|
05/07/04
E
Messenger
The
Electronic Newsletter of the
Florida
AFL-CIO
New
Members according to the AFL-CIO Work in Progress
This week's WIP: 1,056
Year to date: 55,297
The dust
continues to settle…
One
cheer and faint praise for this year s legislative session
(
05/05/2004
© Daytona
Beach News-Journal)
For those who wonder when I'll write something good about our elected
representatives in
Tallahassee
, wait no longer.
Because the House and Senate again came to an impasse last Friday, little
beyond a budget passed at the end of the session. A session with a slow
start and sudden stop ensured a lot of bills would languish.
Legislative
wrap-up: A drill in power politics
(05/05/2004 © Miami
Herald)
The tone of the
2004 legislative session was set from the start: The first bill sent and
signed by Gov. Jeb Bush gave $15 million for an Alzheimer's center to be
named after House Speaker Johnnie Byrd's father and $15 million for a
chiropractic school and for a biomedical program named after Senate
President James King at Florida State University, his alma mater.
An
ugly session
(
05/06/2004
© Gainesville
Sun)
t's
a good thing that the 2004 Legislature didn't have too many must-pass
issues to deal with this spring. It might never have gone home. The 60-day
regular session ground to a standstill Friday,
Florida
s Day Of Reckoning
(05/05/2004 © Lakeland
Ledger)
Florida's Day Of
Reckoning A year ago this month, when the Florida Legislature was in
special session over budgetary problems, Sen. Tom Lee, R-Brandon, gave a
speech on the floor of the Senate that caught the attention of his Senate
colleagues.
Legislators
forgo funding for new judges
(05/05/2004 © St.
Petersburg Times)
TALLAHASSEE - For
the second year in a row, the Legislature declined to pay for any new
judges, even though the state Supreme Court says the state needs 88 of
them. This year, the House passed a bill that would have given the courts
more than $4-million to fund 51 new judges.
Legislature
lets mentor program die
(
05/05/2004
© St.
Petersburg Times)
TRINITY - Allison
Cohen was ready to give up on teaching last fall. She would look around at
her more experienced colleagues at Trinity Elementary and wonder what they
were doing that was working better than her methods.
Agency
asks to be abolished
(05/05/2004 © Tallahassee
Democrat)
Left with nothing
to do and $859,000 with which not to do it, the head of the Correctional
Privatization Commission has asked Gov. Jeb Bush to veto the tiny agency's
budget rather than letting it have a one-year reprieve.
Librarian
Vows To Continue Fighting Internet Filter Plan
(05/05/2004 © Tampa
Tribune)
NEW PORT RICHEY -
A bill requiring Internet filtering software on public library computers
died last week in the Florida Legislature for the third year. New Port
Richey city library Director Susan Dillinger
is preparing to fight the proposal in 2005.
King
gives health-plan perk as parting favor
(
05/06/2004
© Miami
Herald)
TALLAHASSEE
-
Florida
lawmakers are giving a
parting gift to embattled Department of Juvenile Justice Secretary Bill Bankhead:
a chance to keep his health insurance if he leaves state government.
Say
goodbye to the Dirty Byrd? (you won’t believe
how much there is)
Sheep
leave flock and sing Bye Bye Byrdie
(05/05/2004 © Orlando
Sentinel)
House Speaker
Johnnie Byrd didn't just twist arms during this legislative session --
many lawmakers felt he came close to breaking kneecaps in his quest for
the U.S. Senate.
Lawmaker
withdraws support in Byrd race
(
05/05/2004
© Orlando
Sentinel)
TALLAHASSEE
-- An early supporter of
Republican Johnnie Byrd's campaign for U.S. Senate has withdrawn his
endorsement, accusing the speaker of casting a 'shadow on the institution
of the Florida House.
Democrats,
King Blast Byrd
(05/06/2004 © Capitol
News Service)
Democrats are
giving Florida's lawmakers big fat 'f' on their report card for the
legislative session that just wrapped up last week. They blame much of the
meltdown on House Speaker Johnnie Byrd, who's now running to represent
Florida
in the U-S Senate.
Some
House members back off Byrd endorsement after rough session
(
05/05/2004
© Lakeland
Ledger)
TALLAHASSEE
,
Fla.
A handful of Republican
state representatives are either withdrawing their endorsement of House
Speaker Johnnie Byrd's Senate campaign or reconsidering it after a
tumultuous legislative session.
