Stephen Price

BOG having trouble slowing legislation

2008-03-06T12:11:00.001-08:00

The Board of Governors has said they want to slow the train on legislation that would wipe away their authority.
A Senate committee discussed a resolution (SJR 2308) Wednesday and took the opportunity to give BOG Chancellor Mark Rosenberg a tongue lashing.
Sen. Larcenia Bullard, D-Miami, got the train running by ripping into Rosenberg for not paying her any visits.
"I saw you in my office a couple of days ago, and in the hallway. I've seen you in airports, but I just must ask who are the Board of Governors?" Bullard said. "I don't know who they are. … Why do you think we need 17 people who have no relationship with the Legislature?"
Rosenberg responded, "Madame senator, you were one of the first legislators I visited when I was appointed. I've visited you repeatedly and I'm disappointed that you're asking me this question now."
Bullard backpedaled some on her visiting comments saying, "In all due respect to you as an individual it's been so long I've forgotten when you visited, but I do want to say that when you did stop by you didn't say what the Board of Governors, what you really do. You were there to introduce yourself."
Senator Alex Diaz de la Portilla, R-Miami supported Bullard saying, "To be very frank with you Dr. Rosenberg, I think the answer you gave Senator Bullard was disrespectful." He later explained there needs to be more accountability.
If the BOG sees a light at the end of the tunnel, they better be careful, it could be a train.

Can a bill be too "Clean?"

2008-03-05T08:06:00.001-08:00

Global compensation, a bill to automatically compensate the wrongfully incarcerated, will likely find favor with many legislators this session, but what version will survive may depend on how "clean" lawmakers want the bill to be.
In Rep. Ellyn Bogdanoff's "global" compensation bill, (HB1025) a provision dubbed "clean hands," would deny anyone automatic compensation if he or she had prior felony convictions other than the crime they were proven innocent of, or if they committed crimes while in prison.
That differs form State Senator Arthenia Joyner's global bill,(SB756) which has a provision that only denies compensation only if a person has committed a violent crime in the past, such as murder or rape.
After kicking off regular session on Tuesday, Senate President Ken Pruitt said he wants the committees to hash out the provisions first before he decides which one he favors.

Bright Futures left won't be dimmed

2008-02-29T07:23:00.000-08:00

Bright Future scholars won't have their lights dimmed by the Board of Governors, which recently announced it will not target the program this coming legislative session.
In a recent statement, the BOG said, "Chancellor Mark B. Rosenberg announced today that he has removed reform of Bright Futures from the Board of Governors agenda for the coming legislative session.

"After consulting with members of the Legislature, Board of Governors chair Carolyn Roberts and I have determined that our efforts this year should focus on our top priorities – securing adequate support in an environment of budget cuts and stopping the brain drain from Florida's universities," Rosenberg said.

With university budgets strained, there has been talk of cutting back on the popular scholarship, but legislators won't have it.

Already, Senate President Ken Pruitt responded to the BOG decision.

In a statement, Pruitt said, "Florida's parents and students have spoken, and I am grateful their voices were heard."

Former felons will be knocking on legislators' doors

2008-02-28T12:04:00.000-08:00

The drum beat for compensation of the wrongfully convicted will get louder next week, once the legislative session begins.
The Innocence Project of Florida will have a rally at the old Capitol on Tuesday, March 4, from noon to 1 p.m. Wilton Dedge, who received $2 million in 2005 for being incarcerated for crimes he didn't commit, will be there. So will Alan Crotzer, who will ask lawmakers for a second time to compensate him, $1.25 million, for spending 24 years in prison for crimes DNA evidence prove he didn't commit.
This session legislators will also consider a "global" bill that will automatically compensate the wrongfully convicted, without them having to politely ask lawmakers for compensation.

Compensation path cleared

2008-02-21T14:35:00.001-08:00

A legislative path may have been cleared for Alan Crotzer to receive compensation for his wrongful conviction in 1981.
Senate President Ken Pruitt recently said he will support a compensation bill for Crotzer and will make it a priority for the Senate.
Last year, the House agreed to pay Crotzer $1.25 million for the nearly 25 years he spent in prison for rapes, kidnappings and robberies he did not commit. In 2006, he was freed after DNA evidence proved he was innocent.
Though the House passed the bill, the Senate leadership refused to bring it to a floor for a vote. Now that Pruitt supports the bill, it has a better chance of passing.

