7/50 Meeting in Boca on June 26
Trailer for They Come to America
July at Abacoa with Senator Joe Negron and Representative Mary Lynn Magar
Representing the far northern communities of Palm Beach County, including Jupiter and Tequesta, the Republican team of Senator Joe Negron and Representative Mary Lynn Magar provided us with their perspective on this year’s legislative session and the issues of interest to the audience.
Representative Magar represents house district 82, consisting of Jupiter/Tequesta and the southern part of Martin County. Her day job is VP and General Manager of Heart Care Imaging, and she addressed the issues surrounding health care in the state, including the House decision to reject the federal medicare expansion, legislation to increase access to the medicaid program by the elderly, and assistance to those afflicted with spinal cord injury. She highlighted some of her sponsored bills in the area of helping businesses collect on bad checks, and attracting manufacturers with a sales tax moratorium on equipment purchases, which she says helps us compete with other states in the Southeast.
Taking a few questions, she promised to “look into” the core curriculum status (which was signed into law under Charley Crist and not on the session agenda this year), and she thought “local is good” regarding planning decisions under 7/50.
Senator Negron, represents district 32 – the coastal communities from Jupiter / Tequesta north to Vero Beach. He hit briefly on three topics and then took some questions in a free flowing conversation. He first discussed the “stand your ground” statute in the context of the Zimmerman case, and said he does not want to see any changes to the law. Then he mentioned his “drone bill”, which limits the use of unmanned aircraft by law enforcment except in limited circumstances, and explained it in the context of the balance between liberty and security. He also addressed the “public right to speak” bill which enables citizen input at meetings of public officials, which many cities and counties opposed.
Addressing issues of interest to the audience, he gave his view of the “tea party” – not a monolithic point of view but a decentralized body of opinion that reflects the diversity of its members. He was an early supporter of e-verify in the state (which didn’t pass), and believes that businesses should not be overly dependent on illegal labor. He explained his view of medicaid expansion (which unlike the House bill would have accepted federal money), and explained (in answer to a question) that currently Florida does not provide medical care to illegals except in the case of 1) pregnancy and delivery, and 2) emergency care.
Other items at the meeting included the announcent that current PBCTP President Mike Riordan is stepping down to focus more time on his business. The board will carry on until he can be replaced. Member Joel Channing also introduced Mike Stetson of the Pacific Legal Foundation. The foundation had just won the Supreme Court case Koontz v St. Johns River Water Management District and Mike spoke a little bit about the case and PLF. He also described PLF’s ongoing case against Obamacare challenging it on the origination clause: Now that the individual mandate has been declared a ‘tax’, the bill originated in the Senate and all taxes must originate in the House.
2014 candidates attending the meeting included Alan Schlesinger (CD18) and Brandon Cannon (FS32).
Some pictures from Fred and Ed:
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The Immigration Bill and Other Useless Legislation
Full disclosure: this is the blog of a cynic.
The immigration bill and other legislation of its ilk are not worth the paper they are printed on.
The reason is we have a Federal Government Executive Branch that only enforces the legislation it likes and only the provisions of that legislation it likes.
Congress needs to be creative and craft legislation that contains enforceable penalties for non-enforcement of the legislation.
Without such penalties, Congress is just frittering away its time and posturing for future votes.
July Jupiter Chapter Features Legislative Update
The Jupiter Chapter meeting for July will be VERY informative.
Monday, July 1, 2013
5:30 p.m. Dinner Served
6:30 p.m. Program
The program for this month is a “Legislative Session Wrap Up” given by State Senator Joe Negron, District 32 and State Representative Mary Lynn Magar, District 82.
Senator Negron is Chairman of both the Senate Appropriations Committee and Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act Committee, he also serves on several other committees including Banking and Insurance, Rules and Joint Legislative Budget Commission acting as Alternate Chairman. Representative Magar currently serves as the House Majority Whip.
I am sure many of our members have many questions about Florida’s budget, Medicaid expansion, Citizens Insurance and many other state issues.
Also on the program will be Michael Riordan giving us a lesson on how to communicate with legislators effectively. Maybe Senator Negron and Representative Magar can help with this topic?
Hope to see you all there. Please bring a friend (or two) so we can fill the room, we want to educate as many people on the issues as we can. An educated voter is a conservative voter.
County Proposes $25.3M tax increase
After leveling off last year following 4 years of decline, property values seem to have turned a corner and have ticked up 3.7% this year, easing pressure on county and municipal budgets. As the county has cranked up the millage rate as the valuations fell, will they now start to decrease them? Apparently not.
