It’s shocking, I know. Still, there is one issue on which, in an election year, they could impress even skeptics.

In 2003, the Legislature revamped worker compensation laws, which cover people who are injured on the job. From the workers’ standpoint, there’s much to dislike about the new system. Among other things, it is very hard to hire a lawyer who might resolve a stuck claim.

Workers compensation insurance rates for employers, though, went down and kept going down – until 2009. As it turns out, there’s a loophole in that 2003 law. Physicians who dispense repackaged drugs – converted into smaller sizes from bulk shipments – to injured workers can mark up those drugs way beyond what the drugs would cost if they had not been repackaged.

A study by the Boca Raton-based National Council on Compensation Insurance found that the markup difference in Florida for a repackaged acid reflux drug was 185 percent, 356 percent for an antibiotic and 600 percent for oxycodone. That markup needlessly drives up costs, which needlessly drives up workers compensation insurance rates, which needlessly makes Florida a less appealing state in which to do business.

In late 2009, then-Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink’s office flagged this loophole, and calculated that closing the loophole could save about $35 million. Ms. Sink asked then-Rep. Alan Hays, whose committee had jurisdiction, to file legislation that would close the loophole.

Rep. Hays did. House Bill 5603 moved along, then got tacked onto a must-pass budget bill at the last minute and sailed through the House and Senate. Stylewise, it wasn’t pretty, but the loophole seemed closed.

Then Gov. Crist heard from the Florida Medical Association, which didn’t want its members to lose this lucrative dispensing sideline. The governor heard from Automated Healthcare Solutions, the Broward County-based company that sells drug-dispensing software to doctors. Gov. Crist vetoed the bill.

But no problem. By late 2010, Charlie Crist had bolted the Republican Party. The Legislature had teed up several of Mr. Crist’s vetoes for overrides, including that of HB 5603. By late 2010, however, Automated Healthcare Solution had given nearly $1 million to the Republican Party of Florida. The company also gave big to the political action committees of new Senate President Mike Haridopolos and new House Speaker, Dean Cannon. Physician groups had given. The override never happened.

Meanwhile, Alan Hays had moved from the House to the Senate. Last year, he introduced the loophole-closing bill again. It had no House companion, and went nowhere. This year, Sen. Hays is back with a similar bill, SB 668. There is a House bill, HB 503. It has passed one committee, by a vote of 14-1.

For those who oppose his bill, Sen. Hays said, “It’s all about how many millions they can make from gaming the system.” Indeed, the estimated savings from closing the loophole are now $62 million. In August, the Workers Compensation Research Institute reported that “the average payment per claim for prescription drugs in Florida’s worker compensation system was 45 percent higher than the median” of other states the group had studied between 2006 and 2008, all because of repackaging. Recall that unexpected rate increase in 2009.

Those who profit from it claim that the current system helps workers take medicine more faithfully and get back to work quicker. In fact, SB 668 would not prevent physicians from dispensing drugs. They just would have to charge based on the normal fee schedule. They couldn’t rip off the system.

Automated Healthcare Solutions’ main argument against this bill is the $160,000 it has donated to the Republican Party and the $10,000 it has donated to Rep. Cannon’s PAC, the Florida Freedom Council. The Florida Medical Association has donated, and its ex-lobbyist is Sen. John Thrasher. He chairs the Rules Committee, and can stop any bill from reaching the floor.

This isn’t Special Interests vs. The Little Guy. Florida’s major business groups support the bill. Still, the biggest thing wrong with Tallahassee is that certain groups use lobbyists to get certain favors that help a few people but hurt the state overall. You’ve heard Gov. Scott and most legislators claim that they want Florida to be more business-friendly. So cozy up to this bill. Confound the skeptics.

This article first appeared in Palm Beach Post, January 6, 2012.

Copyright © 2012 The Palm Beach Post

Players: Gaming and resort interests like the Genting Group of Malaysia and the Las Vegas Sands Group. Sands will try to influence the law so there’s only one license available and then try to win it. The state’s pari-mutuel industry, meanwhile, wants to be taxed in the same way as the casino resorts if the state allows casino operations. Meanwhile, powerhouses including the Florida Chamber of Commerce and Walt Disney World will fight to keep the casinos out, while Associated Industries of Florida is backing the casinos. Chamber President Mark Wilson says mega casinos would pose a “major threat” to other existing businesses and would harm the state’s reputation and evolution toward a more diverse economy. “We think what happens in Vegas should stay in Vegas.”

