Ryan Ray
Where things stand on a number of “legislative food fights” is a complicated question in today’s adversarial climate at the Capitol. The $4 billion chasm between the House and Senate budget proposals casts a shadow on every corner of legislative business, both appropriations and policy measures.
“Bill aren’t just dying; they’re being massacred,” Rep. Frank Artiles told Florida Politics in Tallahassee Saturday evening.
Nonetheless, the show must go on in the statehouse. That means lots of interests are going to be affected as Friday’s Sine Die — 2015’s first one, anyway — grows near. Here’s where some of the many Tallahassee turf battles stand as we approach the final week of Session, if not a solution to the bicameral health care funding problems holding them hostage.
Big tobacco versus Florida trial attorneys
Before Session, the whispers about the impending doom of the 2015 priorities of the Florida Justice Association couldn’t have been much louder. They were bad shape and ripe for a comeuppance at the hands of major tobacco manufacturers. They had lawyered and lobbied up big time in order to pass a tort liability bill sponsored by Sen. Garrett Richter and Rep. David Santiago that would limit their exposure to big claims by injured smokers seeking payouts under the 1998 Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement.
But FJA played things far smoother than they were given credit for, even with an increasingly pro-business climate in the House not necessarily friendly to plaintiff’s bar. As fractures in that camp began to show, however, FJA presented a united front and showed a lot of savvy, bringing on former Republican Party of Florida Senate campaigns director Brecht Heuchan to lead a largely successful defensive effort.
Both the House and Senate bills that would retroactively apply limits on all civil actions in which a judgment has not been yet been entered — a potentially major setback for many Florida trial attorneys — are still stuck in the committee process, and are unlikely to see the end of the legislative tunnel anytime soon.
Optometrists vs. 1-800-Contacts et al
A food fight so narrow you might have to squint — especially if your contacts are still in the mail — yet still a site of great focus for many influencers and health care providers this Session, the battle between the Florida Optometric Association and upstart prescription lens retailers such as 1-800-Contacts also seems to have come to an uneasy end, for now at least.
Senate Budget chief Tom Lee of Brandon sponsored SB 1400 in the wake of recent antitrust decisions mad
But after three ‘No’ votes in Senate Health Policy — significantly, from fellow Republicans Sen. Don Gaetz and Sen. Bill Galvano, as well as panel chairman Sen. Aaron Bean — the bill was not taken up in Commerce and Tourism and is almost certainly inert for the duration of Session.
Rep. Eric Eisnaugle‘s House companion bill, HB 1119, is stuck in the House Business & Professions Subcommittee and therefore considered dead according to Speaker Steve Crisafulli.
Ticketmaster vs. Stubhub
This event-ticketing policy donnybrook is one where the tone and direction of budget negotiations during the next week, and possibly going forward, truly could hang in the balance. A pair of bills that would assist Ticketmaster in maintaining its dominant presence over ticket sales across the state and nation is circulating in both chambers, and both have made it deep into the process.
The proposals would essentially force second-hand ticket retailers to request permission to re-sell tickets that originated with Ticketmaster, an untenable business proposition for both rival StubHub and everyday parking lot scalpers.
When we last caught up with SB 742 by Sen. Wilton Simpson it had not been considered in its first committee stop, while its House companion by Rep. Blaise Ingoglia sat on ice as well. Since then Ingoglia’s version has made it onto the House calendar on second reading, while Senate Appropriations has Simpson’s bill awaiting a spot on the calendar.
Major airline carriers versus mid-major airline carriers
The outcome of a battle over who benefits or not from a longstanding sales tax exemption on jet fuel is also uncertain ahead of the beginning of Week 8 of this years’ conflict-rich Session. Big, so-called legacy airlines like United Airlines and Delta pay a small tax when they fill up their fuel tanks while smaller carriers like Southwest, AirTran and Je
Lobbyists on behalf of the major carriers say those originally temporary exemptions have given smaller airlines an advantage for long enough, while advocates for the smaller carriers say their business models depend on them.
Sen. Anitere Flores is carrying a bill that would eliminate the exemption altogether, while lowering the rate of the tax from 6.9 cents per gallon to 5.4 cents per gallon. That would help the big guys doubly, lowering their tax liabilities while raising the exposure of the competition.
Though it has endured an unfriendly amendment to water it down and sometimes lively debate about its merits, the bill has accrued zero “no” votes in the committee process thus far and largely met with acceptance since the addition of a longer sunset period for the exemption. It sits in Appropriations.
The Rep. George Moraitis-sponsored House bill, HB 595, passed the House on April 13 by a 108-3 margin.
Uber vs. Florida Tax Cab and Limousine Associations
The battle over whether ride sharing is, strictly speaking, legal in all of Florida’s 67 counties — and possibly the intermediate fate of short-term rental brokerages like Airbnb — is still very much a live one.
A major test will almost certainly come this week when Sen. David Simmons‘ SB 1298 comes over to the House in Messages, following its passage in the Senate 28-12 on Thursday, racking up votes against from nine Republicans and three Democrats. That bill would treat cars sometimes used to provide rides via the Uber and Lyft smartphone apps like taxi cabs, which have pricey commercial insurance that covers them 24/7.
Ridesharing advocates say the bill is a nonstarter for them, while Simmons and Senate President Andy Gardiner — both of whom represent many constituents involved with the Central Florida livery service giant Mears Transportation,
Rep. Matt Gaetz – whose thoroughly pro-Uber HB 817 was TP’d on third reading the same day Simmons’ bill was approved — will reportedly offer an amendment on the floor if and when SB 1298 goes before the full House that will likely counteract its original intent. If that happens, all bets are off in terms of how the generally pro-ridesharing House will cope with it.
Both sides say they are eager to resolve the outstanding issues, including insurance and driver background checks, sooner rather than later. But as the minutes wind down in regulation time, whether that heavy lift can survive amid the many obstacles to progress remains to be seen.
