Wallace: Spending plan light on polarizing issues

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TALLAHASSEE — Everything that happens — or doesn’t — in the Florida Legislature’s annual spring session can be viewed through the prism of the state’s hotly contested gubernatorial race between Gov. Rick Scott and former Gov. Charlie Crist.

Scott, a Republican presiding over his fourth session, has greatly pared down his legislative wish list compared with his initial years, which will help him avert clashes with the Republican-controlled Legislature and avoid looking weak by not getting what he seeks. What he is proposing — reducing auto registration fees, for instance — seems as much aimed at providing election ammunition against Crist, now a Democrat, who was governor when those fees went up.

Gone from his agenda is a push to expand Medicaid, privatize state prisons or reform the state pension program — all unaccomplished initiatives from the last three years that created divisions within GOP ranks.

Instead, Scott on Wednesday took only 10 economical minutes to roll out his legislative agenda for the coming year during a meeting with reporters and editors in the state Capitol.

Much of that time involved laying the groundwork for an attack on Crist and his administration over the next nine months.

Besides the auto registration fee cuts, Scott talked about restoring money to trust funds that “the previous administration raided” during the statewide recession. Crist was governor from 2007 to 2011.

But Scott is not the only one looking to limit hot-button issues that could divide his own party in a key election year.

House Speaker Will Weatherford and Senate President Don Gaetz also have aimed for a more obtainable, less tumultuous agenda. Issues including an expansion of gambling, immigration reform and the Medicaid expansion got no mention in their speeches during the leaders’ media briefing outlining the year’s legislative agenda.

Pressed on those issues later, Weatherford said in an interview that he is not happy with the lack of unity in House ranks to bring up issues like expanded gambling or Medicaid.

Instead, Weatherford and Gaetz put forth a Mom-and-apple pie agenda that includes waiving out-of-state tuition for veterans, forcing sex offenders to register more information so they can be tracked and opposing tuition increases at state colleges.

In other words, the only items high on the agenda are issues that have the safety of near-universal support within the GOP, if not beyond.

It is all par for the course, said University of South Florida political science professor Susan MacManus. During gubernatorial election years, the last thing the GOP leadership wants is to create divisions in the party or feed the Democrats.

“This is a year when party unity is even more pre-eminent than usual,” MacManus said.

To that same end, Scott has been meeting with legislators more regularly leading into the session, state lawmakers say. His office has routinely given legislators a preview of his proposals — something he was criticized for failing to do during his first two years.

The effect: keeping everyone on the same page and minimizing surprises for everyone.

Even though some Republicans in the Legislature don’t face tough re-elections, House and Senate leaders know their fate rises or falls with whoever captures the governor’s mansion — and that close down-ballot elections can be affected by the gubernatorial race.

MacManus said the limited agenda also will likely mean less attention to social policy debates, such as abortion rights. Instead, the GOP leadership in the House and Senate will seek to stick to fiscal policies that have less chance of damaging their candidates in the next election.

Even on some tough issues where lawmakers have struggled to find compromise, leaders are only bringing them back with big changes. For example, Weatherford and Gaetz are touting far more limited state pension changes that eliminate any impact on police and firefighters — key constituents that the GOP cannot afford to alienate in what promises to be a tight governor’s race.

How tight? In 2010, Scott bested Democrat Alex Sink by less than 70,000 votes — or 1 percent of the vote.

 

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Jeremy Wallace

Jeremy Wallace has covered politics for more than 15 years. He can be reached by email or call (941) 361-4966. ""More Wallace" Make sure to "Like" HT Politics on Facebook for all your breaking political news.
Last modified: January 29, 2014
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