State Rep. Jose Oliva, the Speaker of the House holding the firefighter cancer bill back all session, reversed his earlier decision and said Tuesday that he would bring HB857 — or something very similar to it — to the floor in the near future.
The legislation, four years in the making, aims to address healthcare shortfalls for firefighters who, because they are exposed to toxic burning substances, are diagnosed with cancer at a rate 9% higher than the rest of us and die of cancer at a 14% rate higher than the rest of us.
It has 82 sponsors from both sides of the aisle, more than any other measure possibly in history, and is certain to pass.
But Oliva wouldn’t let it go to committee. He released a statement weeks ago about this being better handled at the local level and not wanting to take control away from municipalities. But there are other bills moving through the House — including a bill that allows pet stores to sell puppy mill breeds — that would take local control away from cities and towns that want to ban those sales (more on that later).
Read related: Jose Oliva holds firefighter cancer bill hostage for political payback
He not only held the cancer bill back, Oliva also refused to respond to firefighters or the relatives of sick and fallen firefighters. He did not return their calls and emails. He did not respond to hand-delivered letters.
Only after Ladra exposed that the real motive behind the hold-up of the bill was political retaliation — and published his cellphone number so he could no longer hide from people — did Oliva say he changed his mind.
See? A Coral Gables firefighter named David Perez ran for senate last year in the open seat left by Rene Garcia. Former State Rep. Manny Diaz, Jr., who is an Oliva-made yes-man, also ran for the seat. And this gave the firefighters an opportunity to endorse one of their own.
That irked Oliva and his buddy, former State Rep. Frank Artiles, a staple in the Capitol this session even though he is not allowed to lobby for another three or four days. Artiles — who had been forced to resign after he made some racist remarks in a drunken rant — even wrote a comment on a David Perez Facebook post threatening to hold up this very cancer presumption bill as political payback.
This is not “according to” Ladra or Political Cortadito, like The Miami Herald and the Tallahassee Democrat stated. Ladra posted a screen save of the comment. Everyone can see it for themselves. It is posted here again.
And only after that political vendetta was exposed in Political Cortadito did Oliva change course, announcing it in another statement Tuesday.
“The debate this year, as in past years, was never against firefighters, nor was it political. It was the legislature that supported the funding to establish the proper need to begin with. Unfortunately, the debate became about whether we support our firefighter — of course we do. And it became about whether it was political — of course it wasn’t. Still, the environment has become too toxic to debate the true original disagreement. As such, we will move legislation forward more so as the differences are not so great as to invite the assumptions now being made.”
First off, there was never an intention to “debate the true original disagreement,” as he says. If there was, it would have gone to committee for said debate. Instead, it was shelved so nobody could discuss it. He never had any intention to debate it in Tallahassee because he said it was a local issue.
Secondly, he said he would move legislation forward, not the legislation, which means he is still holding up the House bill and plans to present something different, perhaps the Senate Bill, as he indicated to Miami Fire Chief Joseph Zahralban, who sent an email about the conversation to his ranks.
Thirdly, if “the differences are not so great as to invite the assumptions now being made,” then why hold it up in the first place.
Lastly, the word “assumptions” is wrong. It should read conclusions. Because there was absolutely no other reason to hold back legislation that has more support than it had ever gotten in four years — including two thirds of the House as co-sponsors — and that was similar to bills passed in 40-some states.
And because, true to his form, Artiles couldn’t hold his ire back and posted a comment on this very blog admitting to the political retaliation against the firefighters and their union, giving #thanksfrank — a social media hashtag used by his political action committee’s barely dressed consultants — new life.
Read related: GOP gets desperate in Hialeah senate race against David Perez
“MDFD local with union President Omar Blanco is responsible for choosing and backing Gillum for Governor, Ring for CFO, Shawn Shaw attorney general, David Perez (Senate candidate), Ascencio ( your friend which I called a one termer), and many local Democrats over Republicans,” he posted in a rant with so much bad grammar that he likely had a couple of drinks in ‘im.
“My brothers that I served with in the Marines are firefighters, I support firefighters and their families… However, elections have consequences and the MDFD fire Union needs to clean house!”
So, the holding back of the bill was the consequences of the firefighters union supporting Perez and other Democrat candidates. That’s not an assumption of political retaliation, Mr. Speaker. That’s a confession.
Still, thank you for changing your mind. It is the right thing to do and Ladra doesn’t really care how you got there.
Betcha he changes his cellphone number next.
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It is a fact that firefighters get cancer and die of cancer at a higher rate than the rest of us — 14% higher. Study after study shows that job-related cancer is the number one killer of firefighters.
It is a fact that no fewer than 45 states have addressed this issue by passing laws that provide additional cancer coverage or health benefits for them.
