UPDATE: Senate President Jeff Atwater called to clarify his position on the decision not to hold a special session on oil spill-related issues. Here’s what he had to say:

“I haven’t changed my mind on anything. I don’t know how I could have tried any harder,” Atwater said about the House’s decision that a special session is unnecessary this year. He said a special session is both “timely and necessary.”

There’s no need for a special session to address the fall-out from BP’s Deepwater Horizon oil rig blast that pumped millions of gallons of hydrocarbons into the Gulf of Mexico, House Speaker Larry Cretul and Senate President Jeff Atwater have decided.

Despite earlier promises that lawmakers would convene as early as September to try to give a helping hand to fishermen and others in the Panhandle whose finances have crumbled in the aftermath of the April 20 disaster, the pair are convinced those issues can wait until the regular session next year in March.

“It would appear that while there are some issues where legislative action may be appropriate, there are no issues that require immediate formal legislative action. Additionally, there are several areas where it is clear that we do not yet possess the information necessary to make informed decisions. Moreover, many of these issues require solutions that would benefit from closer scrutiny during a regular legislative session,” Cretul, R-Ocala, wrote to House members today.

Atwater, who is running statewide for chief financial officer, apparently agreed although he had previously pushed the House to come back early.

Atwater, R-North Palm Beach, said he asked his select committee “to continue developing proposals, gathering data, and working with incoming leadership in preparation for the next session” in a memo to the his members today.

We’re not wild about posting campaign web videos on the blog. But we’ll make an exception here for a couple reasons.

One, is that for now, the focus on new media/direct media/online media/internet strategy approach will be modus operandi from Democratic CFO candidate Loranne Ausley in her bid against the better-funded Republican opponent, Palm Beach County’s own Jeff Atwater.

Two, is that Atwater turned to the Republican Party of Florida to respond to the video, a sign Atwater is going to wait as long as possible to publicly acknowledge this race.

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Senate President Jeff Atwater called BP claims czar Ken Feinberg’s observation that things appear to be back to normal in the Panhandle premature and “dismissive of Floridians.”

Atwater, who’s running for chief financial officer against Democrat Loranne Ausley, issued a press release in response to a story today in The Palm Beach Post in which Feinberg said that Northwest Florida fishermen may not be eligible for the full six months of emergency payments other businesses may be entitled to when he takes over BP’s maligned claims system at 12:01 a.m. Monday.

“Despite incomplete data about the threats facing the people of our state, Ken Feinberg was quoted today saying that ‘I’m watching on TV. The beaches look fabulous.’ These remarks came as he seemed dismissive of Floridians who are seeking financial relief. Understanding the serious problems facing Floridians along the Gulf takes more than watching television, and our beaches are not the only place in Florida facing the threat,” Atwater said in a statement issued by his campaign.

Feinberg, appointed by BP and President Barack Obama to handle claims for individuals and businesses harmed by the April 20 Deepwater Horizon oil blast, made his remarks at a meeting in Pensacola on Tuesday, the same day several academic institutions refuted federal officials’ contention that most of the oil leaked into the Gulf of Mexico has disappeared.

“Our state has a unique and precious marine ecosystem, and scientists are still reporting that this ecosystem is in trouble. Just today, some of the best and brightest researchers at the University of South Florida said between 70 and 79 percent of all the oil that was spilled is under the surface and still causing ecological damage,” Atwater wrote. “For BP or the federal government to cut and run now would only create another catastrophe.”

Lawmakers appear to have abandoned their earlier pledge to hold a special session on the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in September and instead could possibly wait until the regular session in March.

Rep. Gary Aubuchon, the coordinator of the House’s five Deepwater Horizon oil spill work groups, has until Aug. 31 to give House Speaker Larry Cretul a report on possible legislation to help revive the Florida Panhandle economy or provide tax breaks to residents there. Aubuchon said Tuesday those suggestions probably won’t go to Cretul until sometime during the first week of September.

And although some Panhandle business owners have already shuttered operations and others are on the brink of doing the same because of plummeting revenues during their peak summer tourist season that coincided with the April 20 oil disaster, Aubuchon said early reports from his leaders show there’s no need to rush.

“We are continuing to ask the questions, attend the meetings, gather the data and looking for a productive role the state could play. Whether we begin to play that role in September, or November, or during the regular session is a question yet to be answered,” Aubuchon, R-Cape Coral, said after meeting with Ken Feinberg, the claims czar who will take over BP’s problematic claims system on Monday at 12:01 a.m.