Both
parties show disdain for Byrd
(05/06/2004 © Orlando
Sentinel)
TALLAHASSEE --
Republican Senate President Jim King and the state's Democratic chairman
said Wednesday that each party has found issues to campaign on this fall
stemming from the just-completed legislative session.
King
laments working with Byrd
(05/06/2004 © Tallahassee
Democrat)
Senate President
Jim King said Wednesday that important proposals to change the way
Floridians can amend the constitution and to keep a better watch on the
school-voucher system died because of "political blackmail" by
House Speaker Johnnie Byrd. Horse-trading is expected between the House
and Senate, especially when it can dislodge a backlog of bills late in a
legislative session.
Emptying
the Byrd Cage
(
05/07/2004
© Lakeland
Ledger)
Emptying the Byrd
Cage Let's all play nice with Johnnie. In so many words, that's what Sen.
J.D. Alexander, R-Lake Wales, told the Republican Club of Lakeland when he
introduced House Speaker Johnnie Byrd at Wednesday's meeting.
Byrd
boasts of House accomplishments in first Senate forum
(05/06/2004 © Miami
Herald)
MELBOURNE, Fla. -
House Speaker Johnnie Byrd finally joined other Republican Senate
candidates on the campaign trail Thursday and immediately boasted of
helping the state's economy by lowering taxes.
Want to
scam the state? Start a
voucher program!
F
for oversight
(
05/05/2004
© St.
Petersburg Times)
The theft and
fraud connected to
Florida
's school voucher program
have produced at least five criminal and administrative investigations to
date. But don't bother asking lawmakers to answer for the mess. They left
the Capitol last week without doing a thing. House Speaker Johnnie Byrd,
who is widely regarded as the worst legislative leader in state history,
is most directly to blame.
King
Angry over Lack of Voucher Reform
(
05/06/2004
© Capitol
News Service)
Florida
's Senate President says
the state will see more scandals over its corporate school voucher program
because lawmakers dropped the ball. Jim King says the legislature failed
to enact much-needed reforms for the program.
Editorial:
Gov. can reform voucher program
(05/06/2004 © Ft.
Myers News-Press)
When you contact
Gov. Bushs office about the pre-kindergarten
bill, ask him as well to use the powers of his office to deal with one of
several issues the Legislature left hanging: the need for increased
oversight of the states school voucher programs.
King:
School voucher programs disaster waiting to happen
(05/05/2004 © Miami
Herald)
TALLAHASSEE, Fla.
- Senate President Jim King said Wednesday that a lack of accountability
in Florida's school voucher programs are a "disaster waiting to
happen" and warned there will be other problems because the
Legislature didn't impose more oversight.
King
plans new voucher effort
(05/06/2004 © Palm
Beach Post)
TALLAHASSEE --
Just days after watching his proposal for tighter oversight for the
state's voucher programs die with the end of the legislative session,
Senate President Jim King has filed an identical bill for consideration
for next spring's session.
Governor
may rein in vouchers
(05/07/2004 © Palm
Beach Post)
A crackdown on
Florida's three school voucher programs could come directly from Gov. Jeb
Bush -- and as early as next week -- following lawmakers' failure to pass
an oversight bill. Representatives from the governor's office, the Florida
Department of Education and private school groups
Pre-K or
no Pre-K, that is the question
Bush
undecided on whether to veto pre-kindergarten bill
(05/04/2004 © Miami
Herald)
TALLAHASSEE, Fla.
- Gov. Jeb Bush has doubts about the merits of the prekindergarten
bill lawmakers passed in the waning hours of the 2004 session, but said
Tuesday he hasn't made a final decision on whether he'll veto the
proposal.
Editorial:
Veto inferior measure, try again next year
(
05/07/2004
© Ft. Myers
News-Press)
Gov. Jeb Bush
should veto the inferior pre-kindergarten bill passed by the Legislature
this year, and try again next year for a better program.
Editorial:
Starting right with 4-year-olds
(05/06/2004 © St.
Petersburg Times)
Early learning is
so vital to a child's ultimate ability to read and write that Gov. Jeb
Bush has no option but to veto the Legislature's half-hearted attempt at prekindergarten.
Pre- K
Veto a Possibility
(
05/07/2004
© Capitol
News Service)
Governor Jeb bush
is weighing whether or not to veto a bill that would create a free
pre-kindergarten program for
Florida
's four-year-olds. The
program must be in place by fall of next year.
