Florida House Speaker Marco Rubio was talking fast and pitching hard.
His tax reform plan is in some trouble, you see. While voters like the idea of paying a sales tax instead of property taxes, the complexity of Rubio's proposal to swap a higher sales tax for the hated property tax doesn't connect with voters the same way the general concept does.
So on telephone conference calls to reporters and GOP supporters all over the state last week, Rubio stressed how important property tax reform is to him. He didn't say it out loud, but it's his legacy test.
"It is by far the biggest issue in the state," he said. "We heard it everywhere that we traveled."
Rubio was trying to get out in front of last Thursday's release of a Senate reform plan, one that proved to be more moderate and cut taxes less.
The Senate plan would roll back tax rates to 2005 levels; the House calls for 2001 levels. The Senate plan doesn't envision a sales-taxes-for-property-taxes swap; the House plan would allow counties to vote on whether they want to get rid of property taxes altogether. Other differences remain as well.
By the end of the week, Rubio's problem was deepening further. After weeks of pressure from local governments that would take the financial hit, Rubio discovered he lacked the 90 votes in the House to put the tax-swap element of his reform plan on a statewide referendum.
Legislators in both branches have until May 4 to find a compromise that they and Gov. Charlie Crist can live with.
Great ideas that died too young: Fixing politics in Florida is not a priority this year, it seems. Two bills that would have reformed the elections process are pretty much dead in the House and Senate this year.
Orlando state Rep. Scott Randolph's election reform bill (HB 393) would bring shadow electioneering committees — the fake groups with fake names that channel special interest money into shady political attacks — into the light of day by requiring more disclosure and regulation. His office tells me the bill is all but dead this year, stuck in a committee that has had only three meetings in the entire session.
Over in the Senate, St. Pete Senator Charlie Justice's bill (SB 734) to stop local government from spending millions of your tax dollars to campaign for their tax-raising referenda is also dead. Justice smelled the coffee brewing and had his moment of guerilla-theater protest, filing an amendment to the budget to give hundreds of thousands of tax dollars to an imaginary legislative committee in Pinellas so it could campaign as well.
Speaking of stealth attacks: One of the kinds of sleazy political tricks that Rep. Randolph's bill would have affected was ElectionWatch-Florida's negative postcards that criticized Tampa City Councilman John Dingfelder in the March elections. I wrote about them at that time, pointing out that the four mailers were produced by Republican hit squad The Mallard Group from Clearwater. But because of our lax state laws, we didn't find out until last week who financed those hits: Three supporters of Dingfelder's opponent, Julie Brown.
According to state records (and first reported by the Tampa Tribune), ElectionWatch was given $25,000 by JC Davis Management Co., $25,000 by Blake Casper (owner of local McDonald's restaurants) and $15,000 by Newton Herack LLC. JC Davis Management is Spencer Davis, owner of the Red House Grill on S. Howard Avenue in Tampa, located on property that Brown's husband was trying to redevelop. Casper was a partner with Brown's husband in owning that property and bundled about $4,000 in other contributions directly to her campaign.
The Trib didn't break down the ElectionWatch contribution from Newton Herack LLC, but here is the connection: Newton Herack's principal is R. Park Newton, another Brown supporter who hosted her campaign kickoff at his Bayshore Boulevard condo. The developer was also listed on Brown's "Neighborhood Leadership Team."
Brown has denied any knowledge about the negative mailings. She lost the race to Dingfelder. The mailings, it must be said, seem perfectly legal under current Florida law.
Blog news: I'm happy to report to you that you can read my political insights and rants daily in our new Political Whore blog. It's at www.thepoliticalwhore.com. My former online residence, the Blurbex blog, is moving to a new server but can still be found at www.blurbex.com.
This article appears in Apr 18-24, 2007.