UPDATE: Senate President Mike Haridopolos also says “no” to a special committee on the use of the “stand your ground” law.

“The Senate President feels that Governor Scott is currently taking all of the appropriate steps to address the tragic shooting of Trayvon Martin. Additionally, the Senate President is confident that the circumstances surrounding this shooting will be closely examined by lawmakers, and if the Senate concludes that laws need to be revised they will be addressed in the future,” Haridopolos’s spokeswoman Lyndsey Cruley said in an e-mail.

State Sen. Gary Siplin and a coalition of other black lawmakers are asking Gov. Rick Scott to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate last month’s shooting death of an unarmed black teenager by a neighborhood watch volunteer near Orlando.

Trayvon Martin was killed last month by George Zimmerman, whom police identified as white but whose family says is Hispanic, in a gated community in Sanford on Feb. 26. Zimmerman, who has not been charged with any crime, has said he shot the high school student in self-defense after a confrontation.

The shooting, now being investigated by the U.S. Department of Justice and local authorities, has sparked an international furor with civil rights leaders demanding Zimmerman’s arrest and a probe into selective prosecution of white-on-black crime.

Siplin, an Orlando attorney whose district neighbors Sanford, said the community is plagued by a “plantation” mentality and asked Scott to appoint a special prosecutor to quell racial tension.

“In my community today, they’re very upset. They’re very excited. They’re ready to ignite,” Siplin, a Democrat and a laywer, said at a press conference in the Capitol Wednesday afternoon.
(more…)

After two days of testimony about oddly shaped district “appendages” and increasing tension between senators, the Senate Reapportionment Committee wrapped up its work Wednesday by bringing out lottery machine cages to select random numbers for new Senate boundaries.

“Bizarre is the word,” said Sen. Maria Sachs, D-Delray Beach.

Reapportionment Chairman Don Gaetz, R-Niceville, recommended the lottery-like selection process to determine odd-or-even number districts. Odd-numbered districts get four-year terms, even districts draw two-years. In throwing out the Senate’s first attempt at line-drawing, the Florida Supreme Court ruled the original numbering plan favored incumbents.

Gaetz said he was intent on finding an “incumbent neutral plan.”  Gaetz said the system he deployed was reminiscent of what he recalled being used by the Catholic Youth Organization (CYO) at his girlfriend’s church during schoolyard socials when he was a teenager in North Dakota.

But the system wasn’t fully embraced.

Sen. Ronda Storms, R-Tampa, said the Senate shouldn’t be “casting lots,” for districts and later sought unsuccessfully to have the selection stopped on grounds it violated state gambling laws.  Sen. Miguel Diaz de la Portilla, R-Miami, condemned the lottery, saying it was wrong to bring a “quick pick” approach to settling public policy. 

Another critic, Sen. Arthenia Joyner, D-Jacksonville, questioned whether the green lottery balls used to determine the even numbered districts had been recently painted, making them heavier and affecting when they dropped from the cage. She was assured by Senate Democratic Leader Nan Rich of  Weston that the balls were green when shipped to the state from a factory.

The Senate now is positioned to debate  its latest proposed redistricting plan Thursday, with a vote scheduled for the next day. Gaetz said he will include an amendment to the plan Thursday that incorporates the new odds-and-evens numbering system that emerged from the lottery system.

The Senate Reapportionment Committee brought out lottery balls in spinning cages Wednesday as senators tried to devise a system where the number of Senate districts would not be seen as favoring certain incumbents.

The Florida Supreme Court declared unconstitutional the Senate’s first attempt at drawing district lines. Among the problems justices found, was district numbering that would have allowed most incumbents to serve for as long as 10 years, which the court said defied the state’s constitutional eight-year term limits.

Reapportionment Chairman Don Gaetz, R-Niceville, advanced the idea of a lottery system to choose district numbers which would determine whether a seat is for a four-year or two-year term this fall.

Most of the committee agreed to the concept. But some questioned the technique.

Sen. David Simmons, R-Maitland, said spinning lottery balls in cages on the Senate floor would disrupt the chamber’s “decorum.”  He suggested the lottery be held in the offices of the Senate secretary with videotape rolling.

“We will not have the fanfare, but the integrity of the Senate will be assured,” Simmons said.

But like most issues in the Senate, battle lines quickly emerged. Sen. Jack Latvala, R-Clearwater, said that if the lottery method was used, it was necessary that it be conducted on the Senate floor.

“I believe strongly that whatever we do has to be done on the floor of the Senate in front of God and everyone,” Latvala said.

After a heated debate, the committee has deferred a decision on the numbering system until the redistricting plan goes to the Senate floor.

State agency heads will begin ordering the state’s 100,000-plus workforce to submit to random, suspicionless drug tests, Gov. Rick Scott said today, the day after he signed into law a measure allowing the drug screens.

Florida’s first-in-the-nation law gives agency heads, appointed by Scott, the discretion to order the urine tests for up to 10 percent of their employees four times a year.

But Scott told reporters this morning it’s not a question of “if” the agency chiefs will require the drug screens.

“Absolutely,” Scott said when asked if he would require his appointees to implement the new law, which goes into effect on July 1. “It’s a bill that I signed and we’ll comply with the bill.”

