Well I do. That’s why I immediately answered Sen. Jim Demint’s call to recruit 100,000 American’s to stand up for earmark reform.

As you know, I’m Gayle Harrell and I’m the conservative running in Florida’s 16^th Congressional District to help Senator Demint change the way Washington does business. Please join me in signing the petition below today.

The need for us to mobilize now is greater than ever. With a growing deficit and out of control spending led by Nancy Pelosi, all we get from our politicians is empty promises.

When Tim Mahoney ran for office, he made a promise to us to reduce or end earmarks, but as the Club for Growth points out, Mahoney voted for over 24 billion dollars in pork barrel projects. When Jack Murtha threatened to cut off earmarks for two members of Congress, Mahoney chose partisan politics instead of taking a stand against this ethical violation. Tim Mahoney may have promised change, but he’s just delivering more of the same.

If you feel strongly about this issue, like I do, then please sign the petition above today.

I hope you and your family have a Happy Thanksgiving and I look forward to talking with each of you on the trail!

Gayle

 Florida

In 2000, Florida played a crucial and controversial role in determining the next president. A year before the 2008 presidential elections, the state seems to be cementing that role again. After state Democrats bucked their national party by setting their primary a week earlier than mandated, the Democratic National Committee took away the state’s primary delegates. In response, state Democrats sued the DNC. In the general election, Florida is again the largest potential swing state.

Republicans are targeting freshman Democratic Rep. Tim Mahoney, who in 2006 narrowly won a historically GOP seat after Rep. Mark Foley was revealed to have sent lurid messages to congressional pages and resigned. State Rep. Gayle Harrell is among those seeking the nomination.

2004 results: President Bush won the state’s 27 electoral votes with 52% of the vote.

By GREG MARTIN
Staff Writer

Three Republicans running for the District 16 Congressional seat, including a former U.S. prosecutor, a former Navy fighter pilot and a state lawmaker, took turns presenting their platforms at a local Republican club forum today.

Each of the three candidates — former U.S. Army prosecutor Tom Rooney, former Navy fighter pilot Hal Valeche and state Rep. Gayle Harrell, R-Stuart — had one thing in common: they all want to remove the incumbent, Democrat U.S. Rep. Tim Mahoney, a Palm Beach Gardens entrepreneur.

”We have got to take this seat back,” said Harrell, a state lawmaker since 2000. “Charlotte County is the pivotal county in taking this seat back.”

Harrell also warned that District 16 will be at a “crossroads” in the 2008 election. If Mahoney wins re-election, the district will be “doomed to having a Democrat in this seat for a long time,” she said.

The three Republicans are vying for the Republican nomination in the August 2008 primary. Their comments came when they participated in a forum today organized by the Mid-Charlotte County Republican Club. About 45 members attended the event.

Harrell has served as the District 81 representative in the Florida House since 2000. She said she also managed a mammogram center until “the government put us out of business.”

Harrell said she and her husband, a doctor, have raised four children and have six grandchildren.

”I believe we need to restore the values upon which this nation was founded,” Harrell said.

Those values, according to Harrell, include putting families first, allowing children to recite “one nation under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance, and promoting less government, fewer taxes and more individual responsibility.

The federal government needs reforms, she said. She cited the federal response to Katrina.

”We see the bloated bungling of the federal bureaucracy,” Harrell said.

Congress should also work to make the nation’s health care system “a market-driven system.” If that doesn’t happen, the U.S. won’t have a viable economy, she said.

Please take a few minutes to get to know me – as a wife and mother, community leader, businesswoman, and legislator. 

Meet my wonderful husband Dr. James Harrell and learn of our experiences while he served our country in Viet Nam.  Take a moment to get to know our 4 wonderful children and our 6 grandchildren.

Learn about what I’ve done in the Legislature while having the honor and privilege of serving District 81.

Take a moment also to learn about my vision for our country – a vision to protect and defend America and to restore the values and principles on which this nation was founded. Let’s transform our government and the blundering, bloated bureaucracy that over taxes us, over regulates us, and can’t secure our borders. –

Join the Gayle Force –

“Public service is an honor, not a nuisance. If Mahoney lacks the stomach to serve, he should step aside” said Anthony Bonna, Deputy Campaign Manager of the Harrell Campaign. ?Voters deserve a committed and motivated voice in Washington,? Bonna continued.

Although Mahoney insists that he will run for re-election, after today?s comments voters are justified in questioning whether he even deserves the job.

“Elected Officials are the employees and the voters, as Governor Crist likes to say, are the ?boss? and everyone knows that the employee who hates his job is always less productive,? Bonna explained.

