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 August 25, 2005
 

 Palm Beach Post...Lawmakers still trying to build veto override

TALLAHASSEE — Florida lawmakers continue to try to forge a bipartisan agreement to override or tweak a bill vetoed by Gov. Jeb Bush this summer, despite public bickering between House Democrats and the bill's Republican sponsor.

The bill, SB 1146, would have required the legislature to review contracts for more than $1 million when the state hired private companies to do public business. It came in response to a series of news reports about multimillion-dollar privatization efforts that failed, according to the bill's sponsor, Sen. Nancy Argenziano.

While it was approved nearly unanimously by lawmakers, Bush vetoed it, also eliminating one of his pet projects, the Center for Efficient Government, which had been the clearinghouse for state contracts in excess of $10 million.

Argenziano said Wednesday she will not give up trying to wrest some legislative control over budgeting from Bush but has met with resistance from the governor's office.

"They've come back with some suggestions that I say, 'Bull, that's not going to happen,' " said Argenziano. "They just don't want legislative oversight and I'm never going to give in to that."

House Speaker Allan Bense's spokesman, Towson Fraser, said Wednesday that he has been negotiating with the Senate and Bush's office but held out slim hope that a deal could be brokered prior to an October special session.

But House Democrats say they are determined to highlight the issue to increase chances of an override during a special session that many expect to be called in October or November to establish regulations for slot machine gambling in Broward County pari-mutuels.

Earlier in the week, House Minority Leader Chris Smith, D-Fort Lauderdale, and 31 other House Democrats submitted enough petitions to Secretary of State Glenda Hood to force a poll of lawmakers to determine whether enough support exists from the three-fifths majority required to call a special session on the matter.

Smith conceded Wednesday that such support does not exist after Argenziano said Tuesday his petition effort had "screwed up" the Senate's efforts to negotiate with Bush.

On Wednesday, Smith's House minority office issued a news release condemning Argenziano, saying, "I had no idea we were so powerful" and offering to "get down on my knees and beg for forgiveness of any Republican if they agree not to take their anger out on the public and just enact some common-sense protections for Florida tax dollars."

Argenziano responded with her own missive, saying, "As far as the minority leader's sarcastic comments that he was unaware of the power he had, I say do not flatter yourself."

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 AP...Florida gains 2,600 jobs, but Cecil Field's future up in the air
 

JACKSONVILLE -- Florida is gaining about 2,600 jobs, new airplanes and new ships as a result of proposals approved Wednesday by the Base Realignment and Closure Commission, and the panel also took action that could reopen Jacksonville's Cecil Field Naval Air Station.

Even without a final decision on Cecil, Jacksonville was the biggest winner Wednesday. The commission voted to send 1,900 new jobs and five P-3 Orion squadrons to Jacksonville Naval Air Station and two ships and 400 sailors to Mayport Naval Station.

The only significant state loss was a decision to move the Navy's Officer Training Command from Pensacola Naval Air Station to Newport, R.I. About 1,600 trainees go through the command every year, but relatively few permanent jobs would be lost.

The panel today, however, is scheduled to vote on other Pentagon proposals that could cost Pensacola nearly 1,600 military and civilian jobs.

The commission stopped short of closing Oceana Naval Air Station, Va., the Navy's master jet fighter base for the East Coast, and moving its planes and personnel to Cecil Field, which closed in 1999.

Instead, the panel set a six-month deadline for Virginia officials to deal with encroachment that has caused safety and noise problems while also asserting that "the future of naval aviation is not Naval Air Station Oceana."

That comment encouraged Gov. Jeb Bush.

"The ideal situation would have been for them to say 'close Oceana, move to Cecil,' which ultimately could be what they do, but they gave Virginia another chance," Bush said. "The threshold is pretty high if they're sincere about their admonitions."

Several commissioners praised the open space, lack of encroachment and existing facilities at Cecil compared to Oceana, surrounded by schools, shopping centers and thousands of homes.

"I believe the decision that was made really just postpones the inevitable," said U.S. Rep. Ander Crenshaw, R-Jacksonville.

U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., agreed, saying "It is a high hurdle for Oceana to achieve."

"Reopening Cecil Field will provide tremendous economic benefit to the community and state," Sen. Mel Martinez, R-Fla., said in a statement released by his office. "More importantly, it will provide significant improvement in training for our naval aviators."

Jacksonville Naval Air Station will gain about 1,900 jobs with the arrival of five squadrons of P-3 Orion patrol planes. They would move from Brunswick Naval Air Station in Maine, which the commission voted 7-2 to close.

Transferring the P-3s will cut operating and repair costs, according to staff recommendations. The move initially will cost more than $147 million, but the Pentagon then expects to save $35 million annually.

 

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