Christine Jordan Sexton
The Senate Health Policy Committee on Monday gave the nod to a bill that would restrict contact lens manufacturers from preventing retailers from selling or advertising contact lenses below a set price.
The bill, SB 1400 by Sen. Tom Lee, brought lobbyists from Las Vegas, Utah, and Washington, leading former Senate President Don Gaetz to joke that Lee, also a former Senate President, deserved the “Visit Florida” award for the number of lobbyists who traveled to the state to testify on the bill.
While the bill passed, it wasn’t because of support from Republicans on the committee. Indeed, Republican Sens. Bill Galvano, Don Gaetz and Health Policy Committee Chairman Sen. Aaron Bean all voted against the measure.
Additionally, Galvano also testified against the bill at the committee but prefaced his testimony by quipping that it’s “never a comfortable position to oppose our Appropriations Chair, but I guess the budget already is being printed somewhere.”
Lee countered that in his 12 years at the Capitol he “never had a Republican leader lobby against a Republican piece of legislation (he) filed.
“So it’s equally as uncomfortable for me,” he said.
Moreover, in his closing remarks Lee noted the number of people in Galvano’s, Gaetz’s and Bean’s districts who wear contact lenses and the amount of money they could save if the Legislature passed the bill.
The bill was dubbed “eyeball wars” part II. The first eyeball wars was waged between optometrists and ophthalmologists over scope of practice and how optometrists were allowed to care for patients.