Scott said he has required the drug tests of governor’s office employees since he took office last year. Secretary of State Ken Detzner, appointed by Scott last month, told reporters this morning he had submitted a urine sample before taking the job – and passed.

Scott issued an executive order mandating the drug tests last year, but backed away from his plan after he was sued by the ACLU and the union representing government workers.

Scott in June limited his order for all but corrections officers pending the outcome of the case in which a federal judge in Miami heard oral arguments late last month.

That case is still pending, but Scott said he’s not going to wait for a decision before moving forward with the drug screens.

“First off, the law passed. And I believe in it. I want to have a qualified workforce. I think all citizens of Florida deserve that and that’s why I signed the bill,” Scott said.

The ACLU and Democratic lawmakers contend the law violates the constitution’s guarantee of unreasonable search and seizure by the government. And some lawmakers, including Republican Sen. Joe Negron of Stuart, objected that workers who drink alcohol the night before could have a positive test result even if they have not been drinking at work. Negron was the sole Republican senator to vote against the measure; three Republican House members also opposed it.

ACLU of Florida executive director Howard Simon called the new law an invitation to litigation.

“Gov. Scott signed this law in clear defiance of constitutional principles. It’s amazing that the Governor and the Legislature would move ahead with a law that so clearly violates the Constitutional protections against invasive government searches without suspicion – especially while a legal challenge on precisely the same issue is pending in the federal court,” Simon said in a press release. “The Governor’s preoccupation with pushing the limits of government searches is a costly legal gambit for taxpayers and makes a mockery of established Constitutional law. But it says a great deal that, after being such a cheerleader for invasive drug testing, the Governor signed this bill so quietly – almost in secret.”

Lawmakers did not include any money for the drug screens – which could cost between $50,000 and $400,000, assuming 10 percent of the state’s 114,000 workers would be required to take the tests – in the $70 billion budget they passed earlier this month.

Scott said he has not yet decided how to pay for the tests, and rejected objections from libertarians like Negron that the policy was over-reaching.

“I think the way to think about this is this is the goal – to make sure we have a qualified workforce. And that’s the focus of this. It’s’ not a focus on what government’s role should be,” Scott said.

Two ministers and a rabbi, backed by Florida groups which promote divisions between church and state, urged Gov. Rick Scott on Tuesday to veto legislation that would allow student-led prayer at school events.

Scott has indicated he supports the measure (SB 98), which allows school districts to enact policies allowing “inspirational messages” at school assemblies from kindergarten through high school. But Rev. Harold Brockus of Pinellas County, Rev. Harry Parrott of Clay County, and Rabbi Merrill Shapiro of Flagler County, said the legislation is misguided and violates religious liberty.

The clergy also represtent area chapters of Americans United for Separation of Church and State.

“This most basic liberty is built on a foundation of the freedom to exercise one’s religion and the freedom from government interference with religion,” the clergy wrote Scott.  “Without one part of the foundation, religious freedom will falter.  And thus, religious practice and teaching must remain the province of our homes, families, and houses of worship rather than imposed by majority will upon our public-school students.”

The bill would allow school boards to adopt policies giving students authority to deliver “an inspirational message” during the student portion of any assembly. Administrators, teachers, coaches and other school personnel would be prohibited from reviewing the message or editing it.

Florida law currently allows students to have a short period — no more than two minutes — at the start of each school day for silent prayer or meditation, and it allows volunteer prayer groups to meet at schools.

The legislation was approved by the House and Senate, with most Democrats opposing it. Critics warned courts would likely find the measure unconstitutional, and force school districts into costly legal battles if they chose to enact a policy authorizing inspirational messages.

In less than three months, the state’s 100,000-plus workforce will be subject to random, suspicionless drug testing making Florida the first in the nation to impose the policy.

Gov. Rick Scott signed the state worker drug-testing measure (HB 1205) into law today without fanfare or comment.

The new law, a priority of Scott’s which goes into effect on July 1, allows Scott’s agency heads to order the drug tests for up to 10 percent of their workers four times a year. Lawmakers did not include any additional funding for the urine tests, which run from $5 to $40, in the measure (HB 1205) in the state’s $70 billion budget, prompting some critics to question which services agencies will cut to absorb the costs. Workers can be fired if the drug screen is confirmed positive.

As is always done when Scott signs a bill into law, his office issued a release about the drug testing measure late Monday evening. His letter to Secretary of State Ken Detzner transmitting his approval did not include any comment on the plan although it has been a priority of Scott’s since he assumed office last year.

Scott issued an executive order mandating the drug tests last year, but backed away from his plan after he was sued by the ACLU and the union representing government workers. Scott in June limited his order for all but corrections officers pending the outcome of the case in which a federal judge in Miami heard oral arguments late last month.

The ACLU and Democratic lawmakers contend the law violates the constitution’s guarantee of unreasonable search and seizure by the government. And some lawmakers, including Republican Sen. Joe Negron of Stuart, objected that workers who drink alcohol the night before could have a positive test result even if they have not been drinking at work. Negron was the sole Republican senator to vote against the measure; three Republican House members also opposed it.

Scott last year also pushed the legislature to pass a law requiring that food stamp and emergency cash assistance applicants pass drug tests before receiving benefits. In October, a federal judge temporarily put that requirement on hold, ruling the drug screens were unconstitutional.

