The governor and gambling

Comments on Sunday's column about Gov. Charlie Crist's budget and his reliance on revenue from expanded gambling:

I believe the reality is that he continues to take the easy way out... I also think this is going to catch up with him and us.  I have known Charlie for some time and I have recently noticed that he has lost a lot of popularity with what I would call the more informed voters but his one-liners continue to work on those who aren't necessarily looking for much depth. Your thoughts? -- Rich

If Crist and others were to really get serious about this, why not shape up kindergarten children to gamble with pennies?  They could do this by rigging the system so children frequently won in the early stages. They could have lotteries in all the grades as pupils passed through school---and pay for school costs with the money kids brought in. Eventually, when the kids became voters they would eagerly support bigger and bigger lotteries.  It seems like everyone would benefit.  We would have a huge population of gamblers.  All of it would work ...........until the adults learned how they had been duped. Crist should be shamed for supporting ANY form of government sponsored gambling. -- Darrel Bostow

I don't get it.  In the past whenever the gambling question arose there was a loud hue and cry about how terrible it is to expand or support gambling. Most often cited was the fact that it is the lowest strata of the community who engage in gambling, the lottery being the best example - and proves the point. But now, because it's St. Charlie...all of a sudden it's OK to raise money based on the weakness and ignorance of people hoping to strike it rich while they're "one pay check away from homelessness". What am I missing here and where are the keepers of our "morals" in Florida? Prediction: when St.. Charlie is finally exposed for the $3 bill he is, he will take one of the hardest falls in political history.  Bet on it. -- Dan

Thanks for the e-mails, gentlemen. I agree -- he IS taking the easy way out. On the suggestion that we "train" kids from childhood to gamble to support the state, I have actually heard that idea in more serious terms! But as for the predictions that this will "catch up" with our happy governor, I don't think so. His critics have been waiting his enter career for things to catch up with him. My read is that most Floridians are happy to take the gambling deal if they think it means a couple dollars fewer from their own pockets, regardless of the hidden costs.

Taxes: The roller-coaster ride continues

[Wednesday afternoon update: The Legislature will extend its special session until midnight Oct 22 to take up property-tax reform. In addition to the governor's proposal outlined below, the House and Senate will generate their own plans. Wheee!]

You might have noticed that our Legislature is in special session to cut the state budget. Our governor, Charlie Crist, figures that since they're in Tallahassee anyway, why not do something about property taxes in the next few days? And so the delightful roller coaster ride that is Florida's public policy continues on its merry way. [Times file photo | Melissa Lyttle]

Remember that a court has thrown out the Jan. 29 election on a "super homestead" amendment previously proposed by the Legislature. There's an appeal under way, but right now that means the only tax relief that's taken place is the earlier law that created a one-time rollback of property taxes, which has left a lot of Floridians not very impressed.

What to do, what to do? Well, the Legislature could simply fix the wording of the flawed Jan. 29 amendment. It could try to put together some other kind of tax cut. In that spirit, the governor has come up with a new program. Overall, Crist's plan would cut $6.3-billion over the next five years, which is not nearly the $15-$16-billion that the "super homestead" amendment would have required. To be fair, Crist is saying this is just a starting point and there should be more cuts later.

Here is a copy [Download cristtax.pdf ] of a worksheet showing the effects of the governor's proposed plan, along with the actual text of his proposed amendment to the Florida Constitution. (Hey, at least he has actual wording, which puts us ahead of the game by Florida policy-making standards).

The governor's main ideas:

* Doubling the existing homestead exemption in Florida from $25,000 to $50,000, except for school taxes, which would not be affected. Unlike the existing $25,000 exemption, this new benefit would increase over time with inflation.

* Giving first-time buyers an extra tax break of 25 percent over their home's value as a new tax exemption.

* Creating a "portable" tax benefit so that homebuyers could take their existing Save Our Homes tax cap to a new home. When you moved into a more expensive house, instead of getting socked for the full value, you'd start with the same dollar tax break you had in the old house.

* A tax break for all taxpayers on the first $25,000 of "tangible" personal property. This is a tax break that largely benefits businesses.