• INTERNET CAFES — Another gambling-related fight will play out over the 1,000 internet cafes featuring sweepstakes-style games that have sprung up in Florida. Rep. Scott Plakon (R-Longwood) and Sen. Steve Oelrich (R-Gainesville) have reintroduced legislation that would outlaw the cafes, which sell customers phone cards and web surfing time in exchange for the opportunity to play slot-machine-type games on computers. Other legislation would merely regulate the cafes, described variously as either crime magnets or innocuous pastimes akin to McDonald’s Monopoly game.
Don’t Miss:

Lawmakers return to Tallahassee two months early to begin their once-a-decade task of redrawing district lines for state House and Senate seats and the U.S. Congress. The Game of Redistricting »

LEGAL

• FORECLOSURES — The Florida Bankers Association may again seek to create a non-judicial foreclosure process. The group says that taking foreclosures out of the court system won’t help the current glut of foreclosures but would be a worthwhile change for the future. Anthony DiMarco, executive vice president of government affairs for the association, says the Legislature could expedite current foreclosures by fully funding the courts and reinstating the “rocket docket” foreclosure courts presided over by retired judges. State lawmakers disbanded the $6-million program last year.

• LAWSUIT LIMITS — The Florida Hospital Association supports giving sovereign immunity to hospitals and physicians and backs other laws that would clarify that hospitals are not liable for non-employed physicians. The Florida Medical Association’s No. 1 priority is giving sovereign immunity to emergency room physicians.

EDUCATION

• STEM, etc. — In the K-12 arena, the Florida Chamber is pushing for expanded use of digital learning and increased parental choice. In the higher education system, several groups support incentives for students pursuing science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) degrees — and possibly tying a portion of university funding to the number of STEM degrees awarded.

• GOVERNANCE — The Florida Board of Governors is urging the Legislature to repeal a law requiring universities to fund off-campus infrastructure concurrency improvements that are connected to university building projects. The board also wants to be able to approve university requests to increase various student fees.

LAW ENFORCEMENT

• TIMESHARE FRAUD — Attorney General Pam Bondi will seek laws to crack down on timeshare retail fraud — the No. 1 complaint her office receives.

• PRESCRIPTION ADDICTION — Bondi also is creating a task force to study the problem of babies born addicted to prescription opiates.

TAXES

• ONLINE HOTEL BOOKINGS — Online travel companies like Expedia, Priceline and Hotels.com pay taxes on the bulk, wholesale price they pay to hotels for unbooked rooms — not on the marked-up, retail rate they charge their online customers. Business lobby Associated Industries of Florida, along with the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association, argue that the rules give online travel firms a competitive advantage and leave the hotels paying the bulk of the taxes. Online travel companies say the difference between the wholesale price and retail price is simply a service fee that shouldn’t be taxed. Last year, Sen. Don Gaetz (R-Destin) and Rep. Jason Brodeur (R-Sanford) introduced legislation that would exempt the online travel companies from having to pay taxes on their retail room sales. The Florida Chamber is siding with the online travel companies.

• MORE ONLINE — The Florida Retail Federation says retailers with actual stores are at a disadvantage competing against online sellers like Amazon.com that don’t collect sales tax in Florida. The federation wants the state to sign an interstate compact known as the Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Agreement, which encourages Congress to pass federal legislation allowing states to require internet sellers to collect sales tax. A number of internet retailers have indicated they’ll voluntarily collect the tax if enough states sign the compact.

The Florida Retail Federation wants the state to encourage federal legislation requiring internet sellers to collect sales tax.

• TANGIBLES — Gov. Rick Scott wants to increase the corporate tax exemption from $25,000 to $50,000 and reduce the Tangible Personal Property Tax, which is paid by 300,000 business owners. Scott wants the Legislature to put a constitutional amendment on the ballot that would completely exempt any business with less than $50,000 in tangible personal property from having to pay the tax.

• ENERGY — Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam wants to keep tax exemptions on investments in renewable energy production and to enhance the Public Service Commission’s ability to factor in fuel diversity, price stability, reliability and security benefits in setting rates.

