1. He voted AGAINST re-legalizing what Howard Troxler of the St. Pete Times called "a bygone and corrupt institution, outlawed in this state for more than two decades, known as leadership funds. These "leadership funds" are campaign slush funds operated legally and officially by the leaders of the Legislature themselves".
Leadership funds allow campaign contributions of $50,000 for each legislative race and $250,000 for a Statewide race. That is up from $500 - that was the legal limit from one donor. Quite a difference isn't it? Crist had vetoed Leadership Funds, but Scott didn't. Miami-Dade's Miguel Diaz de la Portilla proposed SB1690.
2. Mike Fasano is rightly livid over a $10,000 bill he was socked with to view public records from the State's Pension Fund. Remember he is a STATE SENATOR - A Chair of a Budget Sub-Committee. He should get any documents that he wants to see FOR FREE. He said: "I am being given an invoice for $10,000 to pay for information pertaining to Florida's investment decisions." Gives you little hope for you and me to get public records, doesn't it?
3. Fasano was jubilant today that a judge wouldn't allow the prisons to be privatized in the sneaky manner the Pubs resorted to. Remember again: He is the Chairman of the Senate Budget subcommittee in charge of prison spending. Fasano said: "This is a perfect example of why we should not be making major policy changes in proviso language that did not go through substantive committees, debated and taken testimony and pro and con."
4. He pushed for the prescription drug monitoring program to curtail the "Pill Mills" that the Governor wanted to scrap. Video of Mike talking about it. Watch it: Future Governor material??
Mike Fasano, brings some sanity to the Senate...for a Republican. I know I won't always agree with him (his Bills are lackluster) but he at least has SOME common sense which is more than I can say for most Republicans in Tallahassee.
His Committee assignments:
- Budget Subcommittee on Criminal and Civil Justice Appropriations, Chair
- Banking and Insurance
- Budget
- Budget Subcommittee on Transportation, Tourism, and Economic Development Appropriations
- Communications, Energy, and Public Utilities
- Health Regulation
- Military Affairs, Space, and Domestic Security
- Joint Administrative Procedures Committee
3 comments:
If memory serve, he was also one of the Republicans to vote against the public union gag bill (disallowing voluntary paycheck deductions of union dues). We must cultivate this man.
Fasano has certainly mellowed over the past decade and marches to his own drum. That of course casts him in the dog hose with his party leadership. He filed a bill last year to repeal the Early Cost Recovery law the utilities wrote for themselves 5 years ago , but his bill never saw the light of day. Hope he files it again. FPL has picked the rate payees pockets for the past few years to the tune of $ 3 million which they can use for planning, pitching and litigating, regardless whether they ever build it.
Fasano is not without fault. His regular job as a VP for Morgan Stanley makes me skeptical. He does appear to be more tempered these days. At a committee meeting that I attended last session, he was grilling those that spoke in favor of Repub sponsored bills, poking holes in many "facts" that were being presented.
Post a Comment