Backroom Briefing: Weekly political notes from The News Service of Florida
By Jim Turner ©2023 The News Service of Florida
TALLAHASSEE — Florida’s standard license plates have long featured a pair of oranges and an orange blossom.
But Sen. Ed Hooper, R-Clearwater, said this week that talks are underway to update the design. A proposal likely will come in 2025, unless a bill is rolled out for the 2024 legislative session, which will start Jan. 9.
“Some of us think it might be time to look at redesigning the official non-specialty license plate for the state of Florida, as probably 49 other states have done in the last 50 years,” Hooper said during a Senate Transportation Committee meeting Wednesday. “Just food for thought.”
Florida’s specialty license plates have ballooned to more than 120 offerings, with another 30 in the pre-sale queue. But the standard design has seen few changes since a decision in 1991 to phase in a new license plate with an orange graphic design and green letters and numbers.
In 2003, a single orange — some claimed it looked more like a peach — was replaced with the more vivid two oranges and orange blossom design.
The change, crafted with the help of the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, also splashed the web address “MyFlorida.com” across the top, where it had before simply stated “Florida.”
The standard license plate also includes along the bottom the words “Sunshine State,” “In God We Trust” or, in some counties, the county name.
HELP WANTED
Officials from several rural North Florida counties still reeling from August’s Hurricane Idalia expressed thanks Monday for assistance approved last week during a special legislative session.
But while appearing before the House Select Committee on Hurricane Resiliency & Recovery, local officials said more help is needed as costly clean-up efforts continue and the region grapples with the closure of a Georgia-Pacific mill in Taylor County, a major employer.
Pam Allen, deputy emergency management director in Hamilton County, said her county is still having to deal with issues such as exposed graves at abandoned cemeteries.
Lafayette County Deputy Sheriff Robert Lawson said concerns remain about wildfires because of downed trees.
Meanwhile, Suwannee County Commissioner Travis Land expressed a need for regional shelters and said matching grants for mitigation efforts remain out of reach for rural governments. Also, he said he’d like the state to get more involved in finding a new owner for the Georgia-Pacific Foley Cellulose mill.
“The closing of the G-P mill in Taylor County has plummeted timber values in our area,” Land said.
The mill’s closure was announced in September, with a direct impact on 525 jobs. Taylor County Administrator LaWanda Pemberton also said the mill, for example, generated 28 percent of the county’s general fund revenue.
Pemberton pointed to other potential economic ripples in Taylor County, where Idalia made landfall Aug. 30 before barreling through other areas of North Florida.
“There may be continued impacts in terms of reduction of the local tax roll when homeowners who have properties that are uninhabitable will seek refunds of the value of damaged property,” Pemberton said.
The state Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services has estimated that Idalia caused $447 million in agricultural damage, with timber losses at $64 million.
Special-session bills signed Monday by Gov. Ron DeSantis will provide $75 million for a program that offers low-interest or interest-free loans to agriculture and aquaculture producers and $37.5 million to help timber owners in counties affected by the hurricane.
Also, the bills will provide tax breaks on agricultural equipment that couldn’t be used in the two months after the storm; on the purchase of fencing and building materials purchased to make repairs after Idalia; and on fuel used for agricultural shipments and debris removal.
Committee Chairman Michael Grant, R-Port Charlotte, said suggestions that legislators consider regional emergency operations centers and shelters “makes sense.”
But Madison County Emergency Management Director Leigh Basford said regional centers could affect local recovery efforts. She said that if local disaster workers were staged two or three counties away, she wouldn’t “have local stakeholders and decision-makers” nearby during a crisis.
ESTIMATING ‘SEASON’ STARTING
Shortly after Thanksgiving, state economists will begin the lengthy process of updating projections of general revenue.
Amy Baker, coordinator of the Legislature’s Office of Economic & Demographic Research, told members of the House Appropriations Committee this week that the next estimating conference “season” will start Nov. 28 with a new demographic forecast. It will continue through Jan. 16, when a general revenue forecast will be adopted.
Lawmakers will use the updated projections as they put together a fiscal 2024-2025 budget during the legislative session. Gov. Ron DeSantis is expected to propose a budget in the coming weeks. It will be based, at least in part, on an August forecast.
General revenue is closely watched because it plays a key role in funding education, health care and prison programs.
SOCIAL MEDIA POST OF THE WEEK
“@WaltDisneyWorld is not only a top tourist destination, it’s one of FL’s largest employers & taxpayers. They help fuel FL’s economy, generating $40B in economic impact & 263,000 jobs. Thank you, Disney, for your continued contributions to our great state!” — Associated Industries of Florida (@VoiceofFLBiz) on X, formerly known as Twitter, after the release of a report by Disney saying it has a $40.3 billion economic impact on Florida.
