Gov. Rick Scott said this morning he wants lawmakers to outlaw Internet cafés rather than regulate them as Senate leaders are proposing.

“I don’t believe that the Internet locations are legal or should be legal,” Scott told reporters this morning. “It’s an area that I think doesn’t make sense. I don’t believe in it.”

A House committee passed a measure banning the “casinos on the corner” yesterday but the Senate appears to favor a proposal that would regulate the cafés which operate as “sweepstakes.” Customers pay for Internet time, which they can use to browse the Web or play the games in which computer time or credit is won. Critics say the games are highly addictive and prey on the poor.

Palm Beach County commissioners recently issued a moratorium blocking any new cafes from opening in unincorporated areas.

Scott rejected suggestions that the games are not as bad as the Lottery. Scott’s administration wants the Lottery to sell more tickets this year to help pay for public schools. Scott said the state authorized the Lottery years ago.

“It generates money for our schools. We’re not going to change that,” he said.

A measure banning Internet cafes in Florida cleared its first hurdle in the Florida House over the objections of two Palm Beach County Democrats and setting up a stand-off with the Senate that wants to regulate the “casinos on the corner.”

Lawmakers need to shutter the cafes because they prey on the poor and elderly and are highly addictive, said bill sponsor Rep. Scott Plakon, R-Longwood.

Plakon also cited reports showing that welfare recipients are using state-issued debit cards to at ATMs at the facilities to underwrite their gambling habit.

Lawmakers can pass his bill (HB 3), do nothing or regulate the facilities, which could cost the state $200 million a year by invalidating a deal Florida has with the Seminole Indians, Plakon said.

“The regulation bill would be the effect of us authorizing 1,000 gambling locations in this state,” Plakon said.

To help persuade the Business and Consumer Affairs Committee to support his bill, Plakon pointed to a San Francisco newspaper that pilloried Florida lawmakers for failing to shut down the cafes.

“This is San Francisco laughing at us,” Plakon said. “San Francisco, mind you members, is laughing at us.”

Cafe customers purchase Internet time, which they can use to browse the Web or play free “sweepstakes” games, in which computer credit or time is won. Those credits can be redeemed for cash.

Palm Beach County commissioners recently issued a moratorium blocking any new cafes from opening in unincorporated areas.
Industry backers say shutting the cafes down would put thousands of workers in the unemployment line.

“What strikes me is the jobs. It seems like some funny, fuzzy math but there are thousands, possibly tens of thousands of jobs at risk,” said Rep. Joe Abruzzo, D-Wellington, on the losing side of a 10-5 vote.

Rep. Mack Bernard, D-West Palm Beach, voted against the measure but said he was troubled by the bill needed more information about the ability the use of welfare money at the cafes.

“This is one of the sickest votes I’ve taken since I’ve been here,” Bernard said.

State regulators won’t give a Panhandle horsetrack permission to have slot machines without legislative approval or changes to the state constitution based on an opinion issued by Attorney General Pam Bondi on Thursday.

Her non-binding opinion also puts in doubt a local bill Palm Beach County and the Palm Beach County Kennel Club are seeking to get slots approved at the dog track. A referendum on the slots will go before county voters in November.

Bondi issued the opinion in response to a question from state gambling regulators regarding Creek Entertainment Gretna racetrack in Gadsden County. Voters there and in Washington County will decide on Jan. 31 whether they want to allow their local pari-mutuels to offer slots, something the Gretna owners are banking on.

But Bondi said the referenda would only be valid if they are first authorized by the Legislature or in the state Constitution, and Department of Business and Professional Regulation officials said they would comply with her opinion.

Lawyers for PBKC and the Gretna track rejected Bondi’s opinion, accusing her of being biased against the slot machines and promising that the courts will ultimately decide on the issue.

“This is not the first time, nor will it be the last, that an Attorney General has opined, for political issues, on a gambling issue outside of their authority,” attorney Marc Dunbar, one of the owners of the Gretna track, said in a statement. “Fortunately the Supreme Court has ruled on many occasions that these advisory opinions have no binding affect and more times than not are eventually rejected by Florida courts. I look forward to meeting her in court where law, not politics, will ultimately decide the issue.”

