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Councilman blasts state lawmakers
Rick Butler tells Rep. Janet Long that Tallahassee ‘needs to clean up its act’
By THOMAS MICHALSKI
Article published on Thursday, July 31, 2008 |
PINELLAS PARK – A city councilman ripped into a state lawmaker at the July 24 City Council meeting over skyrocketing health care and homeowner insurance costs and the legislature’s alleged inaction to help struggling residents.
Councilman Rick Butler told Rep. Janet Long, a Seminole Democrat, that state lawmakers “need to get your act together to resolve the Florida’s pressing problems.
“I’m being as diplomatic as I know how, but the legislature needs to play well together to solve all of these issues,” Butler said. “Local government is not at fault for increasing insurance and property taxes.”
The meeting began quietly as Long addressed the council to report that the state is running $400 million in the hole since the beginning of the new budget year that began July 1.
Long also cited the increasing costs for such services as health care that she said causes many Floridians to go without coverage. She said Florida ranks third in the nation for uninsured and pointed out that one in four people under the age of 65 lack health coverage.
“Emergency rooms and trauma centers are the source of health care for the poor,” Long said. “Uncompensated care by hospitals grows steadily.”
Long said about 35 percent of the state’s $66.2 billion budget goes toward health care. She said it is time to “look at the big picture” to come up with ways to reduce costs.
“We need to think outside the box to resolve our problems,” Long said. “We are facing very difficult times.”
The current $66.2 billion budget replaced the 2007-08 $70.3 billion financial plan and shows decreases in such things as health care, education and environmental programs. Long said programs that were put in place decades ago no longer are working due to increased population, rising operating costs and the need for more services.
“We live in paradise,” Long said, “but Florida is no longer a low-cost state to live in.”
She cited escalating costs for homeowner insurance and called upon local government and state officials “to work together.”
It was at this point that Butler unleashed his wrath.
“I will try to be as civil as I can,” Butler said. “The fact is that the people in Tallahassee need to get their house in order before you tell local government what we should do.”
Butler continued: “People cannot afford their homes, their taxes and their insurance costs.”
He said many of those problems are the fault of state lawmakers and not local governments.
Long said she agreed with Butler’s comments, saying that the “tax system is broken and we need to fix it.”
Councilman Jerry Mullins said “the insurance companies have taken our money for many years.” He said they created smaller independent companies for Florida alone that are now crying poverty and demanding higher premiums.
State Farm just recently requested a 47 percent increase in premiums.
Long said the state’s seven largest companies banked 50 years of premiums until Hurricane Andrew in 1992 when “all that money was wiped out” to pay for the damages from that and other storms. She then suggested that people can save money on their premiums by replacing roofs, doors and windows with hurricane-resistant ones.
Butler said such roofs cost about $6,400. Storm-resistant garage doors are about $2,200 and windows cost approximately $400 each.
“You can’t ask people to spend money that they do not have,” Butler said.
Mayor Bill Mischler said insurance companies are making a killing on all types of insurance, including auto and medical.
“It’s not fair to allow insurance companies to keep the cream of the crop of policies and reject all the rest,” Mischler said. “There are people out there who cannot afford their homes any longer and others who own them outright, but can’t afford the insurance and taxes on them.”
Mischler said he favors higher sales taxes so everyone, including tourists and renters, can help pay the freight. He said the tariffs for all types of services are increasing.
“It costs the city $86 for each juvenile our police arrest,” Mischler said. “We are now being charged for services that were once free. Crime scene investigations by the (Pinellas County) sheriff’s office, for example, have increased by 350 percent.”
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Article published on Thursday, July 31, 2008
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