The fate of the Legislature’s push to make government workers in the Florida Retirement System contribute 3 percent to their pensions likely rests with the Florida Supreme Court, after an appellate court Friday certified the case to justices.

A Leon Circuit Court judge last week ruled the contribution requirement violated the state’s constitution. The state is appealing the ruling, which casts an ominous cloud over the state’s finances. The Legislature used the $1 billion in pension payments to help cover holes in both the 2011-12 and 2012-13 budgets.

The Florida Education Association, among several public employees’ unions which challenged the pension contributions, said it welcomed Supreme Court review. The First District Court of Appeal chose not to act on the case.

““We’re pleased that this case will move more quickly toward its final resolution,” said FEA President Andy Ford. “This could help hundreds of thousands of middle-class Florida families who have seen their incomes tumble while the governor and legislative leaders handed out tax giveaways to corporations.”

A Leon County Circuit judge said Friday that he is ready to begin trial April 16 on whether the Legislature’s plan for redrawing state congressional districts is unconstitutional.

Judge Terry Lewis did not directly dismiss the state Senate’s motion to delay action on legal challenges until after the November elections.  But asked following the half-hour hearing whether prospects for a post-election delay was unlikely, Senate attorney Peter Dunbar said, it “might be.”

“At a time that you could appropriately get there, we would like to have certainty in our election process,” Dunbar said. “This is not about the House, or the Senate or the Department of State.  This is about 18 million Floridians and the certainty for them to participate in the electoral process.”

The Florida Democratic Party, League of Women Voters, La Raza and Common Cause-Florida filed their lawsuit in February, immediately after the Legislature approved new congressional boundaries.  The state Supreme Court has since upheld the Legislature’s plan for redrawing House seats, but rejected the Senate’s remapping as designed to protect incumbents and preserve Republican control of that chamber.

A 15-day special session to redraw the Senate plan began Wednesday.

In Friday’s half-hour hearing, Lewis acknowledged that it would prove difficult to complete a trial quickly, without interfering with candidate qualifying scheduled for June 4-8. But Lewis said he would likely borrow computer software used by the Supreme Court in developing its ruling, while also seeking to narrow the range of issues in dispute between the sides. 

 Lewis said working toward a speedy resolution was necessary.

“If I were running for office right now, I’d be concerned,” Lewis said.

Organizations which disputed the Legislature’s first round of redistricting fired off a letter Thursday to Senate Reapportionment Chairman Don Gaetz urging that he make public the Senate’s latest attempt at redrawing district boundaries.

The League of Women Voters, La Raza and Common Cause-Florida said they were unhappy with Gaetz’s plan to have legislative staffers draw a new map– with the results only made public Saturday when it will be released as a proposal for the full Senate to consider next week.

“Since the Supreme Court expressly found that the original, ‘Senate plan is rife with objective indicators of improper intent,’ it is crucial that the redrafting process be done in the sunshine so that the people of Florida can know the motivations for drawing each line,” the groups wrote in their letter to Gaetz, R-Niceville.

The league, La Raza and Common Cause submitted their own proposed maps, which the Florida Supreme Court used in rejecting the Senate’s plan in a 5-2 ruling last week.

Justice Barbara Pariente, writing for the majority, cited several examples where the so-called coalition plan’  included more compact districts and avoided packing minority voters within select boundaries, which the court said appeared aimed at helping incumbents win re-election and the ruling Republican Party maintain its dominance in Tallahassee.

The letter concluded, “Senator Gaetz, Floridians should have an opportunity to observe the staff and senators as they redraw and to assess for themselves the intent of the drafters. We urge you to conduct the redrafting process in an open and transparent way that reassures voters about the integrity of our system.”

Florida House members straggled back to Tallahassee after just four days off for a brief kick-off to an “extraordinary” special session followed by an update from their lawyer about the Senate’s faulty legislative maps.

The Florida Supreme Court signed off on the House’s newly drawn maps but rejected eight of the Senate’s proposed 40 districts, meaning the upper chamber will have to do the heavy lifting for the next 10 days.

House Speaker Dean Cannon, R-Winter Park, told happy House members they won’t have to return to the Capitol next week but to be prepared to come back on March 26-28 to finalize the Senate’s new plan.

The House’s redistricting lawyer George Meros will give the redistricting committee an update on what the court found wrong with the Senate maps this afternoon.

House Redistricting Committee Chairman Will Weatherford said he’s working with his Senate counterpart Don Gaetz, R-Niceville, and trusts the Senate to abide by the court’s directions on how to fix the maps.

“I am confident in the Senate’s ability,” incoming House Speaker Weatherford, R-Wesley Chapel, said. “We’re working with them. We have a good conversation going with them. We’re showing deference to them but certainly we have opinions about how the Senate maps should look…. But I think the court gave some pretty specific recommendations. It’s my understanding that they’re taking those recommendations seriously.”

A visit from Florida State University basketball coach Leonard Hamilton provided the highlight of the 11-minute floor session. Hamilton stuck around for photos with members after being introduced by Rep. Jimmy Patronis, R-Panama City, the “Seminole Caucus” cheerleader-in-chief.