• MANUFACTURING — The Manufacturers Association of Florida wants the state to eliminate a requirement that companies show a 10% increase in productivity from the purchase of manufacturing machinery and equipment in order to qualify for a sales tax exemption on the purchase.

• UNEMPLOYMENT — The Retail Federation will seek relief from an increase in the unemployment compensation tax, which jumped by about $60 per employee last year and may go up by an additional $100 per employee this year.

INSURANCE

• CITIZENS — The state-run “insurer of last resort” is the biggest insurer in Florida, growing at a rate of about 1,000 policies per day. With its rates not actuarially sound, Citizens subjects the state to a financial catastrophe in the event of a big storm. One potential fix — proposed by Sen. Garrett Richter and Rep. Jim Boyd — would be to allow surplus lines insurance companies (out-of-state insurers with less oversight than in-state insurers) to participate in a program to shrink Citizens’ rolls. Sam Miller, executive vice president of the Florida Insurance Council, says a true fix will “involve a lot more,” including higher rates so Citizens no longer competes with the private market, tighter eligibility requirements, less attractive policy coverages and other changes contained in the Citizens bill that did not pass during the 2011 session.

• PIP — Auto insurers, business groups like the Florida Chamber and AIF, the Florida Sheriffs Association and others are pushing for reform of Florida’s no-fault auto insurance system — in particular the state’s mandatory $10,000 personal injury protection coverage. Throughout the state, PIP fraud crime rings stage accidents and work with crooked clinics to file fraudulent claims, costing insurers hundreds of millions of dollars and driving up costs for consumers. Gov. Rick Scott, meanwhile, hasn’t ruled out the idea of eliminating PIP altogether.

SPORTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

• The session will as always see its share of grab-bag legislation, including several laws related to sports and entertainment: Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fort Walton Beach) is proposing legislation aimed at ticket brokers like Ticketmaster that have restrictive paperless ticketing policies. He aims to make it easier for purchasers to resell or pass along tickets they can’t use.

• Sen. Mike Fasano (R-New Port Richey) has introduced a bill that would prohibit Florida’s three NFL teams that receive tax dollars from the state from blacking out their games.

• Meanwhile, Sen. Mike Bennett (R-Bradenton) has a bill that would make sports franchises in Florida comply with an overlooked statute that requires them to use their sports facilities as homeless shelters when the stadium is not in use.

MEDICAL

• REGULATION — The Retail Federation will push for “open networks” for pharmacies and other service providers as the state’s Medicaid system moves to a managed care system. It also wants no new restrictions on retail medical clinics, such as CVS’ MinuteClinic and The Clinic at Walmart.

• NURSES — The Florida Nurses Association wants the state to give more responsibility to registered nurse practitioners, including allowing them to prescribe certain controlled substances. Florida TaxWatch estimates the move could save $339 million across all healthcare systems, including Medicaid.

• DRUGS — State Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty and a broad business coalition that includes the Florida Chamber of Commerce, AIF and corporations are urging lawmakers to cap the amount that physicians charge when they include repackaged drugs as part of an injured worker’s treatment under workers’ comp insurance — a lucrative source of income for many physicians but a cost driver in workers’ compensation insurance rates, which are set to rise 8.9% this year. On the other side of the issue are groups like the Florida Medical Association and businesses like Automated HealthCare Solutions, a Miramar-based company that sells software called ezDispense to doctors who dispense medications in their offices.

FUNDING FIGHTS

• With a predicted $2-billion gap between expected revenue and expenses, a host of groups will be scrambling to preserve their pieces of the funding pie. The Manufacturing Association of Florida wants increased training funds, particularly for the Incumbent Worker Training and Quick Response Training programs.

• The Florida Hospital Association and the Florida Nurses Association, along with groups concerned about healthcare for the poor, will fight additional cuts in Medicaid funding.

• Independent Colleges & Universities of Florida will wage its annual battle to preserve grants for Florida residents attending private schools (FRAG), received by 41,000 students. ICUF also wants the state to extend funding for partnerships among universities to the private schools.

• The Florida Board of Governors, which operates the 11-member State University System, wants the state to restore the Alec P. Courtelis Capital Facilities Enhancement Challenge Grant, a state program that matches donations 100%. The program has gone unfunded for the past five years and was suspended in 2011.

