Staff Reports
Sixty Days — A prime-time look at the 2019 Legislative Session:
The Last 24
The House is getting serious about inspection stickers. The chamber’s $91.37 billion budget includes language that would require Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried’s office to replace the stickers that adorn gas pumps statewide with ones that don’t include her face by mid-September. If the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services can’t meet the deadline, $19.7 million in DACS funding would be funneled into state reserves until the department comes up with a plan that satisfies the House. DACS spent about $5,000 on the stickers last year, and most of them were in place by the time the Legislature said they were out of bounds. Here’s your nightly rundown.
Slim and trim. The House budget is smaller than the spending plans put forward by the Senate and Governor. That’s a point of pride for House Speaker José Oliva.
College-bound. The Senate Education Committee signed off on a series of executive appointments, including a move to place FPL President and CEO Eric Silagy on the State University System Board of Governors.
School safety. A Senate committee signed off on legislation that would adopt school safety recommendations from the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Commission, including rules surrounding diversion programs.
No place for a child. The House Criminal Justice Subcommittee unanimously approved a bill that would have children being tried as adults to remain locked up in juvenile detention facilities unless a judge orders otherwise.
No more raids. The Senate Infrastructure and Security Committee OK’d a bill that would ensure that the revenue dedicated to affordable housing is used for Florida’s housing programs.
Eight is enough. On a party-line vote, the Senate Ethics and Elections Committee passed a bill that would put ask voters whether school board members should have term limits
Fee relief. A bill that would change the way local governments calculate and impose impact fees on new development is one step closer to a House vote.
Drug ATMs advance. A measure that would allow automated kiosks to fill prescriptions got the OK in its penultimate committee stop in the Senate.
CST cut moves. A Senate panel advanced a bill that would lower the Communications Services Tax to 4% and eliminate local option sales taxes on communications services.
Licensing law. A bill that would preempt local occupational license regulations for several trades, including painters and cabinet installers, passed its first test in the Senate.
Puppy mills. The Senate Innovation, Industry and Technology Committee didn’t take up a bill that would preempt local rules regulating pet stores didn’t, but Chair Wilton Simpson says it should make the next agenda.
Snuff ‘em. A Senate panel greenlit a bill that would allow local governments to ban smoking in public parks
Gift ban tweak. A bill that would relax some gift ban requirements for state employees with serious and costly medical conditions cleared its second Senate panel. One stop left before the chamber floor.
Caught slacking. Rep. Ray Rodrigues questioned whether SFWMD Director Drew Bartlett was fit for the job in a letter calling him out for his lack of action on the Lake Okeechobee Watershed Restoration Project.
Quote of the Day
“What is indisputable is that the party has never recovered from Charlie Crist and Jim Greer, and I think that fact had a lot to do with how weak our showing was in our statewide elections overall.” — Former Republican Rep. Matt Caldwell, criticizing the Republican Party of Florida’s performance in the 2018 cycle.
Your Metz Husband Daughton-sponsored question of the day is: When was Florida’s first televised gubernatorial debate?
As always, click here to tweet your answer to @MHDFirm. The first person with the correct answer will get a shoutout in tomorrow’s 60 Days!
Last time, we asked: On the 3rd reading in the Senate, amendments to the title or corrective amendments require how many votes for passage?
Answer: A majority of those present. See 7.2(3).
While there were some (very) close guesses, no one gave the correct answer. Sorry!
Thanks again to everyone for participating — remember, the more you play, the better your chances of winning!
Bill Day’s Latest
3 Questions
A coalition of environmental groups on Thursday will call for a ban on fracking, a transition to 100% renewable energy by 2050, and improvements in resiliency. We spoke to Kim Ross, executive director of ReThink Energy Florida, about how hopeful the organization is for change.
Florida Politics: What are the chief priorities in the current Legislative Session, and how do you feel about the attention the issues are getting?
Ross: If you look at how much climate change and resiliency and sea-level rise are in the news, the public is increasingly aware of these major issues we need to act on. So the Legislature is starting to act on them. You see some resiliency measures moving through the House and Senate and close to being passed. Those are good but need to be improved. We also want to get off fossil fuels and onto clean energy. After banning fracking, which is low hanging fruit, then we can talk renewable energy and how valuable that is. The final thing part of the agenda is worker heat stress. You see some bills in the Legislature about children, but as climate change becomes more prevalent and heat days go up, we need more.
FP: You will stand with a Democrat, Sen. Lori Berman, and a Republican, Rep. Heather Fitzenhagen, at a news conference on Thursday. Is this issue becoming bipartisan?