“One of the questions I’m asking each work group coordinator to answer is does anything you are working on now or anticipate working on necessitate the need for a special session? The early feedback I’m getting is no it does not,” Aubuchon said. “But the final conclusion has not been reached. And of course that is a decision that will be made by our presiding officers in the House and Senate.”

Even the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association, whose members would probably benefit the most, is ok with holding off on a special session until after November.

Sen. Don Gaetz wants to pass a bill that would allow the FRLA to access up to $5 million of a trust fund comprised of fees paid by restaurant and hotel owners. There’s about $9 million in the trust fund, which is supposed to be earmarked for promotions.

FRLA President Carol Dover said she met with GOP legislative leaders last week.
“Coming into September with the group that are going to be gone or waiting until the organizational session with the group that are going to be bound by what they have passed could be a better way,” Dover said.

Lawmakers met in an aborted special session late in June after being ordered bv Gov. Charlie Crist to take up a constitutional amendment banning offshore drilling. They left in less than two hours without passing anything.

But before the special session even began, Senate President Jeff Atwater asked Cretul, R-Ocala, to consider a special session late in August or in September.

Atwater reiterated that hope yesterday.

The North Palm Beach Republican who is running statewide for chief financial officer believes lawmakers should meet within a month “to provide Floridians the assistance and relief that they need in the wake of this crisis,” Emhof said.

Former Rep. Loranne Ausley, isn’t waiting until the primaries are over to bash her GOP opponent – Senate President Jeff Atwater – in the race for state CFO.

Ausley’s blasting Atwater’s voting record on spending issues in an attempt to paint the North Palm Beach banker as a Tallahassee insider (Ausley spent eight years in the Florida House and whose family has ties to the late Gov. Lawton Chiles) out of touch with Floridians.

Ausley’s latest attack slammed Atwater for a program that did away with 71 prison work squad jobs and created a controversial new private prison in the Panhandle.

Ausley dubbed the Blackwater River Correctional Institution, run by Boca Raton-based Geo Group, the “Prison to Nowhere” that cost taxpayers $110 million during this year’s budget-slashing session. According to the Florida Department of Corrections, which fiercely opposed opening the prison this early, the prison work squads saved taxpayers $35.7 million.

“Senate President Jeff Atwater’s ‘prison to nowhere’ is yet another product of the broken system in Tallahassee, and once again Florida taxpayers are stuck with the bill,” said Ausley. “Floridians are fed up with politicians who play by their own rules with our money. Whether it’s the ‘Tallahassee Taj Mahal,’ the ‘Prison to Nowhere’ or an airport hanger for a political contributor, politicians in Tallahassee need to be held accountable.”

Ausley last week slammed Atwater for supporting a new District Court of Appeals courthouse building in Tallahassee, which she called the ‘Taj Mahal.’

Senate President Jeff Atwater, R-North Palm Beach, just sent a letter to House Speaker Larry Cretul, R-Ocala, asking him to agree to a special session after the Aug. 24 primary that would allow lawmakers to address issues related directly to the oil spill.

Lawmakers are scheduled to return on Tuesday to consider putting a constitutional ban on drilling in state waters on the November ballot. Gov. Charlie Crist is forcing lawmakers to deal with that question.

But there are competing opinions on that amendment. Atwater, a candidate for state CFO and one of the few Republicans who has consistently opposed oil drilling, is a crucial voice in whether the constitutional amendment passes or fails next week. He does not mention the amendment in his letter.

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Senate President Jeff Atwater, R-North Palm Beach, sent a letter to Gov. Charlie Crist this afternoon with some pointed questions about the $25 million BP promised the state to spend on a national advertising campaign to promote the state’s clean beaches.

From the letter:

…our reaction to the burgeoning economic crisis already unfolding has not been as sensitive to the immediate needs of the citizens of our Gulf coast.

A great deal of mystery continues to shroud the very process by which funds are to be made
available by British Petroleum (BP) to assist in market-driven initiatives aimed at reassuring the
traveling public that Florida continues to be a viable and attractive choice for visiting and
vacationing.

I am told that a Memorandum of Understanding between BP and the State exists but has yet to be executed. I would respectfully urge your office to share with the citizens of this State exactly how these funds are to be transmitted to and received by the State, how they will be spent, who will drive the process of distribution, how decisions on deployment will be made, and who will be asked to participate in that decision making.

