BUSY BUSY

Due to time restraints, I will now only post local issues and voting records for local representatives.

Thanks!

Key Vote: Cumulative Regulatory Analysis

Cumulative Regulatory Analysis

- Vote Passed (249-169, 15 Not Voting)

The House passed this bill that would delay the EPA’s implementation of two air pollution regulations. The bill also requires the president to establish a commission to report on the cost of certain EPA regulations. The Senate is unlikely to take up the bill.

Rep. Ander Crenshaw voted YES

Key Vote: Short-Term Continuing Appropriations

Short-Term Continuing Appropriations

- Vote Passed (219-203, 11 Not Voting)

This bill would fund the government through the first seven weeks of the 2012 fiscal year, which starts on October 1. The bill offsets an increase in federal disaster aid by reducing funding for two Energy Department loan programs. The Senate subsequently rejected the bill and scheduled a vote on an alternate version this week.

Rep. Ander Crenshaw voted YES

Key Vote: Trade Adjustment Assistance Extension Act of 2011

Trade Adjustment Assistance Extension Act of 2011

- Vote Passed (70-27, 3 Not Voting)

The Senate passed this bill that would provide additional assistance to workers affected by foreign trade agreements. It would also revive the Generalized System of Preferences program that is intended to help developing countries expand their trade. Speaker John Boehner said the House will consider the bill if the president submits trade agreements with Colombia, Panama and South Korea to Congress.

Sen. Bill Nelson voted YES
Sen. Marco Rubio voted NO

Key Vote: Protecting Jobs From Government Interference Act

Protecting Jobs From Government Interference Act

- Vote Passed (238-186, 9 Not Voting)

The House approved this legislation to limit the authority of the National Labor Relations Board. The bill prohibits the board from ordering an employer to restore, shut down or relocate operations. The Senate is unlikely to take up the measure.

Rep. Ander Crenshaw voted YES

Key Vote: Empowering Parents through Quality Charter Schools Act

Empowering Parents through Quality Charter Schools Act

- Vote Passed (365-54, 12 Not Voting)

The House passed this bill to expand successful charter school programs, the first part of an effort to overhaul and reauthorize the No Child Left Behind Act. The Senate is likely to consider charter school legislation as part of a broader reauthorization of No Child Left Behind rather than as a stand-alone bill.

Rep. Ander Crenshaw voted YES

Key Vote: Surface and Air Transportation Programs Extension Act of 2011

Surface and Air Transportation Programs Extension Act of 2011

- Vote Passed (92-6, 2 Not Voting)

On Thursday, the Senate approved this bill to extend FAA programs through January 2012 and surface transportation authorization through March 2012. The House had passed the bill by voice vote earlier in the week. Aviation programs were scheduled to expire on September 16, and highway programs would have expired this week. The president signed the bill on Friday.

Sen. Bill Nelson voted YES
Sen. Marco Rubio voted Not Voting

Key Vote: Emergency Supplemental Disaster Relief Appropriations Resolution, 2011

Emergency Supplemental Disaster Relief Appropriations Resolution, 2011

- Vote Agreed to (62-37, 1 Not Voting)

The Senate agreed to add supplemental disaster relief funding to legislation extending the trade sanctions on Myanmar, still commonly known as Burma. The bill, later passed by unanimous consent, would provide $6.9 billion in immediate aid. The vote came after the Senate rejected two proposals to offset the cost of the funding.

Sen. Bill Nelson voted YES
Sen. Marco Rubio voted YES

Key Vote: Intelligence Authorization Act, FY 2012

Intelligence Authorization Act, FY 2012

- Vote Passed (384-14, 33 Not Voting)

This House bill would authorize spending for the 16 intelligence agencies in the upcoming fiscal year. The cost of the bill is classified. The Senate is expected to take up the bill later this year.

