Peter Schorsch
Sixty Days — A prime-time look at the 2018 Legislative Session
The Last 24
Good Thursday evening. Adam Putnam is backing off for now on a request to make getting a concealed-carry permit easier, and help is on the way for opioid abuse. For the record, the hardest thing in the Sixty Days medicine cabinet is Advil. Here’s your evening rundown.
Guns gambit: Agriculture Commissioner Putnam said he was asking lawmakers to postpone a measure including language that would allow his department to issue concealed weapon licenses without complete criminal background information.
Opioid optics: A bill aimed at helping stem the opioid epidemic was approved by a final Senate committee.
Legislative leverage: In wake of the Parkland school mass shooting, the Senate is turning its focus to increasing funding for mental health and campus security in schools across the state.
Minor melee? Sen. Lizbeth Benacquisto says she’s hopeful but “still sees concerns” over the eventual passage of legislation aimed at preventing minors from getting married.
Quote of the Day
“Let’s look the families in the face and tell them we’ll do nothing … We can pray to God [but] God didn’t do this. This is a man-made issue. It’s only going to be solved by man.” — Rep. Jared Moskowitz on CNN. The Coral Springs Democrat represents the Broward County state House district that includes Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
Bill Day’s Latest
3 Questions
Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis says he’s assisting area law enforcement with the tragedy in Parkland. Immediately upon learning of the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, Patronis directed his law enforcement division to offer its help, a spokeswoman said. The CFO also later spoke with the local fire chief to “discuss on the ground operations and how the State Fire Marshal’s Office can assist.”
He’s in Broward County this week.
Q: How can we prevent these shootings?
Patronis: We need more mental health care funding in our state. Governor Scott is right to call on our Legislature to address this while we are still in session. Senator Galvano is asking senators to support $100 million in mental health screening and training as well as improving K-12 school security infrastructure and resources. Similarly, members of the Florida House are beginning to assemble their own package of mental health and K-12 funding. I urge the legislature to move quickly to compromise on their different packages and send our school districts the critical increase in mental health and security resources they need.
Q: What are you asking from the Legislature this year?
Patronis: It is already a priority of our office to pass legislation moving through the House and Senate to increase mental health benefits for Florida’s first responders. Our first responders are frequently the front line of defense in tragedies like the one here in Parkland, yet our state workers’ compensation system is not providing them with the mental health care services they need.
Q: What else can be done?
Patronis: As we discuss increasing mental health resources in response to the Parkland tragedy, we must not overlook the very real needs our first responders have as they struggle to deal with the immense physiological and emotional toll of their job. We must change the law immediately to let our first responders access the services they need and bring the high suicide attempt rate of our brave firefighters back in line with that of the general population.
Lobby Up
If you Google “Crystal Lagoons,” here’s the first sentence that pops up: “Crystal Lagoons transforms any destination into an idyllic beach paradise.”
And even idyllic beach paradises need representation.
GrayRobinson’s Jason Unger was hired by Crystal Lagoons U.S. Corp. to lobby for it before executive agencies effective Jan. 30, according to registration records.
The multinational company specializes in building what are essentially “colossal swimming pools” that look like seasides — bodies of turquoise-colored water surrounded by white sand beaches.
The company’s spokesman is 28-time Olympic swimming medalist Michael Phelps. Its first lagoon in the U.S. is in Pasco County, at the Epperson community near Wiregrass Ranch in Wesley Chapel.
Breakthrough Insights
The Next 24
Candidates in special elections in House District 39 and House District 114 face a Friday deadline for filing updated finance reports. Special primary elections will be held Feb. 20. Auburndale Republican Neil Combee resigned late last year from the District 39 seat, which includes parts of Polk and Osceola counties. Coral Gables Democrat Daisy Baez left the District 114 seat in Miami-Dade County.
The Revenue Estimating Conference will analyze monthly revenue estimates. That’s set for 8 a.m., 117 Knott Building, The Capitol.
Rep. Matt Caldwell, a North Fort Myers Republican running for state agriculture commissioner, is slated to be one of the speakers discussing the “state of Florida agriculture” during a meeting of the Tiger Bay Club of Southwest Florida. That’s at noon, The Marina at Edison Ford, 2360 West First St., Fort Myers.
The Revenue Estimating Conference will hold what is known as an “impact” conference. That’s at 1:30 p.m., 117 Knott Building, The Capitol.
