Peter Schorsch
Sixty Days — A prime-time look at the 2018 Legislative Session
The Last 24
Good Monday evening. There were few to no answers on medical marijuana, and activists talked about income inequality in the Capitol. Sixty Days wants a chicken in every pot … and we’re not mixing metaphors. Here’s your evening rundown.
Marijuana muffled: The state’s top medical marijuana regulator declined to address a legislative committee’s objections over medicinal cannabis implementation in the state.
Poverty politics: State-based activists announced Florida’s involvement in a six-week, national campaign to address income inequality.
Class sass: House Speaker Richard Corcoran’s education priorities are the target of a new Florida Education Association campaign.
Tourist tax: A bill that would expand the allowed use of tourist-development taxes cleared the Senate Finance and Tax Appropriations Subcommittee.
Land conservation: Sen. Anitere Flores’ measure that would use Florida Forever funds for land conservations purposes in Monroe County advanced a Senate panel.
Quote of the Day
“They’ve had these (objections) for four months to look at, to work on, to talk about with our staff. It’s incompetence.” — Sen. Kevin Rader, chair of the Joint Administrative Procedures Committee, speaking on lawmakers’ concerns over the Department of Health’s inaction on the implementation of medical marijuana.
Bill Day’s Latest
3 Questions
A new week brings a strike-all amendment on a bill that would allow beer advertising in Florida theme parks. Sen. Travis Hutson, the Elkton Republican who chairs the Regulated Industries committee, early Monday filed the 9-page measure; the original bill for this Session was two pages.
The idea is to permit ads for beer in the big parks in Orlando and Tampa. But it would also allow a beer company to sponsor a concert or festival within a park. Universal Orlando and SeaWorld support the bill (SB 822). A companion measure (HB 775) is moving in the House.
The strike-all includes enforcement provisions and tightens up definitions. Beer distributors and craft brewers have been in a tizzy over the measure, which almost passed last year, saying it would allow theme parks to “extort” advertising dollars from beer companies, and ultimately favor Big Beer manufacturers who can pay to put up the biggest and most ads.
The Senate bill is back up Tuesday in the Commerce and Tourism Committee. Eric Criss, president of the Beer Industry of Florida, the association of Florida’s MillerCoors and craft beer distributors, talked about making the best of a bad situation.
Q: Have you seen the latest version and what do you think?
Criss: I have. Basically, we think it’s the best bad bill we can get.
Q: What do you mean by that?
Criss: It clearly seems the House and Senate want this. It cleared all its committees last year and did not die until after a provision for free glassware was added on. It passed the House with the glassware language and then died in the Senate. It looks like this bill will pass, so sometimes you need to compromise.
Q: Why is your group so leery of this?
Criss: Our concern is the chipping away of alcohol regulation in the state in general, and specifically as it applies to this bill. We want to prevent retailers and manufacturers from having cozy financial relationships that can restrict consumer choice and variety and shut small brewers out.
Lobby Up
Brian Ballard, who now has an office in D.C., continues to expand his lobbying reach in an area long familiar to him: gambling.
The Tallahassee-based influencer and fundraiser for President Donald Trump, represented MGM Resorts International in a battle over gambling expansion (sound familiar?) in Connecticut.
“Two casino-owning American Indian tribes are accusing Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke of illegally blocking their plans to expand operations in Connecticut — a delay that stands to benefit politically connected gambling giant MGM Resorts International,” POLITICO reported Thursday.
The Connecticut Mirror, an online news site, added that the company, protecting its nearly $1 billion investment, “loudly cried foul over passage of a law sought by its casino competitors, the Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan tribes, to undercut the MGM gaming resort under construction in Springfield.”
Ballard was paid $270,000 by MGM, the Mirror reported.
Breakthrough Insights
The Next 24
The Senate Criminal Justice Committee will consider a bill (SB 870) that would extend the retroactivity of a Florida Supreme Court ruling requiring jury unanimity before inmates can be sentenced to death. That’s at 9 a.m., 27 Senate Office Building, The Capitol.
The Senate Education Committee will consider a proposal (SB 1234) that would prevent colleges and universities from designating campus free-speech zones. That’s at 9 a.m., 412 Knott Building, The Capitol.
The House Health Care Appropriations Subcommittee will take up a bill (HB 1069) that would revamp regulations for substance-abuse recovery residences, known as “sober homes.” That’s at 9:30 a.m., 404 House Office Building, The Capitol.
The House Higher Education Appropriations Subcommittee will consider a bill (HB 423) that would make a wide range of changes to the state’s higher education system, including an expansion to the Bright Futures scholarship. That’s at 9:30 a.m., 212 Knott Building, The Capitol.
Gov. Rick Scott will make a major announcement about the Florida Job Growth Grant Fund, the state’s economic development program. That’s at 10:15 a.m. at the Jacksonville Department of Transportation, 2198 Edison Ave. in Jacksonville.
Florida State University President John Thrasher, a former House Speaker and state Senator, will deliver a speech ahead of “FSU Day at the Capitol.” That’s at 11:30 a.m., Capitol Plaza.
The Constitution Revision Commission will hold a public hearing in South Florida to gather feedback on proposals that have advanced closer to the 2018 ballot. That’s at 1 p.m., Nova Southeastern University, Rick Case Arena at the Don Taft University Center, 3301 College Ave., Fort Lauderdale.
Newly elected officers for the Florida Commission on the Status of Women will be installed by Judge Nina Ashenafi Richardson in a special ceremony. That’s at 5:30 p.m., Old Historic Capitol.
