Notes For Tuesday, January 07, 2003

DOLING OUT JOBS. AP Wire reports the following personnel changes:

- Gov. Jeb Bush appointed James Crosby as secretary of the department of Corrections. The Department saw several changes after the beating death of prisoner Frank Valdes in 1999. Crosby was warden when several guards were charged in the death.

- Alan Levine was appointed deputy chief of staff to replace Brian Yablonski. Levine has served as CEO of South Bay Hospital in Sun City Center outside of Tampa and Doctors' Memorial Hospital in Perry. He helped write legislation to create a program that provides millions of dollars in aid to hospitals.

- Jill Bratina was named communications director, replacing Katie Muniz. Bratina has served as deputy communications director since last March.

- Kent Perez was appointed as director of Cabinet affairs, replacing newly appointed Community Affairs Secretary Colleen Castille. Perez has served as the attorney general's chief Cabinet aide the past eight years.

- Phil Fleming was appointed director of administration, replacing Ken Allman. Fleming was the governor's director of finance and accounting.

- Simone Marstiller will serve as interim management services secretary. Marstiller has served as the Department of Management Services' general counsel since last October

- Hardy Roberts III will serve as the interim secretary of the Department of Business and Professional Regulation. Roberts has served as his department's general counsel since 2000. 6:56 AM [Go to current Florida Politics site (no popup ads)]

CREAM RISES TO THE TOP. "Gov. Jeb Bush renamed Phil Handy as chairman of the Florida Board of Education on Monday, despite the Senate's refusal to confirm Handy last year, and appointed longtime political adviser Sally Bradshaw to the panel responsible for overseeing the state's K-12 education system." Two well qualified people, no doubt.
6:50 AM [Go to current Florida Politics site (no popup ads)]

NO BRIGHT FUTURES FOR THESE EDUCATION PROGRAMS. In what is surely the death knell for Florida's prepaid tuition plan and its Bright Futures scholarship program are being defended by the hapless Democrats. As an AP Wire story reports, the popular education programs have been put on the table by the GOP,and " Republicans can pretty much do what they want with a 26-14 majority in the Senate and an 81-39 advantage in the House in addition to controlling the executive branch." 6:47 AM [Go to current Florida Politics site (no popup ads)]

FORGET TAXES SAYS THE HOUSE. Florida lawmakers expect a $2 billion to $4 billion budget deficit when the session begins on March 4. AP reports that "Republican leaders in the House sent a message Monday that they're unwilling to consider raising taxes as a way of dealing with a budget shortfall, regardless of how sluggish the economy is." Other than slashing the budget - thereby "terribly penalizing sick people, old people, people in schools", among others - the GOP will have to consider raiding trust funds (one would expect "trust funds" are sacred to John Ellis Bush), gambling, or passing costs down to local government.

The Republicans, and the Republicans alone, created this problem. We look forward to seeing how they lie, cheat, steal - or dare we say "gamble" - their way out of it. 6:36 AM [Go to current Florida Politics site (no popup ads)]