Rep. Ander Crenshaw voted YES......send e-mail

or see bio

Key Vote: Motion to Proceed; Debt limit disapproval

Motion to Proceed; Debt limit disapproval

- Vote Rejected (45-52, 3 Not Voting)

The Senate rejected this motion to take up a resolution that would have disapproved a $500 billion debt limit increase. Under the budget law enacted on August 2, the debt limit was increase by $400 billion. A second increase of $500 billion will take effect unless Congress passes a disapproval measure.

Sen. Bill Nelson voted NO......send e-mail

or see bio

Sen. Marco Rubio voted Not Voting......send e-mail

or see bio

Key Vote: Leahy-Smith America Invents Act

Leahy-Smith America Invents Act

- Vote Passed (89-9, 2 Not Voting)

The Senate gave final approval to this bill that would change the way patents are awarded from “first to invent” to “first to file.” The overhaul is intended to speed up the process of awarding patents. The House passed the bill in June. President Obama is expected to sign it into law.

Sen. Bill Nelson voted YES
Sen. Marco Rubio voted Not Voting

Study gives Florida an A in civil rights education

Florida has received an A for education about the civil rights movement - one of only three states given the top grade in a nationwide study.

No Smoking for State Prison Inmates; No More 'Lighting Up'

A new law taking effect Oct. 1 in Florida means no tobacco for state prison inmates and no more "lighting up" behind bars.

Cigarettes and lighters will now be considered contraband inside prison fences.

The ban is being implemented for two reasons, said Gretl Plessinger, spokeswoman for the Florida Department of Corrections.

She said the state spent almost $9 million on hospital bills for inmates for tobacco related illnesses. Additionally, to smoke you need a lighter.

City paying millions to keep Jacksonville garages afloat

Jacksonville has lent $16 million in five years to subsidize a parking company it picked to own and run three downtown garages.

Now, the city could spend $50 million buying its way out of the deal.

That would leave City Hall owning and operating garages it never wanted and hoping that spending big money up front can cut taxpayers' losses - eventually.

The city approved a deal with Metropolitan in 2004, while new buildings from the Better Jacksonville Plan were popping up across downtown. Headed by businessmen from another firm, Signet Development, Metropolitan was one of five companies that answered a city notice for proposals to build and run new garages.

To have parking for sports and music fans - and eventually for courthouse visitors - the city helped Metropolitan issue $50 million in bonds for construction, with the company solely responsible for repaying investors who bought them. The company also brought $3 million of its own to the table and the city held notes on $5.7 million spent buying the sites.

The city agreed that if Metropolitan couldn't break even once the garages opened, it would lend enough to cover the company's losses, along with a $240,000 yearly return on the company's investment. The loans would be repaid with interest once the garages turned a profit.

The company has collected nine loans from the city since 2007, ranging from $859,000 to $2.3 million, usually through payments in May and September.

This summer the company requested an additional loan of $2.3 million to cover losses from the first half of 2011.

With the company still obligated to pay off bonds that will last more than 20 years, auditors say the city should expect to lend millions year after year.

"It's conceivable that one day the city will have $100 million loaned to this developer," Billy warned council Finance Committee members.

Court: Fla. must pay for defending poor suspects

The Florida Supreme Court says the state, not counties, must pay for new legal offices that help represent indigent defendants.

The justices unanimously ruled on Thursday that a 2007 law creating the offices unconstitutionally passed overhead expenses to Florida's 67 counties.

48 Jacksonville cops laid off as standoff continues between union, sheriff

Forty-eight Jacksonville police officers are being laid off as the Sheriff's Office cuts payroll to handle a shrunken 2012 budget, Nelson Cuba, the police union's president, said Tuesday.

Cuba said he learned the number of layoffs from a letter sent to the union from the city's Human Resources Department. Another 23 vacancies have been eliminated, along with an uncertain number of civilian employees, Cuba said.

The police layoffs, from the last two police academy classes, occurred Monday and Tuesday.

Rutherford has been repeatedly critical of the police union opposing a 2 percent salary cut, which the sheriff said would allow him to fund the positions. Cuba called that argument "smoke and mirrors."