The Seminoles won the ACC championship this week, and Hamilton, in his tenth year as head coach at FSU, was recently named the ACC coach of the year.

“Today we proudly send our Seminoles to Nashville for the first rounds of the NCAA tournament and wish them the best against St. Bonaventure, wherever that is,” Patronis said.

Rep. Mack Bernard, D-West Palm Beach, also took a moment on the floor to give his legislative aide Jacquet a shout-out. Jacquet yesterday defeated three other candidates to win a seat on the Delray Beach City Commission.

Florida Democratic Party Chairman Rod Smith disputed Tuesday the claim by Senate Republican leaders that the plan for redrawing the chamber’s 40 districts was mostly approved by the state Supreme Court.

The court last week ruled eight of the districts were invalid, including two seats spanning Broward and Palm Beach counties. Justices also had “concerns” with another two districts which divide the city of Lakeland.

Echoing an earlier comment from Senate Reapportionment Committee Chairman Don Gaetz, R-Niceville, Senate President Mike Haridopolos, R-Merritt Island, said Monday that means, “three-fourths of the current plan has been deemed valid.”

Not so fast, Smith said.

“An entire redrawing of a Senate map is required,” Smith said, calling last week’s ruling by justices an “historic rejection” of the Legislature’s Senate plan.

Because the boundaries cited by the court are contiguous to other districts, it’s impossible to just make a few fixes, as Smith said Republicans are trying to cast the approach to a special session which begins Wednesday.

The court’s 233-page ruling provides, “enough instruction by the court for the Legislature to draw a map that will pass muster,” Smith said. “But there is no such thing as…(just) tweak the map.”

Smith also said he was pleased with the Supreme Court’s adherence to standards for compact districts and not drawing lines that favor a party or incumbents. These new provisions were included in the state constitution by voters in 2010, who approved Amendments 5 and 6.

While Amendment 5, which controlled legislative redistricting, was applied by justices, Smith said he is optimistic a Leon County Circuit Court will follow the same standard in reviewing the Legislature’s plan for redrawing congressional districts. Florida Democrats and allied organizations have sued to overturn that plan, based on the demands of Amendment 6, which covered congressional redistricting.

Smith also said that party leaders are still considering further action against the House redistricting plan, which was upheld by the Supreme Court. Smith said it’s possible legal challenges to a select number of districts would be filed in lower courts by Democrats.

Smith, meanwhile, acknowledged that he’s been fielding phone calls from Senate Democrats whose districts also could be dramatically redrawn in coming days.

Sen. Chris Smith, D-Fort Lauderdale, currently serves a heavily minority district that snakes from Broward County through Palm Beach County, mostly clinging to the Interstate-95 corridor. Smith’s district, and that of a parallel coastal district held by Sen. Ellyn Bogdanoff, R-Fort Lauderdale, were declared invalid by the court.

Under redrawn maps, it’s possible that Smith’s district change to become primarily rooted in far western Palm Beach County, while reaching in to include mostly black voters in Mangonia Park, Riviera Beach, and parts of  West Palm Beach. Bogdanoff’s district, meanwhile, looks potentially destined to be confined to Broward County — and turn Democratic-leaning.

“I think you’re going to see a very different Senate makeup when Palm Beach and Broward districts are redrawn,” Smith said. 

Senate President Mike Haridopolos unveiled guidelines Monday for the Legislature’s upcoming special session to redraw proposed Senate district boundaries, declared unconstitutional last week by the Florida Supreme Court.

Gov. Rick Scott called the session Friday, within hours of the ruling by justices. Lawmakers will convene March 14-28, but the session will be marked by a few starts and stops, Haridopolos explained.

The plan: The Legislature will convene at 1 p.m. Wednesday, with the Senate Reapportionment Committee meeting afterward to be briefed by lawyers about what the court found wrong with the first redistricting map.

Eight districts and the state’s renumbering of districts was found unconstitutional, while justices also expressed “concern” with two Lakeland Senate districts that tied city voters with farflung rural residents.

Justices found boundaries were drawn to help incumbents more easily win re-election. The court also questioned whether the number of  Democratic-leaning minority voters placed in some districts was aimed at assuring ruling Republicans could capture more neighboring districts.

Among the districts thrown out by the court are two which span Broward and Palm Beach counties, the seats currently held by Sen. Chris Smith, D-Fort Lauderdale, and Sen. Ellyn Bogdanoff, R-Fort Lauderdale.

After meeting Tuesday, the Senate Reapportionment Committee is scheduled to meet again the following Tuesday, March 20. The redrawn map is expected to be ready for floor debate and a final vote on Thursday and Friday, March 22 and 23, Haridopolos said.

The House, whose redistricting plan was upheld by justices, is expected to be mostly bystanders at the session. Senators not on the Reapportionment Committee are authorized to return to their home districts when not needed on the floor.

With the House letting the Senate do its own line-drawing under an agreement reached months ago, many House members also may stay home for most of the scheduled 15-day session.

Gov. Rick Scott scored a huge victory late Friday night when the Florida Senate signed off on a last-ditch effort to crack down on personal injury protection fraud.

By a narrow 21-19 vote, the once-again divided Senate agreed to the compromise language passed earlier this evening by the House, and then passed the measure (HB 119) 22-17.