David Halstead, director of the Division of Emergency Management, said yesterday that he had a memorandum of understanding signed by BP officials. Halstead he would sign it as soon as lawyers looked it over. Atwater urged him to get the document finalized ASAP.

We checked in with Halstead’s folks for a copy of that MOU about an hour before Atwater sent his letter to Crist and were told it was “still being vetted.”

Here’s Atwater’s letter.

Also, a recap of the Atwater-Halstead meeting yesterday and a link to our continuing coverage of the oil spill.

UPDATE: Here’s the print version of the story.

Some scribbles in my notebook after an interesting afternoon in the State Emergency Operations Center, where Senate President Jeff Atwater, R-North Palm Beach, was briefed on the ongoing oil spill in the Gulf.

1.) Let’s start by pointing out that politically this is a major I-told-you-so-moment for Atwater, who was the only Republican with a nice big state Capitol office who didn’t want to lift the state ban on oil drilling.

If it wasn’t for Atwater fighting considerable pressure, even from Gov. Charlie Crist, it’s very reasonable to think a bill to allow drilling within 10 miles of the coast would have been approved by the Republican-controlled legislature this year or even signed into law by Crist at this time last year.

2.) So, sure, his skepticism over the oil industry safety claims were pretty much exactly on target. And yeah, this is the same guy who justified a budget line item for public libraries with a story about how, as a boy, he rode his bike to check out a Johnny Unitas biography over and over again.

But make no mistake: He’s no angel. Actually, he’s got a bit of a potty mouth.

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Two Palm Beach County lawmakers hoping to springboard into statewide office are in very different positions, according to a new Mason Dixon poll released this morning.

Senate President Jeff Atwater, R-North Palm Beach, is up 33 percent to 26 percent over former state Rep. Loranne Ausley, D-Tallahassee, in the likely match up of state chief financial officer candidates.

Technically, Atwater still has a primary opponent in Rep. Pat Patterson of DeLand. But Atwater holds a 30-to-1 fundraising advantage and Patterson has said he will not use Atwater’s support for Senate Bill 6 in the race. Patterson voted against it, but said the education issue wouldn’t be appropriate in a CFO race.

Meanwhile, the poll shows state Sen. Dave Aronberg of Greenacres locked in a dogfight with fellow Sen. Dan Gelber of Miami Beach in the Democratic primary for attorney general . The poll, which has a 4 percent margin of error showed Gelber with 15 percent, Aronberg with 12 percent and undecided with 73 percent.

Other results from the poll:

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Gov. Charlie Crist said lawmakers will be back in Tallahassee and he hopes it will happen by the end of the month.

“I’d like to do it in a couple weeks,” he said. “The people are concerned about it now. I sense it.”

Crist said he had a “wonderful” and “productive” talk Monday with Senate President Jeff Atwater about a potential special session to put on the November ballot a constitutional amendment that would ban offshore drilling.

Atwater told us last week that he’d be open to a special session, saying it was “an interesting twist” after Crist lobbied him in 2009 to support a House bill that would have allowed oil and gas drilling within 10 miles of state beaches.

“The governor is now suggesting that he wants a constitutional amendment to protect us from his own ideas,” said Atwater, a candidate for state chief financial officer who stopped the bill in the Senate. “It is quite interesting.”

Crist reiterated that he’d like the special session to include renewable energy issues that don’t drive up costs for consumers.

“You look at things that wouldn’t drive up rates – tax cuts, incentives, things like that for the utilities to do more solar, wind,” Crist said.

Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Mike Sole will update lawmakers about the state’s preparation for the massive oil spill leaking in the Gulf of Mexico on a conference call at 2 p.m. this afternoon.

Senate President Jeff Atwater, who is running statewide for chief financial officer and has quietly opposed drilling off of Florida’s coast being pushed by GOP House leaders, invited his members to listen in.

“Since the issue of offshore drilling was first raised last year, I have been committed to ensuring no decision to open state waters to drilling would be made without a thorough study of the implications. The impact that a catastrophe, such as the Deepwater Horizon spill, could have on Florida was at the forefront of my mind. Despite the many individuals who championed the fiscal benefits and decried possible negative impacts, I was resolute in the need for a comprehensive study,” Atwater, R-North Palm Beach, said in a memo.

“Florida is home to too many precious and unique ecosystems, world-renowned beaches, and an economy that is significantly based on tourism, to take the implications that surround offshore drilling lightly.

