Article Courtesy of The Palm Beach Post
By John Kennedy

Published January 9, 2012

TALLAHASSEE — Florida lawmakers will open the 2012 session this week, seeking to patch the state budget and plot new political boundaries for legislative and congressional seats. 

But anything else outside these two big-ticket tasks looks pretty iffy this election-year session. 

"Right now, those are my only two priorities," said House Speaker Dean Cannon, R-Winter Park. "Doing things we are compelled to do, and doing them well." 

The scheduled 60-day session opens Tuesday. 

Last year, newly elected Gov. Rick Scott and an emboldened Republican-controlled legislature pushed major policy overhauls affecting schools, unions, elections and the courts, along with controversial changes to state abortion laws. 

By contrast, this year's legislative agenda is modest. 

A drive to bring three destination resort casinos to Florida is capturing a lot of attention and pushing both opponents and backers to muscle up with lobbyists. But the proposed gambling expansion is a real long shot, advocates acknowledge. 

Besides, closing a $2 billion budget gap and completing the once-a-decade job of redistricting won't be easy, lawmakers said. 

"It's a lot more complicated than it looks," said House Democratic Leader Ron Saunders of Key West. "And it already looks complicated." 

There are few issues as politically charged and personal to lawmakers as redrawing the boundaries of seats they now represent - or hope to run for in future elections. 

The changes are forced by the 2010 Census. Florida grew from almost 16 million people a decade ago to 18.8 million - a spike that adds two congressional districts to the state's 25 seats, 19 of which are filled by Republicans. 

In the Florida Legislature, the number of seats in the 120-member House and 40-person Senate is unchanged. 

But district boundaries will be Etch-A-Sketched, and Democrats hope the redrawn plans will help them prove more competitive in elections. 

Despite holding a more than 500,000-voter edge statewide over Republicans, Democrats have been pushed to the fringe in the legislature and congressional delegation during the past 20 years. Republicans hold two-thirds majorities in the House and Senate. 

"It's all about the district, the candidate and the fund-raising," Saunders said, describing what he views as the formula for Democratic success. "But this is when you start to find out what these districts are going to look like." 

In Palm Beach County, proposed line-drawing has created some political uncertainties. 

Within the congressional delegation, U.S. Reps. Tom Rooney, R-Tequesta, and Allen West, R-Plantation, are likely to see their districts dramatically changed. 

Rooney's eight-county District 16 is reduced to four counties under legislative proposals, but acquires a portion of Republican-leaning coastal northern Palm Beach County now in West's district. 

The boundaries of West's district become more rooted in Democratic-heavy Broward County, possibly making it tougher for the congressman to win re-election. 

Similarly, proposals that would create a Hispanic-oriented district in the Palm Springs-Lake Worth area helped prompt state Rep. Jeff Clemens, D-Lake Worth, to announce last month that he plans to run for a still-to-be-determined state Senate seat this fall. 

Voters in Clemens' district are fragmented into as many as four House seats under maps floated by the House. 

Guiding redistricting are new, voter-approved requirements that boundaries generally be compact and follow city and county lines. The boundaries also must not be drawn to favor incumbents or political parties, according to the standards, approved as Amendments 5 and 6 in 2010. 

Senate President Mike Haridopolos, R-Melbourne, was among those in the majority party opposing the changes, scoffing at supporters' claim that they would reduce the politics in redistricting. 

Haridopolos said lawmakers will abide by the standards. "But believe me, there are politics involved here," he said. 

Florida's redrawn maps must be reviewed by the U.S. Department of Justice to assure they follow the federal Voting Rights Act. The legislative proposal also goes to the Florida Supreme Court to ensure it complies with the state constitution. 

Scott, a Republican, can veto the congressional map - but not the Florida House and Senate maps. 

Finding education money 

The second-year governor has been doing his own political recalibration. 

After campaigning as an outsider and tea party favorite, Scott has tried to soften some of the rough edges he displayed as a first-time officeholder. 

"Floridians are concerned about two things more than any other," Scott said last month in unveiling his $66.4 billion budget proposal. "Education and jobs. And those two things, as we all know, are inseparable." 

Despite the $2 billion budget shortfall, Scott is raising the bar for lawmakers by calling for a 

$1 billion increase in funding for public schools. He even included a threat. 

"I will not sign a budget from the legislature that does not significantly increase funding for education," Scott insisted. 

Wayne Blanton, executive director of the Florida School Boards Association, welcomed the change in a governor who last year sought to slash $1.8 billion from schools, before signing a $1.3 billion cut approved by lawmakers. 

"I think the message that we've been putting out there and (Scott) is hearing is that the economy and education go hand in hand," Blanton said. "You can't cut your way out of recession by cutting money for schools." 

But looking at where Scott is finding money for education, Blanton conceded, "It's a sometimes messy process here." 

Scott's schools plan is built largely on steep cuts in state Medicaid payments to hospitals, which industry representatives say would undermine care for low-income, disabled and elderly Floridians. 

Scott would reduce Medicaid spending from its anticipated $21.5 billion to $19.5 billion, although more than half of that amount includes federal money. 

Scott's proposal would hit urban hospitals hard. 

West Palm Beach's St. Mary's Medical Center alone would lose $11 million, industry analysts said. Scott's proposal would slash almost 40 percent of the $5.2 billion in Medicaid payments to Florida hospitals. 

"Last year, we were cut $500 million, and that meant many hospitals had to eliminate programs like primary care clinics and outpatient chemotherapy," said Bill Bell, general counsel for the Florida Hospitals Association. 

"We had a 12 percent cut in Medicaid payments last year," Bell added. "But what the governor has proposed for this year could leave 45,000 jobs in jeopardy." 

Jobs and casinos 

Jobs apparently will remain a key part of any legislative sales pitch. 

Backers of the casino proposal are dangling the promise of thousands of jobs and an immediate injection of cash into the state treasury in their bid to win support from lawmakers. 

The measure sponsored by Sen. Ellyn Bogdanoff, R-Fort Lauderdale, and Rep. Erik Fresen, R-Miami, would allow as many as three "destination resort" casinos to be built in Florida with voter approval. 

It would also create a statewide gambling commission, regulate controversial Internet cafes and allow horse and dog tracks and jai-alai frontons currently operating to have slot machines, if voters approve. 

Casino operators would commit to spending at least $2 billion on construction and equipment to get a permit, under the bill. Supporters say that capital investment would likely limit resort proposals to South Florida. 

The measure is expected to be reviewed by a committee on Monday. But Cannon and other conservative leaders in the House balk at the measure. 

The state's business lobby also is split, with Associated Industries of Florida siding with the casino push, and the Walt Disney Co. and Florida Chamber of Commerce lined up in opposition. 

But the casino fight is likely to drive campaign contributions from both sides to ruling Republican Party coffers as the election year dawns. 

Bogdanoff, whose district includes part of Palm Beach County, acknowledged that redistricting and the budget will dominate. But the casino proposal will find a way to capture plenty of legislative attention, she added. 

"Just watch," Bogdanoff said. "It's going to get some share of the spotlight."