WELCOME TO SESSION 2000

As the Florida Legislature convenes its annual 60-day session tomorrow, many of the usual issues will prevail. Issues such as education funding, tax cuts, retirement issues, and pay increases for state employees will have their day this session.  But new issues will also emerge, including reaction to the Governor's One Florida initiative and a four-year medical school at FSU (see related story).  But the driving force behind session 2000 will be term limits.  This change in the state constitution, which passed in 1992, will force 52 House members and 11 Senators to leave office in November. With this mandate, many out-going members will try to complete in two months what they had hoped to do in several years!

As to the next fiscal year's budget, Governor Bush released his $50 billion proposal in mid-January. It calls for $578 million in tax cuts but allows for a 2.2 percent increase over last year's spending. The Governor also recommends a 2.9 percent increase in funding for the State University System. The House and Senate are expected to release their recommendations in the next few weeks.

Plans for this year's FSU Day at the Capitol, scheduled for March 15th, are being finalized. It will be a day to honor our legislative alumni, promote our magnificent university, as well as recognize our football team for winning the National Championship. As always (and maybe more than usual), it will be a "garnet and golden" day.

Throughout this 9-week Legislative Session, I will attempt to keep you informed via this weekly Legisletter.  As always, I welcome your comments, questions and concerns, and value your insight and knowledge.   Please feel free to contact me at 644-4453 or e-mail kdaly@govrel.fsu.edu. Also know that my assistant, Sarah Vaughan (svaughan@govrel.fsu.edu), and my new Executive Secretary, Karen Thurber (kthurber@govrel.fsu.edu), are happy to assist you in obtaining information about the session.

MEDICAL SCHOOL LEGISLATION FILED

A House Bill creating the Florida State University College of Medicine will be heard in the House Health Care Services Committee on Wednesday, March 8 at 3:30 p.m.  The bill, sponsored by Representative Durell Peaden (Republican, Crestview) has the support of House Speaker John Thrasher (Republican, Jacksonville, and an FSU Alumnus) and dozens of House members around the state.  Senator Jim King, (Republican, Jacksonville, and an FSU Alumnus) sponsored an identical bill in the Senate.

The mission of the proposed medical school is to train primary care physicians, with a focus on treating the elderly and people in under served areas such as rural communities and inner cities. The new medical school at Florida State would use a non-traditional, distributed model in its approach to educating medical students.  This model is "community-based," which means Florida State would not own or operate a teaching hospital, but would work with existing hospitals and clinics around the state. Students would study for two years on the FSU campus, then have two years of practical experience in a variety of areas of medicine (called clinical rotations), with part of those rotations spent in under served areas. 

The Governor recommended funding  for this be released in January.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

"At the request of the Legislature, supporters of the FSU medical school resubmitted their funding suggestions with a new emphasis on care for geriatric and under served urban and rural communities. The new proposal is a low-cost solution for graduate medical education. Given this focus, we support funding for the medical school." 

-Governor Jeb Bush

 Tallahassee Democrat , March 5, 2000

HB 827
DESIGNATION/COLLEGES UNIVERSITIES

Under current law, state buildings and facilities cannot be named for living people except by law.  The bill, sponsored by the House Colleges and Universities Committee and Representative Bob Casey (R-Gainesville), provides for the naming of buildings or facilities on the campuses of FAMU, FAU, UF, FGCU, USF, and Florida State University.  On the Florida State campus, the following buildings or facilities are to be named:

The Seminole Golf Course: Don A. Veller Seminole Golf Course
Building 76: William A. Tanner Hall
Building 1012 on the Panama City Campus: Larson M. Bland Conference Center
The Clubhouse of the Seminole Golf Course: David Middleton Golf Center
The bill is currently in the Governmental Operations Committee.

HB 995
TEACHER RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION

This bill, sponsored by Representative Frank Farkas (R-St. Petersburg),  provides financial incentives in an effort to recruit and retain public school teachers. The incentives include tuition reimbursements after the 3^rd and 5^th years of teaching, and bonuses at the end of the 10^th, 15^th, 20^th, 25^th and 30^th years of teaching. The bill specifically outlines that the awards would not influence retirement benefits. The bill would also revise the requirements for certification of out of state teachers, allowing them to qualify with 2 years of experience instead of the 5 years currently required.

LEGISLATIVE SESSION TELEVISED

On March 6th, 2000, The Florida Channel, a service of WFSU-TV and the Florida Legislature, begins its Gavel-to-Gavel Coverage of the Florida House and Senate.  Live coverage of the session and committee meetings begins at 8:00 a.m. and lasts until 6:00 p.m.ET, Monday through Friday until May 5, 2000.

In addition to this live coverage, the nightly news program Capitol Update offers a live, half-hour show that provides clear, concise reports of the bills, issues and debates of the day.  Capitol Update airs from 5:30 - 6:00 p.m. ET, Monday through Friday and can be seen on Sunshine Network (local cable channel 23), The Florida Channel (local channel 47), and public television affiliates around the state. The Florida Channel will also broadcast the Governor's State of the State Address live, at 11:00 a.m. ET on Tuesday, March 7, 2000.  The Democratic Party's response will immediately follow the address.  The Florida Channel also provides live audio and video of each day's legislative proceedings on the Internet at http://www.wfsu.org.

Florida’s Legislature has gone to the web! Online Sunshine is a direct resource to Florida’s capitol. The website contains a variety of legislative information, including: bills, calendars, journals, directories, House/Senate Handbooks, House and Senate information, Citizen’s Guides, and a Kid’s page. Online Sunshine is accessible via the internet URL/location http://www.leg.state.fl.us/