Bush
Should Veto Pre-K Bill
(
05/07/2004
© Ft.
Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel)
Gov. Jeb Bush is
mulling the veto option over universal pre-kindergarten. State lawmakers
ignored his recommendations and sent him a bill that falls far short of
what the voters wanted for the state's 4-year-olds. For a governor who
prides himself on setting big, audacious goals and bills himself as the
"education governor," the decision should be an easy one.
EDUCATION:
Don t stop now
(
05/07/2004
© Jacksonville
- Florida Times Union)
With the battle
all but won for pre- kindergarten students, the losers are trying a Hail
Mary. By intense effort and con- siderable
compromise the Legislature enacted a bill (HB 821) that puts into place
the pre-K program Florida voters said they wanted -- a high-quality,
voluntary early education program for 4-year-old children. But, there is a
strong under- current.
Education
funding
Finally,
some progress
(
05/05/2004
© Florida
Today)
If you read this
page with any regularity, you know one of the goals we take most to heart
is improving education in
Florida
. We do that by
advocating for academic and financial accountability from all educational
partners -- teachers, parents, students, administrators, the community,
and local and state officials.
State
funding change costs Keys school district
(05/05/2004 © Key
West Citizen)
KEY WEST - School
finance officials are anticipating an additional $2.7 million this year
from state coffers, even though a decision during the recent lawmaking
session in Tallahassee will end up costing Monroe County schools about
$449,000.
$95
million allotted for university program
(05/05/2004 © Palm
Beach Post)
Florida
legislators ended one predicament by agreeing to pay off a huge backlog in
the state universities' matching gifts program, but they may have created
a new one by failing to pass a bill that would limit the amount of future
matches.
School
funding bill fails
(05/06/2004 © Osceola
News-Gazette)
By Charlie Reed
and Christine Baumann News-Gazette Staff Writers State and local officials
blame political wrangling in Tallahassee for killing a bill that could
have helped solve a lions share of the Osceola Countys
school funding problems the top legislative priority among local elected
bodies.
Rungs
come off teacher pay ladder
(
05/06/2004
© St.
Petersburg Times)
So much for top
priorities. A year after pushing for higher salaries for classroom
teachers,
Florida
's Legislature left
Tallahassee
last week without paying
for a career ladder program intended to keep highly skilled educators in
the classroom, where they could pass on their knowledge and techniques to
fellow teachers.
Other
education issues
School
cafeteria plan concerns union
(05/05/2004 © Key
West Citizen)
KEY WEST - Should
school districts run school cafeterias, or hire private-sector companies
that specialize in feeding the hungry masses? Monroe County Schools
Superintendent John Padget has been looking
for the answer since February, when he announced his intention to improve
school lunches
FCAT
testing for lawmakers worth an A-plus
(05/05/2004 © Palm
Beach Post)
Here's a toast to
state Rep. Mary Brandenburg, D-West Palm Beach, who is leading a lonely
quest for a good cause. Brandenburg thinks she and all her other fellow
Florida legislators should be required to pass the Florida Comprehensive
Assessment Test inflicted on public high school students
Hurray!
Restrictions on citizens’ initiatives go bye-bye
EDITORIAL
Legislature fails to crimp petitions
(
05/05/2004
© Northwest
Florida
Daily News)
Who says the
Florida Legislature doesn't like surprises? When this year's session
began, everybody expected lawmakers to restrict the citizen initiative
process - to make it harder for voters to change the state constitution.
Lawmakers
stop short of muzzling voters
(
05/05/2004
© Daytona
Beach News-Journal)
A glittered white
flip-flop sailed across the capitol rotunda and landed in the outstretched
hand of an alert state trooper. That was it for entertainment last Friday
night. Hundreds of lobbyists, staffers and lawmakers' family members lined
the hall between the Florida House and Senate at
midnight
anticipating the
traditional end to the 60-day legislative session.
Amendment
changes bite dust as lawmakers tangle
(
05/06/2004
© Jacksonville
- Florida Times Union)
Let's tie up a few
loose ends from the just completed legislative session. In an upset akin
to
Jacksonville
University
beating the
University
of
Florida
in football, the
Legislature did not make it more difficult to amend the state
constitution.
On election
day - will you know where your vote is?
