Jesus: Not Coming to a License Plate Near You?

The Florida Legislature, while unable to pass a budget as of yet, has spent considerable time debating specialty license plate, specifically ones featuring the images of Jesus Christ, Sen. Al Lawson and promoting The Holy Trinity.  Lawson has now dropped his proposal and it appears that the image of Christ will not appear on Florida license plates either after the Senate adopted an amendment stating that “”the plate shall not include any religious image.”  The Senate paused after individuals Senators expressed concern over the possibility of future proposals, including Sen. Larcenia Bullard’s concern that she would have to vote on a “devil” license plate with “horns on it.”

With over 100 specialty plates currently in production, perhaps its time for Florida to take a breather on creating new ones for a few years.  Sound reasonable enough?

Filed under: Florida, Florida Legislature, Florida Politics, Al Lawson, Christ, Holy Trinity, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Larcenia Bullard

Can A Brotha Get A Break?

They may not be able to balance a budget, but the Florida Legislature has no shortage of specialty license plates it can consider.  First, we’ve had the Legislature debating Jesus license plates.  Now, Sen. Al Lawson (D-Tallahassee) has introduced the “Can A Brotha Get A Break?” license plate.  According to The St. Pete Times, the plate will feature the likeness of Al Lawson, with the proceeds benefitting the State Employees Relief Fund as an offset to the salary cuts the Legislature is proposing.

Perhaps the budget will become a priority at some point.

Filed under: Florida, Florida Legislature, Florida Politics, Al Lawson, Jesus

Charlie, We Hardly Knew Ye

According to most political observers, and as evidenced by movement on the St. Pete Times Crist-O-Meter, it appears as if Charlie Crist is content to leave Tallahassee after only one term.  This is highly unusual for any Governor, but the Times cites rather apparent signs that Crist intends to run for the US Senate seat being vacated by Mel Martinez (R).

• The Governor told State Senator Al Lawson (a candidate for Congress) that he would “see him in Washington”—an unusual statement seeing as they have no Washington trips planned together.
• The State GOP Party continues to downsize, a sign that they realize competing with the Crist Senate fundraising machine may be a challenge.
• Ag Commissioner Charlie Bronson has now stated he is interested in the Governor’s race.

Now, the question becomes, Can Charlie Crist win the GOP Senate Primary?

Filed under: Florida, Florida Politics, Al Lawson, Charles Bronson, Charlie Crist, Mel Martinez

Nothing really to report on Special Session

Nothing really to report from the first day of the Special Session other than the Legislature (the House specifically) has refused to hear any bills dealing with cigarette “user fees” (bill by Rep. Waldman) or “taxes” (bill by Rep. Pafford).   30+ placeholder bills have been filed in the Senate.

From the TU:

A push to raise cigarette taxes by $1 per pack to finance health care, rejected earlier by legislative leaders, failed on a voice vote in the House.

Sansom and Senate President Jeff Atwater, R-North Palm Beach, agreed to allow discussion of minor changes in some state fees.

Senate Minority Leader Al Lawson, D-Tallahassee, said Monday that legislators should be examining a wide range of tax breaks for businesses, saying some aren’t justified when the state is financially strapped.

“Our economy would be in a lot better shape, and our budget, … if we look at closing these loopholes,” he said.

He said the reasons for those tax breaks were outweighed by the potential for cuts to affect government services that many people depend upon.

“We’re talking about people’s lives,” he said. “We’re talking about children, we’re talking about the elderly.”

Oh - I am sure we will all be happy to know that our Representatives had plenty of time to consider and adopt a resolution introduced by Rep. Hasner (and co-sponsored by members of the Duval House Delegation, among others) supporting solidarity with Israel.   Sorry, I don’t remember that subject being mentioned in the call for the Special Session.

Read more of the TU article here.

Filed under: Florida, Florida Legislature, Florida Politics, Adam Hasner, Al Lawson, Duval Delegation, Florida House of Representatives, Florida Legislature, Jeff Atwater, Jim Waldman, Mark Pafford, Ray Sansom