Jack Latvala winks at governor's bid in Sarasota speech

SARASOTA — About the only thing left for state Sen. Jack Latvala to do before he runs for governor is to officially announce he’s campaigning for governor.

The Clearwater Republican winked at the idea Thursday to a knowing crowd of about 125 local officials and business people at the Argus Foundation’s monthly luncheon at the Sarasota Yacht Club.

In a talk that needs only a mention of a campaign website or request for contributions to be considered a campaign stump speech, Latvala outlined his view of problems facing Florida and recounted why this year’s legislative session was his least favorite among the 15 in which he's served.

But Latvala was careful to say it is too soon to discuss his political future — that comes next month.

"I haven't announced yet and, you know, we've got election laws and I try to respect them," Latvala said to reporters after the meeting. "You might hear a stump speech after August the 16th, but not today. You'll notice we didn't even talk about it, which I was surprised because I figured somebody would ask the question."

Any of those questions will be put to rest on Aug. 16, when he plans to formally announce his campaign plans. He reportedly discussed the announcement and implied his run for governor last weekend with fellow lawmakers in Maine. His political committee raised $225,500 in July, on top of nearly $3.6 million in available cash through the end of June.

If he does enter the race for the Republican nomination for governor, Latvala would join Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam, who is already announced as a candidate, and House Speaker Richard Corcoran, who is widely expected to run, too.

Latvala and Corcoran butted heads during this year's contentious legislative session, positioned on opposite sides of the speaker's fight against business incentives and Enterprise Florida, the state's economic development arm. Latvala called it a "full-on onslaught, assault" on the state's long-time economic development and tourism initiatives because Corcoran and House leadership strong-armed new legislators, he said.

"We had a rough legislative session this year," he said. "There’s no denying that, there’s no hiding that. It was a rough year. It was my 15th session and it’s probably my least favorite."

Term limits are partly to blame for the concentration of power in the capital between the House speaker and Senate president, which fueled the fights this spring, Latvala said. He served two terms from 1994 to 2002 before the limits forced him out of the Senate and is now term-limited in the chamber again next year after being re-elected in 2010 and 2014.

"It has concentrated the power of the process into two people, the House speaker and the president of the Senate and we saw that this year clearer than we’ve ever seen it before in some of the deals and agreements made in the budget process out of the sunshine," he said.

Latvala also skimmed a series of other topics, including environmental initiatives and Florida's spots at or near the bottom of state mental health and infrastructure spending lists.

"We've got to try to deal with some of these problems in order to keep people wanting to come to Florida, to keep people wanting to come to fill up your hotels, fill up your restaurants and buy Pat Neal's homes," Latvala said as the room erupted in laughter, referring to the prominent Southwest Florida developer.

He also explained his opposition to a plan to offer an additional homestead exemption, pushed by Corcoran, that voters will decide on ballots in 2018, arguing it benefits less than half of those currently with exemptions and will simply lead local governments to raise property tax rates on other property owners.

"It may be a tax cut for a few, but it’s not a tax cut for everybody," he said. "I think it’s more important to give tax cuts for everybody rather than trying to pick out a certain group that might work politically."

Most importantly, though, Latvala said Florida lawmakers need to quit the infighting of this year to avoid following in the footsteps of the nation's capital.

"I think the biggest danger that we’ve got to watch and we’ve got to counter and we’ve got to prevent is Tallahassee becoming like Washington," he said. "I see it ... If you haven't been part of the process for eight years, as I was between my two terms in the Senate, then you realize the dramatic changes that have taken place and they're not for the better."