Florida editorial roundup

Recent editorials from Florida newspapers:

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July 15

The Miami Herald on equal work pay for women in Miami-Dade County:

In Miami-Dade, there are many well-intended missions launched to help the poor and the vulnerable. The local Women’s Fund is adding its muscle to the cause, embarking on a project that will truly make a difference in the lives of mothers, wives, sisters, and daughters in greater Miami.

For 25 years, the Women’s Fund Miami-Dade has worked toward an honorable goal: to improve the quality of life for women and girls. The organization has generated millions of dollars for grassroots organizations that offer assistance to women and girls in need.

But after years of following this model, the organization couldn’t always quantify success, Janet Altman, Women’s Fund board chair, recently told the Editorial Board.

Today, 20 percent of women in Miami-Dade still live in poverty - about the same figure measured 13 years ago.

Those are the disturbing findings of The Status of Women in Florida, which gives Florida a D+ on the Poverty and Opportunity Composite Index for women. And Florida currently ranks 33rd out of the 50 states, plus D.C. in the same category. Disheartening indeed.

“Despite our efforts, there has been little measurable success,” Altman said. “When you look at the status of women in Miami-Dade little has changed in years.”

So out of that sense of failure - and reaching high for transformative change - the organization is shifting gears and becoming singularly focused.

Monday, the Women’s Fund will launch a multi-year, collaborative advocacy campaign for a stubborn, enduring challenge - equal pay for equal work for women in Miami-Dade. Women in Florida who work full time earn 85 cents to the dollar earned by men. In Miami-Dade, such women make 87 cents. The nationwide average is 78 cents to every dollar a man earns.

That means that Miami already is doing a better job than most. Of course, equal pay will equal true fairness and success. To address this national inequity within the microcosm of Miami-Dade, The Women’s Fund will pool its resources and join forces with like-minded organizations and companies - and we hope there are many. In doing so, they believe that they will change the lives of women in the county - and the lives of boys and men, too - for a true generation shift.

The goal of the campaign is to:

? Elevate the issue of gender pay equity.

? Get organizations committed to the idea of equal pay for women

? Bring more women out of poverty

Altman said the organization believes that by just closing the wage gap, the number of working single women living in poverty in Miami-Dade would be cut in half, to fewer than 10 percent in the next 20 years.

And it doesn’t take a genius to figure out that if you improve the lives of working women, you will improve the lives of their daughters, sons and husbands.

The trick for the foundation, of course, is to convince employers, large companies, the hotel industry, the overall tourism industry that equal pay for women is right and just - and more important, is good for business.

This is an ambitious project, but a necessary one.

If the Women’s Fund succeeds, it will always be known as the organization that pulled off societal change that improved lives - their initial goal.

Is it doable? We think so, especially if local businesses get on board. The Women’s Fund should be commended for committing full time to something that no one else in the community is tackling full on.

Online: https://www.miamiherald.com/

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July 14

Tampa Bay Times on state Attorney General Pam Bondi settling out-of-court with rental car companies about disclosing toll road fees:

The legal scam allowing rental car companies to rip off consumers for toll road fees marked a low even for a Florida state government obsessed with creating a business-friendly climate. But Attorney General Pam Bondi helped right the scale with an out-of-court settlement that at least requires disclosure of the fee and, in certain cases, provides for refunds. This is the least the Sunshine State can do for residents and tourists alike.

For years, rental car companies have charged fees to their customers who rent cars and drive on toll roads but who can’t or don’t pay tolls because the booths accept only electronic payments, such as through a transponder. The complaints have escalated as the state has increased the use of electronic-only tolling, angering tourists and residents who see it as the predatory practice it is. With more than 600 miles of toll roads - much of them clustered in South Florida and in the Orlando theme park area - this scheme has given Florida a black eye for no good public purpose, and it is good that the state’s chief legal officer stepped in.

Bondi said Avis, which also owns the Budget and Payless rental car brands, had agreed to “clearly and conspicuously” disclose that it charges $3.95 per day to customers who rent their cars and who encounter booths that allow only electronic tolling. The attorney general’s office said the three companies also must disclose on their websites and online reservation portals and at their service counters the details of the fee and how customers can avoid it. The settlement requires the three companies to refund payments to customers who are charged for tolls without sufficient disclosures and who have sought but not already been reimbursed for a charge.

