The chief backers of bills to reform the Public Service Commission moved closer to an agreement Monday, but differences remained between the vastly different plans.

In a half-hour meeting with Sen. Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey, a vocal critic of Florida utility companies who sponsored the Senate legislation, Rep. Stephen Precourt, R-Orlando, relented on a central aspect of his bill: splitting the regulatory staff from the PSC. Precourt, who chairs the committee where the House PSC plan originated, agreed to study the idea and bring it back to the Legislature next year.

Fasano questioned whether there was enough time to transfer records to a new Office of Regulatory Staff, which would be housed under the Cabinet in the House bill.

“I absolutely think it can and I think it’s in the best interest of the citizens of the state of Florida,” Precourt replied. “I think it’s something we should do.”

But, Precourt said, the plan should be studied if the details can’t be worked out, and lawmakers should answer questions about how to transfer the work to a new office rather than having a new executive director have to do that as his first assignment.

“I’m happy to take stuff out,” he told Fasano, who quickly replied “I have no problem with conducting a study.”

Prior to Monday’s meeting, there had been little movement between the chambers since the House bill (HB 7209) cleared a key committee last week. The plan is vastly different than Fasano’s bill, which was approved by the Senate in the first week of session. That measure (SB 1034), focuses more on eliminating off-the-record communications between utility employees and PSC staffers, which was the basis of the firestorm last fall that precipitated both pieces of legislation.

Despite the agreement to study the restructuring of the PSC Monday, differences remained over the House’s plan to move the Office of Public Counsel from the Legislature’s control to the Attorney General and over the House’s requirement that future PSC Commissioners have bachelor’s degrees.

Fasano said the Office of Public Counsel, which argues before the PSC on behalf of customers, has been effective where it is.

“The concern that I have with putting it with the Attorney General, though I trust the present and future (attorneys general), you could really play some politics,” Fasano said. “I’m very leery about that. I think it’s worked well.”

Fasano asked Precourt “how firm” he was on the proposal, but Precourt demurred, saying “We’re just trying to separate them up so they can operate as independently as possible.”

On the requirement that PSC commissioners have completed college, which is widely believed to be a shot at current PSC Chairwoman Nancy Argenziano, it was Fasano indicating his stance was firm.

“I could never agree to that,” Fasano said.

Precourt said the House was trying to develop language that would address Fasano’s concerns that the provision unfairly targeted Argenziano, which he denied was the intent.

“We’re trying to develop some language that would address your concern that there are some people out there that don’t have these degrees but they have done something and have shown a degree of success and the skill set that would be a good match for being a commissioner at the PSC,” Precourt said. “Our language isn’t so much targeted at anything that the governor is doing or existing commissioners or past commissionerers or the like, but at potential gaming of the system.”

Fasano countered that he did not think the Legislature needed to set requirements to serve on the PSC since all candidates are vetted by lawmakers.