It is a fact that a bill to extend cancer coverage for firefighters has sailed through and is certain to pass in the Florida Senate and has a whopping 82 sponsors in the House. That’s two thirds of the membership — more bipartisan support than any other bill this year, or perhaps any year ever, practically guaranteeing passage.
But Rep. Jose Oliva, as the Republican Speaker of the House, is holding the bill hostage, refusing to send it to committee or take it to the floor. And it’s not because he is too busy trying to arm teachers in our schools. Or because he is concerned about the potential impact to municipal government budgets. This legislature is not shy about passing unfunded mandates.
Oliva gave some lame excuse about home rule. “This is an issue best dealt with at the county level as each department faces varying levels of danger and exposure and counties are best equipped to tailor benefits to need within available resources,” he said in a statement.
But that is BS. There is no difference in levels of danger from municipality to municipality, which, by the way, have multi-agency agreements to work together. There is no difference in levels of danger from state to state.
“This is something that didn’t discriminate along county lines,” said Sen. Anitere Flores, the sponsor in the Senate.
Read related: GOP gets desperate in Hialeah senate race against David Perez
The fact is Oliva won’t move the House bill to punish firefighters statewide for supporting one of their own, Coral Gables Firefighter David Perez, against former State Rep. Manny Diaz, Jr. in the 2018 senatorial race that Diaz eventually won.
Former State Rep. Frank Artiles — who is close to Oliva and has been a staple in his office even before he gets the green light to lobby next week — basically threatened as much on Facebook during the campaign.
“Good luck on your cancer presumption bill next year… I see a 4 stop bill in your near future,” wrote Artiles — who was forced to resign in 2017 after he made some very racist statements in a drunken rant — on a David Perez Facebook post.
If that’s not proof that this is political payback, Ladra doesn’t know what is.
Artiles has a grudge against firefighters. He basically ranted to Ladra about them during Dade Days in 2013.
And yes, he had a couple of drinks in him.
“Their jobs are ridiculous. They hardly fight fires. They work 24 hours on and 48 off,” he told Ladra outside a bar in Tallahassee. We were standing alongside then State Rep. Jose Felix “Pepi” Diaz and former State Rep. Robert Asencio, who was there in his pre-elected role as president of Florida Public Employees Partnership. When Asencio and Ladra asked for proof of his allegations, Artiles admitted his real reason for the hate: Firefighters unions had mailed six mailers against Central Florida Republicans that year. “They went after my boys,” he said.
Read related: Tales from Tallahassee — quick observations from Dade Days
House Bill 857 would require municipal governments to provide full cancer coverage, including disability and death benefits, to firefighters who meet a certain criteria, like being non-smokers and on the job for at least five years. Instead of workman’s comp, firefighters who are diagnosed with any of several specific cancers in the bill would get a lump sum one-time $25,000 payment, money that can help their families pay for the healthcare and keep their homes.
Again, 45 states have adopted similar laws. That’s 45 out of 50, indicating that it is the right way to go.
Supporters say the measure is necessary to account for the increased risk of cancer due to not only smoke inhalation but exposure to carcinogens and burning toxic substances in building materials, such as asbestos. All those boots on the state capitol steps are from firefighters who are sick or have died of cancer.
Critics, which include the League of Cities, say it forces an unfunded mandate on municipalities that are already stretched thin.
But the truth is the $5 million estimated impact it would statewide is a drop in the bucket in Florida, where, just last year, the legislature approved $147.5 million worth of budget turkeys, otherwise known as individual appropriations that circumvent the thorough and thoughtful committee and budget process, most of the time for legislator’s pet projects.
The truth is this bill’s blockage has nothing to do with the budget. This is nothing more than political payback. At its ugliest.
Oliva hasn’t even had the courtesy to respond to the firefighters who call him or the relatives that have traveled to Tallahassee to advocate for the bill. Juan Garcia, father of Ralf Garcia — a Miami Fire firefighter paramedic (photo, right) who died in 2015 of brain cancer at the age of 28 — wrote Oliva a personal letter that was hand-delivered by Omar Blanco, president of the Miami-Dade firefighters union two weeks ago. Y nada. ¡Que descaro!
All the firefighters and their families want is for the merits of the bill to be discussed by the members of the House and not decided upon by one man who has made himself God in this case.
“We just want an opportunity to present our situation,” said Claudine Buzzo, a Miami-Dade firefighter diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2016, who was out of work for four months to get treatment.
“He is not even allowing us to be heard and that’s what’s baffling,” Buzzo told CBS4’s Jim DeFede on Facing South Florida. “We don’t know what the reason is. He won’t even speak with us.”
Yeah, we know why.
Call Oliva today and demand that House Bill 857 be heard. Skip the office number. Call him on his cellphone at 305-761-6144. Text him. Tell him to put political payback aside and do the right thing.
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Legislator admits she doesn’t sleep in District 114
State Rep. Daisy Baez announced Friday that she was dropping out of the Democratic 
primary to replace former Sen. Frank Artiles in District 40. But, maybe Baez should resign from the legislature altogether.