But the vote elicited rebukes from some senators who wanted the upper chamber to stand its ground and refuse to concur with the proposal – crafted largely by insurance industry lobbyists – in a debate highlighted by a stemwinder by Sen. Miguel Diaz de la Portilla, R-Miami.

Diaz de la Portilla, a lawyer, repeatedly called the deal a “phoney baloney” attempt to combat fraud and pilloried the House for bowing to powerful insurance lobbyists and the governor, who made PIP reform his top priority this legislative session. Diaz de la Portilla had convinced the Senate in its version of the PIP reform to keep intact “multipliers” allowing lawyers to be paid escalated fees. The compromise did away with that but, in a concession to the Senate, did not cap attorneys’ fees or set an hourly rate.

Growing more incensed as his rant went on, Diaz de la Portilla said that PIP scams aren’t the real fraud.

“I think the House measure that’s been sent over to us and that we’re being asked to concede to, that’s the fraud. It’s a fraud on the consumers of the state of Florida. It’s a fraud on the people who have to buy these policies by law. It’s a fraud on those who are injured in accidents. It’s a fraud because it basically is the Insurance Company Relief Act of 2012. That’s what it is. That’s exactly what we’re talking about,” Diaz de la Portilla said, referring to the package as “phoney-baloney” at least three times to the delight of a bipartisan group of senators surrounding him.

The compromise does not require a set rate reduction, as the Senate plan did, but requires an actuarial analysis by an independent party to back up a detailed explanation of insurers’ rates if they do not roll back by 10 percent by October and 25 percent by 2014.
Sen. Dennis Jones, a Seminole chiropractor who said he is probably the only senator who actually treated a PIP patient, called the bill a “very, very punitive” measure for chiropractors. Patients will now be limited to $2,500 worth of chiropractic treatment, a change from the 24 visits over three months now allowed.

Gov. Rick Scott scored a huge victory late Friday night when the Florida Senate signed off on a last-ditch effort to crack down on personal injury protection fraud.

By a narrow 21-19 vote, the once-again divided Senate agreed to the compromise language passed earlier this evening by the House, and then passed the measure (HB 119) 22-17.

But the vote elicited rebukes from some senators who wanted the upper chamber to stand its ground and refuse to concur with the proposal – crafted largely by insurance industry lobbyists – in a debate highlighted by a stemwinder by Sen. Miguel Diaz de la Portilla, R-Miami.

Diaz de la Portilla, a lawyer, repeatedly called the deal a “phoney baloney” attempt to combat fraud and pilloried the House for bowing to powerful insurance lobbyists and the governor, who made PIP reform his top priority this legislative session. Diaz de la Portilla convinced the Senate in its version of the PIP reform to keep intact “multipliers” allowing lawyers to be paid escalated fees. The compromise did away with that but, in a concession to the Senate, did not cap attorneys’ fees or set an hourly rate.

Growing more incensed as his rant went on, Diaz de la Portilla said that PIP scams aren’t the real fraud.

“I think the House measure that’s been sent over to us and that we’re being asked to concede to, that’s the fraud. It’s a fraud on the consumers of the state of Florida. It’s a fraud on the people who have to buy these policies by law. It’s a fraud on those who are injured in accidents. It’s a fraud because it basically is the Insurance Company Relief Act of 2012. That’s what it is. That’s exactly what we’re talking about,” Diaz de la Portilla said, referring to the package as “phoney-baloney” at least three times to the delight of a bipartisan group of senators surrounding him.

Sen. Dennis Jones, a chiropractor who said he is probably the only senator who actually treated a PIP patient, called the bill a “very, very punitive” measure for chiropractors. Patients will now be limited to $2,500 worth of chiropractic treatment, a change from who will now be limited to $2,500 worth of treatment. The House originally wanted to cut chiros out from PIP treatment altogether.

“I know it’s late and I know you all just want to flush something out and go home,” Jones, R-Seminole, said, adding “You’re making a major, major mistake.”

Scott worked lawmakers especially hard on PIP, stepping up pressure as the clock wound down toward the session end Friday. The governor gave hand-written thank you notes to House and Senate members who voted “yes” on the bill.

But Jones wasn’t on that list, especially after calling out Scott before the vote.

“Most people have had their arms bent or twisted or been down to the governors office two or three times,” Jones said.

Sen. Joe Negron, the Stuart Republican who brokered the deal for the Senate and sponsored the chamber’s trial lawyer-friendlier proposal, rejected his colleague’s criticism that the Senate would be giving up too much by taking the House offer.

It isn’t true “that somehow we’ve been run out of the gym by the House and we shouldn’t concur on their message because we passed our bill and by God our bill is better than their bill,” Negron said. “Anytime you have a bill of this magnitude, you’ve got to make principled compromises and find a middle ground.”

Negron then defended his efforts to keep chiropractors in the mix at all.

“The House wanted to take chiropractors, tie two 50-pound cement blocks to their ankles and drop them over the boat into the bottom of the ocean. And they were never going to be heard from in PIP again. I found that very offensive,” Negron, a lawyer, said.

Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater, a former Senate president who pushed alongside Scott for the overhaul, called Senate critics “dead wrong” about the deal.

