Attorney and state senator Joe Negron, R-Stuart, has jumped to the Gunster law firm from the Akerman Senterfitt law firm, where he has worked for more than five years.

In doing so, Negron leaves a firm that represents BP North America in civil claims arising from the Gulf oil spill. He is the second state politician to quit Akerman in recent weeks. Earlier this week, Dan Gelber, a Miami Beach state senator and Democratic attorney general candidate, announced he quit the firm after it agreed to represent BP.

Story here.

UPDATE: Sen. Joe Negron successfully attached the children’s services agreement to a bill dealing with early childhood education this afternoon but the Senate didn’t take a final vote on the bill (SB 2014) yet.

The state’s children’s services councils agreed to a deal with Sen. Joe Negron this year because they would likely have fared worse in the future, a lobbyist for the special taxing districts said.

Negron’s deal would require that voters reauthorize the state’s eight children’s services councils that have taxing authority periodically, beginning in 2014 with Martin, St. Lucie and Okeechobee counties.

The councils voted to accept the deal yesterday but Martin and St. Lucie refused to vote on the plan that would require voter reauthorization every 12 years unless the referendum specified another time frame or no future vote at all.

Negron, already a Senate leader after less than a year in office, will be even more powerful after his reelection in the fall, said the state council association’s lobbyist Ron Book.

Negron believes that all boards, councils or other groups that have the ability to tax citizens should be elected.

The Stuart Republican wants the change because he’s unhappy with the Martin council’s spending on a new headquarters.

Children’s advocates say the councils are an easy target because they have less clout than taxing authorities like water management districts.

“I think they’re right. But that doesn’t mean that he as a policy maker and an elected member of the Florida Senate shouldn’t move legislation that he thinks is right,” Book said.

He said the councils weren’t forced into the deal but they would likely do worse next year.

“There is less incentive for Sen. Negron to negotiate a compromise next year or the year after than there was this year,” Book said. “Sen. Negron becomes an even more significant leader in the Florida Senate after his reelection and I think that that is an issue they had to consider. Will you do better to negotiate a compromise today than later? They were in a better position to negotiate something that they could live with today than they would be next year.”

Negron, who plans to amend a bill with the compromise today on the Senate floor, said he never threatened the councils and that they are working with him to ensure that the House signs off on the agreement.
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The Senate Communications, Energy and Public Utilities Committee gave a preliminary nod to Gov. Charlie Crist’s two latest picks for the Public Service Commission, David Klement and Benjamin “Steve” Stevens.

But, judging from the questions and comments at this morning’s hearings, the new utility regulators who helped kill two proposed rate hikes – including Florida Power & Light Co.’s requested $1.2 billion increase – have a ways to go.

“This is the first step in a very long process,” said chairman Alex Diaz de la Portilla, R-Miami.

The committee gave the pair a preliminary nod with an 8-1 vote. Sen. Chris Smith, a black Democrat from Ft. Lauderdale, voted against the appointees because, he said, there are no minorities on the panel.

Sens. Mike Haridopolos and Joe Negron peppered the pair with questions that mirrored the investor-owned utilities dissatisfaction with the regulators that turned down nearly $2 billion in proposed rate increases since they joined the panel this year.

Negron asked Stevens, a Pensacola bar owner and accountant, about the regulator’s statements during a January hearing in which Stevens said he would oppose a rate increase in the future.

Negron, a Republican lawyer from Stuart, wanted to know if Stevens has already made up his mind about future votes.

“I’m not predisposed. I’m open-minded but I do recognize that I’ve got technical guys here, technical guys there and they’re very smart and we have to make a decision,” Stevens said.

Haridopolos was even more pointed. He said that the PSC’s refusal to grant the rate hikes has made it harder and more expensive for the utilities to borrow money.

Haridopolos also grilled both regulators on whether they feel pressure from Crist to vote a certain way after Crist threatened to fire any commissioners who supported the rate hikes.

