By the time this reaches the readers, most people will have already known that Jeb announced his retirement, so calling this piece “Jeb’s Senate” is appropriate. Adam Sexton called Jeb the Architect of Medicaid expansion, which is NOT a moniker to be proud of, and the senate voted 24-0 for 2023’s SB 263, a Uniparty item, and Jeb is known for pushing their agenda.
Never forget 2022’s SB 400, that housing bill that got shoved into the parking garage House bill. Jeb said the Damn Emperor requested SB 400. Jeb also loves his CMS money, and it’s sacred, as we know from 2022’s HB 1210 debate on 5/5/22. There’s plenty of material on such things for readers to see, both as Grok pieces and internet search results, so let’s move on.
Mr Sylvia, a former rep from the “Impeachment 7,” told some Florida radio show host that the Senate is a place where good House bills go to die. He also said something like, “The senate, yeah, they’re a problem.” JJ Valera, a former rep, called the senate the “country club.” Because I have no representation in the House, I won’t apologize for being extra demanding on the Senate, and the Senate let me down—Jeb’s Senate. I’ve written plenty of stuff on the RTK Tax(HB 1002), so anyone late for dinner is encouraged to read it, as well as many fine pieces by RTK guru and martyr Laurie Ortolano and various others. Please talk to current and former reps if you would like examples of the Senate being a place where good House bills go to die. I want to add that the Senate is a rubber stamp for instead of firewall protection from BAD House bills, such as HB 1002.
Another thing the Senate is known to do is transform House bills, pervert them, denature them, and make them nongermane to the original agenda the sponsor sought to accomplish. Just ask several reps and election security reform activists about their anger against Senator Gray, the Election Law committee chair, and what happened to a bill that was supposed to address covid tyranny at the local level.
Going back to 2021, during the Damn Emperor’s Mask Madness and when “Jeb’s Senate” was “Chuck’s Senate,” the budget bills (HB 1&2) were being crafted. Many incoming freshmen reps had some desperately needed contributions that could only get past the Damn Emperor if shoved into an omnibus bill such as the budget. A few of them included but were not limited to ending COVID-related tyranny, and State of Emergency reform was the one I remember best. When HB 2 entered “Chuck’s Senate,” they gutted it and watered it down.
I complained to my Senator, whom I voted for, about my extreme disapproval of what his peers were doing. Though he’s not a Finance Committee member, he defended the whole body’s reputation against my attack and said something like, “The House always gets stuff wrong, and we have to fix it.” Note that I said “something like” because I am unable to quote him word for word, but you get the picture. During our brief phone call, which was a return call from my text to him, he was definitely more interested in talking about how pleased he was with inserting anti-choice language into HB 2 as well as EFAs and banning CRT. I won’t say that I don’t care about addressing the hot mess that Gov-Ed is, but my central issue(reason for texting him) was that the Damn Emperor needed to be hog-tied, and the rare window of opportunity wasn’t being taken seriously by the senate.
Someone made a comment in a private group that was an analytical observation. The comment was that Jeb’s retirement might not be in the best interest due to his constituency being a purple district and concerns related to that. Such concern does merit some practical discussion on who is to replace Jeb in Seat #3, but not at the podium. Unfortunately, the harsh reality-based prognostication (mine, at least) is that “Sharon’s Senate” will carry on the bidding of Jeb’s Senate. Don’t expect any accomplishments of significance next year, but many great minds preach to us to have an attitude of gratitude. At least Sharon’s Senate is still better than that abomination against Granite State values known as “Donna Soucy’s Senate.”
