Archive for May, 2007
PORT ST. LUCIE — St. Lucie delegation Chair, Rep. Gayle Harrell and Martin County delegation Chair, Richard Macheck, have called a special, joint delegation meeting on property tax relief. Anyone wishing to express their opinions on the proposed property tax cut plans should come to the St. Lucie County Commission Chambers located at 2300 Virginia Avenue, Fort Pierce, from 4 to 7 p.m. on Wednesday, May 23.
“I look forward to hearing from the people. Taxpayers deserve relief and next month they’ll have it,” Harrell stated. “I look forward to hearing the local government perspective and expect a productive discussion on how we can work together to reduce the tax burden on residents.”
The members of the legislative delegation who will be attending include, Senate President Ken Pruitt (R-Port St. Lucie), Sen. Mike Haridopolos (R-Melbourne), Sen. J.D. Alexander (R- Lake Wales), Rep. Richard Macheck (D-Delray Beach), Rep. William Snyder (R-Stuart), and Rep. Gayle Harrell (R-Port St. Lucie).
May 22nd, 2007
TALLAHASSEE — It didn’t get a lot of attention, but a significant bill passed last week in Tallahassee will cut down on prescription drug abuse and deaths.It also provides safeguards for people who are prescribed multiple medications from different doctors and who might be taking medications that counteract or react badly with each other.
Rep. Gayle Harrell, R-Stuart, has been pushing for the legislation for four years and said it’s a direct result of the case involving six patients of former Port St. Lucie Dr. Asuncion Luyao.The six patients died from overdoses of prescription pain medicines, including oxycodone. Luyao was convicted in March 2006 of manslaughter in the death of longtime patient Julia Hartsfield, as well as racketeering and five counts of trafficking in oxycodone.
In April 2006, she was sentenced to 50 years in prison and ordered to pay $1.3 million in fines on the trafficking charges.
“We learned that we have more people who die from abuse of prescription drugs than die from heroin and cocaine abuse combined,” Harrell said.
Harrell was the primary co-sponsor of the bill and introduced the original controlled substances version of the bill in 2003. She has been pushing for passage of the legislation ever since.
The bill relies on the growing use of “e-prescribing,” which allows a direct link between doctors and pharmacies and eliminates the need for paper prescriptions, which can often be forged.
Prescription drug abusers also often go to several different doctors to get multiple prescriptions of medications like oxycodone and use paper prescriptions at different pharmacies to hide the fact they’re getting more of the drug than should be prescribed.
The prescription drug legislation will make it much more difficult for people to get away with the practice, often called “doctor shopping.”
“It’s a portal to information for the doctors and the pharmacists through the private enterprise system and something that’s already being established,” Harrell said. “Doctors who ‘e-prescribe’ will be able to see what other medications other doctors might be prescribing and how much the patient is getting. It will be obvious immediately if someone is getting too much of a drug.
“And because a doctor can get the history of Ms. Jones’ or Gayle Harrell’s prescriptions, not just for controlled substances but for every prescription, they’ll know whether or not a prescription I’m taking from one physician is going to be counteracted by something I’m taking from another physician,” Harrell said.
One of the key parts of the bill is the incentive it gives doctors who move toward electronic prescribing.
“One way we’re encouraging physicians to do this is by waiving their re-licensing or renewal fees for two years if they get software that enables them to do this,” Harrell said.
“It’s important for people to know we’re not creating some kind of government database that violates people’s privacy. It’s using the private enterprise system and electronic health records to empower physicians with the patient’s permission,” Harrell said.
Without patient permission, doctors may refuse to prescribe medication, Harrell said.
It took four years for Harrell to see this legislation passed. A lot of people will benefit because of her persistence.
May 8th, 2007
When rapidly increasing taxes keep people from moving, others from buying and businesses from expanding, there’s a problem.
Florida legislators have come to the rescue — as scary as that might sound — with two plans of their own:
• The House plan, which would increase the sales tax up to 2.5 percent while eliminating property taxes for homesteaders, is best for relatively new Floridians who have expensive homes. It sells out longtime, middle-income homeowners, while benefits accrue to wealthy homeowners.
Unfortunately, this plan has bamboozled local state Reps. Stan Mayfield, Ralph Poppell and William Snyder, who voted in lockstep with their Republican leaders. The only local GOP House member to vote for the people was Gayle Harrell, R-Port St. Lucie.
• The Senate plan, shepherded by Mike Haridopolos, R-Melbourne, was crafted after numerous hearings across the state. Like the House plan, it caps future increases in taxes, but does not roll back taxes as much as the House plan.
At this point, though, Floridians need fewer handouts and more plans for long-term sustainability for people of all incomes. That’s what the Senate plan does, by:
• Providing relief for business taxpayers with a $25,000 exemption for tangible property personal property.
• Giving first-time homebuyers an additional $25,000 homestead exemption, which phases out as other tax relief kicks in. This helps to make homes more affordable and limits the unexpected tax sting of a new home. It might make sense to increase this.
• Allowing homesteaders to take with them up to $500,000 in exemptions created by the Save Our Homes law, which limits the increase in taxable value each year. The exemption could phase out by up to 10 percent annually. The Senate should consider reducing this so-called portability to $250,000.
There are several other revisions, which make the Senate plan almost as complicated as the U.S. tax code. A conference committee, which will try to bridge the gap between the House and Senate, must iron out some of those funky details, which include credits for affordable housing.
The conference committee also must agree to require property appraisers statewide to assess property the same way. Earlier this week, Rep. Dean Cannon, R-Winter Park, leader of the committee’s House delegation, was standoffish, saying that the property tax elimination and sales tax increase were critical for the state.
“If (the senators) are not willing to look at that, I would consider that something they ought to rethink,” Cannon declared.
Senate Majority Leader Daniel Webster, R-Winter Garden, was more realistic.
The Orlando Sentinel quoted him as saying: “It would get the lowest vote total ever in the history of constitutional amendments.”
He’s right.
Cannon ought to back off the House’s plan — as should local House members — because the Senate’s is less draconian to governments and the poor, and helpful to all homeowners.
May 7th, 2007
