Backroom Briefing: Medical marijuana supporters fired up

By DARA KAM
THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA

THE CAPITAL, TALLAHASSEE, June 18, 2015……Last week, Orlando trial lawyer John Morgan wrote a $150,000 check to jump-start an effort to get a medical-marijuana initiative back on the ballot in 2016.

This week, United for Care --- the political group behind the proposal --- started hiring petition gatherers to ensure the group doesn't get caught playing catch-up again.

Garnering more than 58 percent of the vote last November, a medical-marijuana initiative fell just short of the 60 percent approval required for constitutional changes. Morgan, who spent at least $5 million of his own and his law firm's money on the effort last year, and his backers are determined to give voters another stab at a revised version. Supporters hope heavier voter turnout for the presidential election will push the pot initiative about the 60 percent threshold.

United for Care campaign manager Ben Pollara said he thinks the group will need about $3 million to cover the costs of professional petition-gatherers and legal fees to get the initiative on the ballot. Pollara said he plans to have the paid workers fanned out statewide by July 1.

Pollara needs to turn in 683,149 valid petition signatures to the Department of State by Feb. 1 to get on the ballot. First, the group has to submit 10 percent of those petitions to the Florida Supreme Court to trigger a review of the revamped initiative, now entitled "Use of Medical Marijuana for Debilitating Conditions."

United for Care spent more than $4.5 million last year on legal fees, including the Supreme Court vetting of the proposal. Pollara anticipates a smaller legal tab for the 2016 initiative, as the court already approved last year's measure and the new version has been tweaked to accommodate concerns of the justices and opponents.

But Pollara estimates his organization will have to spend up to another $7 million on advertising. Last year, an opposition group called the "Drug Free Florida Committee" collected more than $6 million --- including $5.5 million from Las Vegas casino magnate, Sheldon Adelson --- to fight the measure.

"We don't need to out-communicate the opposition. We don't even need to match the opposition. But we do need to get out our message," Pollara said Thursday.

Morgan, who's also former Gov. Charlie Crist's boss, pledged "to do whatever it takes to put medical marijuana back to the people of Florida" in a video distributed last week. Supporters can't rely on the Legislature to legalize marijuana for sick patients, Morgan said.

"Listen. They ignored us last time. But they won't be able to ignore us next time," he said.

MONEY FOR THIS, THAT, AND THE OTHER … BUT NOT STATE WORKERS

More than $300 million worth of projects and spending that hadn't been there before found its way into a final budget deal just before the clock struck midnight earlier this week.

But one thing that isn't included in the $78.7 billion state spending plan the House and Senate will almost certainly pass on Friday is a pay raise for state employees, other than some limited increases for firefighters and highway-patrol officers.

And while there hasn't been much of an outcry on behalf of the roughly 100,000 folks who work for the state, Sen. Bill Montford --- whose district includes Tallahassee and the nearby environs home to many state employees --- had plenty to say on the subject.

State workers have had one pay raise over the past eight years --- a $1,400-a-year pay hike for those who earn less than $40,000, and $1,000 for those who earn more than $40,000, which kicked in late in 2013. But Montford and others point out that the increases may not have covered the 3 percent state workers were forced to contribute to their retirement plans starting in 2011.

Taken altogether, Montford said, "our state employees are going backward in terms of buying power, especially if you factor in inflation, cost of living, and so on."

Rep. Alan Williams, D-Tallahassee, earlier this year proposed a 1 percent across-the-board raise for state workers that he estimated would have a $50 million price tag. It went nowhere.

Florida has the lowest per-capita number of employees of any state in the country, and they're among the cheapest, something Gov. Rick Scott likes to brag about.

But leaving them out of the budget --- which includes at least $400 million in tax cuts --- sends a message, Montford said: "Don't come to work for the state of Florida."

Montford said he's going to make the issue his top priority when lawmakers start meeting again in the fall.

"Pats on the back, attaboys, attagirls, that's all good. But that doesn't put food on the table. It doesn't put your children through college. In addition to feel-good things, state employees need to be recognized in their paychecks," he said.

TWEET OF THE WEEK: "Rep. Wood cautions that 'what you see in the newspaper is not necessarily the truth.' (Mmm. I'd take over what said on @MyFLHouse floor.)" --- Palm Beach Post Capitol reporter John Kennedy (@JKennedyReport), referring to comments by Rep. John Wood, R-Winter Haven.