Notes For Thursday, September 11, 2003

The "Jeb!" - Rehnquist scandal is back in the news:

Six months after Gov. Jeb Bush came under scrutiny by Democrats and Congress for seeking to delay an audit until after his reelection, federal auditors have found Florida's public pension fund owes the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services $267 million.

The department's Inspector General's office contends the state, which receives federal funds to pay employees working in federally funded programs such as Medicaid, charged HHS too much for those employees' pension benefits between 1999 and 2002.
. . .
The state has 30 days to respond to the department. Bush's staff said Wednesday the governor hasn't formally decided what his response will be or if the governor would be willing to sue an agency that reports to his brother, President Bush.

Nonetheless, Bush spokeswoman Jill Bratina said, ``we continue to say what we've said all along, [our policy] is a good one and that's why we have a surplus even in tough economic times.''

But Democrats raised anew questions Wednesday about the audit's origins. It was originally scheduled to commence in April 2002, but Janet Rehnquist, daughter of U.S. Supreme Court Justice William Rehnquist and then the HHS inspector general, postponed sending her auditors to Florida until July 2002 after receiving a call from Kathleen Shanahan, a former Dick Cheney aide who is now Jeb Bush's chief of staff.

Shanahan and Bush said the delay was requested because both Florida agencies that would be involved, the state's investment staff and its retirement division, were in the midst of leadership transitions.

But Democrats, noting the delay insured the audit would not be substantially complete until after the gubernatorial election in November, contend Bush's office sought the delay to avoid additional negative publicity about the pension fund. At the time, the governor was already under fire for the pension fund's $300 million loss on Enron stock in late 2001.
. . .
The episode, along with other irregularities in the inspector general's office, also drew the attention of Republican U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, who ordered up an investigation by Congress' General Accounting Office.

That report, issued in June, faulted Rehnquist for not fully investigating the reason for Shanahan's request before granting the delay. Rehnquist has since resigned. See "State owes U.S. $267 million, feds say".


Thank Goodness , , , "Fall special session looks unlikely".


Kill Vouchers - Gov. Bush, Education Commissioner Jim Horne and state senators have offered different ways to fix Florida's corporate-tax school voucher program. Based on revelations over the past few months, however, the only way to truly fix the program would be to get rid of it. See "Best 'fix'? Kill vouchers".


McBride - Bill McBride, who ran Florida's biggest law firm before trying to unseat Gov. Jeb Bush last year, is returning to work as a lawyer with old college friends and taking on new community roles. And McBride, who will address a Florida convention of the AFL-CIO this month, says he is not ready to rule out a future political path. "I don't know," McBride said Wednesday. "I don't intend to either open or close any doors like that. I think you wait and see on stuff like that." See "McBride switches law firms, keeps political options open".


9-11 Florida Mystery - Two years after the deadliest attack on American soil, one question has never been answered: What were at least 14 of 19 terrorists doing in South Florida -- at least 12 of them in Palm Beach County -- for perhaps a year or more before killing some 3,000 people on Sept. 11, 2001? See "What 14 hijackers did in S. Fla. still mystery".


Regier - It's ironic. The governor wants to punish third-graders who can't pass a standardized test by holding them back a year. He doesn't mind taking welfare benefits away from families struggling to make it in a horrific economic climate. But he's willing to give chance after chance to a bureaucrat with a six-figure salary and a performance record that veers between lackluster and alarming. It's time the governor rethought his priorities. If Regier can't put politics aside and do the massive and vital job he's been entrusted with, Bush should find someone who can See "Still waiting on Regier".


Not Smart - The in-house lobbyist for Florida's Department of Citrus used her state-issued cellphone to help organize a fundraiser Sept. 2 for Rep. Allen Boyd -- weeks after a stinging audit faulted her agency for employees' questionable cellphone use as well as shoddy record-keeping.

Starting in August, lobbyist Jennifer Cannon began faxing citrus growers the invitations to the $100-a-head fundraiser for Boyd, a Monticello Democrat seeking reelection. Boyd is also running for the U.S. Senate. See "Lobbyist used state phone for fundraiser".


A "Backward Approach" - The budget priorities of the Florida Department of Corrections can't get much more shortsighted or skewed. Just weeks after a special session of the Legislature approved an emergency authorization of $66-million to add 4,000 new prison beds, the department has announced deep cuts in court-ordered drug treatment programs statewide. A more backward approach to criminal justice could hardly be fashioned. See "Corrections' skewed priorities".


Byrd Flies South - House Speaker Johnnie Byrd ventured into Miami on Wednesday, donning a white guayabera to tout support for his U.S. Senate bid from Cuban-American legislators -- some of whom shifted allegiances now that the GOP's early front runner has dropped out of the race.
. . .
With Foley's departure, South Florida -- with its bloc of Republican Cuban-American voters -- is considered open to any candidate in the GOP primary. Byrd and the others, former U.S. Rep. Bill McCollum, state Sen. Dan Webster and U.S. Rep. Dave Weldon, all come from Central Florida. See "Little-known Byrd campaigns in Miami".


Issues In 2004 - The Tallahassee Democrat gives us this anecdotal piece: "Security just one of voters' issues". 5:29 AM [Go to current Florida Politics site (no popup ads)]