• The state’s schools also want the maximum possible PECO (public education capital outlay) funding, which is used for construction, remodeling, renovation and repair of education facilities.

• The Sadowksi Coalition, a group of two dozen statewide organizations, is urging the Legislature to appropriate Florida’s housing trust funds — an estimated $153.4 million for the 2012-13 fiscal year — for affordable housing. For the past several years, lawmakers have raided the trust funds and diverted the money to general revenue.

• The Florida Fruit & Vegetable Association wants to maintain funding for the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences and the state Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.

• The Moffitt Cancer Center wants lawmakers to restore its allocation of cigarette tax funds to its 2008 level.

• Gov. Scott will try to require those who receive unemployment benefits to get job training.

• The Florida Chamber is also pushing for further public pension reforms, including shifting public employees from a defined benefit plan to a defined contribution plan.

• The Florida Medical Association is pushing for increased funding for graduate medical education.

This article first appeared in Florida Trend, January 1, 2012.

© Copyright 2012 Florida Trend

Florida’s most honest consumers are paying the price resulting from staged accidents, out-of-control litigation and unscrupulous personal injury protection clinics that foist often unnecessary services on PIP claimants. The current no-fault system’s makeup requires every driver to carry $10,000 of PIP insurance that pays policyholders’ medical costs in a timely manner, regardless of who causes the wreck.

According to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, Florida insurance consumers pay 56 percent more than consumers in other states for automobile insurance premiums. In addition, according to the National Insurance Crime Bureau, Florida led the nation in questionable insurance claims from 2007 to 2009, with three of the top five U.S. cities with the highest rate of staged accident questionable claims being right here in Florida: Tampa, Miami and Orlando.

We believe that Florida should pass legislation containing four key elements that are crucial in transforming the broken PIP system:

1. Allowing a reasonable amount of time to investigate suspicious claims.

2. Eliminating incentives for filing frivolous lawsuits by placing reasonable caps on attorney fees.

3. Providing greater verification of clinics to ensure that services provided are legitimate.

4. Preventing fraudulent, unnecessary medical treatments.

We must protect consumers and eliminate the rampant PIP fraud that is driving up the cost of insurance premiums in our state, and we believe sound policy containing these elements can do just that. We urge the Florida Legislature to enact these four key elements and transform the state’s no-fault system now. We stand ready and willing to assist in any way we can as we head toward the 2012 Legislative Session in January.

DONOVAN BROWN

Counsel and Regional Manager, State Government Relations

Property Casualty Insurers Association of America

Tallahassee

This article first appeared in Lakeland Ledger, December 25, 2011.

Copyright © 2012 TheLedger.com

Florida’s most honest consumers are paying the price resulting from staged accidents, out of control litigation and unscrupulous personal injury protection (PIP) clinics that foist often unnecessary services on PIP claimants. The current no-fault system’s makeup requires every driver to carry $10,000 of PIP insurance that pays policyholders’ medical costs in a timely manner, regardless of who causes the wreck.

According to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, Florida insurance consumers pay 56 percent more than consumers in other states for automobile insurance premiums. In addition, according to the National Insurance Crime Bureau, Florida led the nation in questionable insurance claims from 2007 to 2009, with three of the top five U.S. cities with the highest rate of staged-accident, questionable claims being right here in Florida: Tampa, Miami and Orlando.

We believe that Florida should pass legislation containing four key elements that are crucial in transforming the broken PIP system:

1. Allowing a reasonable amount of time to investigate suspicious claims.

2. Eliminating incentives for filing frivolous lawsuits by placing reasonable caps on attorney fees.

3. Providing greater verification of clinics to ensure that services provided are legitimate.

4. Preventing fraudulent, unnecessary medical treatments.

We must protect consumers and eliminate the rampant PIP fraud that is driving up the cost of insurance premiums in our state, and we believe sound policy containing these elements can do just that. We urge the Florida Legislature to enact these four key elements and transform the state’s no-fault system now. We stand ready and willing to assist in any way we can as we head toward the 2012 legislative session in January.

This article first appeared in Naples Daily News, December 21, 2011.

Copyright © 2011 Gainesville.com

As we’ve seen in the past, the term “trust fund” offers no protection from legislative raiders willing to go to any length to avoid raising tax revenues to pay the state’s bills.