“The Senate got all its fraud language. The Senate got all its licensure language. The Senate got room for chiropractic care. The Senate did not cap attorneys fees. The Senate did a fine job. The House was very firm on driving the cost drivers of utilization down. They came together with a really solid compromise,” Atwater said.

Atwater said he’s certain premiums will decrease although the bill does not require it.

“I think they’re going to see when that independent study comes down that they’re going to indicate rates need to be coming down. They need to come down now,” he said.

A last-ditch appeal for bipartisan support from Speaker-designateWill Weatherford  fell flat Friday night, as the House voted 80-37 in a partyline vote to approve the state’s $70 billion budget for 2012-13.

A Senate vote is expected later Friday.

Weatherford, R-Wesley Chapel, said that it has only been over the last six years that Democrats began voting against the state budgets, and he called for the minority party to put aside differences and join Republicans in approving the plan.

No dice.

Rep. Scott Randolph of Orlando was among the Democrats who blistered the budget for cutting university spending, reducing hospital payments, and doing nothing to lift motorist tax- and fee-hikes approved three years ago.

“You are all taxing the middle class and you are taxing them out of existence,” Randolph said.

Following Randolph, Weatherford’ s appeal for bipartisanship fell flat.

“This is an opportunity for you to rise above party,” Weatherford said.

The House has signed off on a last-ditch effort to close out a deal with the Senate on personal injury protection reform, one of Gov. Rick Scott’s top priorities.

But despite frenzied lobbying by insurance company representatives and Scott, it remains unclear whether the deal has enough support in the Senate to get the 21 votes needed to pass. Scott and Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater have made PIP fraud one of their primary focuses of the legislative session.

The compromise, passed with a party-line 80-34 vote late this evening, would require patients to seek care within two weeks of a crash, a concession from the House’s original seven day requirement.

The House also agreed to allow up to $10,000 for emergency service coverage as determined by a physician, osteopath, dentist, physician’s assistant or registered nurse practitioner. Of that, $2,500 could be used for non-emergency medical care. Visits to chiropractors would be covered up to $2,500 for certain types of injuries, but would require a referral from one of the other health care providers for others. Acupuncturists and massage therapists would no longer be covered by PIP.

The deal also did away with the House’s original proposal that would have required initial care to take place only at a hospital or emergency room. Instead, injured patients would also be allowed to be seen by private physicians.

And the compromise would require insurance companies to notify claimants within 30 days if they suspect fraud, and gives another 60 days to investigate. One of the more controversial parts of the deal would require those whose claims are being investigated to submit to examinations under oath if their insurance companies ask.

And, in what could be a sticking point for the Senate, the deal would require insurers to roll back rates 10 percent by October and 25 percent by Jan. 1. 2014, or else give a “detailed explanation” to insurance regulators for why the rates were not reduced. The Senate had sought a 25 percent rate reduction.

House Democrats blasted the last-minute amendments, accusing the GOP sponsors of the measure (HB 119) of being pusillanimous and caving to insurance industry pressure, especially over the rate roll-back, which critics said has no teeth.

The measure includes no penalties for insurers who fail to meet the rate reductions, Rep. Scott Randolph, D-Orlando, objected.

“The fraudsters are the big insurance companies that wrote this amendment and that are continuing to say now, give us more profit and we’ll give you a Post-it note at the end of the day explaining why we can’t reduce rates,” Randolph said.

Insurance lobbyists huddled into the wee hours Friday morning crafting the measure and were back at it early the same day, with time running out to seal a deal with the Senate that Scott would approve.

With hours until the 60-day session was scheduled to end, Scott stepped up pressure on lawmakers, calling them and ordering them into his office. Scott also pleaded his case through the media with appearances on at least seven radio talk shows before 8:30 a.m. Friday morning.

Scott pushed lawmakers to “get it done” and threatened to call a special session if they did not pass a comprehensive PIP reform.

“If I had to I would (call a special session later on the issue) but there’s no reason we can’t get it done today,” Scott said on WFLA 540 AM in Orlando. “I’m very comfortable they’ll do the right thing.”

Scott’s advisors have said the House would not pass a package the governor did not approve.

“The House has some good provisions,” Scott said. He said he hoped they would “send it back to the Senate and I hope we get it passed today.”
- The News Service of Florida contributed to this report.

A split Senate shot down a controversial “parent trigger” bill on a 20-20 tie vote on the final day of the legislative session in a defeat for Senate GOP leaders, including Senate President Mike Haridopolos.

It’s at least the second high-profile measure backed by Haridopolos and his leadership team defeated by a coalition of Democrats and Republicans, who also banded together to stop a prison privatization measure earlier this session.

The Senate spent an hour debate the measure (SB 1718), sponsored by Republican Lizbeth Benacquisto of Fort Myers, and half an hour on questions before taking a vote. The vote was expected to be so close that Haridopolos, R-Merritt Island, delayed it for moments until all 40 senators were in the chamber.

The plan, heavily lobbied by California-based “Parent Revolution” and former Gov. Jeb Bush’s education foundation, would have given parents the ability to determine whether low-performing schools should become charter schools or be taken over by for-profit management companies if more than 50 percent of parents whose children attend the schools sign petitions.