Higher Education officials looking for money

2008-02-19T07:40:00.001-08:00

Florida State University President T.K. Wetherell has laid out his funding plan for higher education, one that would bring money by the truck load every year, but it could be losing steam.
Wetherell's plan would bypass the Legislature and go right to voters, but it has one hurdle: The Florida Taxation and Budget Reform Commission.
In January, Wetherell explained at a general faculty meeting that the funding shortfall for higher education could be solved by the state picking up the tab on the required local effort on property taxes for local schools and investing some of that money into higher education.

The required local effort which requires counties to contribute to school funding is mandated by the Legislature each year. It's paid by everyone in Florida who owns property, and is about 30 percent of every tax bill, Wetherell said. It would cost the state about $8 billion to replace.

"We're suggesting that the state buy that local required effort out," Wetherell said. "Our suggestion is that you buy that out with a broader tax base."

That broader tax base could include removing some tax exemptions, the president suggested.

The option isn't gaining enough traction on the commission, but Wetherell said the fact that the idea is still alive is good.

"They haven't killed it," Wetherell said. "If it doesn't make it, we'll do more cuts."

The showdown is a no show

2008-01-08T07:14:00.001-08:00

It was to be a showdown of facts and science devoid of politics. Either it would have cleared the name of embattled medical examiner Dr. Charles Siebert, or shown that his critics were right.
Now, it looks as though that battle will never take place.
Siebert stepped down as medical examiner for District 14 on Dec. 28, the day before the Florida Medical Examiners Commission met and decided not to rehire the man they had fired last summer.
Siebert was let go after a probable-cause panel report found he had violated state law. The report said Siebert didn't do all he claimed he'd done in his autopsy of Martin Lee Anderson. The Panama City teen died Jan. 6, 2006, a day after he was hit and restrained by drill instructors at the Bay County boot camp, an incident captured on videotape.
State Attorney Steve Meadows rehired him on an interim basis until a permanent replacement was found. A local search committee named Siebert as that replacement, after other candidates withdrew their names.
Siebert had challenged their decision not to renew his contract and was scheduled to have a Division of Administrative Hearing on Jan. 15, where he could argue his case. The hearing was originally scheduled for October 24, but was pushed back. Siebert has said the delay gave lawyers time to regroup after the boot camp trial which ended Oct. 12, and cleared all defendants in the case. Verdicts he said helped prove his case, that Anderson died from sickle-cell trait, and was not suffocated as another medical examiner concluded.
Florida Department of Law Enforcement spokeswoman Kristen Perezluha said the department has put in a request to cancel the Jan. 15, hearing. Not only did Siebert quit, but he's taken another job in New Jersey.

Top cop to track children

2007-11-19T12:19:00.001-08:00

Keeping tabs on children in foster care hasn't been easy for the Department of Children Services, and officials hope the hiring of a "top cop," will help the agency track children through the legal system.
Secretary Bob Butterworth announced that Ed Hardy was hired as the department's new director of Criminal Justice Services. He will serve as a lead contact for the department when it comes to law enforcement, corrections, juvenile justice and the courts.
Recent DCF mishaps showed the need for the position, officials said.
In June DCF learned that Courtney Clark, a Pinellas County girl in custody of the state who was eventually found in squalid conditions in Wisconsin, had been missing for four months without it being reported to law enforcement. There was also a reported rape of an 8-year-old boy in foster care in Dade County.
Lawmakers have not been happy about the care of foster care children in Florida.
State Sen. Nan Rich, D-Weston, proposed the creation of a special legislative committee to investigate living conditions for children in state custody and foster care.
"It is clear we are having a problem keeping children in state custody safe," Rich wrote Senate President Ken Pruitt, R-Port St. Lucie, last summer.
In a statement, Butterworth said, "We work closely with law enforcement in so many aspects of our operations, including child protective investigations and the search for missing children, but the Clark case exposed weaknesses on our end that revealed the need for a 'top cop.'"
Hardy is a graduate of the Federal Bureau of Investigation National Academy and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement Special Agent Academy. He has more than 30 years of law enforcement experience.