* A new cap on the annual revenues of local government, which could not grow faster than inflation. Any excess revenue would be set aside, and if the surplus grew large enough, it would be refunded to taxpayers. As with the existing law, local governments could override this cap by an extraordinary vote.

There's also talk of whether to change Florida's existing law that includes the "highest and best use" of property as a factor in setting its value. That's been a problem for, say, mom-and-pop beachfront hotels worried that they are being taxed as if their land was being used for million-dollar condos.

Big, big ideas, and sure enough, they address some of the problems with the existing tax structure. As to the overall effect, as to whether there are unintended consequences, as to a detailed analysis of the fiscal impact on the state of Florida -- well, if you think the Legislature can responsibly hash out all that in the next few days on the fly, you have more faith than me.

More in tomorrow's print column.

Column: Casinos Are No Way To Balance The Budget

I figure on gettting a lot of disagreement over today's column. After all, if there are going to be casinos anyway, why not tax them? I'm sure not opposed to gambling, but I think counting on it to pay for government is a bad idea. Here's why.

There's exactly one good reason to legalize casino gambling:

People ought to be able to gamble if they want to. It's fun. Why not?

That's a fine, libertarian position.

All the other arguments for expanding gambling in Florida are bull.

Economic development?

Yeah, sure, I suppose casinos are "economic development." If you want to turn the state into a garish dump. I mean, more than we're already doing.

Job creation? Yeah, that's the new economy I want to see. Dealers and cocktail servers, bouncers and bartenders.

No offense to dealers, servers, bouncers and bartenders. It's just that when we're talking about the economic future of Florida, I would aim higher.

Most tempting of all, there's the "free money" claim. [rest of column]

Another Gambling Excuse...

There's only one good reason to legalize gambling: because you believe people should be able to gamble if they want to.

Make no mistake -- that's a fine, libertarian reason. I'm all for it.

But we can never just say it that way. Nope, We have to come up with excuses and justifications.

Take Gov. Charlie Crist. In another big reversal from Jeb Bush, Crist says that perhaps Florida should allow more gambling to help raise money for the state.

After all, the state is already negotiating with the Seminole Tribe on what kind of new gambling will be allowed. The feds have given the state a deadline for those talks.

Meanwhile, the state is facing a $1.1-billion budget shortfall...

"I want to be open-minded'' the governor says, "and I want us to be innovative." In other words, he thinks maybe the state should negotiate for a piece of the action.

In general, I don't believe that gambling money is as good a deal as it's made out to be.

I don't believe as much of it is "new" money as folks like to claim. A lot of it is money that tourists -- or Floridians -- would have spent on something else.

Secondly, an expanded gambling culture has many offsetting costs, hidden and otherwise. Those costs include associated crime, addiction, and emphasis on the wrong values.

Thirdly, history shows that gambling revenue tends to replace tax revenue, instead of adding to it. The Florida Lottery's claim that it "helps" education is a perfect example. After we got the Lottery, we just reduced the share of the rest of the state's revenues that went to schools.

There's no such thing as "free" money. But we sure like to think so. We would rather do almost anything than pay taxes.

So, sure, let's have Vegas-style gambling. Let's shoot craps and play roulette and blackjack. I'm all for it.

But spare us the justifications that it's for "economic development" or "good for education" or any of that stuff.

Some say that the speaker of the state House, Marco Rubio, is just sucking up to social conservatives by being opposed to expanded gambling. But I have to say, if he is willing to stay opposed even in the fact of a $1.1-billion budget shortfall, at least there's some consistency there.

Ban All Petitions -- Or Take Sides, And Risk Customers?

Although Gov. Charlie Crist earlier vetoed one bill that would have cracked down on citizen petitions, he also has chosen to sign Senate Bill 1920, which allows supermarkets, big stores and other "quasi-public" places to keep citizen petition groups off their property. Several citizen groups had asked him for a veto. I explored the issue in a column earlier this year.

"While I am sympathetic to the concerns of political groups who seek to advocate their positions in places where citizens gather," the governor wrote in his message approving the bill, "the solution to that problem cannot be to force all grocers, shopkeepers, and restaurateurs to acquiesce to potentially disruptive activity at their commercial establishments." Here's a copy of his letter: [Download sb_1920_sign_ltr.pdf]

So the retailers win this one. In a way, though, I wonder if this puts them under the ancient Chinese curse of getting what they wish for. If they now choose to allow some petitions and disallow others, it puts them into the side business of taking sides on political issues -- a bad idea if you are selling groceries, seems to me. They might think it easiest to ban ALL petitions, but I imagine sooner or later they will find one they like, and then they'll look inconsistent if they allow it.