A dozen Palm Beach County leaders huddled Wednesday with Rick Scott, lobbying the state’s chief executive on Tri-Rail, Medicaid spending and efforts to boost the troubled Glades economy.

County Commissioner Steve Abrams, and vice-chairman of the Tri-Rail board, effectively asked the governor to leave the commuter rail alone. The Florida Department of Transportation has floated the idea of turning operation of the money-losing rail line over to a public-private partnership.

“I think the best solution is to have local control,” Abrams said, during a 20-minute meeting between county officials and Scott and Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll.

Abrams, who said he’s a daily rider on Tri-Rail, also invited Scott to join him on his commute between Boca Raton and West Palm Beach.

Scott didn’t exactly agree, but he did ask, “Would they really let me run a train?”

For his part, Abrams, a lawyer, steered clear of promising to put Scott behind the wheel.

Margie Walden, executive vice-president of the Alliance of Delray Residential Associations, urged Scott to rethink the Legislature’s move last spring to seek federal approval for putting Florida’s 2.7 million Medicaid recipients into managed care programs. A five-county, HMO pilot program has been in place since 2006 in Broward and four other counties with mixed results, Waldren pointed out.

Walden said feared the move could hurt “super-seniors,” which she said are those over the age of 85 — a population that represents many of those who moved to south Palm Beach County as retirees in the 1980s, and have grown old there.

“We have very deep concerns,” Walden said.

Scott, though, didn’t sound likely to back away from the Medicaid rewrite — which still is awaiting approval from the Obama administration. Cost of the program, which is shared with the federal government, will absorb close to one-third of the $66.4 billion budget Scott has recommended for next year.

“The problem we have with Medicaid is that there just isn’t enough state money,” Scott said.

Shannon LaRocque, an assistant county administrator, also urged Scott to consider what the state could do to spur the economy in such communities as Belle Glade and Pahokee. Both communities are plagued by high unemployment — worsened by Scott’s closing last year of Glades Correctional Institution, the state’s oldest prison.

The development of a new, inland port on Lake Okeechobee remains a goal of county officials — although it hasn’t gotten much beyond the blueprint level.

“It’s going to bring great hope for jobs in that area,” LaRocque said.

 

Trying to fix what they call a glitch in a state gun law that went into effect in October, two Delray Beach Democrats are pushing a measure that would make it illegal to bring firearms into child care centers and public buildings.

Sen. Maria Sachs and Rep. Lori Berman filed bills that would change a new law approved by the legislature and signed by Gov. Rick Scott that went into effect in October. The new law, which includes civil penalties and removal from office for local officials who ignore it, forced state agencies, municipalities and counties such as Palm Beach to scrap hundreds of measures dealing with guns.

After the law went into effect, state police were also forced to reverse their policy and allow firearms to be brought into the Capitol although weapons are still barred from legislative committee meetings. The same law applies to local government meetings – guns are permitted in the building but not where officials are publicly gathered.

“The same rule should apply to the building where the meeting is taking place,” Berman said.

Under the new law, people are allowed to bring guns into child care centers but are still barred from bringing them into public schools or college and university campuses.

“If you’re not allowed to carry a gun into a school where children are five years old, I’m sure the law should extend to those who are four, or three or two,” Sachs, a former prosecutor, said. “It just doesn’t make sense.”

The Palm Beach County Commission, which unanimously voted to support the bills (SB 1340, HB 1087), last month filed a lawsuit against Scott and others over the law, arguing that it is unconstitutional and that the sanctions “are simply a form of political bullying that serves no governmental purpose” and have a “chilling effect.”

Commissioner Shelley Vana, a former state representative, stood beside Berman and Sachs at a press conference announcing the proposals this morning.

She said their effort will make Floridians, especially children, safer and called it “another major step in rectifying a tremendous wrong and helping local governments keep their citizens safe.”

The measures are unlikely to gain traction in the GOP-dominated legislature, especially in an election year. The National Rifle Association pushed the new law last year.

But Sachs said the issue is one of public safety, not partisanship.

“I know Palm Beach is a pretty progressive county…but I know that every other county will follow us,” she said.

The Palm Beach County Commission has filed a lawsuit against Gov. Rick Scott, Attorney General Pam Bondi, the Florida House and the Florida Senate today over a gun law that that went into effect on Oct. 1. Local officials who violate the law could be removed from office and face a $5,000 fine.