“We expect you to call balls and strikes. And we expect not to hear about the legislature should do this or that. We expect you to do your job. We move away from the obvious politics that are being played,” Haridopolos, R-Indialantic, said. Lawmakers want commissioners “who don’t care what the governor thinks, don’t care what the legislature thinks, and look at the long term view,” he went on.

“I will take the long-term view,” Stevens assured him.

The Senate Ethics and Elections Committee must vote on the appointees before a full Senate vote.

The separation of church and state has been in Florida’s constitution for more than a century.

But that might this fall under a proposal approved by a Senate committee this morning that could go before voters on the November ballot.

The “Religious Freedom” amendment would delete the 125-year-old provision in the constitution prohibiting state money from being spent directly or indirectly to aid any church, sect or religious denomination. And it would open the door to former Gov. Jeb Bush’s school voucher program allowing public school students to use state money to pay for religious school tuition that the Florida Supreme Court struck down.

Also known as the “Blaine Amendment,” the separation of church and state restriction was an anti-Catholic, anti-immigration measure aimed at keeping Catholics from obtaining government funding for their schools.

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A House committee killed one of Sen. Joe Negron’s priority bills on a tie vote this afternoon after using a procedural maneuver to keep opponents of the measure from speaking against it.

The measure (HB 1227, SB 1216) would have made the state’s 8 children’s services boards be re-authorized by voters every six years. County commissions can now put the boards, which have taxing authority, on the referendum whenever they want.

Negron sponsored the bill because because he’s miffed about the Martin County Children’s Services Council, which was planning to spend millions on new headquarters in his Stuart hometown.

Palm Beach County Commissioner Jeff Koons was among opponents of the measure who traveled to Tallahassee to testify against it.

They didn’t get to say a word.

With the end of the House Military and Local Affairs Policy Committee meeting nearing, member Chris Dorworth used a procedural maneuver to limit debate on the issue to the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Debbie Mayfield, R-Vero Beach, and one opponent who sits on the committee.

Two Republicans joined Democrats to kill the measure on a 7-7 vote.

I swear I’m not picking on state Sen Joe Negron. The second blog post (after this one earlier) about him today is just a coincidence…

The Sun-Sentinel reported this week that the Stuart Republican criticized President Obama’s health care bill because it would let “middle class” people enroll in Medicaid, a health care program designed for the poor. (Negron opposes the health care bill: He encouraged Attorney General Bill McCollum to sue over it and offered a budget amendment this week to counter some parts of it.)

The federal health care reform does expand Medicaid eligibility to 133 percent of the poverty line, which is about $29,326 for a family of four.

Just a couple of weeks earlier, however, Negron told the Senate Finance & Tax Committee that his own plan to expand the state voucher program is aimed at “the poorest of the poor.”

How does Negron define “poorest of the poor”? Well, Negron’s bill (SB 2126) would let families at 230 percent of the federal poverty level — or $50,517 for a family of four — keep half of their voucher to attend private schools.

Martin County Sheriff Bob Crowder says he’ll decide in the next couple of months whether to challenge Sen. Joe Negron of Stuart in a Republican primary. From Stuart News columnist Eve Samples:

What would motivate him to walk away from his job as sheriff a whole two years before his term ends?

He is dissatisfied with the way Negron has tackled children’s issues, and he says he has heard from others around the state who are, too. In particular, Crowder opposes Negron’s Senate Bill 1216, which would subject local Children’s Services Councils to periodic referendums.

“I know that we are not doing a good job of preventing crime by not supporting the issues that help children,” said Crowder, who also is a Republican.

The Senate approved a sweeping overhaul of Medicaid that would require some Medicaid recipients to pay deductibles and co-payments and give vouchers to others for medical care.

Sen. Joe Negron, R-Stuart, introduced what he called the “transformative” change as an amendment to the budget (SB 2700), which drew criticism from Democrats who objected the major changes should have been debated in committees.

