McBurney breaks down session to AIF
by David Chapman, Staff Writer
12/12/2011
State Rep. Charles McBurney told members of the Associated Industries of Florida that the state budget, redistricting, jobs and the economy will be the focus of legislators in upcoming session.
McBurney spoke to the group Friday at The River Club Downtown.
Last week, Gov. Rick Scott released his proposed $66.4 billion budget, down $4.6 billion from the current year. It proposes increasing education spending and cutting health services.
"The Legislature will be looking at that very closely," said McBurney.
McBurney said he believes there will be a number of legislative initiatives dealing with incentives that encourage business growth.
Metal Thefts on the Rise
Reporter: Mike Vasilinda, WCTV
August 22, 2011
With metal thefts rising, a business coalition formed in 2008 to help enact tougher penalties is coming back together.
Old appliances like a few discarded bikes, some aluminum siding and a few other scrap are netting one customer just over sixty dollars. With the economy struggling, this salvage dealer is doing a brisk business.
But it's not just legitimate people selling scrap. A marginally profitable movie theatre in Tallahassee closed after thieves did ten thousand dollars in damage to air-conditioners on the roof.
One scrap metal dealer will pay just a few cents a pound for these aluminum shades, but he'll pay more than three dollars a pound for this copper. A 2008 law requires pictures of the scrap, a drivers license, tag number and thumb print. Dealer Marc Friedman's goes further, recording every transaction of videotape. Salvage Dealer Marc Friedman says, "If there is a report of theft that comes our way, we can connect the law with the seller of the material, so that we can bust them."
With thefts on the rise, the coalition of businesses that pushed the 2008 law are coming back together.
Keyna Cory, of the Floridian for Copper and Metal Crime Prevention says, "We've seen all kinds of companies and entities hit by these thieves, and it ends up costing a lot more than the thieves are getting in the cost of the metals."
The current law says that metal purchased over a thousand dollars must be paid by check....one possible change is to lower the cash transaction threshold to 500 dollars or less.
Florida does not keep statistics on the number of metal thefts or the number of people arrested for stealing metals. The law does make it a felony for dealers to falsify identities or not keep proper records of people selling metals.
Florida does not keep statistics on the number of metal thefts or the number of people arrested for stealing metals. The law does make it a felony for dealers to falsify identities or not keep proper records of people selling metals.
Florida does not keep statistics on the number of metal thefts or the number of people arrested for stealing metals. The law does make it a felony for dealers to falsify identities or not keep proper records of people selling metals.
Lawmakers told water conservation is needed to help state's economy
By Bruce Ritchie, The Florida Current
January 27, 2011
Tallahassee, Bruce Ritchie: Conservation and development of new water supplies must be part of Florida's future to attract industry and create jobs, panelists on Thursday told the House Select Committee on Water Policy. But there was some disagreement on how much the environment should be protected.
The committee was created in December by House Speaker Dean Cannon to study water issues over a two-year period and to make recommendations. The panel on Thursday heard presentations on water supply and will hear presentations in two weeks on water quality, said Rep. Trudi Williams, R-Fort Myers and committee chairman.
The panelists on Thursday warned there will be increasing competition for water supplies in the next two years as Florida's population continues to grow.
Florida water use is expected to grow from 7 billion gallons per day in 2010 to 9 billion by 2025, according to a House staff presentation on Jan. 13.
Florida farmers need flexibility in water permitting and assurances that their water supplies won't be taken away for cities and other water users in the future, said Rich Budell, director of the Office of Water Policy in the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. He also said that natural systems will be affected.
"We can't do everything we do on the planet and protect every square foot of wetland and river and stream that is out there," Budell said. "There will have to be decisions made in that arena at some point."
Eric Draper, executive director of Audubon of Florida, said there already are estuaries that have been severely altered, including Tampa Bay and the Caloosahatchee River in southwest Florida, because of water use and changes in water flow. Those estuaries, he said, are important to the tourism economy along the Gulf of Mexico.
"It's not just a matter of protecting pristine areas," Draper said. "It's a matter of recovering already-damaged areas."
Florida's economy won't rebound unless there is water available to attract industries that produce jobs, said Keyna Cory, the President of Public Affairs Consultants Inc., representing Associated Industries of Florida (AIF).
The Water Protection and Sustainability Program Trust Fund received $100 million for water supply projects in 2005 after it was created. But the fund received no money since 2008, she said.
"We have got to focus back on that," Cory said. "If you are going to do any kind of growth, any kind of economic development in the state, you have to have water."
Representatives of the Florida League of Cities and the Florida Association of Counties said that some of the state's five water management districts now are overstepping their authority and creating frustration with local governments.
Later in the meeting, Rep. Ray Pilon, R-Sarasota and a member of the American Water Works Association, said Florida's water management system is "envied by everybody" across the country.
"We need on this panel to take on the tools we have and the system we have and make it better -- not re-invent the wheel," he said.
There was no discussion Wednesday of the "local sources first" state policy that encourages conservation and more expensive treatment alternatives as opposed to piping water -- a touchy topic in some regions of the state.
Williams said earlier this month she wants her committee to have an open discussion on the policy. But on Thursday she said "it's too early to tell" what the committee will discuss.