But further depleting the Sadowski housing funds — which have suffered three straight years of such raids and the loss of $706 million — would be extremely shortsighted in an economy that remains desperate for housing investments and jobs.

That’s why the Sadowski Housing Coalition — a collection of business and governmental groups, charities and advocates for the poor and elderly — is appealing to the Legislature to stop using the funds to boost the state’s general revenues.

Coalition facilitator Jaimie Ross has noted that the $116.6 million the fund is expected to add in fiscal 2012-13 could create some 9,000 jobs and $900 million in economic impact and help the state avoid future budget shortfalls. (Web: sadowskicoalition.com)

The Sadowski affordable housing funds are composed of local and state revenue from documentary-stamp taxes paid on property sales. While the recession has reduced those sales, and the need for new housing, the funds can still be used to repair and rehabilitate old apartment buildings and foreclosed, abandoned properties.

And although Florida housing prices have fallen dramatically, those prices — and lenders’ stricter requirements for home loans — are still beyond the reach of the average Florida wage-earner.

“If you have a house that was $500,000 and now it’s down to $200,000,” said Mark Hendrickson, former head of the state housing agency and now a private consultant, in a coalition press release, “how does that help someone making $20,000 or $30,000 a year?”

What might help, instead, would be renovated rental units and the rehabilitation of abandoned homes — the types of projects the Sadowski funds can help finance.

Such projects would provide jobs for unemployed construction workers, renovate eyesores that hold down property values, and give many Florida communities an economic shot in the arm.

We know that legislators must make painful budget choices in a slow-to-recover economy. But draining millions of dollars from the affordable-housing funds would jeopardize projects that can help turn the economy around. It wasn’t a sound strategy in the past, and it makes even less sense now.

This article first appeared in The Gainsville Sun, December 21, 2011.

Copyright © 2011 Gainesville.com

“We thank Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater and Insurance Consumer Advocate Robin Westcott for their continued diligent work on this key issue for Florida insurance consumers,” said Donovan Brown, PCI’s Florida counsel and regional manager. “The findings in this report are clear. We need to transform Florida’s Personal Injury Protection (PIP) system so that Florida drivers don’t continue to bear the burden of the rampant fraud that plagues our state.”

Florida’s no-fault auto insurance system is rife with fraud, which has hit Florida consumers with higher auto insurance premiums. According to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC), Florida insurance consumers pay 56 percent more than consumers in other states for automobile insurance premiums. Staged accidents, rampant litigation, and unscrupulous medical clinics that provide services to PIP claimants have led to skyrocketing costs for honest Florida insurance consumers.

According to the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB), Florida led the nation in staged automobile accidents and questionable insurance claims from 2007 to 2009. Four of the top 10 U.S. cities with the highest rate of questionable auto claims are in Florida: Tampa, Miami, Orlando and Hialeah. If the underlying problems with Florida’s no-fault law are not addressed in 2012, Florida will continue to lead the nation in fraudulent claims and higher costs for consumers.

PCI believes four key elements are needed to transform Florida’s broken PIP system:

·       Allowing a reasonable amount of time for investigation of suspect claims.

·       Placing reasonable limits on attorneys’ fees to reduce the incentive for unnecessary or prolonged litigation.

·       Allowing for greater oversight of clinics that provide medical treatment to Personal Injury Protection claimants.

·       Establishing reasonable treatment restrictions to prevent excessive and unnecessary medical treatment.

“These straightforward solutions are the essential fraud-fighting fixes that will help control cost drivers burdening the PIP system and will help stabilize costs to consumers that are currently spiraling out of control,” Brown said. “We urge Florida’s legislators to enact legislation this year that will help Floridians and put a stop to the criminals who are taking Floridians for a ride.”

This article first appeared in Saint Petersblog, December 15, 2011

© 2011 Saint Petersblog

“[I] urge all citizens to join me in congratulating the Tampa Bay Pilots Association on this significant milestone and thanking all those who have been involved in this organization through the years for their commitment to the safety and welfare of our community,” stated Mayor of the City of Tampa Bob Buckhorn in his proclamation, where he proclaimed December 14, 2011, as “Tampa Bay Pilots Association Day” in the City of Tampa, Fla.  Mayor Buckhorn was unable to attend the reception, but understands the strong tie between the Tampa Bay Pilots and the history of Tampa as a port city, and is proud to have them as a part of the local community.