Embattled medical examiner waiting to clear name

2007-10-30T13:07:00.001-07:00

Embattled interim Bay County medical examiner Dr. Charles Siebert will have to wait a few months for a hearing he hopes will clear his name and help him keep his job.
He was to have a Division of Administration Hearing on Oct. 24, but that day has been pushed back to Jan. 15, 2008.
Attorneys on both sides said they needed more time, said Kristen Perezluha, spokeswoman for the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
Though he still has one battle before him, Siebert said he felt vindicated by the boot-camp trial which acquitted eight former boot camp employees in 14-year-old Martin Lee Anderson's death.
Siebert was fired by the Florida Medical Examiners Commission in June after a probable-cause panel report found he had violated state law. The report said Siebert didn't do all he claimed he'd done in his autopsy of Martin Lee Anderson. The Panama City teen died Jan. 6, 2006, a day after he was hit and restrained by drill instructors at the Bay County boot camp, an incident captured on videotape.
Prosecutors tried to prove Anderson died at the hands of drill instructors who clamped his mouth shut and held ammonia capsules to his nose for several minutes.
Siebert, who said Anderson died of natural causes associated with sickle-cell trait, denied all the allegations against him.
Siebert, who was rehired on an interim basis by State Attorney Steve Meadows, is hoping the hearing will help him save his job. A search committee, headed by Meadows, is looking for a permanent District 14 medical examiner, and Siebert has put his name in the hat.
That search has a Dec. 28, deadline, but it could be extended.

Atty. Gen. reviewing options

2007-10-26T11:59:00.001-07:00

Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum is reviewing options for opening an investigation in Martin Lee Anderson case's death.
An all-white jury on Oct. 12, found eight defendants not guilty of felony manslaughter charges in the Panama City boot-camp trial.
"There's no doubt there was negligence," McCollum said.
But as for filing other criminal charges the Attorney General doesn't see any other options, but he said he'll keep digging. He plans to speak with Anderson's parents, Gina Jones and Robert Anderson, and their attorney Ben Crump and ask them if there's anything he can help do to remedy the situation.
He also plans to give an inspector general's report on the case by the Department of Juvenile Justice a hard look. McCollum said that report has not yet been made available to the public.
Anderson died Jan. 6, 2006, a day after running laps at the boot camp. The 14-year-old was hit, kneed and dragged by drill instructors while a camp nurse watched. The incident was captured on videotape.
An initial autopsy said he died from a blood disorder, sickle cell disease, while a second autopsy said he was suffocated by drill instructors who held ammonia capsules to his nose and clamped his mouth shut for several minutes.
The case has been racially charged since Anderson was black, five defendants were white, two black and one Asian.
U.S. Attorney Gregory Miller and the Department of Justice is investigating the case for civil rights violations.

House Speaker defends Anderson state settlement

2007-09-28T08:13:00.001-07:00

House Speaker Marco Rubio defended on a Panama City radio talk show Wednesday, the Legislature's decision to give the family of Martin Lee Anderson a $5 million settlement last spring, but added, "the claims bill process is highly politicized."
Rubio also said for a long time lobbyists and lawyers usually receive windfalls from these settlements. In the Anderson claims bill, as in other claims bill passed last session, attorney fees were slashed in half.
Anderson died Jan. 6, 2006, a day after he was hit, kneed and kicked by drill instructors at the Bay County boot camp, after he had collapsed while running laps. Seven drill instructors and a camp nurse were charged with felony aggravated manslaughter of a child in Anderson's death.
One medical examiner said Anderson died from a blood disorder, sickle-cell trait, while a second medical examiner said the 14-year-old died when guards clamped his mouth shut and held ammonia tablets beneath his nose for several minutes. The incident was captured on videotape.
Claims against state and local governments are capped at $200,000. Any payment above that requires special action by the Legislature - a claims bill.
Many callers complained that the Anderson settlement should have been decided after the criminal trial takes place. The trial begins Oct. 3.
Rubio explained the settlement was based on Anderson being harmed, and that the criminal trial is another matter.
"The Martin Lee Anderson claims settlement needed to be done to put the matter behind the state," Rubio said.