The Governor Vetos The Anti-Petition Bill

My June 19 column argued that Gov. Charlie Crist should veto Senate Bill 900, which tries to crack down even further on citizen petitions in the state of Florida. The most offensive part of the bill said that petition signatures would be valid for only 30 days before they had to be turned in -- a ridiculous restriction.

The governor vetoed the bill on Tuesday. It was the last day he could act before it would have become law automatically. Here's a copy of his veto letter: [Download sb_900_veto.pdf] I really liked this paragraph:

 

As my column pointed out, we already have imposed three important restrictions on petitions and we should give them time to work:

* It takes 60 percent to pass a constitutional amendment.

* Petitions have to be turned in by Feb. 1 of an election year.

* In another law just passed by the Legislature and signed by Crist, citizens have the right to REVOKE their signatures as well.

That's enough. Senate Bill 900 was just piling on. If you want to see the attitude at work, go read some of the outraged insider comments (made anonymously, of course) on my sister-blog, The Buzz, where Crist is basically getting called a Commie for sticking up for the right to petition.

The Governor Signs That Growth Bill

My May 29 column was about House Bill 7203, which deals with a several subjects but generally serves to "streamline" the approval of growth in Florida. The bill includes a "pilot project" that partly exempts Pinellas County, Tampa and a few other places from full state review of growth decisions. On the general principle that we don't particularly need to streamline growth in Florida, I argued that Gov. Charlie Crist should veto it.

Can't win 'em all. The governor this week signed the bill into law. Here's a copy of his letter [Download hb_7203_sign4.pdf ] to the secretary of state approving the bill. Crist says in the letter that he will "carefully monitor" the pilot project in the affected areas to make sure growth occurs "in a responsible way."

This isn't a total shock, since Crist's secretary of community affairs, Tom Pelham, told me earlier that his department would try to "live with" the pilot project, while standing ready to recommend changes if it doesn't work. I figure the gov probably relied heavily on Pelham's input.

Tuesday Column: Veto It? Heck, Tear It Up And Torch It

Quick - what's your favorite First Amendment right?

It's a trick question, sorry. In my book they're all equally essential to a free nation.

Freedom of religion. Freedom of speech. Freedom of the press. Freedom of assembly.

There's one more ...

The right to "petition the government for redress of grievances." It comes last, but it's just as important.

When the framers put the word "petition" in the Bill of Rights, they meant it in a general sense.

But I have always believed that the literal act of petition - a citizen asking other citizens for support - is as pure an exercise of our core First Amendment rights as can be.

Here in Florida, though, there has been a war on petitions in recent years. Our Legislature and the business interests of Florida have sought to limit the power of the citizens to amend our state Constitution by petition... [rest of column]

I Hear That Veto A-Comin, A-Comin' 'Round The Bend

One measure passed by the Legislature this spring, House Bill 9, relieved Florida railroads of the obligation to post "No Trespassing" signs. The theory behind the bill was that folks ought to know full well they ain't supposed to walk down the tracks. Under this bill they could have been arrested without signs. The bill was the subject of my May 24 column.

On Wednesday, Gov. Charlie Crist vetoed House Bill 9. In his veto letter to the Secretary of State, Crist agreed with the opposing argument, saying, "Many citizens treat railroad rights-of-way as public domain.... Often a 'no trespassing' sign is the only thing that stops people, especially our younger generation, from walking along railroad tracks."

