HB 7005 was amended twice today while in the Transportation and Economic Development Appropriations Subcommittee (I will post a detail analysis via email and here later). While the main amendment (039251) had several good things, the main bad thing was the removal of the ability to go to county traffic court to contest a ticket. What this means is that all camera scheme tickets will be heard in kangaroo court. It also requires local scheme users to discontinue camera use if they fail to file a crash data report, but there is no enforcement method in the law if they do not comply. The second one (231599) involved revenue. It will allocate $5.1 million in recurring (this means every year) from the state to the several trust funds impacted by the bill. The problem with doing so is that this becomes an unfunded mandate if ticket revenue drops. For example, if next year there is only $4 million in impacted state revenue, then the state must pay an additional $1.1 million from somewhere. Both amendments passed without objection despite these points being brought up by me. The bill as amended was passed unanimously. All government lobbyists present supported it as amended. The other opposition to the amendments came from the brain and spinal injury lobbyist, who was of course concerned with not getting enough revenue. Once again, I thank Melbourne Motorists Association director Jim Phend for taking the time to go to Tallahassee and speak against the camera scheme. Link to bill: flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2014/7005 Link to amendments: flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2014/7005/?Tab=Amendments
Posted on: Mon, 24 Mar 2014 22:01:24 +0000
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