Bay County Medical Examiner hearing scheduled

2007-09-11T13:18:00.001-07:00

Embattled Bay County medical examiner Charles Siebert, fired from his job by the Florida Medical Examiners Commission but rehired on an interim basis by State Attorney Steve Meadows, will soon have his say.
The Division of Administrative Hearings will hear Siebert's case Oct. 24.
Siebert was fired by the commission in June after a probable-cause panel report found that he violated state law. The report said Siebert didn't do all he claimed he'd done in his autopsy of Martin Lee Anderson. The Panama City teen died a day after he was manhandled by drill instructors at a Bay County juvenile boot camp, an incident captured on surveillance video.
Siebert has denied all the allegations and has said the hearing, along with the criminal trial in Anderson's death scheduled for Oct. 3, will clear his name. Seven drill instructors and a camp nurse have been charged with felony aggravated manslaughter of a child in Anderson's death.

So far, Las Vegas has nothing to worry about

2007-09-10T14:02:00.001-07:00

Before any agreement is made between Florida and the Seminole Tribe of Florida, House Speaker Marco Rubio wants Gov. Charlie Crist to count all his political chips before he makes up his mind.
Crist has been negotiating with the state's Seminole Indian tribe on the addition of Las Vegas-style games to their casinos, which could allow Florida to rake in millions in tax revenue. If an agreement isn't made, the federal government can step in and allow the Indians to offer the games without the state getting anything.
Rubio sent Crist a letter Monday saying any agreement with the tribe won't be valid "unless it is ratified by the Legislature." Furthermore, Rubio does not does not support any compact that would permit the Tribe to conduct more types of gambling than it is entitled to under federal law.
Crist said Monday he wants to work with lawmakers to form an agreement.
"We always want to work with them, they're our friends," Crist said.
Crist said he is not looking at the compact as a revenue source, which Rubio also said he is against, but an opportunity.
"I think that needs to be clear as we negotiate," he said. "The negotiations are fluid. We're trying to do what's best for Florida in the long haul."

Help Wanted: Bay County Medical Examiner

2007-08-28T12:24:00.001-07:00

A search committee looking for a permanent medical examiner for Bay County was recently given an extension past its Sept. 30, deadline to fill the position.
The committee now has until Dec. 28, to find a replacement for embattled Dist. 14 medical examiner Dr. Charles Siebert, who is currently working there as medical examiner on a temporary basis, said Joe Grammer, spokesman for State Attorney Steve Meadows, who chairs the search committee.
So far, Siebert is the only applicant for the permanent position.
"They're have been other physicians who have asked questions, but that's all we got," Grammer said.
Siebert was fired by the Florida Medical Examiners Commission after a probable-cause panel report found that he violated state law. The report said Siebert didn't do all he claimed he'd done in his autopsy of Martin Lee Anderson. The Panama City teen died a day after he was manhandled by drill instructors at a Bay County juvenile boot camp, an incident captured on surveillance video.
Siebert has denied all allegations and is waiting to defend himself in an appeal hearing.
Though his term ended June 30, Meadows hired him on an interim basis until a permanent replacement is found.

KidCare director to step down

2007-08-09T13:26:00.001-07:00

Executive Director of Florida Healthy Kids and KidCare, Rose Naff, will step down from her post in 2008, while she recovers from a battle with cancer.
"I've had a long tenure with Florida Healthy Kids and KidCare and I am proud of all the work that I have done to help provide quality, affordable health care coverage to hundreds of thousands of children who were previously uninsured," Naff said in a statement. "I've led this program since its inception and it's been a tremendously rewarding experience."
Florida Healthy Kids and KidCare, an insurance program for children in working-class families, was created by the Legislature in 1990.
As for her battle with cancer, Naff wrote: "...I have fought a hard battle with cancer for the past year and the coming months will be critical for my full recovery. I'm hopeful that a year from now, I will be out of the woods and ready for a fresh start."

