Tax support for Marlins has aroma of pork

Published April 30, 2005

 

tallahassee ? Here's an idea for Palm Beach County legislators: Spend $60 million of taxpayer money to help build a new stadium for the Florida Marlins -- in a location that's less convenient for your constituents.

 

Make sure the legislation (HB 173) is larded up with $30 million for spring-training facilities, $30 million for a NASCAR Hall of Fame and $60 million for basketball's Orlando Magic. Throw in a few bucks for some county convention centers.

 

Though the millions would be paid out over decades, and some of the NASCAR spending offset by proceeds from a new specialty license plate, the combination spells p-o-r-k, as in pork barrel spending.

 

The aroma of the sizzling pork turned off five local representatives who voted "no."

 

"No" was the obvious choice for state Reps. Anne Gannon, D-Delray Beach, and Irv Slosberg, D-Boca Raton, both of whom are seeking a state Senate seat next year. Had one of them voted for the Marlins, it's easy to imagine the direct-mail attacks during the campaign.

 

Gannon said the legislation would steal money from what should be priorities: health care for the poor, education, and local road and water projects. Slosberg called the idea "corporate welfare. We don't need it."

 

Even though public opinion polls show most voters don't want to spend tax money on the Marlins, it's unlikely that those who supported the idea this week will suffer in the 2006 election.

 

Consider state Rep. Adam Hasner, R-Delray Beach, one of six locally who voted "yes."

 

He has an exceedingly safe district, and it's unlikely an opponent can pick him off, something that gives Hasner a fair amount of leeway. And Hasner could even gain by being part of the mass of Republicans who voted for the package, which was championed by state Rep. Marco Rubio, R-West Miami.

 

Rubio is slated to become the next House speaker, a position from which he can single-handedly make or destroy a rank-and-file legislator's two-year term.

 

Hasner insisted he was motivated only by the desire to do good and not at all by internal House politics.

 

"It's an economic driver for South Florida and the entire state. It's an asset for our region, just like Scripps is," he said, adding that "the media" have labeled it a subsidy for the Marlins. "In a lot of ways, it's similar to the Scripps initiative."

 

Similar to The Scripps Research Institute? The entity that not only has the potential to transform the economic landscape of the region and help lead to lifesaving cures for disease? That could charitably be described as a stretch.

 

State Rep. Carl Domino, R-Jupiter, certainly doesn't see it that way. The investment banker with the Harvard MBA voted against the package.

 

"I don't think public resources should be used for private things," he said. "However you couch it, it's a private enterprise being supported with public funds."

 

Word wizard

 

If Rod Smith fails in his quest to become Florida's governor, perhaps he could switch careers from politician to novelist.

 

He's that good at creating a vivid, though fictional, picture with words. At least he was this week when explaining his support for legislation that would make it substantially easier for so-called agricultural enclaves to get approval for massive development of their land.

 

If such an enclave is 75 percent surrounded by development, the farm owner could get approval for more development, which wouldn't legally be considered urban sprawl.

 

The Alachua Democrat said he was interested in helping little mom and pop farmers who are depending on the value of their land for retirement.

 

"Should a few farmers, should people who don't have political clout ... should they be victimized?" he asked. "It's the saddest day of their life when they convert their property [for development]."

 

Don't break out the Kleenex just yet. The problem with that argument is that the legislation (SB 716) would apply to "enclaves" up to 5,120 acres. And everyone knows the legislation is by, for and about Palm Beach County's Callery-Judge Grove, which wants to develop its 4,600 acres, and was aggressively pushed by its lobbying team.

 

Could it be that Smith, who's eschewing the party's liberal South Florida image and running as a moderate, doesn't want to alienate the agriculture industry?

 

Please, no cash

 

When lobbyist David Goodlett of the Sugar Cane Growers Cooperative opened a pocket-sized folder outside the House of Representatives chamber the other day, Hasner backed away at lightning speed.

 

Inside the folder was a small pack of cash. Just the appearance of the cash made him queasy, even though it was small bills, mostly singles.

 

It wasn't anything untoward, especially with a reporter watching. It was only Goodlett hitting up the representative for a contribution to his son's youth baseball club, which is raising money to travel from Palm Beach County to North Carolina for national championships.

 

It ended up costing Hasner five bucks.

 

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/columnist...,6579248.column

I am getting tired of these kinds of articles. Can't they understand that the subsidy will actually produce MORE tax revenues for the state?

Well, knowing what I know what's in the bill, I would be much more surprised if they didn't approve the whole package than if they did. Let's see what's in the bill and then you tell me if these Senators *really* want to reject it:

• NASCAR Museum - Even to an average person like myself, the name "Daytona" is synonymous with stock cars. It's the one thing that puts that city on the map, not the beach. Whatever you may think of the particulars of this plan, can you imagine a scenario in which fans of racing sideways would not support something for the 500?
   
  
• Spring training facilities - Though not as important to the economy as years past, they're still a cash cow for the state. They're not likely to reject that part.
   
  
• Orlando Magic - Maybe you think they don't need another arena. However, it's still the hip, media-savvy league and one of the most recognizable brand names in the world. A bit more iffy than the previous two but I bet Central Florida politicos won't oppose it.
  

But, hey, they'll be willing to reject all of that spending because "My God. I can't imagine voting to support giving money to the Marlins!" Yeah, right. Yes, pork is pork but these politicos aren't the paragons of virtue. It's really a play to their own egos.

 

I suspect good ol' fashioned power politics at play in the Senate chambers right now. It's going to be fun to see what will come out of it come Tuesday.

Ways and Means should approve it according to my assessment of its members previously publicized stances.

 

The Orlando Congregation has to get on their horses. Former Senator (and Current Orlando Mayor) Scumbag Buddy Dyer is up in Tallytown along with the Orange County Executive to rally this bill on.

 

So we now have the Dade and Orange Congregations lobbying. Those two counties alone provide about 25-45% of the state's sales tax income.

Good move to tack on rebates for NASCAR and the Magic to gain support across the State. Any other pork that would be beneficial to get it to pass in the Senate?

Too much pork and they will say no. This is a good amount.