Denise Amber Lee’s six-minute 911 call that helped convict her killer is among the most notorious examples of 911 calls gone wrong, the calls that are now in House Speaker Larry Cretul’s crosshairs as he tries to create a public records exemptions for them.

Her husband Nathan Lee sent an e-mail to the sponsor of Cretul’s bill, House Government Accountability Policy Council Chairman Rob Schenk, pleading with the committee to shoot down the measure that would make 911 call recordings secret except for transcripts that could be available after 60 days. Lee also asked that his message be read at Schenk’s committee hearing the bill (PCB GAP 10-03) before it was voted on this morning.

Schenk made no reference to Lee’s message and did not read it before the measure passed by an 8-5 vote. And Cretul, who used a procedural maneuver to ensure the bill passed, never read it at all. He said he received it last night. Public records show that Cretul, his spokeswoman Jill Chamberlin and Schenk received it around 3:30 p.m. yesterday.

“I haven’t read the e-mail. I’m sure that he makes some excellent points,” Cretul, R-Ocala, said shortly before the House began session at 1 p.m.

Nathan Lee and his parents are pushing a separate 911 bill that would require uniform training standards for 911 dispatchers throughout the state. His wife was killed despite five 911 calls made in two counties, including one from a witness whose call was ignored.

Lee’s e-mail uses the botched handling of the eyewitness’ emergency call made on the day his wife was killed in 2008 to demonstrate why the calls should be available to the public.

“She provided the exact location of this event and even though there were, by all accounts, 4 police cars within a mile of this call, it was never dispatched. This call was, obviously, grossly mishandled and would have resulted in the saving of Denise’s life. Two days after this call, she was found in a grave, naked and with a single gunshot wound to the head. This call was hidden from the public and myself. And even hidden from the police department who was actively investigating the case and searching for my wife for two days. The subsequent internal affairs investigation shows the communication center and agency who took this crucial call were immediately aware that the call was about Denise. The call was suppressed. Had the eyewitness not contacted the North Port Police Department we may never have known about her call. And the prosecution would have lost the last eyewitness to see my wife alive,” Lee wrote.

Cretul said he supports the training and certification bill.

“But my whole interest in this issue has been watching what it also does to families and what it does to people that call in. They become suddenly out there for all the world to see,” Cretul said in an interview. “This is a very tough, very difficult issue. Very sensitive in all respects.”

Read the entire text of Nathan Lee’s message after the jump.
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A bill that’s one of House Speaker Larry Cretul’s priorities that would make 911 call tapes secret is on the fast-track in his chamber but lacks a Senate sponsor.

Cretul is pushing the measure on behalf of Florida Farm Bureau President John Hoblick, whose 16-year-old son died from a lethal combination of alcohol and illegal prescription drugs. Hoblick, out of town when his son Jake died, heard his older son John’s 911 call on the news.

House staff and the bill sponsor Rep. Rob Schenk, R-Spring Hill, kept the Speaker’s blessing of the bill hush-hush until this week when Cretul told a St. Petersburg Times reporter that Hoblick asked him to do something about the 911 calls.

Cretul used a seldom-used procedural maneuver today to guarantee that the measure (PCB GAP 10-03) passed. He temporarily assigned one of his lieutenants, House Speaker Pro Tem Ron Reagan, R-Bradenton, to the committee. Cretul didn’t need the insurance, however; the Government Policy Accountability Council approved it with an 8-5 vote.

Despite the Speaker’s clout in the House, the bill lacks a Senate sponsor.

Sen. Garrett Richter had originally agreed to run a companion for Schenk. But an open government shell bill he had sponsored that could have been used for Schenk’s bill was designated to be heard in the Banking and Insurance Committee, which has nothing to do with the 911 calls, he said. Richter backed off the bill even before controversy surrounding it - some victims and First Amendment lawyers staunchly oppose it - began this week. The Naples Republican said he won’t sponsor the measure.

After taking billions of dollars in federal economic stimulus money to balance the state budget last year, Senate President Jeff Atwater and House Speaker Larry Cretul along with other GOP lawmakers are demanding that the federal government balance its budget to put an end to the escalating federal deficit now surpassing $12 trillion.