The proposal would give state health care officials the authority to develop a new waiver program for Florida’s $18 billion Medicaid program. Federal officials would have to approve the waiver.

Negron said the time is urgent because the federal health care reforms signed into law by President Barack Obama could significantly increase the state’s spending on Medicaid, the health care program for the poor.

“The reason we can’t put money into education into other areas of the budget is because…they just come hand us an invoice, you owe us $1.8 billion more this year.
I don’t know why it should be entitled to preferential treatment over all the other needs of the state,” Negron said. “The time right now is urgent.”

The proposal is “a wholesale change of one of the largest and most important programs in this state,” objected Democrat Nan Rich, vice chairwoman of the Senate Health and Human Services Appropriations Committee.

“This is a huge policy and appropriations issue. It does not belong passed or defeated on this floor today. It needs to go to substantive committees,” said Rich, D-Weston.

The amendment passed by a 24-12 vote.

The Senate passed a measure that would have a far-reaching impact on teachers’ salaries and job security after a heated debate by Democratic opponents and an angry defense of the bill by Republicans.

Four Republicans – Sens. Charlie Dean of Inverness, Paula Dockery of Lakeland, Dennis Jones of Seminole and Alex Villalobos of Miami – joined Democrats on the losing side of the 21-17 vote.

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Senate President-designate Mike Haridopolos, the Merritt Island Republican who is the GOP’s Senate campaign honcho for 2010, announced today he’s backing state Rep. Ellyn Bogdanoff, R-Fort Lauderdale, in the Republican primary for the Palm Beach-Broward seat of current Senate Prez Jeff Atwater.

Bogdanoff faces state Rep. Carl Domino, R-Jupiter, in the GOP primary to replace Atwater, who’s running for chief financial officer. The GOP winner will face Democratic state Rep. Kelly Skidmore of Boca Raton.

Also endorsing Bogdanoff: state Sen. Joe Negron, R-Stuart, whose district includes some of Domino’s northern Palm Beach County constituents, and Sens. Andy Gardiner, R-Orlando, and Don Gaetz, R-Niceville.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Senate Judiciary Committee narrowly passed a rail bill that the House easily approved yesterday but for the third time faces a serious challenge in the Senate.

As in its first committee yesterday, the bill passed by a 5-4 vote.

Contentious testimony this morning centered on the controversial “SunRail” Central Florida commuter rail deal in which the state will pay Jacksonville-based CSX Inc. $641 million for 61 miles of track from Deland to Poinciana. The transportation giant would be able to continue to operate its freight on the line in exchange for a $1 a year payment to the state.

Who would pay for accidents on the line was the heart of the debate in the committee this morning.

The proposal would cap liability for CSX – even if freight operator is at fault – at $10 million. The state would be on the hook for the rest of the damages, which have run into hundreds of millions of dollars in other states.

Why wouldn’t Florida do the same as some other states that make freight operators liable for criminal negligence, Sen. Dan Gelber, a lawyer, asked committee Chairman Joe Negron.

“It’s because of pleading requirements and other issues that arise in indemnification agreements we’ve made the choice that we’ve made,” Negron, R-Stuart, said.

Gelber wasn’t satisfied.

“What we’re really doing in this is we’re allowing a private company to insure itself for criminal misconduct, for wanton misconduct, for gross negligence, for gross recklessness which nowhere else in Florida have we ever done. We’ve never done that by statute. So this is a major move,” said Gelber, D-Miami Beach, who was on the losing side of the vote.

The measure is now being heard in the Senate Transportation and Economic Development Appropriations Committee, where it is also expected to pass.

The Senate will debate the bill on the floor this afternoon.

Senate President Jeff Atwater tapped newly elected state Sen. Joe Negron to chair the Judiciary Committee, a plumb post for the freshman senator.

Atwater made few other changes in the committee line-up, leaving most chairmen in place in what for many will be their last legislative session because of term limits.

Negron, a former House member, won a special election last month fill former Senate President Ken Pruitt’s District 28 seat. Pruitt, R-Port St. Lucie, abruptly left office on the last day of the legislative session early in May.