During the last election, Mahoney portrayed himself as a fiscal conservative, campaigned on winning in Iraq, and promised to ?clean up the cronyism and corruption in Washington?. However, since arriving in Washington, the real Tim Mahoney has:

· Voted to raise taxes by $400 billion

· Voted for a bill that contained over $24 billion in pork barrel spending

· Voted for a date certain for retreat in Iraq

· Voted against reprimanding his fellow liberals Jack Murtha and William Jefferson for their ethics violations.

“It seems Tim Mahoney has failed on every significant issue for which he was elected. Despite his rhetoric, his votes and values do not represent the 16^th district, it seems Tim Mahoney just isn?t up to the job.? continued Bonna.

Gayle Harrell is running for Congress because of her core beliefs and convictions that we need to defeat terrorism, secure the border, keep taxes low, reign in spending, and preserve the American family. While in Tallahassee, Harrell was the author of the Florida Seaport Security Act which became a model for protecting America?s port against terrorist?s attacks. She voted to cut taxes by $12 billion, opposed what would have been the largest tax increase in Florida?s history, fought against giving illegal aliens welfare benefits, and received the Christian Coalition’s faith and family award for her 100% voting record.

###

May 22, 2007

PORT ST. LUCIE — St. Lucie delegation Chair, Rep. Gayle Harrell and Martin County delegation Chair, Richard Macheck, have called a special, joint delegation meeting on property tax relief. Anyone wishing to express their opinions on the proposed property tax cut plans should come to the St. Lucie County Commission Chambers located at 2300 Virginia Avenue, Fort Pierce, from 4 to 7 p.m. on Wednesday, May 23.

“I look forward to hearing from the people. Taxpayers deserve relief and next month they’ll have it,” Harrell stated. “I look forward to hearing the local government perspective and expect a productive discussion on how we can work together to reduce the tax burden on residents.”

The members of the legislative delegation who will be attending include, Senate President Ken Pruitt (R-Port St. Lucie), Sen. Mike Haridopolos (R-Melbourne), Sen. J.D. Alexander (R- Lake Wales), Rep. Richard Macheck (D-Delray Beach), Rep. William Snyder (R-Stuart), and Rep. Gayle Harrell (R-Port St. Lucie).

May 8, 2007

TALLAHASSEE — It didn’t get a lot of attention, but a significant bill passed last week in Tallahassee will cut down on prescription drug abuse and deaths.It also provides safeguards for people who are prescribed multiple medications from different doctors and who might be taking medications that counteract or react badly with each other.

Rep. Gayle Harrell, R-Stuart, has been pushing for the legislation for four years and said it’s a direct result of the case involving six patients of former Port St. Lucie Dr. Asuncion Luyao.The six patients died from overdoses of prescription pain medicines, including oxycodone. Luyao was convicted in March 2006 of manslaughter in the death of longtime patient Julia Hartsfield, as well as racketeering and five counts of trafficking in oxycodone.

In April 2006, she was sentenced to 50 years in prison and ordered to pay $1.3 million in fines on the trafficking charges.

“We learned that we have more people who die from abuse of prescription drugs than die from heroin and cocaine abuse combined,” Harrell said.

Harrell was the primary co-sponsor of the bill and introduced the original controlled substances version of the bill in 2003. She has been pushing for passage of the legislation ever since.

The bill relies on the growing use of “e-prescribing,” which allows a direct link between doctors and pharmacies and eliminates the need for paper prescriptions, which can often be forged.

Prescription drug abusers also often go to several different doctors to get multiple prescriptions of medications like oxycodone and use paper prescriptions at different pharmacies to hide the fact they’re getting more of the drug than should be prescribed.

The prescription drug legislation will make it much more difficult for people to get away with the practice, often called “doctor shopping.”

“It’s a portal to information for the doctors and the pharmacists through the private enterprise system and something that’s already being established,” Harrell said. “Doctors who ‘e-prescribe’ will be able to see what other medications other doctors might be prescribing and how much the patient is getting. It will be obvious immediately if someone is getting too much of a drug.

“And because a doctor can get the history of Ms. Jones’ or Gayle Harrell’s prescriptions, not just for controlled substances but for every prescription, they’ll know whether or not a prescription I’m taking from one physician is going to be counteracted by something I’m taking from another physician,” Harrell said.

One of the key parts of the bill is the incentive it gives doctors who move toward electronic prescribing.

“One way we’re encouraging physicians to do this is by waiving their re-licensing or renewal fees for two years if they get software that enables them to do this,” Harrell said.

“It’s important for people to know we’re not creating some kind of government database that violates people’s privacy. It’s using the private enterprise system and electronic health records to empower physicians with the patient’s permission,” Harrell said.

Without patient permission, doctors may refuse to prescribe medication, Harrell said.

It took four years for Harrell to see this legislation passed.

A lot of people will benefit because of her persistence.

