Staff Reports
The Last 24
Good Tuesday evening. Florida is one of just two states that hasn’t changed its sales tax laws since consumers began fleeing to the World Wide Web for gifts, groceries and other everyday needs. But that could change next year. A pair of bills have been filed for the 2020 Legislative Session that would require online retailers to collect and remit sales taxes to the state, just like brick-and-mortar stores. The proposal has heavy backing in the Legislature. Read more here. And here’s your nightly rundown.
Mo’ money … in your pocket: One state lawmaker wants to double the length of Florida’s annual back-to-school tax holiday to 10 days in 2020.
Flying high: A proposal to let Florida law enforcement use drones for crowd control cleared its first committee Tuesday.
Shattered: Suing over car window and windshield repair fees is a booming business, according to a new report from the Florida Justice Reform Institute.
Sentencing reform: Legislation redirecting low-level drug offenders away from state prisons advanced in the state Senate.
Hashing it out: A Senate committee explored — again — issues with the state’s nascent hemp program.
Tick tock: Democratic lawmakers on a Florida Senate committee ran out the clock on a bill that would require parental consent for abortions.
Quote of the Day
“Industrial hemp can grow in the state of Florida … it can also struggle and die in the state of Florida.” — Jerry Fankhauser, assistant director of the University of Florida’s hemp program.
Bill Day’s Latest
3 Questions
What’s one thing that makes the 2020 Legislative Session different from the one before? It’s taking place during an election year. We spoke with University of South Florida distinguished professor Susan McManus about what lawmakers will likely prioritize before facing voters in their own district.
Florida Politics: What’s like the top thing most lawmakers want to accomplish this year heading into the Session?
McManus: Get out on time! Especially in an election year. Everyone is complaining about politicians not getting anything done. That’s mostly directed at the national level, but the idea they can’t do anything but fight is out there. They had to have a day extra last time if I recall. So get out on time is No. 1. No. 2 is protect themselves for reelection. For those not running, there’s a belief they can be bolder when they are termed out and not running. We see a lot more of a consensus on the environment than before, and on health care. Both are high on everyone’s polling lists. I’d say there are the three Es: the economy, education and the environment are big issues. You have an infrastructure with the toll roads.
But, above all, leave there on time and having accomplished something big.
FP: Will the dialogue on the environment be different this year? Will there be a focus on polluters as opposed to just cleaning up water quality?
McManus: You get headlines as long as you doing something for the environment. Even if it’s just cleaning up, that is a plus right now. When you look at the changing demographic electorate, the environment is one of the biggest issues with a lot of our young voters. And of course, it’s a big issue with coastal areas that subjected to red tide and other coastal issues, so it has more reach than it used to in the state of Florida. Beyond that, the tax holidays will always be there. I think a big battle is brewing over funding for education and health care are going to be big. But there is a little bit of caution in the wind.
Gov. Ron DeSantis put out a proposal with a hefty raise for starting teachers. Veteran educators still worry they will be left out, but is even that proposal a big lift as far as the budget?
McManus: It’s going to depend on the economic outlook right at the time of the vote. The Revenue Estimating Conference is done twice — one at the beginning of Session and one at the end. If that one is looking at all iffy, it will really depend heavily on the Governor. It will depend on him to get his Education package through. Some concerns are related to the state of the economy. A lot can happen between now and March.
Lobby Up
There are some positive trends in Florida education — the high school graduation rate is going up, as are third-grade reading and eighth-grade math scores. But those gains aren’t being visible in every corner of the state.
Teach for America has been working to change that. The organization recruits recent college grads to work as teachers in urban and rural schools across the country. In 2003, Teach for America partnered up with Miami-Dade County Public Schools. Over the next 15 years, it placed 1,430 teachers in the district, helping more than 200,000 students in Miami.
Teach for America has since set up in Duval and Orange counties, and it currently has more than 1,300 members and alumni impacting over 50,000 students across Florida every day. Recruiting teachers isn’t easy. It’s a tough job with a low starting pay, though that’s something DeSantis hopes the Legislature will address next year.
Still, Teach for America is looking to further its goals by getting some help from the Legislature.
To ease the process, it recently signed a lobbying deal with the team at Metz Husband & Daughton, including Warren Husband, James Daughton, Douglas Bell, Patricia Greene, Allison Liby-Schoonover, Aimee Lyon, Andrew Palmer and Pierce Schuessler.
Breakthrough Insights
The Next 24
(Unless otherwise noted, all locations are in the Capitol Complex.)
DeSantis has officially proclaimed Nov. 11-15 as “Florida Recycles Week,” and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and Florida Recycling Partnership are coordinating activities to encourage all Floridians to recycle. For more information, contact Keyna Cory at [email protected] or Chris Perry at [email protected].
The Florida Student Association represents over 300,000 students in the State University System. Once a year, it hosts a “Rally in Tally” to advocate for the needs of students, sending over 100 student delegates. That’s at 9 a.m., Plaza level rotunda.
Also, the following committees will meet:
— House Agriculture & Natural Resources Appropriations Subcommittee, 9:30 a.m., 17 House Office Building.
— House Health Quality Subcommittee, 9:30 a.m., 306 House Office Building.
— House Transportation & Tourism Appropriations Subcommittee, 9:30 a.m., 102 House Office Building. The Florida Housing Finance Corp. is scheduled to give a presentation on federal funding and hurricane housing recovery assistance efforts.
— Senate Military and Veterans Affairs and Space Committee, 10 a.m., 37 Senate Office Building. Mark Bontrager, Vice President of Spaceport Operations for Space Florida, will give a presentation.
— House Agriculture & Natural Resources Subcommittee, 1 p.m., 12 House Office Building.
— House Government Operations & Technology Appropriations Subcommittee, 1 p.m., 17 House Office Building.
— House Health Care Appropriations Subcommittee, 1 p.m., 404 House Office Building.
— House Transportation & Infrastructure Subcommittee, 1 p.m., 102 House Office Building.
— Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Environment and General Government, 1 p.m., 110 Senate Office Building. Sedron Technologies and Anuvia Plant Nutrients will give a presentation on biosolids.
— Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Health and Human Services, 2:30 p.m., 412 Knott Building.
— Senate Finance and Tax Committee, 2:30 p.m., 401 Senate Office Building. Committee staff will give an update on corporate income tax issues.
— House Health Market Reform Subcommittee, 3:30 p.m., 306 House Office Building. A presentation on Medicaid telehealth outcomes will be given by Scott Farr, Chief Operating Officer, Pediatric Associates.
— House Higher Education Appropriations Subcommittee, 3:30 p.m., 212 Knott Building.
— House Workforce Development & Tourism Subcommittee, 3:30 p.m., 12 House Office Building. A panel discussion on automation and artificial intelligence is scheduled.
— Senate Environment and Natural Resources Committee, 4 p.m., 37 Senate Office Building. Presentation by the Department of Environmental Protection on the Blue-Green Algae Task Force’s recommendations and proposed biosolids rule.
— Senate Ethics and Elections Committee, 4 p.m., 412 Knott Building. Confirmation hearings will be held for several appointed positions and Chris Anderson, Executive Director of the Florida Commission on Ethics, will discuss the implementation of Amendment 12 on “Lobbying and Abuse of Office by Public Officers.”
Full committee agendas, including bills to be considered, are available on the House and Senate websites.