Thus, the Senate is actively monitoring the Deepwater Horizon spill. As this catastrophe plays out in the gulf, I want you to be informed as to the most recent efforts and actions underway to contain the damage and preparations being considered for cleaning up any oil that may reach our shores,” he wrote.

Today, at 2 PM, DEP Secretary Mike Sole will be conducting a teleconference for members of the Legislature. I strongly encourage you to participate by calling 888-808-6959 and entering the following code: 2452140#.

It looked for a while like the session would end without the ceremonial sine die hankie drop.

Not to worry, traditionalists.

House Speaker Larry Cretul shut down shop about two hours before his counterpart Jeff Atwater, in his final turn as President and as a senator, unhurriedly guided his chamber to a conclusion.

About 8:30 p.m., Cretul and a bipartisan contingent of House GOP leaders and Democrats entered the Senate and lined the center aisle as the House and Senate sergeants-at-arms prepared to drop the white hankies.

At 8:47 p.m., the hankies fell.

It lacked the pageantry but was a much more intimate affair than in prior years, and there was no chance that newly-non-partisan Gov. Charlie Crist could drop in out on the rotunda floor. (He couldn’t have anyway; he was en route to Miami).

“It took us a while, but we finally got the House to come around to the Senate position,” Atwater, R-North Palm Beach, joked later.

Among the items settled at this morning’s budget negotiations is $250,000 for the state’s 30 rape crisis centers.

Senate budget chief J.D. Alexander made sure the money for the centers that provide emergency services to rape victims made it into Florida’s $69 billion budget after President Jeff Atwater was asked about the item yesterday evening.

Atwater, R-North Palm Beach, said at the time that he had dozens of similar requests from advocates sitting on his desk and he had yet to sort through them.

However the other agencies fared, rape victim advocates are calling Alexander, R-Lake Wales, a hero today.

Alexander and House counterpart David Rivera, R-Miami, have finished up their work for today. Atwater and House Speaker Larry Cretul, R-Ocala, will likely iron out the final differences between their two spending plans by Tuesday.

The Florida Senate said goodbye to President Jeff Atwater this morning in a bipartisan laudatory tribute capped off by the unveiling of his portrait.

“A wonderful, wonderful textbook example of what a president ought to be,” said Sen. Frederica Wilson, a Miami Democrat. “Mr. Atwater, President of the Senate, is a class act.”

Flanked by his wife Carole and two of his four children, Atwater addressed the Senate for the last time with just a week left to the 2010 legislative session. The North Palm Beach banker is quitting the Senate to run statewide for chief financial officer.

“I know we have been in challenging times. I know we have often asked the question, how do we get to this place of the prosperity and the opportunity that Floridians have so long fought for?” Atwater told the chamber, holding up a pamphlet. “I just would like to share with you two last places where I hold faith: the inspired words of our Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of our country.”
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After six years, victims of childhood sexual abuse stand a good chance of eliminating the statute of limitations on sex crimes against children between the ages of 12 and 16.

Senate President Jeff Atwater said yesterday he wants the measure to pass and Gov. Charlie Crist said today he’s likely to sign it into law.

“It probably makes sense. It just sounds like common sense. If you find out that somebody committed such a heinous crime as that and it was a long time ago, it still was a heinous crime,” Crist told reporters today.

The House is expected to vote on the bill (HB 525) and the Senate could vote on it as early as tomorrow.

The Florida Catholic Conference has successfully thwarted similar legislation for the past six years, and continues to lobby against doing away with the current statute of limitations for institutions like the Catholic Church but supports doing away with the time restrictions on cases involving individual defendants.

On Tuesday, the Conference wrote a letter to Atwater, R-North Palm Beach, asking him to amend the bill to address the Catholic’s concerns.

“The open-ended nature of these proposals creates tremendous uncertainty for any organization’s potential liability for alleged acts of negligence,” Florida Catholic Conference executive director Mike McCarron wrote to Atwater.

“There’s no statute of limitations on suffering so there should be no statute of limitations on justice,” Atwater, who is running statewide for chief financial officer, told The Palm Beach Post yesterday.

The Catholic Church is ramping up efforts to water down a measure backed by victims of childhood sexual abuse that would do away with the statute of limitations on sex crimes on children between the ages of 12 and 16.

The Florida Catholic Conference wants Senate President Jeff Atwater to help modify the bill now that it’s ready to hit the Senate floor despite the conference’s lobbying to limit the number of years a victim has to press charges against a molester.

