Phil Ammann
Florida lawmakers just wanna have fun – to borrow a line from Cyndi Lauper.
As summer breaks all over the country, Floridians look forward to visiting vacation spots both at home and across America.
The Florida Senate is no different.
In the 75-odd days until committee meetings start for the 2016 Legislative Session, a newly announced schedule of fundraising events shows senators can expect quite a time over the summer. On the agenda are stopovers in California, Chicago, Key West and – just like the rest of the world — Walt Disney World in Orlando.
Expected to have this busy summer break is Senate Majority 2016, which includes such leaders such as Senate President Andy Gardiner, Majority Leader Bill Galvano, and Sens. Lizbeth Benacquisto, Joe Negron and Jack Latvala, among others.
The event circuit begins July 9, with a Downtown Disney Cirque Su Soleil LaNouba performance and dinner at Disney’s Boardwalk Inn in Orlando. Next will be a cross country outing to The Lodge at Pebble Beach, CA for a golf event scheduled July 20-22. Then, it is off to Chicago, IL, with a fundraiser on August 20-21 at the Intercontinental Hotel near Wrigley Field, where senators and supporters will take in a Chicago Cubs game. Finally, lawmakers return to home turf with a Florida Keys fishing trip on September 1-2 at the Cheeca Lodge & Spa in Islamorada, known as the “Sportfishing Capital of the World.”
This whirlwind journey ends just in time for committee meetings, scheduled to begin Wednesday, September 16 and will last through the end of the year. After that, the 60-day Legislative Session gets an earlier-than-usual start, as the Regular Session convenes Tuesday, January 12, 2016.
