By Matt Wiley
While the Florida legislative session is a wrap, District 63 Rep. Mark Danish (D-New Tampa) is gearing up to begin campaigning for re-election and recently was the guest speaker at the New Tampa Chamber of Commerce’s monthly luncheon to provide a legislative session recap.
Inside the conference room of the Holiday Inn Express Hotel & Suites off Highwoods Preserve Pkwy. on June 10, Rep. Danish gave New Tampa Chamber members the lowdown on some of the highlights of the 2014 legislative session, which came to a close on May 2. This session brought Danish’s first term as a legislator to a close, but he is set to defend his seat against former Dist. 63 Rep. Shawn Harrison (R-New Tampa) in the November General Election.
Rep. Danish, a former science teacher at Benito Middle School, told the Chamber that the biggest accomplishment this session (which has been making headlines, especially in Wesley Chapel [see page 10], since Governor Rick Scott signed off on it on June 2), was the passing of Florida’s largest budget to date at $77 billion, which included increased funding for education.
“(Based on the budget), you could say we’ve turned the corner with the economy,” Rep. Danish said. “For those in the business world, that’s good news. If education is going to prosper in this state, business has got to prosper, as well.”
However, while Rep. Danish acknowledges that there is increased funding for education, it’s still not as much as would’ve liked to have seen.
“It’s the biggest education budget we’ve ever had,” Rep. Danish explained. “But, we also have more students at public schools than ever before, so it’s important to look at the amount of per capita spending (the amount appropriated per student).”
Rep. Danish said that while serving on the State House’s Education Committee, he learned that the new budget spends $6,937 per student throughout Florida’s public school system. Although that figure is better than last year, he says that before the economy fell apart in 2007-08, the state was spending more than $7,100 per student.
“I was really pushing for us to break that $7,000 barrier (again),” Rep. Danish said. “Some northeastern schools spend more than $12,000 per student.”
He added that he also fought to bring down the percentage increase on tuition for the state’s public universities after four years of increases of 15 percent per year.
“I was excited when I helped get the (tuition) increase down from six percent to three percent, and then Gov. Scott vetoed it and said no increase. You could say I lost the vote, but won the argument.”
In addition to serving on the Education Committee, Rep. Danish also served on the Economic Affairs Committee and the Government Operations and Agriculture & Natural Resources Appropriations Subcommittees. While serving on Appropriations, Rep. Danish says that he was able to help secure increased funding for the University of South Florida (USF) in Tampa, MOSI (Museum of Science & Industry on E. Fowler Ave.) and the Moffitt Cancer Center (on USF’s Tampa campus), all of which are in New Tampa’s legislative district.
This session Rep. Danish sponsored six bills, all of which technically died in committee. However, he says that he found a loophole to get some things passed, as he also co-sponsored 19 other bills.
“They told me I wouldn’t pass a bill on the floor this session,” Rep. Danish told the New Tampa Chamber attendees. “But, I found a way to get around that. I just embedded my bill in someone else’s bill.”
As part of a transportation package of bills (HB 7005), Rep. Danish was able to help get a bill passed that requires self-serve gas stations to display a blue sticker on pumps, indicating that if you are disabled and can’t pump your own gas, a station attendant will come out and pump it for you. It’s already an ordinance in Hillsborough, but now will be a law statewide.
Another bill Rep. Danish says that he is proud of helping get passed is HB 225, which raises the age of children who must ride in “booster seats,” or safety seats in automobiles.
“Florida was the only state in the country where children above the age of three could ride without a booster seat,” Rep. Danish said. “We’ve been trying to pass that bill for five years. I co-sponsored it last year, but it didn’t get past committee. Now the age is raised to five. Child safety seats also are tax free. I think that’s going to save lives.”
Although this was Rep. Danish’s second legislative session, he says that it still was a learning experience. “You have to learn things fast to get things done,” he says.
He also says that his stance on not strictly voting along party lines didn’t earn him any extra popularity points, either.
“I don’t like to vote for things that are political,” Rep. Danish says. “I like to vote for things that are right and best for the people in my community. (Legislators) get mad at me on both sides of the aisle. I don’t always follow party lines on every vote. It’s not easy.”
For info about Rep. Mark Danish, visit MarkDanish.com. We also will feature Danish’s opponent Shawn Harrison (see page 39) in an upcoming issue.
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