“As staunch advocates for maritime safety and security, the members of the Tampa Bay Pilots Association have provided unsurpassed leadership while promoting the safe, secure and efficient movement of passengers and cargo. The Coast Guard is proud to have such a strong partner in the maritime community,” said Captain Sheryl Dickinson, Commander, USCG Sector St. Petersburg and Captain of the Port-Tampa, who presented the Public Service Award on behalf of the USCG to the TBPA last evening.

“Since 1886, the Tampa Bay Pilots have played a vital role in the settling and growth of Tampa and the entire bay area,” said Captain Allen Thompson, executive director of the TBPA.  “Today, the Tampa Bay Pilots continue to offer the same critical judgment and unsurpassed familiarity with the land, sea and the ever-changing elements of the maritime environment here.  As our harbor pilots continue their second century of service to Tampa Bay, our commitment to excellence and dedication to service remains our top priority.”

One of the earliest harbor pilots in the Tampa Bay area was Anton de Alaminos, who explored both the Atlantic and Gulf Coast of Florida.  Alaminos was known for establishing the existence of the Gulf Stream and is credited with the discovery of Tampa Bay.  In addition, one of Tampa Bay’s harbor pilots was originally the captain of the city’s flagship, Mascotte, and a harbor pilot was the originator of the legend of Jose Gaspar, ergo Gasparilla.  It is also important to note that several streets in the Port Tampa neighborhood and several regional landmarks in Manatee County are named after harbor pilots.

There are currently 23 highly-skilled and highly-trained harbor pilots that service the ports of Tampa Bay.  Tampa Bay is Florida’s largest piloting domain, consisting of nine federal pilotage routes and more than 90 miles of pilotage waters.  TBPA’s members safely handle the navigation of nearly 5,000 ships per year and 50 million tons of cargo.

“I want to congratulate the Tampa Bay Pilots Association on the occasion of your 125 year anniversary,” said Richard Wainio, executive director of the Tampa Port Authority.  “The role you play in supporting navigational safety in the Port of Tampa is well known, but your contributions to our port are actually much broader.  You are a critical stakeholder in the collective efforts to support a strong security protocol in the Tampa Harbor.  Furthermore, Tampa Bay pilots are often on the front line in meeting and assisting the shipping lines that are so integral to the success of our seaport.  You are truly ambassadors for this seaport, and the Tampa Port Authority is proud to be your partner in supporting the Port of Tampa, our region’s greatest economic enterprise.”

“Having worked with the Tampa Bay Pilots over the last 40 years, they have shown professionalism beyond measure and have always worked closely with the Manatee County Port Authority in the endeavor to expand shipping in Tampa Bay,” said Dave McDonald, executive director of the Manatee Port Authority.  “Most recently, during the certification of Berth 12, the Tampa Bay Pilots Association responded rapidly allowing the opening of that new berth for expanded Port Manatee operations.”

“Our state association joins the Tampa Bay Pilots in celebrating their anniversary of service to the State of Florida for the last 125 years,” said Captain Stuart Lilly, president of the FHPA.  “The Tampa Bay Pilots are critical is serving the public good, as they are the local experts who manage the efficient flow of ship traffic for the Tampa Bay area, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.”

Currently, there are nearly 100 highly-skilled and highly-trained harbor pilots serving Florida’s 14 deepwater ports, all of whom trained for a minimum of two years in their respective ports before handling the largest ships on their own.  In a recent three-year period, Florida harbor pilots controlled the navigation of approximately 90,000 ships in Florida’s seaports, compiling an outstanding safety record.

This article first appeared in Saint Petersblog, December 15, 2011

© 2011 Saint Petersblog

Since 2008, the state has relied on $2.8 billion swept out of dedicated trust funds — money set aside by legislative act and theoretically reserved for specific purposes — to allow the state to balance its budget in lean times.

Lean times are still with us, and so, too, are trust-fund sweeps.

Gov. Rick Scott’s proposed spending plan, unveiled Wednesday, includes $147.4 million swept out of nine trust funds. It’s all there in the bowels of the Republican governor’s proposal — Section 55 on page 326 of the 342-page document — that is the starting point for the Legislature.

That’s considerably less than the $523.9 million in sweeps Scott and the Legislature used earlier this year to balance the 2011-12 budget. It’s also well below the more than $588 million swept from trust funds to balance the books in 2008-09 as well as 2009-10.