Critics said the process was riddled with problems and made parents at the failing schools vulnerable to manipulation by for-profit charter companies. A coalition of Florida parent-led groups including the PTA oppose the proposal.

“I’m tired and weary. I’m tired of sound bites and gimmicks that don’t do anything. Parent trigger. Parent revolution. Parent empowerment. Sound bites that mean nothing,” said Sen. Arthenia Joyner, D-Tampa, who called the proposal “fraught with risk.”

Three other states – California, Texas and Miss., – have instituted the “Parent Empowerment” process and 20 other states are considering similar legislation this summer.

But Venice Repubican Nancy Detert, a former Sarasota County school board member, said Florida has already enacted education reforms, many of them promoted by Bush, including a major overhaul just last year.

“We’ve been changing everything year after year after year. And we never give it time to gel,” Detert said. “Why do we want to keep throwing everybody in the bag and shaking it up…I feel so sorry for our teachers and students. They are on an island in a sea of chaos.”

But Benacquisto said the bill would empower parents who might feel helpless when their children are forced to go to school each day in a school with an “F” grade.

“What this bill does at its core is look at a system that already exists to address failing schools in our community and say that we acknowledge the legiimatecy of a parent’s voice when it comes to choosing what is already destined to be chosen,” she said.

UPDATE: The House approved a reorganization of the state’s Department of Health on Friday, which includes closing Lantana’s A.G. Holley Hospital in January. The 86-29 vote came following little debate, sending the measure to Gov. Rick Scott, who is expected to sign it into law.

 Holley is the nation’s sole remaining free-standing TB facility.

The Senate signed off on the proposal (HB 1263) earlier with a 31-9 vote. The bill includes a host of changes for the state Department of Health and apparently decides the fate of the 60-year-old facility, which local officials and previous administrations have repeatedly tried to close.

The hospital houses about 30 patients, many of whom are many of whom have drug-resistant TB or are co-infected with HIV, and costs about $9 million a year to operate, bill sponsor Rene Garcia, R-Miami, said.

But Sen. Maria Sachs, D-Delray Beach, warned that the chronically ill patients, many of whom have no place else to go, could pose a danger to the rest of the state if not treated properly.

“These are not only citizens but we have veterans there as well as many people who cannot be out on the street infecting other people with this terrible disease,” Sachs said.

The proposal would require the state’s Department of Health to draft a transition plan by May for steering patients from Holley to community hospitals. Former Gov. Charlie Crist’s administration spent months crafting a similar plan but abandoned the effort. In 2008, the Legislature ordered DOH to find a way to privatize the facility. But no vendors came forward, and two years later lawmakers ordered state officials to find community hospitals to isolate and care for the chronically ill patients.

Lantana town officials also are eager to obtain the 144-acre site, which they hope will prove attractive to a company looking to relocate to the area.

The Florida Supreme Court ruled Thursday that the Legislature’s plan for redrawing Senate districts was unconstitutional — a decision that will bring lawmakers back into a special redistricting session later this month.

Justices upheld the House maps. But the Senate plan was ruled lacking in the way senators drew minority districts and relied on “communities of interest,” in its determination of compactness, required under the constitutional amendments 5 and 6.

“We recognize that the Senate did not have the benefit of our opinion when drawing its plan. However, it is clear from a facial review of the Senate plan that the pick and choose method for existing boundaries was not balanced,” Justice Barbara Pariente wrote for the majority.

The court unanimously endorsed the House plan but rejected the Senate’s in a 5-2 decision. Chief Justice Charles Canady and Justice Ricky Polston said they thought the majority overreached in ruling the Senate plan was flawed.

The court also didn’t accept how senators had districts renumbered to affect which two-year election cycle they fall in; this would insure that most incumbents could serve as many as 10 years in the chamber, a provision also seized on by justices. Senators are normally limited to two four-year terms.

“Adopting a renumbering system that significantly advantages incumbents by increasing the length of time that they may serve by two years most assuredly favors incumbents,” justices wrote. “Further, purposefully manipulating the numbering of the districts in order to allow incumbents to serve in excess of eight years would also appear to frustrate the intent of the voters when the term limits amendment was adopted.”

House Redistricting Chairman Will Weatherford, R-Wesley Chapel, announced to the full House Thursday morning that the maps drawn by House members was accepted by the court. That drew a lengthy, standing ovation from representatives.

House Speaker Dean Cannon, R-Winter Park, later added the caveat about the Senate plan, telling lawmakers they would be returning soon for a special session.

The Florida Democratic Party, which challenged the maps as drawn to assure continued Republican dominance, praised the justices’ ruling — although they rejected many of the party’s arguments.

“Today’s ruling is a victory for the people of Florida.” said Florida Democratic Party Chairman Rod Smith. “This ruling confirms what we had anticipated, that the Senate map violated Fair Districts. We applaud the court for stepping in to implement the will of the voters of Florida. We look forward to getting down to the business of drawing maps that comply with the expectations of the people, as expressed in these constitutional amendments.”

State workers would have to submit to random drug tests after the Senate signed off on a bill pushed by Gov. Rick Scott, certain to sign it into law once it reaches his desk.

The Senate overwhelmingly approved the measure (HB 1205) by a nonpartisan 26-14 vote, rejecting concerns that suspicionless, random drug testing of government workers is unconstitutional, intrusive and demeaning to the state’s 100,000-plus workforce, most of whom have gone without a pay raise for six years.

