The Florida Legislature is a mess this year. A 23-year old freshman lawmaker gave out medical advice to women on Wednesday, Governor Rick Scott is threatening vetoes if his tax cuts aren’t passed, and good legislation has been jammed up because of it.
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Photo courtesy of Sen. Dwight Bullard’s Twitter page
Senator Dwight Bullard’s food desert bill will go nowhere this season because of political gridlock.
Moving beyond partisanship was something that Florida legislators prided themselves on in the past. They weren’t like Washington, they knew how to keep things moving in the name of progress.
Not this time around.
Bullard’s bill would have given tax credits to businesses that “sell nutrient-dense food items in areas designated as food deserts.”
He introduced the legislation last year and it stalled. He tried again this year and it went nowhere as well.
Even with the gridlock, there may still be slight hope for communities that are circled as food deserts. The American Heart Association is working on a program that would help some companies move into insecure food areas. Like many organizations that lobby and work closely with elected officials, the AHA is working to get an appropriation inserted into the budget to aid the process.
But the tone in Florida’s capitol is different this time around. Because of the budget impasse and the bickering between the governor, the House, and the Senate, there is a bottleneck where little to nothing is flowing through.
Doesn’t help that Governor Scott has told certain senators that he’ll destroy their priorities if they destroy his tax cut, a key priority for him.
Unfortunately for the state’s residents, the ugliness of political partisanship will once again block progress from happening.
-JH
If you want more politics, well, because who doesn’t, click the links below.
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The post Because of stalled budget talks, no food desert relief this year appeared first on Jason Henry Project.