The relatively modest sweep Scott proposes also represents the political maturation of a maverick governor, swept into office on an iconoclastic platform of radical change. It’s a small clue, among many, that Scott now picks his battles and is no longer waging total war at all times. A mere 10 months earlier, at the dawn of his governorship, Scott proposed eliminating every single discretionary trust fund in the state’s coffers.

The biggest hit in the current proposal is taken from the same trust fund that’s been sapped the most in the last four years, the Local Government Housing Trust Fund.

Scott’s proposed budget included taking $70.7 million from it in next year’s spending plan. If that happens, the Local Government Housing Trust Fund will have been drained of $642.4 million since 2008.

That’s just one of 171 trust funds in the state, created either in the constitution or in state law. Some exist just to park federal money before it’s drawn down for programs or to pay off debt.

In 1992, lawmakers created the Local Government Housing Trust Fund. Doc-stamp taxes, collected on real-estate transactions, fill up the trust fund. By law, it’s supposed to be spent exclusively on housing programs. Florida statutes say the money is intended to provide decent, affordable housing to every Floridian by 2010.We can only assume that’s been done.

Or at least that’s the theory used by Scott and lawmakers — the vast inventory of available, cheap (compared with 2005) homes throughout the state means affordable housing is no longer an issue.

The Sadowski Housing Coalition disagrees. And some lawmakers earlier this year raised the important point that real-estate industry interests agreed to the doc-stamp tax nearly a decade ago explicitly and exclusively because of how it would be used. It’s not being used that way now.

Not included in Scott’s proposal is any sweep from the state’s transportation trust fund. That should placate road builders, who loudly protested the move last year.

But there are sweeps from numerous regulatory trust funds in Scott’s proposal, including $33 million from the insurance regulatory trust fund, $10 million from the financial institutions regulatory trust fund and $10.5 million from the Department of Business and Professional Regulation’s professional regulation trust fund.

Without the nearly $3 billion in trust-fund sweeps over the last four years, we’d all presumably be paying higher cigarette taxes, higher fees to file lawsuits and higher entrance fees to state parks — another major strategy pursued by lawmakers to get us over the recessionary hump.

Trust-fund sweeps have been pitched as a necessary evil, staving off more severe cuts to other state services. But it’s still fundamentally dishonest.

Scott earlier this year, with his administration’s first budget proposal, sought to sweep 124 trust funds into general revenue — $8.5 billion — and favored eliminating all trust funds not required by the constitution.

He may yet do so, but that’s a battle he’s decided to save for another fiscal year.

This article first appeared in Tallahassee Democrat, December 8, 2011.

Copyright © 2011 www.tallahassee.com.

The faster Florida’s housing market recovers the faster Florida’s economy recovers. Using housing trust fund dollars to move the foreclosed housing stock and rehabilitate abandoned homes would put workers who are now unemployed or underemployed back to work repairing and refurbishing existing housing stock. Investing in Florida’s existing real estate market will stabilize property values for the entire community; support the businesses that supply construction related materials, and all of Florida’s businesses that rely upon consumers having money to buy goods.

Florida is highly dependent on sales taxes for revenue. When housing funds are used for housing, sales revenues increase. This means that when housing trust fund dollars are used for housing, it reduces the state budget deficit. State and local housing trust fund money can also be used for down payment and closing cost assistance to help potential homeowners access fixed rate mortgages at historically low interest rates. SHIP programs provide homebuyer counseling and ensure that homeowners are using only long-term fixed rate mortgages. The SHIP program has a proven track record of providing homeownership only to those families who are financially ready, willing, and able to benefit from homeownership. The SHIP program has withstood the test of time and compliance monitoring. It can boast flexibility and accountability.

On behalf of the 24 statewide organizations that comprise the Sadowski Coalition, from business and industry groups to low income advocates, I urge Governor Scott and the Florida Legislature to put Florida’s housing dollars into Florida’s housing programs to create jobs, stabilize the real estate market, and help reduce state budget deficits.

