EDITORIAL: For Florida CFO, Jeremy Ring the better choice over Jimmy Patronis | Editorial

Oct. 03--In the race to be Florida's chief financial officer, Democrat Jeremy Ring offers relevant experience and new ideas. Republican Jimmy Patronis offers far less experience and lots of platitudes.

Patronis has had the job since July 2017, when Gov. Rick Scott appointed him to complete the term of Jeff Atwater, who resigned to take a job at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton.

Patronis had been serving on the Florida Public Service Commission, to which Scott appointed the former state representative in September 2014.

The commission regulates utilities, notably power companies. Patronis had no background in energy or law. Scott justified the appointment by saying that Patronis is a small businessman who works at his family's famous seafood restaurant in Panama City. Patronis' other "qualification" was that he supported Scott in 2010, when most other Republicans were backing Bill McCollum.

On Nov. 6, however, Patronis must depend on the voters, not the governor. Ring, a former state senator from Broward County, has the stronger case.

During his interview with the Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, Ring said his challenge is "to convince people that the job exists."

It certainly does. In some ways, the chief financial officer is the most important member of the Florida Cabinet, which also includes the governor, attorney general and commissioner of agriculture.

Florida's insurance commissioner, whose office regulates rates, reports to the governor and CFO. So how do Ring and Patronis compare on how the office should respond to steadily rising rates for homeowners insurance?

Ring proposes that the state create a program to shift risk from insurers to private investors in the form of financial instruments. His premise is that if insurers bear less risk of catastrophes, rates will come down. The premise is similar to what former U.S. Rep. Ron Klein used for his bill in 2009 to establish a national catastrophic insurance plan for natural disasters.

Ring's plan might require legislative approval. It would be complicated and might not work. But Ring at least acknowledges that steadily rising homeowner insurance rates threaten the state's economy. That's more than we've heard from Patronis.

The CFO also has responsibility for state pensions. In 2015, on his third try, Ring successfully sponsored legislation that reformed police and fire pensions. That compromise between unions and local governments helped cities and counties and protected employees.

Before moving to Florida, Ring worked for Yahoo -- in its early years -- as national sales director. With that background, he worked in Tallahassee to establish funds to encourage tech entrepreneurs.

In an email from his campaign, Patronis criticized Ring for having "no real experience dealing with major financial decisions." Patronis also claims credit for Florida's AAA bond rating.

Patronis, though, has been in office for just 15 months. He never had to deal with the worst of the Great Recession, when pension funds crashed. As the Wall Street saying goes, "Don't confuse brains with a bull market."

Patronis calls himself "a public servant at heart" and notes the number of arrests for insurance fraud since he started, but his record suggests that he would not be the tough regulator the office needs.

As a legislator, Patronis sponsored bills that eased environmental regulations. On the Public Service Commission, he joined the other Scott appointees in approving what the utilities wanted.

More recently, Patronis appeared to carry out Scott's dirty work by forcing out the state's top financial regulator. The governor had tried to run off Drew Breakspear since 2015, though Scott offered no explanation. In May, Patronis said he had "lost confidence" in Breakspear, citing "lack of cooperation, responsiveness and communication." Three weeks later, Breakspear resigned.

Patronis has pitched his campaign especially hard at firefighters. First responders, he said, have more access to mental health benefits. Now Patronis wants full disability payment for firefighters who get cancer. The concern among cities and counties, though, is that such coverage would include cancers that aren't linked to the job and will boost insurance costs.

As with other races that involve members of the Florida Cabinet -- who serve on the Clemency Board -- we note the difference between Ring and Patronis on rights restoration for ex-felons. Ring favors the constitutional amendment that would grant automatic restoration except for those who committed murder or sexual assault.

Patronis does not, saying. "I've said from the start that I will always side with the victims." But the amendment is not an attack on victims. It seeks to free Florida from Jim Crow rules on civil rights.

Patronis is the go-along candidate with outdated ideas. The Sun Sentinel recommends Jeremy Ring for Florida Chief Financial Officer.

Editorials are the opinion of the Sun Sentinel Editorial Board and written by one of its members or a designee. The Editorial Board consists of Editorial Page Editor Rosemary O'Hara, Andy Reid and Editor-in-Chief Julie Anderson.

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