Another special session, another session without KidCare

2007-08-08T13:42:00.001-07:00

Florida lawmakers will gather in September to find ways to cut $1 billion out of the state's $71 billion budget, and that's all.
Some children advocates had hoped legislators or Gov. Charlie Crist would tack on legislation regarding KidCare, the children's health insurance program for working-class families, but it seems unlikely.
In the last regular session, disagreements between legislators stopped a bill that would have simplified enrollment and removed administrative barriers to the program.
In the June special session, that dealt with property tax reform, children advocates hoped legislators would pick up the issue, but they didn't.
Florida Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink said Wednesday chances of having KidCare legislation passed in September didn't look promising.
"The governor is certainly well aware that there are opportunities for us to include the KidCare program and at this point and time there is one more opportunity which is the special session coming up in the middle of September," Sink said. "The House and Senate (leaders) have announced they're going to limit that special session to budget issues only.
"But never say never."

Florida's Disabled get a voice

2007-08-07T11:26:00.001-07:00

Gov. Charlie Crist recently created a Commission on Disabilities, a board of 19-appointed members who will address that community's interests with state government.
Its chairman, Lance Block, said Florida can do better when it comes to access and programs for the disabled.
"The governor saw that services for the disabled and access for the disabled could be better in Florida," Block said. "There is a disparity in the quality of programs. One of (our) missions is to take a look at that."
Block has been an advocate for the rights of the developmentally disabled, and has served as a trustee for the Advocacy Center for Persons with Disabilities and served on the board of the Florida Association for Rehabilitative Services.
Crist will also have state agencies appoint a "disability champion" who will receive ADA training and will serve as a liaison between the agency, the commission and the disabilities commission.
Block said he wants the commission to be more than a group of talking heads. The group will make recommendations to Gov. Crist and will look for ways to enforce the Americans with Disabilities Act.
"Whatever we do, we want action to follow it up," Block said.

Despite lawmakers, KidCare changes could still happen

2007-08-01T11:53:00.001-07:00

Whatever Florida lawmakers failed to do for KidCare last regular session, Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink is trying to make up the difference.
Sink recently announced the formation of an ad hoc committee for Florida Healthy Kids Corp., that will search for ways to make it easier for families to enroll in KidCare, the state health insurance program for children in working-class families.
Legislators tried to do the same, but failed after much fanfare and even a boost from Gov. Charlie Crist. Lawmakers were considering a bill that would have streamlined KidCare, removing administrative barriers and expand enrollment.
Sink hopes to make improvements to the system, sidestepping the legislative process.
"It's not doing as much," said Sink spokeswoman Tara Klimek. "But it's a way to do what we can and not wait until next year."
The committee met July 30, and will present a final report and administrative rule changes to Sink at the Healthy Kids Board meeting Aug. 9.
Klimek said one suggestion made at the ad hoc committee meeting was to have families pay for their portion of the program, which sometimes cost as much as $15 a month, through payroll deduction. She said 40 percent of the families in KidCare work for Wal-Mart, Publix, Broward County Schools or Miami-Dade public schools.

KidCare reform, not this special session

2007-06-08T13:17:00.001-07:00

KidCare reform has little chance of being attached to the coming special session that will address property taxes, lawmakers said.
"It's not going to happen," said Sen. Al Lawson, D-Tallahassee. "A lot of us are disappointed."
Lawson said he spoke with state Senate President Ken Pruitt Friday, and the Port St. Lucie Republican told him KidCare, a health insurance plan for low-income children, won't be included in the coming special session, but that he was still dedicated to reforming the program.
"It's not that the Senate doesn't care about KidCare," Lawson said. "It's coming at a time when there is a lot of heat, tension to deal with property taxes."
Lawmakers are considering a bill that will streamline KidCare, removing administrative barriers and expand enrollment.
Near the end of the regular legislative session, Pruitt called the KidCare bill dead, saying disputes about the bill should've been worked out earlier in session.
Gov. Charlie Crist had lobbied Pruitt to change his mind and hinted that "perhaps" KidCare could be tacked to the June special session.
Legislators had been discussing how to simplify coverage, said Karen Woodall, a social-services lobbyist.
"The bulk is about keeping the children that are in the program covered," Woodall said.
Lawson said another possible special session this fall, that would focus on personal injury protection (PIP), could include a KidCare bill.
Florida requires $10,000 PIP as part of everyone's auto insurance. That coverage will expire Oct. 1.

