Miami Herald by Mary Ellen Klas
June 12, 2018
The state agency in charge of regulating taxation in Florida has four equal bosses — Gov. Rick Scott and the three elected members of the Cabinet — but in the past two years, in public meetings and correspondence, they have asked few questions and have given the agency scant public scrutiny.
The agency’s director, Leon Biegalski, was the governor’s choice to lead the Department of Revenue when he was elevated from deputy secretary at the Department of Business and Professional Regulation in April 2016. Since then, the governor has canceled DOR’s regular appearance in 9 of 19 before the Cabinet meetings.
When Biegalski appears before the Cabinet on Wednesday, it will be the first time this year. Will they ask any questions?
Judging from the transcripts of the previous meetings, that’s not likely. Scott, Attorney General Pam Bondi, Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis and Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam asked only two questions in Biegalski’s 10 appearance before them — and both came from Putnam. Story here.
Until Scott’s tenure, the Florida Cabinet had a tradition of meeting every other week.
Florida, unlike most other states, has a unique power-sharing relationship between its governor and the Cabinet members. They share oversight and hiring authority of the directors of the departments of revenue, law enforcement, highway safety, the division of bond finance and the state board of administration.But the shared role also underscores the structural weakness of Florida’s governor in controlling the shared agencies and Scott has ratcheted down the amount of substantial dialogue that takes place during Cabinet meetings.