Duval County Tax Collector Mike Hogan, a former Jacksonville lawmaker, got his 15 minutes of fame this week wearing another hat, that of Taxation and Budget Reform Commissioner.

A star chamber of former lawmakers, business leaders, university presidents, lobbyists and community leaders throughout the state, commission members are appointed by the governor and legislative leaders. The vaunted panel meets only once every 20 years and has the power to put measures directly on the November ballot.

Hogan hitched his wagon to the Americans for Prosperity bandwagon and submitted a proposal that would severely restrict government revenue and spending growth to roughly the rate of inflation, with only a few exceptions.

A powerful TBRC committee gave tentative approval to Hogan's proposal, but that was only half the story _ or at least half of his idea.

Critics, including the Florida League of Cities and the Florida Association of Counties, complained that the proposed constitutional amendment would be disastrous because it would handcuff local governments but do virtually nothing to stop lawmakers _ as they are fond of doing _ from erasing their own red ink by foisting unfunded mandates on the locals.

Hogan's solution for that is another constitutional proposal that would ban the practice.

"No county or municipality shall be bound by any general law that is an unfunded mandate," Hogan's proposal states. It goes on to define unfunded mandates, and prescribe only very narrow exceptions to the rule.

The problem is that both of Hogan's proposals have to muster 17 votes on the full 25-member commission to reach the ballot. If the government growth cap flies, a good possibility in the Republican-dominated body, local governments are going to have to hold their breath that the unfunded mandate provision meets with equal approval.

Right now, it's revenue caps, 1, unfunded mandates, 0. Unfunded mandates has yet to be debated by a single committee, although it's early yet.

Both proposals are on the commission website. "http://www.floridatbrc.org/"