Alexandra Glorioso and Arek Sarkissian , Naples Daily News Published 5:10 p.m. ET Feb. 8, 2017 | Updated 11:00 a.m. ET March 7, 2017
TALLAHASSEE - In a family-feud style squabble among Republican leaders that could end in a partial state government shutdown, the Florida Senate is laying the groundwork to sue over House Speaker Richard Corcoran’s rule to force more transparency in how lawmakers' special projects receive state money.
Senators will discuss the issue at the Senate Rules Committee on Thursday, where they will hear arguments that the House move is unconstitutional. The House rule required any new budget request for lawmaker projects and local community projects to be filed in the House by Tuesday.
Jack Latvala Florida Senator District 16, Clearwater (Photo: Provided)
Senate leaders, however, say the rule unilaterally adopted by the House unconstitutionally strong-arms the Senate by requiring that its budget requests be filed in the House and far too early — exactly one month before the 60-day legislative session begins.
“Under the House’s rule, the Capitol is basically closed for business to the people of Florida starting yesterday, if they happen to want something in the budget. We just think that’s wrong,” said Sen. Jack Latvala, R-Clearwater, the Senate’s budget chief.
Corcoran, R-Land O’ Lakes, said Wednesday the Senate's proposal was a positive sign, but there are still details to resolve.
“It’s encouraging that the Senate is moving toward greater transparency and openness,” Corcoran said. “But our concerns in regard to member project openness, project accountability and other central issues still remain.
“We are always willing to work with our Senate counterparts, and we hope we can have a constructive dialogue,” he said.
The rule causing the clash was passed by the House at the insistence of Corcoran, who said there’s not enough transparency in the budget process, specifically regarding hometown spending items that are sometimes stuffed by lawmakers in the state budget at the last minute.
Latvala plans to propose an alternative Thursday at the Senate Rules Committee. The Senate proposal allows House and Senate members to file appropriations requests at any time before or during conference as long as there is enough time for public testimony. The joint rule also enacts what is current procedure, which says no member of either chamber can take issue with the request and de facto veto it, if it's been agreed to by the conference committee.
In essence, the Senate is proposing to strip the House’s new rule but is extending a kind of olive branch regarding the House’s push for more transparency by including a standard 72-hour window for public testimony.
“We’re adhering to the fidelity to the constitution,” Latvala said.
Latvala warned that, if the chambers can’t come to an agreement, the Legislature won’t pass an $84 billion-plus state budget, which could eventually lead to the partial shutdown of core state government functions, from courts to schools to health care and transportation projects.
“We’re not abiding by the other house’s rules in the budget process. We’re going to abide by our policies and procedures and long-standing customs,” Latvala said. “So, adopting a joint rule will help us get out of here on time, help prevent a government shutdown.”
When asked why Senate President Joe Negron, R-Stuart, wasn’t leading the charge on the rule proposal, Latvala simply said, “the president doesn’t go to committee.” In his place will be his two top lieutenants: Republican Sen. Lizbeth Benacquisto of Fort Myers and Latvala. Benacquisto will be presiding over the meeting as rules chair.
When asked whether the Senate would pursue the matter in court if it can’t be resolved in committee, Latvala demurred, saying “that’s not my decision to make.”
Latvala said Senate leaders are taking the extraordinary steps to counter the House rule because the speaker didn't consult with them before passing the rule.
“The House adopted a set of rules, and they didn’t offer us the opportunity to approve them, like you normally would do in a joint situation,” Latvala said. “And so we’re offering them a set of joint rules they can vote up or down. And, hopefully vote up, and then we’ll have a solution to this situation.”
Latvala said it's unusual for the budget rules to change this way.
“I’ve been here since 1994 off and on. This is the first time we’ve ever had different rules for the processing of the budget between the House and the Senate,” Latvala said.