Melissa Ross
Cooler heads will likely prevail as the Florida House and Senate troop back to Tallahassee in June.
So says influential Jacksonville lobbyist and consultant Marty Fiorentino.
“I think the Legislature will come back in Special Session and create a budget that’s good for Florida,” he said.
“The leadership of both the House and Senate will have to come together and regroup. This time, I believe things will finish on time and on track.”
Wednesday afternoon, leaders of the House and Senate agreed upon a schedule for a special session: June 1 to June 20.
Fiorentino, principal at The Fiorentino Group, will be in Tallahassee when that Special Session gets underway, advocating on behalf of one of his major clients, Uber.
A bill that would have set statewide rules for ridesharing services such as Uber and Lyft stalled when the Florida House adjourned three days early after failing to come to agreement on how to pay for health care for the state’s low-income residents.
Fiorentino says he’s optimistic his team can eventually get Uber onto the fast lane of legislative approval.
“Look, unfinished business happens every year. With Uber, this is an issue that really resonates with millennials. New voters like the free market, like competition and innovation, and this is something that’s exciting to be a part of. Honestly I think this is something Republicans should champion as well. Uber is the free market at work.”
As for the stalemate over Medicaid expansion, Fiorentino says he expects House Appropriations Chairman Richard Corcoran and his counterpart in the Florida Senate, Tom Lee, to step up.
“Something to watch is how the two chairs work in this interim period. When the session finally starts, a lot of work’s already going to be done and in place. Both of these chairs are seasoned and strong, and they recognize there’s still a lot of time left to bring that plane in on time and safely.”
Fiorentino says he’ll be at the table advocating for line items in the budget (whenever it is passed) for two transportation initiatives dear to the hearts of Northeast Floridians: the St. Johns River Ferry and the yet-to-be-built Cecil Field Spaceport.
The ferry has struggled off and on for years over a reliable funding source. Says Fiorentino:
“OK, right now there’s $1 million set aside in the Senate for the ferry, $60,000 in the House. We’ll work to get that up to $2 million, maybe even $2 million and a half.”
And on the spaceport, “We need to try to preserve the $2 million appropriated in the budget and try to increase it, if possible.”
Should funding take flight, the Spaceport is on pace to launch satellites beginning in 2016.
“These transportation plans are really exciting for our region of the state,” he said.