A STAR still shines in Polk County

2007-06-07T12:06:00.000-07:00

The Polk County STAR academy will continue to operate, though officials had said a lack of funding would doom its operation.
STAR academies were formed to replace the juvenile boot camps that the Department of Juvenile Justice used to contract with sheriff departments across the state. The academies focus more on education and helping juveniles integrate back into society than boot camps did.
The boot camps were scrapped in 2006 after 14-year-old Martin Lee Anderson died a day after he was roughed up by drill instructors at the Bay County boot camp.
Seven drill instructors and a camp nurse are waiting trial on charges of felony manslaughter of a child in that case.
Walt McNeil, secretary of DJJ, said in April that the Polk STAR academy, the only one operating in Florida, would close soon for lack of funding.
Well, they must have found funding somewhere.
DJJ spokeswoman, Kim Griffin, said earlier this week that the state's new budget included a three-year contract for the Polk County STAR academy and there are no plans for it to close.

Should civil-rights movement protesters be pardoned by the State?

2007-06-04T07:32:00.001-07:00

A bill dubbed the Rosa Parks act was designed to pardon those who were arrested during the civil-rights movement, protesting the era's Jim Crow laws. The bill went through committees in the Senate, but was stumped in the House during the recent legislative session and died.
According to state Rep. Terry Fields, a Jacksonville Democrat and sponsor of the House bill (HB 235), Rep. Charles Dean, an Inverness Republican, chair of the Safety and Security Council and candidate for the District 3 Senate seat, told him he would not support the bill.
"He told me he didn't believe in bills like that," Fields said. "I had several conversations with him but he wouldn't budge."
Dean, who has a lot of money and name recognition in the race to replace former Sen. Nancy Argenziano, said he had nothing against the Rosa Parks bill.
"We had three or four bills that were similar (bills that would pardon)," Dean said. "I met with the sponsors and told them we'd wait to see which ones the governor wanted. I did not specifically hold the Rosa Parks bill.
"I don't have a problem with pardoning, just make sure we're fair. That is encompassing."
What does encompassing include? Dean couldn't say off the top of his head.
Dean may have another chance to show his support for the bill, if he wins the state Senate race, when its Senate sponsor, Sen. Tony Hill, D-Jacksonville, brings it back next regular session.

Property taxes, then claims bill

2007-05-24T08:18:00.001-07:00

Any hopes Alan Crotzer, who spent 24 years in a Florida prison for a crime he did not commit, has of receiving relief from the State of Florida in the coming special legislative session, may rely on Floridians receiving relief from property taxes.
Gov. Charlie Crist said Wednesday that the special session will focus on property taxes, and everything else will have to take a back seat.
"It's a case that cries out for justice," said Crist, of Crotzer's ordeal. "Whether or not it's one that can be utilized or addressed in this special session coming up, I'm not sure. I want to make sure we do what the special session is called for, and that's lower property taxes. If it's looking like we're getting closer to a deal, then we can consider it."
Crotzer spent 24 years in prison for a wrongful rape, burglary, robbery and kidnapping conviction before DNA evidence cleared him in 2005.
He and his attorney, Michael Olenick, who is working for free, tried to get a claims bill through the legislature this past session, that would've paid him $1.25 million. The House passed the bill, but the Senate didn't.

Ali Gilmore on "Dateline NBC"

2007-05-09T12:06:00.000-07:00

More than a year after her disappearance, "Dateline NBC" did a segment on Tallahassee resident Ali Gilmore Tuesday night, sandwiching her story between two other unsolved disappearance cases.
Gilmore's family was happy for the coverage, though they said her story was shorter than the other two.
"I thank God they put it in the public eye," said Ali's mother, Laurvetta Grimsley-McLawrence. "Maybe something will come out of it."
Gilmore, who was four months pregnant at the time, was last seen when she left her part-time job at Publix at 11 p.m. on Feb. 2, 2006. The 30-year-old went to the house that she and her estranged husband, James, shared at 231 Loraine Court.
She received a call, and investigators said she left her house on that stormy night. Gilmore's car was left in the driveway, a set of work keys were still in her purse in the car, but her house keys were gone. The house was locked except for a side window in a spare bedroom.
Though investigations like these almost always begin with the spouse, I thought the "Dateline" segment should've included information on a man Gilmore was dating after she and James separated.
Family and friends said Gilmore was dating a truck driver and described him as light skinned and muscular with curly hair. The relationship ended sometime in January 2006, when Ali decided to reconcile with James.
A producer for "Dateline," John Block said they have already received numerous calls about Ali Gilmore. One only hopes they get a call that helps solve the case.