Jaimie Ross is facilitator of the Sadowski Coalition, a collection of 24 nonpartisan statewide organizations, ranging from business and industry groups such as AIF and the Florida Chamber of Commerce to special needs and low

income advocates such as Florida AARP, Florida United Way, the Florida Housing Coalition and the Florida Coalition for the Homeless, as well as faith-based organizations such as Habitat for Humanity of Florida and Florida

Catholic Conference, demonstrating a uniquely diverse breadth of support across the State of Florida. www.SadowskiCoalition.com.

This article first appeared in The Gainsville Sun , December 6, 2011.

Copyright © 2011 Gainesville.com

The segment focused on 15 Florida children who, with their parents’ permission, described their experiences with homelessness in Seminole County.

When CBS correspondent Scott Pelley reported from the county — northeast of Orlando — eight months ago, the homeless families were living in cheap hotels, thanks to donations from relief agencies.

But, during his most recent visit, Pelley found the children living in cars or trucks.

In one particularly poignant part of the show, Pelley interviewed a 15-year-old girl and her 13-year-old brother. Their mother died when they were tots. Their father, a carpenter, has been unemployed since housing construction tanked. After the family lost its home in foreclosure, the father purchased an old, oversized work truck that has served as “home” for five months.

Unfortunately, their story was not a made-for-TV moment.

Three days later, Herald-Tribune correspondent Elizabeth Sims told the story of a working mother and her four daughters, ages 8 to 13, who previously had been evicted from their home in Bradenton. After the eviction, they spent nearly a month living in a late-model, two-door small car parked in supermarket and convenience-store lots.

Fortunately, the family was rescued from homelessness when Family Promise, a local interfaith organization that received funds from the Season of Sharing program, intervened to provide shelter and aid. Now, months later, the mother has a job and money to rent a modest home in Sarasota.

Such stories of compassion and resilience offer hope.

But, as the “60 Minutes” segment and a recent Herald-Tribune article by Doug Sword showed, the trying conditions underlying homelessness, especially among families, have persisted despite the official end of the Great Recession.

The number of families in crisis — in our region alone — is large and their needs are great. For example, the poverty rate in Sarasota County jumped from 8 percent to over 13 percent from 2007 to 2010. (That’s a 5-percentage-point rise at a time when the national rate rose 2 percentage points.) In Manatee County during that time, the poverty rate rose from 10.6 percent to 14.5 percent.

Keep in mind: A family of four is considered to be living in poverty only if it makes less than $22,113 per year.

Unemployment — one of the leading causes of poverty — has decreased the October rate in Florida and our region remained in double-digits, at 10.3 percent.

Never has unemployment been so high for so long, as “60 Minutes” reported. Local social-service workers tell us that the long-term impacts of joblessness continue to send substantial numbers of families into homelessness or to the brink of peril.

Children have been hit particularly hard by the lingering effects of the recession; Nearly 25 percent of youths nationwide live in poverty.

An economic recovery that generates job growth — in all economic sectors — would go a long way toward easing the crisis. That said, homelessness is likely to persist: The Homeless Research Institute projects that the percentage of homeless Americans 65 and older will increase by 33 percent by 2020 and more than double by 2050.

In the meantime, levels of public assistance should be held steady — rather than decreased. Proposed 25 percent decreases in federal-state Community Development Block Grants, a key funding source for the prevention of homelessness, are unacceptable. Funding of Florida’s Sadowski Affordable Housing Act should be restored.

Private aid must increase to fill persistent gaps. Locally, faith-based and secular charities give generously but, in this era, those contributions fall short.

Community-based efforts must also expand and, just as important, become even more efficient.

There are encouraging signs that a local effort, which attracted about 600 participants in Sarasota County, to create a comprehensive approach to ending — or, at least, mitigating — homelessness will result in a Dec. 21 report that calls for improved cooperation and information-sharing among service providers. We hope the release of the report and its recommendation lead donors to consider requiring recipient agencies in Manatee and Sarasota counties to participate in the computerized Homeless Management Information System.

A similar report, issued five years ago in Manatee County, helped focus the community’s social-service agencies and led to the creation of a “one-stop,” homeless-aid center in Bradenton — the kind of facility desperately needed in South Sarasota County.

As Manatee found, a good report and responsive state and local partnerships don’t solve the problems associated with poverty and homelessness. But such steps can help the Hard Times Generation and generations to follow — if they are accompanied by informed action and sustained contributions by the private and public sectors.

This article first appeared in Sarasota Herald-Tribune, December 4, 2011

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