The sanctions “are simply a form of political bullying that serves no governmental purpose” and have a “chilling effect,” the lawsuit reads.

The commission’s lawsuit complains that the new law, sponsored by Sen. Joe Negron, is unconstitutional because it violates the separation of powers because it gives the governor the ability to remove local officials from office and strips local officials of immunity from lawsuits.

Under current law, the governor is only allowed to suspend local officials and the Florida Senate has the power to remove them or reinstate them.

“Threatened removal of individual commissioners in a matter that is consistent with the terms of the Florida Constitution is political overreaching and political bullying that serves no legitimate governmental purpose,” Amy Taylor Petrick, an attorney for the county, wrote in the lawsuit filed in the Palm Beach County Circuit Court today.

The lawsuit asks the court to find that the law is unconstitutional, stop the governor from being able to remove local officials from office and order that they can’t be fined for breaking the law.

Negron said the penalties are necessary because city and county commissioners have ignored a law that gives the legislature the discretion to regulate gun laws.

After the law went into effect, municipalities, counties and state agencies were forced to scrap hundreds of measures dealing with firearms and could no longer bar people from being guns into government buildings, including the state Capitol.

“Political disputes should be resolved in the elected government arena rather than in courtrooms. So we’ll see where it goes from here,” said Negron, who had not seen the lawsuit Tuesday evening.

Negron, R-Stuart, said he does not intend to file a bill to repeal the law during the legislative session that begins next month.

“I would consider that just as I have to follow federal law and I have to follow county laws and city laws when I’m in their counties and cities, they should follow the preemption of the state law then nobody has anything to worry about,” Negron, R-Stuart, said.

Spokeswomen for Bondi and House Speaker Dean Cannon said their lawyers are reviewing the lawsuit.

National Rifle Association lobbyist Marion Hammer, who pushed the bill, called the lawsuit un-American.

“They’re using taxpayer dollars to try to keep from being punished for violating the law? That’s exactly the American way, is it?” she said.

West Palm Beach Democrat Mack Bernard earned a shout-out Monday for being among only a handful of lawmakers attending all 26 public hearings this summer on redistricting.

The grueling tour spanned from the Pensacola to Key West, with stops rural and urban along the way. “We learned a lot. And saw a lot,” said Bernard, after the House Redistricting Subcommittee noted his wide-ranging schlep.

With lawmakers returning to the Capitol for a week’s worth of committee hearings, recapping those redistricting hearings consumed much of the House’s day.

When it comes to redrawing district lines for the 120 House seats, members of the public, community groups, and local elected officials often urged lawmakers to strive to keep municipalities whole, without dividing them across more than one district.

Boca Raton and West Palm Beach were among the communities making such pitches; of course, some areas — like rural Jackson County in North Florida — sought to be divided among two state House seats, in hopes of gaining more oomph in Tallahassee.

Singled out during the summer’s hearing in Boca Raton were a couple districts – held by Rep. Steve Perman, a Democrat and Bill Hager, a Republican. Perman’s District 78 was criticized as unwieldy, stretching from the Fort Pierce area to Boca Raton; Hager’s district should be confined to Palm Beach County, some of those testifying said, rather than stretching as it does now, into Broward.

For Senate districts, Palm Beach County commissioners this summer also urged lawmakers when they begin creating maps next year, at least keep the current compliment of three Senate districts with a majority of their population in the county — out of the six districts that now touch the county.

Gov. Rick Scott turned back the clock a few months to claim a victory on his trade mission to Canada, joining with Garda Worldwide Security CEO Stephan Cretier to announce the company is moving its U.S. headquarters to Boca Raton.

Groundwork for the move began last year — well before Scott was elected — and took shape in January when Palm Beach County, Boca Raton and state officials offered the company a $1 million package of incentives. The company  will bring about 100 jobs from Pasadena, Cal., to Boca Raton, with salaries paying in the $65,000 range.

Although the $69.1 billion state budget signed by Scott last month is poised to cut thousands of jobs in state agencies, school districts and in the health and social services fields, the governor said he was eager to count Garda’s 100 positions toward his goal of creating 700,000 jobs in Florida over seven years.

