Senator Jack Latvala (R-Clearwater) said, about Corcoran, “I’ve been up there 22 years, and he has flat picked more fights with more people than anybody I’ve ever seen before — some of them justified.”
His inability to compromise concerns those who would see him run for higher office. “You can’t fight everyone,” Said Mike Fasano, a former House representative, and colleague of Corcoran. These measured statements about a colleague allude to the deeper and broader challenges of, ultimately, being an effective leader in the governing party.
In a recent article, the Tampa Bay Times points out that the House Speaker, while combatting “waste” and “corporate welfare” in the budget, has remained silent on “far bigger examples of potential waste, fraud and abuse, such as the prison and child welfare systems, which spend $6 billion a year.”
While the Times article criticized Corcoran for picking politically easy or hot issues and ignoring more meaningful ones, there are others that see hypocrisy in these budgetary priorities from a man who – just last year – was the Appropriations Chairman that funded many of the programs now on the chopping block. And, notably, did so in less than transparent ways. Take, for example, the Visit Florida budget. Last year, the House proposed greater funding levels than the Senate.