To Tell the Truth

2007-04-26T12:37:00.001-07:00

Florida Senators starred in a new version of the game show, To Tell the Truth, Thursday morning.
Senator Alex Villalobos' Truth in Government bill is designed to have lobbyists, legislators and their staff tell the truth. If it becomes law, anyone who lies under oath in committees could be charged with a third-degree felony and serve five years in prison.
The bill created quite a conversation about truth, lies and lobbyists. The debate produced a lot of colorful quotes:
Sen. Al Lawson voiced his objection to the bill, calling it a conspiracy that would have lawmakers' veracity frequently questioned.
Legislators took turns criticizing the Democrat from Tallahassee.
First up, not surprisingly is outgoing Sen. Nancy Argenziano, R-Crystal River, who made her support for the bill, plain.
"How could anybody think about voting against truth in government. ... Maybe we need to turn up the air, put new filters in here, ... eleven years I've been waiting for truth in government. How many of you think that every time a lobbyist comes in your office, he's telling you the truth, or she's telling you the truth. Sen. Lawson, I've got to talk to you, I'm going to take you out in the fresh air. ... So, take some allergy pills, learn to love truth in government and vote for this very good bill."
Sen. Larcenia Bullard, D-Miami, contributed to the debate as only she could.
"... then we talk about the level of lies, the white lie, the little lie, the big lie. Now. A lie is a lie. ... There will be times, that there might be something that's called stretching the truth, or exaggeration, but I never would believe that anyone in this body would stand in front of a committee and lie about factual, factual information."
Villalobos, a Miami Republican, gives the kicker.
"You all know, that not the total truth, is a lie. To the children that are here, half truths, are not truths. ... If you don't know the answer to something, you can say, 'I don't know the answer to that.' But stop lying."

Panama City residents call for defeat of claims bill

2007-04-18T13:06:00.001-07:00

A drive by a Panama City radio talk show host is calling for the defeat of the Martin Lee Anderson claims bill, (SB 2968).
He's even asking one of the bill's co-sponsors to vote against it.
On his Web site, Panama City 101.1 FM radio talk show host Burnie Thompson says, "The bill, in my opinion, convicts the drill instructors and ignores the opinion of the medical examiner of record, Dr. Charles Siebert."
On the site, he urges residents to call state Sen. Al Lawson, a co-sponsor of the bill, and lobby him to defeat it.
Lawson said he's received calls daily from Panama City residents, asking him to defeat a bill he co-sponsored, which would give Anderson's parents $5 million for the death of their son.
"The claims bill is not a trial on whether the guards are innocent or guilty," said Lawson, a Democrat. "The claims bill is the State of Florida, recognizing responsibility. The governor and everybody has come to the table and negotiated that they need to get this behind them and compensate this family for all they've had to go through."
The 14-year-old Panama City boy died Jan. 6, 2006, a day after he was struck and kneed by drill instructors at the Bay County juvenile camp.
Seven drill instructors and a camp nurse have pleaded innocent to felony charges of aggravated manslaughter of a child.
Bay County Medical Examiner Siebert ruled Anderson died from natural causes, associated with the sickle-cell trait.
But a second autopsy by Hillsborough County Medical Examiner Dr. Vernard Adams said Anderson died from suffocation after having ammonia tablets stuffed in his nose and having his mouth covered by drill instructors.
The bill will likely be voted on soon by the Legislature, and Lawson is confident it will be approved.
"We would prefer it would pass because in a court of law the compensation that probably would come up would be far greater than what was negotiated," Lawson said. "It's a very sensitive issue and most members that have been familiar with it will be hard-pressed to vote against this claims bill for what all the family has had to go through."
A trial for the drill instructors and nurse will likely happen this fall.