In making the announcement from Montreal, Cretier said Scott called him on the governor’s fifth day on the job in January to say, the CEO recalled, “Hey, we want Garda in Florida.”

“I have been very impressed,” Cretier said, of Scott and the state’s courtship.

Scott, who said he plans to meet with 120 companies while in Canada, called Garda’s move a “win-win, for both Quebec and Florida.”

“I’m extremely pleased we were able to close the deal,” Scott said on Wednesday’s conference call with Cretier.

The incentives would be paid over six years, the county said. Garda has 45,000 employees around the world and sells a variety of security services, including armored vehicles to transport cash and background checks of potential employees.

Garda expects to have its 100 jobs filled by the end of 2013, and will receive its incentive dollars over six years, according to terms of the deal worked with the county. It chose Boca Raton over Wilmington, Del., and Broadview, Ill., which also had negotiated to land Garda’s American headquarters.

Cretier, a former baseball umpire, said he started the company 15 years ago with a $25,000 mortgage on his house. Last year, Garda reported $1.2 billion in revenue, Cretier said Wednesday. 

Garda’s interest in Palm Beach County coincided with a drop in the cost of doing business in the area. A report released earlier this year by The Boyd Co. of Princeton, N.J., says it’s cheaper to operate a corporate headquarters here than in most U.S. cities. Palm Beach County ranks 40th of 55 metro areas.

 Gov. Rick Scott’s trade mission to Canada is lined up to tout its first big score Wednesday, but the announcement from French-speaking Montreal will sound like deja vu to many Palm Beach County residents.

Scott is expected to unveil that Montreal-based Garda Worldwide Security is moving its U.S. headquarters from California to Boca Raton, bringing with it about 100 jobs  by the end of 2013. The jobs will pay in the $65,000-salary range, county officials said.

Scott repeatedly says he’s all about “jobs, jobs, jobs.” But is the Garda announcement really “news, news, news?”

After all, Palm Beach County commissioners in January approved the county’s $210,000 share of an incentive package for Garda World Security Services. Boca Raton late last year approved its $210,000 portion of the package, while the state of Florida later OK’d $580,000 to bring the firm.

The County Commission’s action came a week after Scott took office, powered by his campaign promise to create 700,000 jobs in seven years. But county officials said talks with Garda began last summer, well before Scott was sworn in.

“There were a number of things the company had to do in preparation,” for Wednesday’s announcement, said Gary Hines of the Palm Beach County Business Development Board.

The incentives would be paid over six years, the county has said. Garda has 45,000 employees around the world and sells a variety of security services, including armored vehicles to transport cash and background checks of potential employees.

Garda’s interest in Palm Beach County follows a drop in the cost of doing business here. A report released earlier this year by a nationwide financial firm found the county’s costs ranked 40th of 55 metro areas.

“This is the most difficult budget year the county has ever faced.”
– Palm Beach County Administrator Bob Weisman, June 6, 2011
– also June 8, 2010
–also May 28, 2009

Crafting a budget for the Palm Beach County government keeps getting more difficult.

Palm Beach County Administrator Bob Weisman unveiled a spending plan for 2011-12 on Monday and called the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1 “the most difficult budget year the county has ever faced.”

Weisman used the exact same language a year ago when he proposed a 2010-11 budget.

And he used the exact same sentence two years ago to describe the 2009-10 budget year.

Democratic activist Rick Neuhoff, on the possibility that he’ll be running against five-term Palm Beach County commissioner Burt Aaronson in 2012, says: “I think any time that any elected official has been in office for so long that they proclaim themselves royalty, that’s a problem.”

Read about it in this week’s Politics column, where you’ll also find:

* How long it took Aaronson, a critic of long wait times at Tax Collector offices, to get his driver license renewed last week.

* Which two local Dems were singled out for criticism amid all the Rick Scott and GOP bashing at last week’s “Awake the State” rally.

* What might lead former Lake Worth city commissioner Cara Jennings to run for mayor in next month’s special election.

Plans to dramatically revamp Florida pensions at the state and city levels appeared headed Friday toward the finish line — far short of where Gov. Rick Scott and lawmakers had initially proposed.