“Unless something is done with Washington’s irresponsible fiscal behavior, Florida’s economy will drown in debt,” Atwater, R-North Palm Beach, said at a press conference this morning.

Atwater and his cadre want the feds to balance the nation’s budget as Florida lawmakers are constitutionally required to do in the Sunshine State.

But that didn’t stop the legislature under Atwater and Cretul from accepting at least $12 billion in federal stimulus money - more than $3 billion used to balance this year’s Florida budget and nearly another $6 billion plugged into next year’s. That money helped add to the nation’s rising debt.

“It’s a gaping inconsistency to take that money happily to fill giant holes in our budget and then turn around and criticize the very people who gave you the cash,” said Rep. Keith Fitzgerald, D-Sarasota.

Sen. Joe Negron, R-Stuart, is sponsoring a joint resolution that, if passed by two-thirds of the Florida legislature, would have the state joining 19 other states asking Congress to convene an amendments convention to propose a constitutional amendment requiring the balanced budget and limit federal lawmakers’ ability to pass mandated spending down to the states.

But Florida lawmakers have done the same thing to local governments over the past decade, forcing them to take up a large share of education spending by passing down mandates and making counties pick up the tab for other items.

Congress would have to call the amendments convention if 34 states make the request. Passage of the constitutional amendment would require ratification by three-fourths, or 38, of the states.

House Speaker Larry Cretul’s offer to black lawmakers who will miss the first two days of the special session because of a conference they are attending is not a compromise, his spokeswoman Jill Chamberlain said.

And if there was any doubt, Cretul made it clear at a press conference this afternoon that the lawmakers should be in Tallahassee as they are constitutionally required.

“I’ve been doing this a long time, both at the local level and now for the past seven years at the state level.
This job comes with a lot of demands and a lot of requirements. And oftentimes some inconvenience, an inconvenience on both a personal level and a professional level,” Cretul, R-Ocala, said. “It’s just part of the job. Any time that you’re elected or have a role of responsibility you have to keep in focus just what the duties of the responsibility are…It is our job as being part of the Florida Legislature. It is our job not only constitutionally but personally to be sure that we don’t inconvenience and neglect what we’re here for.”

The black members are hosting the National Black Caucus of State Legislators’ annual conference in Ft. Lauderdale, an event that began today and lasts through Saturday. Sen. Arthenia Joyner, D-Tampa, is chairing the gala which was two years in the planning.

Cretul said he’s letting two members participate in a committee meeting tomorrow by telephone and will hold a briefing late Sunday or early Monday for any members who want to attend.

And he’ll allow them to file amendments on the floor.

But Cretul already had planned the briefing and would have allowed the floor amendments anyway, Chamberlain said, even before House Democrats began demanding that the session be delayed until Monday to accommodate the black caucus.

Cretul insisted time constraints determined that the session would have to begin tomorrow and end by next Friday.

Democrats in the House, Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink and black state lawmakers are asking legislative leaders to put the brakes on a special session on rail until Monday to accommodate the black lawmakers’ national conference being held this week in Ft. Lauderdale.

Many of the state’s black House and Senate members will be at the event as hosts of the National Black Caucus of State Legislators’ annual conference. The conference has been in the works for two years and many members have already plunked down the cash to attend the fete that runs from Wednesday through Saturday.

Too bad, House Speaker Larry Cretul wrote in a memo today sent to all House members.

He said the black lawmakers - all but one of whom are Democrats - can get an excused absence but that’s about it.

“We all share the burdens of public office, which can be especially frustrating during this season. However, it is our duty to assemble when the needs of our state require it. I am confident that this Session is important to Florida. The issue before us means jobs for Floridians and building part of our state’s transportation future. I appreciate your willingness to undertake these important duties,” Cretul, R-Ocala, wrote.

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The third time may be the charm for the controversial Central Florida commuter rail project called SunRail.

A special session dealing with SunRail and South Florida’s ailing Tri-Rail system will begin Thursday at 9 a.m.

House Speaker Larry Cretul issued a memo this afternoon saying he plans for the House to vote on the bill on Monday and for the Senate to vote on it on Wednesday.

Cretul, R-Ocala, said he and Atwater have agreed in principal on the proposal, which apparently exists but has not yet been distributed to most lawmakers, if any.

