TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) - The Florida Legislature kicked off its annual session Tuesday amid growing signs of division between Republican leaders and Gov. Rick Scott.
While Senate President Joe Negron struck an optimistic tone about the two-month long session, House Speaker Richard Corcoran was more combative, suggesting that he was willing to push legislators past their normal deadlines in order to stick to his positions on taxes and education.
“Members, over the next 60 days, let’s fight,” Corcoran said. “Let’s proudly and joyfully go crashing against the special interests and the status quo, and show the people of this state that this House truly belongs to them.”
Approving Florida’s budget is the only thing the Legislature is required to do each year, but these lawmakers have a long list of items to consider this session, from expanding guns rights to implementing the voters’ medical marijuana amendment.
Negron is pushing an overhaul of Florida’s higher education system, and a contentious proposal to reduce discharges from Lake Okeechobee, which could address toxic algae blooms but has drawn opposition from the state’s powerful sugar industry and farmers who say it could put them out of business.
Lawmakers also are expected to act quickly to fix Florida’s death penalty law.
But the budget looms as the biggest battle, including whether or not Florida should keep spending on economic development and promoting tourism. Another flashpoint is a tug-of-war over $300 million the state received for damages related to the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
Corcoran took a veiled shot at Scott in his opening speech, vowing to reject the governor’s plan to rely on a rise in local property taxes to boost school spending.
“Right now, there are some who are suggesting that we pass the largest budget in state history. We will not,” Corcoran said. “Instead of spending more money, we will fight to eliminate waste from the budget. Right now, there are some who are suggesting that we pass a massive property tax increase. We will not.”
Corcoran hinted that he is willing to force the Legislature into a special session if necessary, but his viewpoint on school taxes is not shared by other Senate Republicans. Sen. Jack Latvala of Clearwater pointed out that House Republicans had voted in the past for budgets that used the same formula being recommended by the governor.
“They didn’t think it was a tax increase then,” Latvala said. “It’s all just pre-session posturing.”
Negron acknowledged that his water plan has its critics, since it calls for acquiring land now held by private owners. But he said buying land to store water south of Lake Okeechobee is needed to avoid the algae blooms that have fouled coastal waterways and closed beaches. He said that no one has the right to “pollute the community of another part of Florida.”
The Stuart Republican remained upbeat as he pressed for his priorities in the Senate, saying “it’s the first day of session, anything is possible.”
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