House and Senate negotiators have settled on extracting 3 percent paycheck contributions from 655,000 teachers, police, firefighters and other government employees enrolled in the Florida Retirement System, part of an effort to pull $1.1 billion into the state’s recession-strapped budget.

But a plan to scrap the state’s Deferred Retirement Option Program (DROP) has been abandoned,  House and Senate negotiators agreed. The House had wanted to bar the lucrative early retirement program to new enrollees in July; the Senate in 2016.

But what emerged Friday night from House lead negotiator Ritch Workman, R-Melbourne, was a proposal to reduce the 6.5 percent interest rate paid on DROP benefits to 1.3 percent. The move will save $81 million, if agreed to by Sen. Lizbeth Benacquisto, R-Wellington, the Senate’s lead negotiator on the Florida Retirement System.

Among other changes nearing agreement are a plan to increase the retirement age for new enrollees in the FRS from age 62 to 65.  An existing 3 percent cost-of-living adjustment would be eliminated for service earned after July 1, with Workman saying the goal being that it would be reinstated in 2016.

That change save $404.8 million, analysts said.

Meanwhile, plans to revamp municipal pensions also have been scaled-back. (more…)

A compromise between two big Republican backers — the Florida Medical Association and the National Rifle Association — cleared the GOP-dominated House Tuesday, setting new standards for doctors treating gun-owning patients and families.

The legislation (CS/HB 155) bars health care professionals from including in a patient’s health record information about gun ownership, unless it is relevant to medical care or the safety of others. An earlier version of the bill would have made doctors subject to 5 years in prison or $5,000 fines if they asked about a patient’s gun ownership.

The measure was approved 88-30.

“Owning guns is a fundamental right,” said Rep. Charles Van Zant, R-Palatka. “It’s not to be infringed upon by your doctor.”

During debate, several lawmakers paid homage to longtime Affiliated Sportsmen of Florida lobbyist Marion Hammer, seated in the House gallery and celebrating a birthday Tuesday. She described the timing as “coincidence.”
(more…)

Florida’s once-vaunted growth management laws would be sharply scaled-back under legislation approved 86-31 Thursday by the Republican-ruled House, in a mostly party-line vote.

Supporters of the bill (CS/HB 7129) said existing laws have grown outdated and prove an obstacle to a state that still looks to development to help drive economic recovery. Also, they said the state should play a reduced role in local development decisions.

“We have one-size fits all growth management that no longer makes sense,” said Rep. Erik Fresen, R-Miami.

The measure eliminates state oversight of local planning except when proposals with statewide impact are involved.

Standards for citizens challenging development projects also would be toughened, giving builders more leeway to go ahead with projects they can prove will have some positive economic impact.

Concurrency — a provision that requires that schools, parks and adequate roads are in place before development is completed, would be reduced to an option for cities and counties to demand of developers. It’s currently mandatory.

“This will bring us back to the days of poor planning and sprawl,” said Rep. Lori Berman, D-Delray Beach. (more…)

Mary McCarty is back in Palm Beach County.

The former county commissioner, who pleaded guilty in 2009 to a federal felony count of honest services fraud, left a Texas prison Thursday and checked into a West Palm Beach-area halfway house to serve the remaining six months of her sentence, her husband confirmed Thursday night.

“She looks great and is in terrific spirits,” Kevin McCarty said.

Mary McCarty was the third county commissioner in a period of less than three years to resign, plead guilty to corruption charges and go to prison. Former colleagues Tony Masilotti and Warren Newell have already completed their sentences — and are both seeking to have their honest services fraud convictions thrown out and their forfeited assets returned.

(more…)

Florida lawmakers did a U-turn Thursday on the red-light cameras they approved only last year — with a House committee approving a proposal to outlaw the devices being installed by dozens of cities.

Rep. Richard Corcoran, R-New Port Richey, told the Economic Affairs Committee the cameras intrude on the privacy rights of motorists, centering most of his argument on civil liberty issues.

Cities, including West Palm Beach, have been struggling with the new cameras. Some have not been drawing the significant revenue they’d hoped for through fine collections, with motorists successfully challenging citations in court.

West Palm Beach officials have  lately landed more of the $150 fines from motorists accused of running red lights — but only after bringing in some top shelf attorneys to represent the city in court.