Mid-Day Update: More Israel E-Mail

Here's an excerpt from a good e-mail defending the merits of Gov. Charlie Crist's trip to Israel and politely disagreeing with the tone of my column this morning:

i have to respectfully disagree with the degree of sarcasm in todays article... we could use israel's agricultural, electronic, security, medical, desalination (witness our own > $300 million dollar debacle down @ big bend/teco that still isn't working properly) etc.technology today to improve the lives of american citizens - warren buffet's recent multibillion dollar investments in israel certainly concur

one of gov  crist's primary responsibilities is to protect the citizens of the state of florida - not just against hurricanes, taxes, and insurance companies, but against terrorism as well - let's face it, no one wrote the book on counterterrorism better than the israelis

yes, i concur that gov crist just might try and milk this visit for some national exposure, as well as some brownie points with the jewish vote

but at the same time let's not forget that florida has, amongst it's many areas of vulnerability, the longest coastline of any state in the lower 48 - and that certainly requires the kind of suggestions that gov crist just might be getting on this recent foray -- David Mahler

Thank you for the e-mail, Mr. Mahler. I certain agree there can be value in it, and ended up in the column admitting it was not a "junket'' per se -- just making the point that there is an awful lot going on in Florida and four months into the job seems a little early.

Now, for an e-mail on the other hand...

As a taxpayer, I would like to know how critical things must become before our elected officials (can't say I would call them leaders) focus on the very real, very pressing problems that we the citizens of Florida are faced with NOW!  Even though you were generous in not calling Charlie's trip a junket, that's precisely what it is.  I am so disgusted that it's politics as usual in Florida.  -- Linda P.

More About The Israel Trip

In addition to today's column about Gov. Charlie Crist's trip to Israel, here are a couple of things I picked up along the way.

First, the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, naturally has its own web site: www.knesset.gov.il. Kind of neat.

Secondly, the governor's office sent along some background information about the trip, which features a 30-member delegation of Florida political and business leaders.

Here's a fact sheet about the trip: [Download fact_sheet.pdf]

And here's a list of participants: [Download Participants.pdf ]

Today's Column: The Governor Does Israel

You love Charlie. Admit it. I love him, too. We all love Charlie.

But with that out of the way, what’s the governor of Florida doing in Israel?

Gov. Charlie Crist is in the Mideast this week for a five-day trip. Trade mission, you know. Goodwill.

He’s meeting with top government and business  officials. He’s touring the Israeli parliament, the Knesset. He’s getting a top-level briefing on military security.

He put a note in the Wailing Wall, asking God to look out for Florida. He’s going to Jordan, too, to meet the king.

No offense to these nations, but…

The guy has been governor for just shy of five months, and he’s knocking around the Middle East? Who is he, Charlie of Arabia?   [rest of column]

Elections Bill: Well, That Answers That

Remember that the big elections bill just passed by our Legislature is a mixed bag. It replaces Florida touch-screen voting machines, but our lawmakers took the chance to tack on a lot more stuff: an earlier presidential primary, a weaker resign-to-run law, attacks on citizen petitions, a weaker Florida Elections Commission. There's a much more, too -- see my May 8 column for more details.

So there has been some debate over whether Gov. Charlie Crist should sign it into law. Folks who want an election paper trail say the good outweighs the bad; supporters of citizen petitions or folks focused on the other stuff tend to disagree. What would the governor do -- sign it, and take credit for the paper trail while not focusing on the rest, or veto it and demand a bill without the extra baggage? I argued for Plan B -- else we will be trying to clean up the mischief of this Frankenstein bill for some time.

But the answer came Thursday morning in an e-mail from the governor's office to all members of the Legislature and legislative staffers:

Sent: Thu May 17 10:43:37 2007
Subject: Bill Signing Ceremony - HB 537 Relating to Elections

On Monday, Governor Charlie Crist will hold a Bill Signing Ceremony for HB 537 - Elections. Below are the details for this event. If you will be able to attend, please contact our office at 850.410.0501.

Date: Monday, May 21, 2007
Time: 10:15 AM
Location: Palm Beach Supervisor of Elections Office
240 S Military Trail
West Palm Beach, FL 33415

Sincerely,

Kamilah Prince
Director of External Affairs
Office of Governor Charlie Crist

'No Comment' Ain't Going To Cut It, Governor

Having praised the heck out of the gov so far, I hope you will not mind if I say, this looks bad for Gov. Charlie Crist and he ought to say something specific about the allegations. This Pearlman guy is increasingly looking like Public Scoundrel #1 and it is not reassuring that a lawsuit says the then-attorney general was flying around on his buddy-buddy's plane, hanging out in his skyboxes or anything else.