House approves St. Johns license plate honoring King
By Steve Patterson
For the St. Augustine Record
On March 24, 2010
A specialty license plate to finance St. Johns River research and access was approved unanimously by the Florida House Tuesday as a measure honoring the late Sen. Jim King.
"Jim King was a friend of many of the people in the House a well as the Senate," said Rep. Lake Ray, R-Jacksonville, who sponsored the bill.
King, a Jacksonville Republican, was a longtime river advocate who pushed for the new plate through the last day of last year's session.He died of cancer in July.
As a tribute, King's name was written onto a boat being paddled across the river in the plate's design.
Drivers who want the plate would pay an extra $25 per year fee that would raise money for the nonprofit St. Johns River Alliance. The group would be required to use the money for purposes including programs to improve public connections to the river and grants for research.
Legislation to create the plate was stalled last year by concerns about a series of other proposed license plates. Ray said King succeeded in getting the St. Johns plate split off from the others on the last day of the session, but the same couldn't be done in the House.
"He was over there with me on the last day of the session, trying to help me get it passed," Ray said.
Also Tuesday, the Senate Environmental Preservation and Conservation Committee approved the bill.
"Its next stop is the floor of the Senate," Ray said. "I think it's definitely on its way."
Showing posts with label license plate. Show all posts
Showing posts with label license plate. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
License Plate Update
The St. Johns River Alliance has been working with the Florida House and Senate to get a St. Johns River license plate bill passed. Today was another step in the right direction when the House Economic Development & Affairs Policy Council unanimously approved the bill. The bill has now passed through two House committees and has been released to the House Calendar. No word yet on the Senate side, but things are looking better this year. Proceeds received from the license plate sales could help the SJRA work on river education, outreach and conservation.
Friday, November 6, 2009
The license plate makes it through the 1st committee
Bill Number: 0053
Bill Name: HB 53
Action: Favorable
Committee: Roads, Bridges & Ports Policy Committee
Location: 404 HOB
Duration: 1.75
Date: 11/4/2009 8:00:00 AM
Sponsor: Lopez-Cantera (CO-SPONSORS) Ray;
Subject: License Plates
Y Aubuchon Y Gibson Y Precourt Y Rogers (Y) Thompson, N.
Y Clarke-Reed Y Horner - Ray Y Steinberg Y Workman
Y Ford Y Patronis Y Robaina Y Taylor, D.
Total Yeas: 12 Total Nays: 0 Total Missed: 1
Total Votes: 13
Bill Name: HB 53
Action: Favorable
Committee: Roads, Bridges & Ports Policy Committee
Location: 404 HOB
Duration: 1.75
Date: 11/4/2009 8:00:00 AM
Sponsor: Lopez-Cantera (CO-SPONSORS) Ray;
Subject: License Plates
Y Aubuchon Y Gibson Y Precourt Y Rogers (Y) Thompson, N.
Y Clarke-Reed Y Horner - Ray Y Steinberg Y Workman
Y Ford Y Patronis Y Robaina Y Taylor, D.
Total Yeas: 12 Total Nays: 0 Total Missed: 1
Total Votes: 13
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Editorial on HB 53 and Senator King
St. Johns River: Tribute for Jim King
Thursday, Nov. 5, 2009
Florida Times-Union/Jacksonville.com
Cancer ended the life and legislative tenure of Northeast Florida State Sen. Jim King this year - but not his influence.
Out of respect to King, a former Senate president and one of the Legislature's most revered members, one of his prize bills that failed shows signs of new life.
State Rep. Carlos Lopez-Cantera, R-Miami, filed a bill for next spring that would grant King's wish for a special license plate to help the 13-county St. Johns River Alliance raise money to help preserve the river.
State Sen. Dennis Jones, R-Seminole, has sponsored a Senate version.
Jacksonville State Rep. Lake Ray has signed on as a prime House co-sponsor and heads the Duval County delegation's support.
Such a plate sounds worthwhile and harmless. What's the rub about giving people the choice of buying a tag that could raise up to $350,000 to help the river?
But lawmakers in both houses - particularly the Senate - became weary of knock-down, drag-out political fights over other proposed tags involving the Confederacy and religious themes.
And lawmakers argued that more than 100 different tags were too many.
King's modest proposal to help the river was drowned out by controversies surrounding the number and messages of specialty license plates in general.
And not even King's political persuasion could keep his proposal from being rolled into all the others and left in the scrap pile.
End of life request
But King's pull didn't end with his life.
He earned respect and admiration from his colleagues for his negotiation and people skills, good nature and willingness to be a mentor to all who sought his guidance.
Ray said King had mentioned the license plate legislation as being important to him in one of the last conversations he had with Lopez-Cantera, who filed HB 53 on the river license plate shortly after King died on July 26.
The annual legislative session doesn't begin until March. Approval of the St. Johns River plate would be a fitting tribute to King.
An even better one would be a future hands-off approach by lawmakers regarding the educational funding reforms that King championed to correct funding imbalances for districts throughout the state.
http://jacksonville.com/opinion/editorials/2009-11-05/story/st_johns_river_tribute_for_jim_king
Thursday, Nov. 5, 2009
Florida Times-Union/Jacksonville.com
Cancer ended the life and legislative tenure of Northeast Florida State Sen. Jim King this year - but not his influence.
Out of respect to King, a former Senate president and one of the Legislature's most revered members, one of his prize bills that failed shows signs of new life.
State Rep. Carlos Lopez-Cantera, R-Miami, filed a bill for next spring that would grant King's wish for a special license plate to help the 13-county St. Johns River Alliance raise money to help preserve the river.
State Sen. Dennis Jones, R-Seminole, has sponsored a Senate version.
Jacksonville State Rep. Lake Ray has signed on as a prime House co-sponsor and heads the Duval County delegation's support.
Such a plate sounds worthwhile and harmless. What's the rub about giving people the choice of buying a tag that could raise up to $350,000 to help the river?
But lawmakers in both houses - particularly the Senate - became weary of knock-down, drag-out political fights over other proposed tags involving the Confederacy and religious themes.
And lawmakers argued that more than 100 different tags were too many.
King's modest proposal to help the river was drowned out by controversies surrounding the number and messages of specialty license plates in general.
And not even King's political persuasion could keep his proposal from being rolled into all the others and left in the scrap pile.
End of life request
But King's pull didn't end with his life.
He earned respect and admiration from his colleagues for his negotiation and people skills, good nature and willingness to be a mentor to all who sought his guidance.
Ray said King had mentioned the license plate legislation as being important to him in one of the last conversations he had with Lopez-Cantera, who filed HB 53 on the river license plate shortly after King died on July 26.
The annual legislative session doesn't begin until March. Approval of the St. Johns River plate would be a fitting tribute to King.
An even better one would be a future hands-off approach by lawmakers regarding the educational funding reforms that King championed to correct funding imbalances for districts throughout the state.
http://jacksonville.com/opinion/editorials/2009-11-05/story/st_johns_river_tribute_for_jim_king
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