Groups
set out to ensure voters success at polls
(05/05/2004 © Tallahassee
Democrat)
Voters who run
into problems with confusing ballots, erroneous registration rolls or new
procedures at the polls won't be on their own this November. A coalition
of Democrat-leaning organizations announced what they called a statewide
'election protection' campaign Tuesday.
Critics:
E-voting needs backup
(05/06/2004 © St.
Petersburg Times)
WASHINGTON -
Scientists told a federal panel Wednesday that electronic voting isn't
completely reliable and suggested a backup paper system might be the only
way to avoid another disputed presidential election in November.
State
wants felons purged from voter list
(
05/07/2004
© Naples
Daily News)
TALLAHASSEE
?
Florida
elections officials have
told local supervisors to begin purging their voter rolls of felons
? an election-year directive that some
say would disenfranchise up to 40,000 people.
Make
absentee ballots bear witness to truth
(
05/07/2004
© Palm Beach
Post)
It's not hard to
see why partisan political operatives would want to make absentee voting
easier. It's harder to determine why the election supervisors in
Florida
, of all places, would
lobby legislators to eliminate a deterrent to voter fraud.
Harris
wants a paper trail in place by 2006 elections
(05/05/2004 © Sarasota
Herald-Tribune)
In his April 16
letter to the editor, William Yeager declared his mistrust of the
touch-screen voting systems that 15 Florida counties currently employ.
Having guided
Florida
's nationally acclaimed
election-reform efforts as secretary of state, I disagree with Mr.
Yeager's conclusions. Nevertheless, I understand his concerns.
Florida
election 2004
GOP,
Democrats send money, manpower to Florida
(05/05/2004 © Northwest
Florida Daily News)
ORLANDO (KRT) -
The week President Bush opened his re-election campaign with a March 20
rally in Orlando, armies of Bush volunteers registered 700 new Republican
voters in the region and persuaded 300 more to switch to the GOP.
Rep.
Wishner announces bid for Broward commission seat
(
05/06/2004
© Ft.
Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel)
State Rep. Roger Wishner
announced Thursday he would quit the Florida Legislature to run for the
Broward County Commission. His entrance into the commission race promises
to spark a bloodbath between three veteran politicians.
Legislator
joins crowd in District 5
(
05/07/2004
© Ft.
Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel)
State Rep. Roger Wishner
announced Thursday he would quit the Florida Legislature to run for the
Broward County Commission. The move is sure to spark a political
donnybrook, because two other veteran politicians are already vying for
the seat.
Crist
tells GOP to keep pushing the party
(05/07/2004 © Northwest
Florida Daily News)
MIRAMAR BEACH -
Florida Attorney General Charlie Crist
recalled a Northwest Florida much different than the one that has
generally voted Republican for the past decade. 'I can remember coming to
Northwest Florida
and being told that
Republicans met in a phone booth
Webster
remains undecided about U.S. Senate bid
(
05/07/2004
© Orlando
Sentinel)
TALLAHASSEE
-- State Sen. Daniel
Webster came to the Capitol on Thursday with a check for $9,282 in his
pocket -- the qualifying fee for his U.S. Senate candidacy. But he said he
won't know for sure until today's
noon
deadline whether he will
join that race, or seek re-election to the Legislature, where the
Republican from Winter Garden is the longest-serving lawmaker.
THIS JUST IN – Webster not running - http://www.tallahassee.com/mld/tallahassee/8614511.htm
Phone
rates still set to go up – Thanks Johnnie
Editorial:
Hanging up on Florida
(
05/06/2004
© Palm Beach
Post)
The Florida Public
Service Commission has failed the public for the second time. On Monday,
the five commissioners rejected Florida Attorney General Charlie Crist's
petition that they reconsider their decision to approve a $350 million
immediate increase in local phone rates
Editorial:
On to the high court
(
05/05/2004
© Daytona
Beach News-Journal)
Florida
's two-year fight over a
massive phone-rate increase is not about partisan politics. And it's
certainly not about public policy. It's about profit -- the excess profit
Florida's 'Big Three' phone monopolies still hope to squeeze out of their
residential customers,
More pandering – use of
Terri as a political pawn
Schiavo
Ruling
(05/07/2004 © Capitol
News Service)
A circuit judge in
Pinellas county has decided the law that allowed the Governor to intervene
in the Terri Schiavo case is
unconstitutional... but Jeb Bush isn't throwing in the towel. Spokesperson
Jill Bratina says an appeal was filed almost
immediately...