“When you have these kinds of technological advantages to police, it’s just not fair,” said Corcoran, first elected last fall but already tapped to become House speaker in 2017. “Let’s repeal this bill and look at all these technological issues from the bottom up.”

Corcoran’s bill narrowly cleared the committee on a 10-8 vote — with most Republicans supporting their rising leader. Democrats were opposed, saying the cameras deserve more time to work in cities — and that they do save lives.

Rep. Evan Jenne, D-Fort Lauderdale, acknowledged Corcoran’s freedom argument. “But you don’t have the freedom to break the law,” Jenne said.

The state’s Revenue Estimating Conference projected the red light cameras would bring in roughly $100 million into the state and $75 million into local governments over two years.

More than 100 Palm Beach County officials, business leaders and staff fanned out Wednesday across the Capitol in another recession-era version of the Legislature’s annual Palm Beach County Day.

Gone are the beads – the colorful and increasingly elaborate symbols of the county’s visits, usually timed near Mardi Gras. Instead, those attending the schmooze-fest said the event was mostly business.

“I’ve had my day planned out to the minute,” said County Commissioner Steve Abrams. “It’s very strategic, who we’re meeting with and when.”

Still, the 2011 model retained the high-end sponsors — Florida Crystals Corp., Realtors Association, and Schoolhouse Consulting Group were among those underwriting the festivities, which included steamtables of pasta and steamships of beef  at an evening reception in the Senate portico.

(more…)

Palm Beach County Commissioner Burt Aaronson said Wednesday he thinks state lawmakers should embrace the county’s call for banning gun clips containing more than 15 rounds — especially following Arizona U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords’ shooting earlier this year.

But the legislation, proposed by Rep. Lori Berman and Sen. Maria Sachs,  both Delray Beach Democrats, likely faces tall odds in a Republican Legislature filled with lawmakers elected with the backing of the National Rifle Association.

“You know, a TV commentator has said, ‘the first 10 rounds, blame the person, the next 21 rounds, you should blame the law,’” said Aronson, who joined Berman and Sachs at a Capitol news conference to promote the legislation, which has not yet been scheduled for a hearing.

House Bill 1335, which Representative Berman filed on Monday, limits the sale or transfer of high-volume ammunition devices with a capacity greater than 15 bullets.

 Giffords was critically wounded when accused assailant Jared Loughner, who is charged in January’s shooting near Tucson, used a high-capacity magazine to fire 31 shots in 15 seconds from a pistol he purchased legally. Six people were killed and 14 wounded. (more…)

The fate of a grand jury’s call for tougher sanctions against political corruption now goes to the politicians — with legislation pending in the House and Senate.

Sen. Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey, filed legislation (SB 1484)  this week that would allow as much as $100,000 in civil fines for some ethics violations — a tenfold increase in currrent penalties. Also, a new $5,000 penalty would be imposed on lobbyists who fail to accurately submit financial disclosure reports.

“Public officials need to be held to a high standard,” Fasano said Thursday.

Fasano, one of former Gov. Charlie Crist’s last allies in the Leigslature, if following through on the recommendations of a statewide grand jury examining public corruption in Florida. Crist sought the grand jury investigation following a string of high-profile corruption cases.

Rep. Lori Berman, D-Delray Beach, filed legislation (HB 249) in January that would boost penalties on public officials convicted in criminal cases of corruption. In addition to the statewide grand jury report, two Palm Beach County grand juries also recommended additional public corruption laws.

Palm Beach County Commissioner Burt Aaronson told a county Democratic Executive Committee meeting tonight that people need to speak up about the county budget as commissioners decide what level of taxes to levy and services to provide.

“I know what I want to do, I want to give you the services,” Aaronson told the audience of about 100 Democratic activists west of Delray Beach.

“But if you tell me that you don’t want the services, you’re willing to cut back, and you don’t want to go to the library seven days a week — cut it down to two days — and if you don’t want the children to have the lights in the park, and you don’t want to have as many sheriff’s deputies on the road, you tell me, then I’ll know what to do.

“But I think, being a Democrat, I don’t think taxes are a dirty word. Taxes are what makes the world go ’round. And we are not Republicans, so we have to think a little differently. And if we have to take another buck out of our pocket, we want the people to have, we want the children to have,” the five-term incumbent said.