Martin County columnist Geoff Oldfather can be reached at (772) 221-4217 or geoff.oldfather@scripps.com

Florida legislators have come to the rescue — as scary as that might sound — with two plans of their own:

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• The House plan, which would increase the sales tax up to 2.5 percent while eliminating property taxes for homesteaders, is best for relatively new Floridians who have expensive homes. It sells out longtime, middle-income homeowners, while benefits accrue to wealthy homeowners.

Unfortunately, this plan has bamboozled local state Reps. Stan Mayfield, Ralph Poppell and William Snyder, who voted in lockstep with their Republican leaders. The only local GOP House member to vote for the people was Gayle Harrell, R-Port St. Lucie.

• The Senate plan, shepherded by Mike Haridopolos, R-Melbourne, was crafted after numerous hearings across the state. Like the House plan, it caps future increases in taxes, but does not roll back taxes as much as the House plan.

At this point, though, Floridians need fewer handouts and more plans for long-term sustainability for people of all incomes. That’s what the Senate plan does, by:

• Providing relief for business taxpayers with a $25,000 exemption for tangible property personal property.

• Giving first-time homebuyers an additional $25,000 homestead exemption, which phases out as other tax relief kicks in. This helps to make homes more affordable and limits the unexpected tax sting of a new home. It might make sense to increase this.

• Allowing homesteaders to take with them up to $500,000 in exemptions created by the Save Our Homes law, which limits the increase in taxable value each year. The exemption could phase out by up to 10 percent annually. The Senate should consider reducing this so-called portability to $250,000.

There are several other revisions, which make the Senate plan almost as complicated as the U.S. tax code. A conference committee, which will try to bridge the gap between the House and Senate, must iron out some of those funky details, which include credits for affordable housing.

The conference committee also must agree to require property appraisers statewide to assess property the same way. Earlier this week, Rep. Dean Cannon, R-Winter Park, leader of the committee’s House delegation, was standoffish, saying that the property tax elimination and sales tax increase were critical for the state.

“If (the senators) are not willing to look at that, I would consider that something they ought to rethink,” Cannon declared.

Senate Majority Leader Daniel Webster, R-Winter Garden, was more realistic.

The Orlando Sentinel quoted him as saying: “It would get the lowest vote total ever in the history of constitutional amendments.”

He’s right.

Cannon ought to back off the House’s plan — as should local House members — because the Senate’s is less draconian to governments and the poor, and helpful to all homeowners.

CONTACT YOUR LAWMAKERS

Sen. Ken Pruitt, R-Port St. Lucie, pruitt.ken.web@flsenate.gov

Sen. Mike Haridopolos, R-Melbourne, haridopolos.mike.web@flsenate.gov

Rep. Ralph Poppell, R-Vero Beach, ralph.pop-pell@myfloridahouse.gov

Rep. Stan Mayfield, R-Vero Beach, stan.mayfield@myfloridahouse.gov

Rep. Gayle Harrell, R-Port St. Lucie, gayle.harrell@myfloridahouse.gov

Rep. William Snyder, R-Stuart, william.snyder@myfloridahouse.gov

Rep. Richard Machek, D-Delray Beach, richard.machek@myflorida-house.gov

Source TCPalm.com Editorials

Tuesday, April 17, 2007

In Florida, nearly 29,000 deaths are attributable annually to tobacco use. More than 35,900 children under the age of 18 adopt a daily smoking habit each year, and about one third of those eventually will lose their lives to this addiction.
In November, voters overwhelmingly approved Amendment 4 - a citizen initiative that requires the Legislature to once again annually pay for a comprehensive, statewide tobacco education and prevention program.

Rep. Gayle Harrell, R-Port St. Lucie, chairwoman of the House Committee on Health Quality, demonstrated great leadership by allowing health groups and concerned citizens unprecedented access to participate in the implementation of this citizen initiative. The result is an implementing bill voters can be confident will carry out their will to protect young people from the dangers of tobacco addiction.
In February, Sen. Durell Peaden, R-Crestview, a doctor and the chairman of the Senate Committee on Health and Human Services Appropriations, addressed a crowd of American Cancer Society volunteers about their No. 1 legislative priority - the implementation of Amendment 4. Sen. Peaden said, “This is probably the most important project and the most important issue we’ll address this year.” And he’s right.
On Thursday, both chambers passed their respective bills appropriating full financing for the state’s tobacco education and prevention program. The House bill features a strong accountability component while the Senate version would reinstate a strong enforcement component, which was a part of the original program. While there is still work to be done to roll the best of both bills into one final product, Rep. Harrell and Sen. Peaden should be commended.
Florida’s youth tobacco prevention program was a model for the nation. Now, it can be again.
It is estimated that 296,900 kids under the age of 18 living in Florida today will die prematurely from smoking.
Restoring funding for youth tobacco education will save lives. What could be more important than that?

JOHN CHAPERON, Chairman
Floridians for Youth Tobacco Education
Tampa

Source: Palm Beach Post