By BRENT KALLESTAD 
Associated Press
 May 7, 2011

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Florida’s Republican-led Legislature passed a balanced budget, a massive Medicaid overhaul measure and a bill cracking down on “pill mills” in the final day of the 2011 session, but there was no celebration afterward. GOP leaders were mad at each other.
As Gov. Rick Scott waited patiently late Friday to congratulate House Speaker Dean Cannon and Senate President Mike Haridopolos for a successful, transformative session, an apparent budget deal collapsed shortly before midnight. Scott went home and lawmakers scrambled into the wee hours Saturday before finalizing a $69.7 billion state budget.
”Games were played,” said Senate rules chairman John Thrasher, a St. Augustine Republican and former House speaker and state Republican Party chairman. “It got messed up.”
The budget bill, which covers the fiscal year starting July 1 now goes to Scott, who has line-item veto authority.
The blow-up began shortly before midnight when the Senate voted 32-6 against a bill sought by the House that would deregulate interior designers. It was the first time many of the senators had a chance to even hear the bill and many were angry. Haridopolos and budget chairman JD Alexander were among the six who had apparently assured House negotiators that it would make it through the Senate.
When it came time to finish, Haridopolos and Cannon were apparently dodging one another and the chambers took the unusual step of extending the session so lawmakers could work out the last-minute kinks. Cannon kept the 120-member House until nearly 2 a.m. and adjourned after passing the budget, blaming the Senate for reneging on a pair of bills that he claimed had been agreed on earlier.
”Politics got in the way, a disappointed Haridopolos said afterward. “Quite frankly, I never saw it coming.”
Republicans had come into the session with a veto-proof majority for the first time in state history, but struggled to meet the expectations of their new governor and Tea Party activists.
”They have not cut the growth of government, reduced Florida’s long-term debt problems or attacked big issues like Citizens Insurance,” Tea Party’s Richard Swier said. “I think Gov. Scott for his efforts, but the Legislature was not on the same page. “
Especially at closing time.
The Florida House got its way in the end, but in doing so slammed the door on a pair of claims bills sought by Haridopolos on behalf William Dillon, a wrongfully convicted citizen, and Eric Brody, who will spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair as the result of police negligence.
”They should have been better served by this Legislature,” Haridopolos said.
Despite increasing rancor within GOP ranks in recent days, lawmakers passed several pro-business measures starting with a heavily lobbied property insurance bill aimed at luring more commercial carriers into the state, tightening rules on public adjusters and those making bogus sinkhole claims.
Legislators approved a major overhaul of Medicaid on Friday and appeared on the way to a smooth finish before things unraveled shortly before midnight. Some critics claimed the Republican-led Legislature lost valuable time focusing on volatile social issues such as abortion and gun issues late in the session, when more attention should have been given to meeting the governor’s goal of creating jobs.
An historic Medicaid measure (HB 7109) just beat the clock, getting final approval a couple of hours before adjournment. The bill makes major changes to the Medicaid program, putting the care of nearly 3 million beneficiaries into the hands of private companies and hospital networks. Supporters said the overhaul is necessary to rein in the more than $20 billion-a-year program. It expands a five-county pilot program that was criticized for allowing providers to earn big profits by scrimping on patient care.
The Senate later rejected a House proposal that would have deregulated interior designers.
The Senate and House failed to agree on new restrictions for a tough Arizona-style immigration law backed by Scott and Attorney General Pam Bondi that would have allowed police, during a legal stop or arrest, to ask for a detainee’s immigration documents if an officer suspected the individual was in the country illegally.
Bondi, however, got her top priority Friday when lawmakers agreed to clamp down on rogue doctors and pain management clinics, sometimes called “pill mills,” that supply drug dealers and addicts with illicit prescription painkillers.
Haridopolos, R-Merritt Island, defended the amount of time spent on debating abortion issues for a second straight year.
”To a lot of people in this state, pro-life issues are very important,” Haridopolos said during a mid-afternoon visit with reporters. “This is part of the social fabric. A lot of people run on social issues so we did give those folks some time.”
Consumer groups were largely outraged with a session where Republicans held veto-proof majorities in both chambers.
”The majority party, emboldened by a two-thirds majority, aggressively went after the courts, voters, labor groups, trial lawyers and anyone else they deemed a threat to their power,” said Brad Ashwell, spokesman for Florida PIRG, a consumer group. “Middle-class Floridians will see higher insurance rates, higher phone rates, more sprawl, and more obstacles to having a voice in their elections.”
Unemployed workers also got hit by passage of a bill (HB 7005) in the final hours that cuts maximum state benefits from 26 to 23 weeks when the unemployment rate is 10.5 percent or higher.
The Legislature started the session by passing a bill that would base teacher pay on merit while also stripping tenure for new hires. The session ended with several bills making it more difficult for women to obtain abortions. In between, they cut down on the number of days for early voting and attempted to dramatically restructure the state’s court system – in what some observers saw as little more than payback for judicial decisions last year striking some legislative amendments from the ballot.
Haridopolos noted major reforms on Medicaid, education and the state pension system as issues that any on their own might have been significant achievements in past years. He also cited balancing the state budget in tough economic times without raising taxes.
Cannon, R-Winter Park, unsuccessfully tried to divide the Florida Supreme Court into separate divisions for criminal and civil appeals, bumping the number of justices from 7 to 10. The move “was clearly a personal issue for the speaker,” Saunders said. “In the end, he almost blew up the whole budget negotiation.”
Lawmakers also made it more difficult for injured plaintiffs to win product liability damages from auto makers and other manufacturers. The new law would require juries to consider the fault of all persons who contributed to an accident when apportioning damages. They also overhauled medical malpractice suits by increasing the burden of proof for plaintiffs and providing some immunity from lawsuits for doctors who volunteer to help high school and collegiate sports teams.
State workers again took the brunt of nearly $4 billion in cuts this year. For the fifth straight year, rank-and-file state workers will go without a pay increases and for the first time are required to contribute 3 percent of their wages toward their pensions.
”The conclusion of the legislative session is just the start of the litigation season,” said Howard Simon, executive director of the ACLU of Florida. “This Tea Party takeover of Tallahassee has produced the most dramatic big government roll-backs of personal freedom and civil liberties in recent years – maybe in Florida history.”