Negron will serve the final 15 months of Pruitt’s Senate term and face reelection in 2010.

Negron, an attorney who served in the state House from 2000 to 2006, gained national attention when the GOP recruited him at the last minute to replace scandal-tainted U.S. Rep. Mark Foley. Negron narrowly lost the race to Democrat Tim Mahoney, who was later defeated by Republican Tom Rooney.

Who needs election day?

Not Republican Joe Negron, who capitalized on absentee and early voting on his way to a landslide victory in Tuesday’s special state Senate election.

Before the polls even opened Tuesday morning in Senate District 28, Negron had locked up 20,273 absentee ballots and 1,682 early votes for his race against Democrat Bill Ramos.

That’s more than twice as many votes as Ramos got for the entire election, according to unofficial returns.

In other words, the 11,584 people who cast ballots for Negron at their precincts on Tuesday’s traditional election day could have stayed home and their candidate still would have won by a fat margin.

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Former Republican state Rep. Joe Negron of Stuart won a lopsided victory in a special state Senate election today to replace retiring Sen. Ken Pruitt, R-Port St. Lucie, in a Treasure Coast-Palm Beach County seat.

Negron beat Democrat Bill Ramos by a 3-to-1 margin in Senate District 28, which includes all of Martin County and parts of Palm Beach, St. Lucie, Indian River and Okeechobee counties.

Negron, 47, will serve the final 15 months of Pruitt’s Senate term and face reelection in 2010.

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Go ahead and color Martin County Republican red for Joe Negron in the special Senate District 28 race. With 52 of 52 Martin precincts reporting, Negron got 76 percent against Democrat Bill Ramos.

Still awaiting complete results from the other four counties that have precincts in the district, but it looks like a big win Negron.

Former Republican state Rep. Joe Negron of Stuart has a big lead over Democrat Bill Ramos in early and absentee ballots, early returns show.

Polls closed at 7 p.m. Tallies of early and absentee ballots from Palm Beach, Martin and Indian River counties show Negron with 11,288 votes to 3,362 for Ramos. St. Lucie and Okeechobee county totals weren’t immediately available.

The big lead is a reflection of Negron’s well-financed, well-organized campaign, which targeted absentee voters.

Negron and Ramos are vying to replace retiring state Sen. Ken Pruitt, R-Port St. Lucie, in Republican-leaning Senate District 28.

Former Republican state Rep. Joe Negron of Stuart out-raised Democratic rival Bill Ramos by more than a 12-to-1 margin in their special state Senate race, final pre-election reports show.

Through Thursday, Negron raised $499,685 and spent $418,413 for Tuesday’s District 28 election to replace retiring Sen. Ken Pruitt, R-Port St. Lucie. Negron spent $173,977 on a TV ad campaign, at least $60,890 on direct mail and $4,334 on phone calls, according to his report.

Ramos raised $40,046 and spent $28,089 through Thursday. He could not afford TV ads and spent $1,464 on campaign postcards and $3,835 on signs.

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As Tuesday’s special election for Senate District 28 approaches, former Republican state Rep. Joe Negron of Stuart is running his third ad of the campaign to replace retiring Sen. Ken Pruitt, R-Port St. Lucie. The spot, running only on cable TV, features Pruitt touting Negron as “a leader who will always put people first.”

Negron raised more than $400,000 for the race. Democratic rival Bill Ramos raised $31,684 through July 9 and didn’t have enough money to buy any TV ads.

In a sign that Negron sees things going well for his campaign, none of his ads mention Ramos.

After Republican state Senate hopeful Joe Negron told supporters last week that liberal MoveOn.org is trying to turn out voters for Democratic foe Bill Ramos, MoveOn.org Political Action Executive Director Justin Ruben responded:

“As a federal PAC, MoveOn.org Political Action does not work on state legislative races and is not involved in the Florida District 28 special election.”

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