Money for Tri-Rail will come from the state road project fund and money for Sunrail and other rail projects will come from doc stamps from home sales.

PDF: Summary of proposed statewide rail transit legislation

House Speaker Larry Cretul asked federal officials to intervene in gambling talks between Florida and the Seminoles, saying negotiations “are at an impasse.”

Cretul wrote a letter today to National Indian Gaming Commission Chairman George Skibine, who met with the speaker and the House’s chief gambling negotiator Bill Galvano yesterday, asking the feds to fine the Indians or shut them down.

Crist this week said he wanted lawmakers to address the gambling compact in a special session in December.

Cretul’s letter indicates that’s not going to happen.

The Florida Supreme Court last year tossed an agreement signed by Gov. Charlie Crist and the Seminoles and lawmakers this year failed to pass a revised version of the pact.

Under Crist’s latest plan, the Seminoles would have paid $150 million a year to the state for education in exchange for Las Vegas-style slot machines and blackjack and other card games at its Hollywood and Tampa casinos as well as its Brighton and Big Cypress locales in Broward County.

The Seminoles have continued to run the games even without an agreement with the state, irking GOP House leaders and Attorney General Bill McCollum, who accuse the tribe of breaking the law.
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Lawmakers have yet to cut a deal on gambling proposals affecting the Seminole tribe’s casinos, dog and horse tracks and education spending.

No money from changes to the gambling compact with the Seminoles is yet included in the budget, Senate budget chief J.D. Alexander said this afternoon.

“We agreed to put it in conference and let the conferees figure it out,” Alexander, R-Lake Wales, said.

Money from a potential gambling compact would be added into the budget if the conference committee reaches agreement.

Other details in the preliminary budget agreement:
- $30 million total cuts to state worker salaries. The House had wanted a sliding scale of up to 7 percent for all workers; the Senate would have hit employees making more than $100,000 with a 1 percent cut. The Senate wants a graduated scale starting with employees who make $65,000 or more. Senate President Jeff Atwater and House Speaker Larry Cretul will ultimately decide what happens there.

- $110 million cut to universities. The Senate’s budget maintained spending at last year’s levels; the House had wanted about $260 million in cuts. Alexander said the agreed-upon amount would be more than covered by the $125 million in the budget from an 8 percent tuition hike included in the budget and the differential that would allow universities to raise tuition up to 15 percent per year until it reaches the national average.

- $400 million raid on trust funds, including $100 million from road projects. That’s $300 million less than the House sought from the transportation trust fund.

- The Senate agreed to the House’s $800 million hike in fees, but tag fees won’t be included. The Senate budget originally had about $500 million in fee increases.

- $1.7 billion in working capital and reserves, depending on how much the gambling agreement brings in.

- Buck-a-pack cigarette tax and $1 an ounce tax on loose tobacco but cigars will likely come out of that.

The Florida Senate kicked off the opening day of session by recognizing members and staff who have served in the military.

Today, March 3, marks Florida’s 164th anniversary of being a state, prompting the military honors.

Six senators served in the military, including Sen. Mike Bennett, R-Bradenton, who served three tours of duty in Vietnam.

Former Senate President Ken Pruitt, R-Port St. Lucie, also received honors because his son, Stephen, is currently serving in the U.S. Marines.

The military salute began far earlier in the day, however.

As the sun rose over the Capitol this morning, Senate President Jeff Atwater and House Speaker Larry Cretul raised flags which were distributed to the Senate staff whose family members served or are serving in the military.
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Incoming House Speaker Larry Cretul, R-Ocala, announced this morning which members would be included in his Select Policy Council on Strategic and Economic Planning. Cretul created the committee days after replacing Ray Sansom as leader of the Republican caucus.
According to this list, the House now has 39 of its own councils and committees plus seven joint committees with the Senate.

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With the clock counting down to the start of the 2009 legislative session, Senate President Jeff Atwater, R-North Palm Beach, and incoming House Speaker Larry Cretul, R-Ocala, met this afternoon for the first time in their respective legislative roles.
“Well, how ya’ doin’?” Cretul said, welcoming Atwater into his office.
“Doin’ fine,” Atwater said. “Doin’ fine.”

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