The Catholic conference is okay with doing away with the current statute of limitations for individuals who commit the crimes but wants a time limit on criminal or civil charges against institutions like churches involved in the abuse.

The reason? Money.

“The open-ended nature of these proposals creates tremendous uncertainty for any organization’s potential liability for alleged acts of negligence,” Florida Catholic Conference executive director Mike McCarron wrote in a letterto Atwater, R-North Palm Beach, yesterday.

“We fully support the added protection for children that will come from these bills. It is also our hope that an amendment will be adopted to reasonably limit what we believe is inequitable institutional liability for private employers.”

The House is expected to pass its version of the bill (SB 870, HB 525) tomorrow.

The church has fought off efforts to do away with the time restrictions for the past six years. Lawmakers have seven working days left before the session ends to pass the bill this year.

McCarron said he’s tried to amend the bill to exclude institutions or to set a time limit of up to 30 years.

Meanwhile, Pope Benedict XVI promised today that the Roman Catholic Church would take official action on a growing scandal over sexual abuse by priests.

In an unusual move, Benedict spoke openly about his meeting with abuse victims during a trip to Malta and said he promised them the church would take action.

“I shared their suffering and emotionally prayed with them,” the pope said during his weekly audience at The Vatican, describing his visit on Sunday with eight Maltese men who claim to have been molested by priests as youths.

The church will investigate the allegations, bring justice to those responsible for the abuse and “implement effective measures designed to safeguard young people in the future,” the Vatican said in a statement.

Last week, the Vatican issued guidelines instructing bishops to report abuse cases to civil authorities where required by local laws.
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The House and Senate canceled budget negotiations scheduled to begin this weekend.

Shortly before the slated 10 a.m. organizational conference meeting, both chambers sent out terse announcements that the powwows weren’t going to happen.

“Despite our earlier optimism, it has become apparent that budget conferences will be unable to meet this weekend. We will continue working with our House partners and will notify you when we have further information.

“I hope you have a pleasant weekend with your families and look forward to seeing you next week,” Senate President Jeff Atwater, R-North Palm Beach, told his members in an e-mail.

“The 10:00 am Budget Conference organizational meeting has been postponed. We do not anticipate any conference meetings being scheduled today. Please continue to monitor your emails throughout the weekend so we can keep you up to date. Thank you for your patience and hard work,” House Speaker Larry Cretul, R-Ocala, said in his message.

The news likely didn’t set well with many lawmakers who canceled their trips home late yesterday afternoon when the leaders originally announced the conferences would kick off this weekend.

t

Senate President Jeff Atwater, R-North Palm Beach, addressed a crowd of about 600 at a “We the People” rally Thursday afternoon on the steps of the Old Capitol in Tallahassee. The rally was one of thousands that took place across the country on tax day.

Part 1

Part 2

A proposed statewide referendum that wouldn’t really do anything to balance any budget but would send a statement to Congress generated a lot of heat in the House Rules committee this morning.

“Basically House memorials are meaningless. They’re like toilet paper,” House Democratic leader Ron Saunders said of the proposal.

The “nonbinding statewide advisory referendum,” pushed by GOP leaders including Senate President Jeff Atwater and already passed by the Senate, would ask voters the following question:

In order to stop the uncontrolled growth of our national debt and prevent excessive borrowing by the Federal Government, which threatens jobs, robs America and our children of their opportunity for success, and threatens our national security, should the United States Constitution be amended to require a balanced federal budget without raising taxes?

“This sends a message today that federal spending is out of control and we need to have a balance,” House budget chief David Rivera, R-Miami, told the Rules Committee this morning.

But Saunders and other Dems objected to the strongly-worded proposal as election-year “propaganda,” “incendiary” and “hypocritical” because lawmakers raised millions of dollars in drivers “fees” and cigarette taxes to balance the budget last year.

“The language here is unnecessary and just an opportunity to demagogue,” said Saunders, D-Key West, who offered an amendment changing the language to “Should the U.S. Constitution be amended to require a balanced federal budget?”

His amendment failed, and the referendum passed along partisan lines.

UPDATE: Folks connected to the ad say its running in the West Palm Beach and Tallahassee markets.

The ad is from No Tallahassee Takeover Inc., a group registered to teachers union attorney Ron Meyer. It’s in response to a merit-pay plan approved by Jeff Atwater‘s chamber last week — the same plan that forced House Speaker Larry Cretul’s office to add extra phone lines to handle all the calls coming in from irate teachers.