The announcement made no mention of other car companies that charge similar or higher fees - most notably Dollar Thrifty, which imposes a $15 administrative fee on consumers every time they don’t pay a cashless toll, up to $90 per day, according to attorneys for consumers who have filed a class-action lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Miami. Bondi needs to monitor this deal and continue working to bring a level of fair play across the entire industry.

The Legislature needs to rein in these fees, and Gov. Rick Scott, who regularly promotes Florida as a family-friendly destination, should set an example by calling for the interests of tourism and fair play to rise above corporate profits.

Until then, Bondi’s office is a natural advocate for consumers. She is using the influence of her office appropriately to at least warn of the predatory practice and to give consumers an outlet for clawing back payments from the rental car companies. This is, in most cases, a bogus charge masquerading as a convenience. But travelers driving a hired vehicle who are unfamiliar with the roads and forced to use automated toll lanes have no real choices. Bondi has made this a fairer playing field by requiring disclosure. But the underlying practice still exists.

Online: https://www.tampabay.com/

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July 12

The Sun Sentinel of Fort Lauderdale on the state needing to pay homeowners for trees cut down in the effort to stop citrus canker spreading:

It is time - actually, it’s long past time - for the state of Florida to say “uncle” and give thousands of South Florida homeowners the money they have coming in the 11-year citrus canker fight.

Yes, the state of Florida needs to pay affected citizens the $20.6 million they’re owed. This is something that should have been done years ago.

The whole fight should have been over in the spring, when the Legislature agreed on full payment to homeowners seeking compensation after their healthy trees were cut down by the state in a futile effort to halt the spread of citrus canker.

And that would have been the end of it - except Gov. Rick Scott used spurious logic to veto the compensation payout last month.

And the beat goes on. Look for more court battles and more of your tax money being spent on a fight the state has already lost. Except Scott won’t acknowledge defeat. He prefers to spend your tax money on more unnecessary court battles.

If you were in South Florida during the span of 2000 to 2006, you may remember the woeful tales coming from the heavy-handed attempt to eradicate canker. The disease, spread by wind and rain, discolors fruit and weakens trees. The state dispatched crews to go on private property and cut down any tree within 1,900 feet of a tree that had the citrus canker disease - even if those trees were healthy.

Trees were felled, whether the homeowner was home or not. There were accounts of residents coming home to find stumps where their beloved trees had been for years. There were stories of homeowners who tried to stop the crews from cutting, only to be held back by sheriff’s deputies.

Homeowners, who at one time were insulted with the offer of a $50 Walmart gift card to pay for their butchered trees, went to court. They won a jury verdict, didn’t get paid, and appeals kept piling up.

The Legislature finally appropriated the money this year to pay affected Broward households - Palm Beach County homeowners were not involved in the settlement - but Scott vetoed the idea. He said the money couldn’t be approved because of an ongoing class-action suit in Miami-Dade, but that’s bogus. Courts have already ruled in favor of Broward homeowners. And the appeals by the state have been exhausted.

“Gov. Scott’s veto . undermines the state’s constitutional obligation to pay full compensation for the taking of private property,” court documents said.

Broward homeowners are left with a couple of options. A lawsuit was filed with the Florida Supreme Court, claiming full compensation must be given when the state takes private property for the public good. The Supreme Court hasn’t ruled yet on Scott’s veto.

Homeowners can take their case to Broward Circuit Court. Or they can hope the money they have had due for more than a decade is allocated again by the Florida Legislature in next year’s budget.

Enough already.

Homeowners are asking for fairness, and fair compensation. What has been going on by the Department of Agriculture, and now by Gov. Scott, are simply stalling tactics that will lead to more attorneys and more delays.

It is time for the state to stop this never-ending merry-go-round. Rick Scott had no business vetoing money homeowners should receive.

If Scott runs for the U.S. Senate in 2018 as is widely expected, he better hope the affected families have short memories.

Online: https://www.sun-sentinel.com/