Jupiter Chapter Addresses IRS Issues
Last evening at Abacoa, the June meeting of the Jupiter Chapter addressed the national scandal surrounding the IRS and how it relates to the local tea party.
Kicked off by chapter leader Laura Hanley, the microphone was passed to President Mike Riordan who started with an overview of the IRS harassment and intimidation suffered by conservative groups since 2010. As members of the Tea Party Patriots, we are supporting their legal activity and the board is meeting with leader Jenny Beth Martin later this week.
Mostly targeted have been 501(c)(4) “social welfare” applications, a category that allows some political activity, as long as it is not the primary purpose of the group (as opposed to 501(c)(3) that does not). At the present time, PBCTP does not hold either exemption, but a decision has been made to apply for both (3) and (4) designations. As Mike pointed out, with all the Congressional and public scrutiny of the IRS, now is probably the best opportunity for a speedy decision.
A primer on how best to communicate with public officials then followed, along with some talking points on the issue, including:
- Targeting of ANY group based on political beliefs is unacceptable
- What can happen to one American can happen to ANY American
- The revenue collecting arm of the government cannot be used to target, intimidate or destroy
- We demand a full investigation into the IRS at all levels
Following some Q&A, we then heard from Ed Wolff on Oversight updates, Fred Scheibl of the Taxpayer Action Board (TAB) about the upcoming county budget hearing next Tuesday where county staff plans to propose a tax increase, Lynne Sherrer about current activities surrounding the Common Core fight, and Jack McLain of the Constitution Party of Florida with his book “Which Way America?”
Finally, Congressional candidates in CD18 Ellen Andel and Alan Schlesinger introduced themselves to the group.
Is anyone involved in the May 21st petitions/demonstrations?
Does anyone have any further information re May 21st demonstrations/petitions occurring at Sen. Nelson’s and/or Sen. Rubio’s PBC offices? The link below is a response I received as a result of signing the online petition at NumbersUSA. Thanks. Moe
June Jupiter Meeting
The last few weeks have certainly been very interesting. What many of us have long suspected as reality is starting to be proven true. Each day more details emerge regarding the IRS blatant misuse of their powers in targeting Tea Parties and other conservative groups.
Originally we had planned to do training on media relations; however, in light of these developments, we believe that it is necessary to address the IRS issue at our June meetings.
Our meetings will follow our new format of having a presentation, followed by our messaging and a training on what we all need to do with the information.
We will be discussing the most up-to-date information on the IRS abuses, our current filing status and the actions we will all need to take.
Let me make this very clear: This is a very, very serious situation that impacts all Americans of all faiths and political persuasions. We are talking about the most powerful arm of the United States government targeting specific Americans and organizations for increased scrutiny and intimidation.
This must not stand and we must be the ones to stop it.
Monday, June 3, 2013 5:30pm
Soup, Sandwiches and Pastries ($13)
6:30 Program Abacoa Golf Club 105 Barbados Drive, Jupiter, Florida 33458
Please join us! Doors open at 5:00pm, with a cash bar. Dinner begins promptly at 5:30pm, and our meeting begins at 6:30pm. You can attend our meeting at 6:30pm at no cost, but we encourage you to come for the dinner. This will be a great evening of like-minded fellowship, and a true sense of deep patriotism permeates the experience– please RSVP on the button below!
Boca Raton June Meeting
The last few weeks have certainly been very interesting. What many of us have long suspected as reality is starting to be proven true. Each day more details emerge regarding the IRS blatant misuse of their powers in targeting Tea Parties and other conservative groups.
Originally we had planned to do training on media relations; however, in light of these developments, we believe that it is necessary to address the IRS issue at our June meetings.
Our meetings will follow our new format of having a presentation, followed by our messaging and a training on what we all need to do with the information.
We will be discussing the most up-to-date information on the IRS abuses, our current filing status and the actions we will all need to take.
Let me make this very clear: This is a very, very serious situation that impacts all Americans of all faiths and political persuasions. We are talking about the most powerful arm of the United States government targeting specific Americans and organizations for increased scrutiny and intimidation.
This must not stand and we must be the ones to stop it.
Please note the new location!
Location: Palm Beach County Library on Glades Road. 20701 95th Avenue, South Boca Raton, FL 22424
Time and Dinner: Meeting starts at 6:30pm. NO DINNER WILL BE SERVED THIS MONTH.
Please RSVP by clicking the button below.