That’s not only because she still lives in outside the district — admitting to Ladra on Saturday that she sleeps in District 112 — but also because she quite possibly lied on her voter’s registration form, which would be a third degree felony.
Baez cited her mother’s failing health as the reason why she was withdrawing from the special election to replace Artiles, who resigned after getting caught insulting other legislators in a racially- and sexist-tinged rant.
“My life today is a direct reflection of my mother’s decision to immigrate to this country and work multiple jobs to ensure that I could live the American Dream,” Baez said in a statement sent just after 1 p.m.
“Just after announcing my intention to run for the Florida Senate, my mother’s health deteriorated and it became clear to me that spending time with her now is of utmost importance. As her daughter, caring for her is my number one priority. Therefore, I will not pursue a campaign for the Florida Senate,” she said. “Instead, I will spend the upcoming weeks with my family and continue to use my voice in the Florida House to speak out clearly and forcefully to fight for better jobs, to protect our environment, to ensure we all have access to affordable health care, and to support our public schools.”
That would be the right thing to do. But the news also comes three days after a Miami Herald story exposed the fact that she likely does not live in the district she represents, which explains why Baez was bold enough to think 
she could run for a Senate District where she doesn’t live. Now we know she’s done it before. And it looks like it took time to sink in. Because that same day the story came out, last Tuesday night, Baez was at a South Dade Democrats Club meeting showing no signs of backing down.
On Friday, it seems, she finally realized that she can’t overcome this development in a race against two veteran politicians with higher name recognition who — bonus — actually live in the district (Annette Taddeo and Ana Rivas Logan).
Read related story: Three women to battle for Senate 40’s Democrat spot
Which brings us back to why she should resign. Because the voters of House District 114 do not have any representation right now, have not had any representation during this past session. And they deserve some.
Baez apparently let people believe that she had moved from her house on Malaga Avenue (photographed) 
in District 112, to an apartment on Anderson Road, which is in District 114, right before the election. But the Herald found discrepancies in that. Other people live in the apartment at Anderson and neighbors said that Baez does not live there. Her dogs and campaign staff were at the house on Malaga, which she said was being renovated so she can put it on the market.
It’s more likely that she never moved out of the house where her dogs apparently live. When Ladra spoke to her Saturday afternoon, Baez admitted that she was sleeping at her house, the Malaga house outside the district.
“Right now, I’m sleeping at that house, yes. But I think I don’t want to talk about the situation any more,” she said. “I’m trying to correct the situation. I made an offer on a property today.”
What a coincidence. Today.
Baez said she had always intended to move into the district and said she has documents to show she began the process for a loan in January. But she has not had time between the legislative session and her 92-year-old mother’s health to purchase a new home. “I pretty much left for Tallahasee immediately after I was elected. I’m a normal human being with a million different things to deal with.”
The problem with that is that one of the things she 
apparently dealt with was trying to fool the public into thinking she lived in the district. When asked multiple times if she ever lived in the Anderson Road apartment, Baez refused to answer but intimated that she had not.
“For the intent of the law, I changed the address,” which sounds to Ladra like she changed it on paper but not in real life. So I asked her again? “When was the last time you slept there?”
“I understand what you are getting at and I’m not going to answer. At this point, I’m focused on getting this corrected and taking care of my mother,” she said.
“Okaaaaaay. Did you ever sleep there even one single night?”
“I understand what you are saying. We are trying to correct that. We feel that we complied with the law at the time,” Baez said. “I’m working fast and furious to correct it. It was not my intention to be outside the law.”
Aha! Outside the law. So, Baez must realize that she may have committed a third degree felony when she filled out a voter’s registration form on Nov. 2, a week before the election, changing her address to the Anderson Road apartment.
Read related story: Red goes blue, blue goes red in four flipped 305 seats
Ladra likes Baez. An Army vet and small business owner, 
she is on the right side of most issues, even if she is in the minority party and no position to do anything about it. Still, her voice is one that is needed on issues of immigration and housing and education and the environment. So that’s why this hurts. She had the best intentions, but the ends do not justify the means. She should do the right thing and quit. She lied to the people who voted for her. She does not represent them. Her blind ambition — the same ambition that caused her to jump to the Senate race after four months — caused her to run in a district that was not her own.
People have to stop doing that! It wasn’t right for Artiles — who was a state rep in 2011 when Ladra discovered him living in Palmetto Bay, outside his district — when he did it, nor for former State Rep. Eddy Gonzalez, and it isn’t right for Baez.
And Ladra knows the Dems aren’t going to want her to just give up the seat they just won, but they could lose it in two years anyway if someone uses this against her. And that voice she has is going to be somewhat hampered by the fact that it now comes from someone who tried to pull the wool over the voters eyes.
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