an estimated $51 billion over the next decade.
But what about other items that did pass? The Times has a headline regarding a bill to reform Citizens Property Insurance that says "Softer Citizens Bill to Scott," but substitute texting or nuclear recovery or ethics or campaign finance for Citizens. Because that's the story here.
We're happy for the folks who have been working for years to get a texting while driving bill passed, but really, could it be any, well, softer? The bill will get you a $30 fine if you get busted – but only for another violation. You'll get a $60 fine if you get caught a second time within five years. And a new amendment added this week means now cellphone records could only be sought if there were an injury or death in a crash.
On energy companies ability to charge you to build (or not) their nuclear power plants? They can still collect their "advance fee," but not for an unlimited time. No, now their ability to do that has now been curtailed to 10 years.
And the list goes on. How about election reform, which lawmakers vowed (with heads bowed) to correct, even though it was the same lawmakers who made changes two years ago that created some of the problems in 2012's vote? Still unclear at this moment as the final day of session begins.
In other news: Remember those agonizing meetings in 2010 and 2011 in Tampa regarding enacting a panhandling ordinance? The ordinance that came out of that only focused on motorists being approached by panhandlers. Now Mayor Bob Buckhorn wants to address aggressive panhandling that involves people on the street being confronted.
Yesterday was hyped for weeks as a huge moment in what was next for the Lens plan to replace the Pier in St. Pete. Except it wasn't, after the City Council there voted to hold off a decision for two more weeks.
And please check out our story in the current CL regarding Congresswoman Kathy Castor's advocacy for ending the 51-year-old economic embargo against Cuba, and other events that are percolating in Tampa regarding the communist island.
This article appears in May 2-8, 2013.