“There’s been no predicate laid whatsoever on why we need to have this bill,” said Sen. Joe Negron, a Stuart Republican and self-described libertarian, adding that he has been in the legislature for more than a decade.

“I haven’t been running across drug-addled employees who are unable to do their jobs,” he said.

And the measure is overly intrusive, Negron said, because “your urine and your blood are extremely personal body fluids.”

But the bill sponsor Alan Hays, R-Umatilla, argued that public and private sector workers should be subjected to the same requirements and that the screening could help prevent addiction.

And, he said, not requiring the tests could be dangerous.

“What you’re going to create then is a haven for abusers,” Hays said. “Then drug abusers will know they’re safe if they come to work for the state of Florida.”

Scott’s legal team has helped the bill’s House and Senate sponsors persuade lawmakers that the drug screening will be upheld even as they defend the policy in court. The governor is being sued over a drug-testing policy he imposed on state workers last year. After the ACLU and the state workers’ union sued the state, Scott in June quietly reversed his order for all but corrections officers pending the outcome of the case.

Miami U.S. District judge Ursula Ungaro, who heard the case against Scott last week, expressed serious doubts about the governor’s order and “had trouble understanding the circumstances under which the order would be valid.”

The measure would allow Scott’s agency heads to decide whether they want to institute the policy and require that they use money already in their budgets to cover the costs of the tests, which range from $5 to $40.

The Senate is poised to close out the 2012 legislative session with a fiery debate over a controversial measure that would let parents decide the fate of failing schools after opponents scored several victories with amendments to the “parent trigger” bill late Thursday evening.

The proposal, based on one pushed in California by the “Parent Revolution,” would allow parents to decide on a turnaround option for schools graded “F” for at least three years in a row if more than 50 percent of parents sign petitions.

The petition process received the most attention Thursday night from opponents, a coalition of Democrats and Republicans who say the signature-gathering is rife for shenanigans as experienced in California, which became the first in the nation with its “Parent Empowerment” proposition two years ago.

The parent trigger plan is backed by GOP leaders including Senate President Mike Haridopolos, Senate Rules Chairman John Thrasher and former Gov. Jeb Bush. Several Los Angles-based Parent Revolution lobbyists, in the Capitol for weeks advocating for the proposal, were in the public gallery during a heated debate over the bill (SB 1718) Thursday night.

Opponents include teachers unions and a coalition of Florida parent-led groups including the PTA, also watching the two-hour debate from the gallery. The measure has already flared emotions and procedural maneuvering in the Senate.

Proponents beat down several amendments on 21-19 votes – including one that would have criminalized bribing parents to sign the petitions – indicating Friday’s vote will be close. But opponents, including Senate Democratic Leader Nan Rich, said they believe they have enough votes to kill the measure on a 20-20 tie.

The anti-parent trigger group repeatedly tried to make changes to the signature-gathering process that would have put it on a par with petition-gathering requirements included in a controversial election law passed last year and signed by Gov. Rick Scott.

One change would have made it a misdemeanor to take or offer a bribe in exchange for a signature and made it a misdemeanor to falsify signatures. But opponents of that amendment called it overreaching, eliciting outrage from Sen. Chris Smith, D-Fort Lauderdale.

“Are you kidding me? We put this in an election year last year people. We did this. But now it’s overreaching. It’s undemocratic. Are you kidding me?” Smith said. The amendment was defeated on a 21-19 vote.

But Rich scored a win with an amendment requiring that signatures be valid, undoing language in the original bill sponsored by Republican Lizbeth Benacquisto of Fort Myers that would have allowed signatures submitted after the validation period to be accepted.

“If you don’t vote for this amendment, it means you condone fraud,” Rich, D-Weston, said.

Accusations of fraudulent signatures and coercion of parents are plaguing a parent trigger effort at a Mojave Desert school in California, where both sides are accusing each other of wrongdoing and a judge is considering open an investigation.

The Florida proposal would give parents a say in federal turnaround options for failing schools that include conversion into profit or non-profit charter schools or hiring for-profit management company to take them over, which critics say is part of an overall effort to privatize Florida’s public schools.

Sen. Nancy Detert, R-Venice, failed to convince a majority to sign off on her plan requiring the charter schools to pay rent to school districts if they take over a failing school.

But she rallied enough votes to include a provision banning foreign nationals from owning or operating the charter schools.

Before the floor session wrapped up at 10 p.m., Senate Majority Leader Andy Gardiner railed against his colleagues for objecting to giving parents more control over poor-performing schools.

“I know it’s late. And I know everybody’s emotional. But keep in mind what we’re talking about here. We’re talking about parents that are sending their children every day to an F school. Every day to an F school,” Gardiner, R-Orlando, said. “We’ve gotten off track here a little bit…These are F schools. These are just parents. Parents that want an opportunity to have their children go to a better school. We want to put a misdemeanor on them?”

Speaking against the bill, Sen. Larcenia Bullard invoked hanging chads, fraudulent petition-gathering campaigns in which dead people’s names were signed on petitions and other horribles.

“Trigger bill is double-barrel Glock,” Bullard, R-Miami, said.