Schiavo
law ruled invalid; governor to appeal
(05/07/2004 © Miami
Herald)
Gov. Jeb Bush and
the Florida Legislature violated the privacy rights of a severely
brain-damaged woman by ordering her feeding tube re-inserted to keep her
alive last fall, a Clearwater judge ruled Thursday in declaring the
controversial ''Terri's Law'' unconstitutional.
Another
indignity
(05/07/2004 © Tallahassee
Democrat)
It's not enough
that Gov. Jeb Bush and the Florida Legislature last year ignored a court
ruling upholding the right of Michael Schiavo
to let his severely brain-damaged wife, Terri Schiavo,
finally die after being kept alive for more than 13 years.
Mickey
Mouse votes for George W.
Disney
refuses to release Moore s 9/11 documentary
(05/06/2004 © Sarasota
Herald-Tribune)
NEW YORK --
Michael Moore's 'Fahrenheit 9/11,' which criticizes President Bush's
handling of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, won't be released through
Miramax Films on orders from parent company Disney.
Disney
not shy about politics
(05/07/2004 © Miami
Herald)
In defending the
decision not to distribute a controversial documentary that bashes the
Bush administration, Walt Disney chief Michael Eisner has claimed the
entertainment giant preferred to avoid a political debate in a
presidential election year.
Tweak
Disney to everyones cup of political tea
(05/07/2004 © Palm
Beach Post)
News item: Disney
Chief Executive Michael Eisner said his company won't distribute the new
Michael Moore film, Fahrenheit 9/11, a documentary that highlights the
relationship between the families of George W. Bush and Osama
bin Laden.
Other
political news
Editorial:
Tougher in the fields
(
05/05/2004
© Palm Beach
Post)
This year, the
Legislature approved some of the first reform measures for migrant farmworkers
in recent memory. But tougher rules will mean little without tougher
enforcement. The long history of ignoring abuses in
Florida
's fields, however, has
changed in the past year.
Bush
helps roll out drug card
(05/05/2004 © Panama
City News Herald)
KISSIMMEE Gov. Jeb
Bush on Tuesday helped roll out the new Medicare prescription drug card
that his brother, President Bush, pushed through Congress.
Legislators
exempt more public records
(05/07/2004 © Gainesville
Sun)
ALLAHASSEE -
Although the 2004 Legislature was characterized by its infighting and
inability to resolve many major issues, state lawmakers reached agreement
on a near record number of new exemptions to the state's public records
laws.
EYE
ON THE NLRB--"Workers' Rights Watch: Eye on the NLRB," a new
e-mail and Web publication from American Rights at Work (ARAW), exposes
the National Labor Relations Board's failure to protect workers' freedom
to form unions and spotlights the inability of current labor law to
discourage employers from firing, intimidating and harassing workers
trying form unions. ARAW is an educational and advocacy group dedicated to
improving the climate in which workers can exercise their workplace
rights. To sign up for "Workers' Rights Watch: Eye on the NLRB,"
visit http://action.americanrightsatwork.org/aaraw/join.tcl
.
BUSH REJECTS CHINA PETITION--By rejecting the AFL-CIO's petition on
workers' rights violations in China, President George W. Bush sent a clear
message "that he will not stand up for America's workers,"
federation President John Sweeney said. The petition, filed March 16, made
the case that
China
's frequent
violations of workers' rights give that nation an unfair trade advantage
that has cost more than 727,000
U.S.
jobs. The
petition called on the Bush administration to take immediate action to
impose trade remedies against
China
. "
America
's workers need
a president who will stand up for American jobs and international human
rights," Sweeney said. The petition was filed under Section 301 of
the Trade Act of 1974, which has been used extensively to protect
corporate interests. This is the first time Section 301 was invoked to
protest a nation's labor practices. For more information, visit http://www.aflcio.org
.
If you have
suggestions on how we may improve this online publication or have
information you would like to see posted please contact our communications
director at (850) 224 – 6926 or at rtemplin@flaflcio.org.
SUBSCRIBE
Union members may subscribe to the E Messenger by visiting our website
at www.flaflcio.org.
UNSUBSCRIBE
If you would not like to receive future copies of this newsletter
please let us know at cbell@flaflcio.org.
Rich
Templin
Communications Director
Florida
AFL-CIO
|
