Former, current and perhaps future governors took center stage in the Capitol as spring arrived.
Florida honored former Gov. Reubin Askew, a transformational leader who died last week, with a series of events in Tallahassee and Pensacola. A bipartisan who's who of dignitaries paid homage to "Reubin the Good," a prim Southerner whose imprint on nearly every aspect of state policy is still felt more than three decades after he left office.
Meanwhile, the Legislature handed current governor Rick Scott his top election-year priority, a massive cut in vehicle-registration fees. The fee rollback fits perfectly into Scott's campaign against Charlie Crist, the former governor who is trying to get his old job back and who was at the helm when the fees were hiked.
And, although divided, the House handed Speaker Will Weatherford, considered a top candidate for a run at governor someday, one of his chief legislative goals — a tuition break for undocumented immigrants. Hispanics have tried for a decade to get the measure passed, but its future remains uncertain in the Senate.
Farewell to 'visionary leader' Askew
Askew, who died March 13 at age 85, lay in state in a flag-draped casket topped by a single white rose Tuesday in the historic Old Capitol, where "the man of courage" was inaugurated in 1971 and where he served as a lawmaker from Pensacola for 12 years.
Askew was a seminal figure in Florida's modern history whose policies shaped nearly every facet of the state. Education, the environment, civil rights, the judiciary and "government in the sunshine" were among the legacies the former governor, who served from 1971 to 1979, left behind.
"He was a visionary. He saw issues whether they were in areas of racial fairness or educational opportunities or environmental protection in a generational perspective, not just what's going to be the best position for the next election. He led by his personal example and by the wisdom of his ideas and the strength of his passions," said former U.S. Sen. Bob Graham, who also served as governor.
Five former governors —Graham, Crist, Bob Martinez, Buddy MacKay and Wayne Mixson — joined hundreds of other mourners Wednesday at a memorial service at Faith Presbyterian Church in Tallahassee. Past and current members of the Florida Supreme Court, the Cabinet, dozens of legislators — including Weatherford and Senate President Don Gaetz — also attended the hour-and-a-half service. Askew is survived by his wife, Donna Lou; two children, Kevin Askew and Angela White; and several grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Vehicle registration fees in reverse
Scott was on the House floor Thursday when the chamber unanimously approved his top election-year priority, a rollback in vehicle-registration fees authorized by the Republican-dominated Legislature in 2009, when Crist just happened to be at the helm. The bill, which will save motorists roughly $20 to $25 per vehicle, will go into effect Sept. 1, just before voters head to the polls to decide whether to give Scott four more years in the governor's mansion.
Rep. Jared Moskowitz broke the code about the politics behind the measure (SB 156) during floor debate Thursday evening.
"We're doing this because one governor wants to use this issue against a former governor in the election," Moskowitz, D-Coral Springs, said.
Scott wasted no time in making Moskowitz's prediction a reality.
Scott quickly blamed the vehicle-fee hike, imposed as lawmakers were trying to close a billion-dollar budget gap caused by the state's prolonged economic slump, on Crist, who's trying to get his old job back as a Democrat and, right now, is Scott's chief opponent in the race.
"This is a tax increase that Charlie Crist passed in 2009," Scott said. "The right thing happened tonight, to reduce these taxes and putting more money back in Floridians' hands. … I look forward to getting it on my desk and signing it to reduce the tax that Charlie Crist passed in 2009."
Scott's campaign used social media to crow about the rollback.
Individual registration fees will be reduced by $20 to $25, depending on the size of the vehicle. The bill is expected to cost the state $309 million during the upcoming 2014-15 budget year, and about $395 million annually in future years.
Legislative budget writers have more than $1 billion extra to spend this year, and Scott wants $500 million of that to go toward tax and fee cuts.
But how they'll carve up the remaining cuts remains to be seen.
The House Finance and Tax Committee on Thursday introduced a package that includes tax breaks for gym memberships, cement mixing drums and car seats. The House plan also features four sales-tax holidays, including the popular back-to-school tax cut. The House proposal would also give Scott his requested increase in the corporate-income tax exemption, bringing it from $50,000 to $75,000.
Dems help GOP speaker
Weatherford, a Republican from Wesley Chapel, has made a priority of giving in-state tuition rates to students who lack authorization to be in the United States., sometimes called "Dreamers" after the congressional "Dream Act."
Thursday evening, Weatherford's chamber made his dream a reality. But the GOP speaker wouldn't have reached his goal without the help of Democrats.
The House passed the measure with an 81-33 vote, with just one of the 33 Republicans who voted against the bill speaking out during an emotional floor debate.
Nearly half of Weatherford's GOP caucus voted against the bill, which allows undocumented immigrants to pay cheaper, in-state tuition rates if they attend Florida middle and high schools for at least four straight years before going to college.
In-state tuition for "Dreamers" has been a priority of the Hispanic caucus for a decade.
Weatherford played down the fact that 33 of the 74 Republicans who voted on the bill opposed it.
"If you'd have told me six months ago that over 80 members of the Florida House would vote for a bill to give in-state tuition for the children of undocumented immigrants, I would not have believed you. … I think it was a historic victory for the children of this state that are waiting for that opportunity for that chance to have upward mobility," he told reporters.
But some critics accuse Weatherford of pandering to Hispanics — a powerful and growing voting bloc courted by national GOP leaders — with the issue.
And despite bipartisan support in the House, the bill could struggle in the Senate, an unusual dilemma in the historically more amber.
Senate President Don Gaetz, R-Niceville, opposes the proposal, and the counterpart (SB 1400) to the House bill narrowly escaped the Senate Education Committee with a 5-4 vote after most of the panel's Republicans voted against it.
Both the House and Senate proposals include a sweetener for Scott, who campaigned on an Arizona-style immigration law during his first time on the stump four years ago.
The House version passed Thursday would lower from 15 percent to 6 percent the annual tuition increases that universities can impose without legislative approval.
But the Senate version, sponsored by Clearwater Republican Jack Latvala, would abolish the "tuition differential" altogether, something Weatherford opposes but which Scott supports.