Lobbies Gain, Poor Lose in Session
Legislators Proclaim the 2004 Session a Success,
 but Among Those Celebrating Are Some of Their Campaign Contributors.
 But the 'Low-income Working People' Much less Reason to Celebrate
 

By Mary Ellen Klas
The Miami Herald
May 2, 2004

TALLAHASSEE - As Florida legislators declare the 2004 session a success and head into the long campaign season, many of their biggest campaign contributors -- healthcare vendors, telephone giants, developers, the National Rifle Association and others -- can declare victory, too.

But the ''low-income working people'' have much less reason to celebrate. They saw lawmakers in the Republican-led legislator make cuts to programs that supply health insurance to children, and eyeglasses and hearing aids to the elderly and infirm.

''The agenda seems to be tied to those who are most able to give contributions,'' noted Karen Woodall, a lobbyist for several social service groups.

Consider, for example, WellCare, a Tampa-based health maintenance organization.

Consumer advocates knew little about the company until it contributed $60,000 over the last three months to the Republican Party, $40,000 to incoming Senate President TomLee and used its company jet to escort House Speaker Johnnie Byrd back to Tallahassee from a New York fundraiser that it had hosted for him.

By the end of the session, WellCare had quietly emerged as the recipient of a $140 million state contract to administer mental health services for the poor.

Then, there's the state's telecommunications giants.

AT&T, BellSouth, Verizon and Sprint claimed victory last year when they persuaded legislators to let them petition state regulators for record rate increases in exchange for the promise of more competition. This year, they defeated a move to repeal that law in spite of complaints by consumer groups.

''It certainly tells you what the ordinary consumer is up against as we all try to let our needs and preferences be known,'' said Lyn Bodiford, legislative director of the AARP's Florida chapter, which lobbied against the steep rate increase.

Legislative leaders counter they served Floridians well by passing a sales tax holiday on school clothing; a one-month, eight-cent drop in the gas tax; a plan designed to encourage more small businesses to offer health insurance; and the beginnings of a preschool program for all 4-year-

olds.

''I think we passed some good legislation that the people of Florida should be proud of. I think we did some good public policy,'' said Rep. Allan Bense, the Panama City Republican who has been chosen to be the House speaker for the 2005 session.

Not all business-based proposals passed.

The most striking defeat was the Legislature's failure to pass proposals limiting the number of citizen initiatives that are aimed at amending the Constitution.

The Florida Chamber of Commerce declared initiative reform its top priority and vowed to spend millions promoting it on the November ballot. But, in the end, House and Senate leaders couldn't agree on how to ask voters to restrict their rights.

For the most part, however, it was the industries that largely drove the session:

•• Developers won the ability to have impact fees that would have gone to school districts steered to charter schools in their developments.

•• Legislators directed the state to build a 280-bed private prison in Graceville, in North Florida. Two of the likely beneficiaries, Wackenhut and Corrections Corporation of America, are heavy contributors to Republicans.

•• Legislators wrote new manatee protection laws in some areas that ''maximize'' go-fast boating zones near manatee habitats at the request of the boating industry.

•• The National Rifle Association persuaded legislators to pass a law prohibiting police from keeping electronic lists of gun owners and another to make it more difficult for environmental officials to sue polluting gun ranges. The NRA gave $15,000 to the GOP between January and March.

A bill to repeal the law that enabled the largest phone rate increase in state history died amid the hostile bickering between the House and Senate only because House Speaker Byrd had made it his top priority.

Consumer groups may have had the speaker's support, but they were up against formidable odds. Byrd was personally disliked by many in his chamber as well as in the Senate, and telecommunications companies were among the largest contributors to legislators and the parties.

They gave $200,000 to the GOP in the last quarter alone and $75,000 to incoming House Speaker Bense's political committee.

While lawmakers pointed proudly to legislation aimed at helping the working poor, those benefits are temporary or limited. For example:

•• Lawmakers approved spending $25.2 million of state and federal money to eliminate a waiting list of 90,280 children needing health insurance. However, the money is for one year only and enrollment is capped.

•• Lawmakers found money to pay for dentures for elderly patients on Medicaid but did not include money for hearing aids or eyeglasses.

•• Lawmakers passed legislation giving farmworkers more protections but cut money to pay for healthcare for the children of legal immigrants.

Even the shift of health services from state and locally-run programs to private providers, such as WellCare, has casualties. Miami's Jackson Memorial Hospital, for example, could lose up to $12 million if the state shifts care for up to 150,000 poor, mental-health Medicaid patients now handled by the hospital's managed-care network to one handled by WellCare.

Many of the battles were over turf wars between two groups.

Doctors and anesthesiologists, for example, won approval for the creation of anesthesia assistants. They will administer anesthesia in surgery under a doctor's guidance in spite of concerns by nurse anesthetists who say the practice is dangerous.

Trial lawyers, heavy contributors to Democrats and Republican Senate leaders, successfully shot down legislation that would have trampled on their terrain.

For example, they successfully stopped attempts to limit the liability of the University of Miami when it serves patients at Jackson Memorial Hospital.

They also defeated attempts to expand medical malpractice liability protections for nursing homes. One law firm alone -- Searcy, Denney, Scarola, Barnhart and Shipley -- wrote a single check to the Democratic Party last quarter for $100,000.

Many of the gains by interest groups were won with little, if any, public input and behind closed doors. For example, Bodiford, of the AARP, suggested the surreptitious way the WellCare decision was made has left many social service advocates ''a little paranoid'' about what's next.

George Meros, WellCare's lead lobbyist, said the company is no boogeyman. The shift of Medicaid mental health services to WellCare will be ''a savings to taxpayers,'' he said.

Shifting Medicaid business from the state and locally run entities to private companies is good for health firms, one veteran GOP lobbyist said, adding: ``It's been a very good session for my business.''

Herald staff writers Marc Caputo, Gary Fineout and Lesley Clark contributed to this report.