Ross: It’s getting there. It’s better than in previous years, and that’s related to Gov. Ron DeSantis and his willingness to take the lead on some of these issues. Also, climate change is here and hard to ignore. At the local level, it’s more prevalent, and at the state level, you are starting to see it. In committee weeks, Sen. Tom Lee held a hearing, and then he started talking about electric vehicles, some of those issues. It should be a bipartisan issue, and we do want to celebrate those for whom it is a bipartisan issue. Fitzenhagen is the sponsor of our fracking ban on the House side, and Sen. Berman is co-sponsor of a couple of changes in resiliency bills. In talking with conservatives, they have more of a free-market approach and economic concerns. So there might be different perspectives, and you come up with solutions while we can and move forward.
The fracking ban last year was controversial, but do you feel better language all supporters agree on can pass?
Ross: Last year was the first time we saw some movement. We were working toward the end and ran out of time. We were not happy with language the way it was, but Holly Raschien is someone we worked closely with, and she’s good on that issue and other issues. We are continuing to have those conversations. Ban bills are something everyone can support in Fitzengahen’s and Sen [Bill] Montford’s language. We will talk with folks about how to move them.
Lobby Up
Lobbying compensation reports for the fourth quarter keep pouring in.
The latest batch includes fresh quarterlies from CAS Governmental Services and Messer Caparello, both of which closed out the year strong.
All told, M. Dale Milita, James Spratt and Carpenter Vanassche of CAS earned an estimated $510,000 in lobbying fees across the whole of 2019.
Their legislative compensation reports show median earnings of $365,000 in the Legislature and $145,000 in the executive branch. Their top clients were Craig A. Smith & Associates and Waste Management of Florida, both of which paid an estimated $60,000 to retain the trio for the year.
Municipal clients were another major source of income. The cities of Bartow, Belle Glade, Moore Haven, Okeechobee and Wauchula, as well as the Glades, Hardee, Okeechobee county commissions pitched in five figures each.
The duo of Bob Harris and Emily Bolde at Messer Caparello closed out the year with an estimated $290,000 in earnings — $270,000 of it accumulated through legislative lobbying.
Trial Lawyers Section of the Florida Bar accounted for a third of their earnings in the Legislature, followed by Adtalem Global Education and City College, both of which paid $60,000 throughout 2019.
The Panhandle Area Educational Consortium showed up at $40,000 level, with the Diving Equipment and Marketing Association and the Florida Barber Academy completing the list, providing $20,000 in pay each.
Florida lobbyists and lobbying firms face a Feb. 14 to submit compensation reports covering the fourth quarter.
Breakthrough Insights
The Next 24
Floridians, including first-generation refugees and their families, will hold a news conference celebrating the contribution of refugees and share their stories with state lawmakers as part of Florida Celebrates Refugee Day. The event begins at 11 a.m. in the 4th floor Rotunda.
Sens. Geraldine Thompson and José Javier Rodriguez will hold a news conference alongside construction and agriculture workers and others to advocate for outdoor workers’ inclusion in a bill protecting student-athletes from heat-related illness. The event begins at 11:30 a.m. in the Senate Press Room.
Sen. Lauren Book will kick off the annual “Capitol Walk for Child Safety” to raise awareness of child abuse survivors and her Lauren’s Kids foundation. Participating in the “42 Hours for 42 Million” are Attorney General Ashley Moody, Agriculture Commissioner Fried, and incoming Senate President Simpson, among others. The event begins at 11:45 a.m. on the plaza level of the Capitol.
Sen. Ben Albritton, Rep. Tina Polsky and a bipartisan group of lawmakers representing the area around Lake Okeechobee will join with mayors and local advocates to make an announcement on water quality issues impacting Southwest and South Florida. The news conference begins at noon in the 4th floor Rotunda.
The Florida African American Ministers Alliance will hold a news conference to denounce “attacks” n the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship at 1:30 p.m. in the 4th floor Rotunda.
Also, the following committees will meet.
— The House Health Market Reform Subcommittee will consider a bill that would exempt some medical facilities from the Certificate of Need process when it meets at 8 a.m. in Room 306 of the House Office Building.
— The House Insurance & Banking Subcommittee will consider a bill (HB 771) that would repeal the state’s no-fault auto insurance system when they meet at 8 a.m. in Room 404 of the House Office Building.
— The House PreK-12 Innovation Subcommittee will hear a bill (HB 737) that would require schools to hold a moment of silence. The committee meets at 8 a.m. in Reed Hall in the House Office Building.
— The House Justice Appropriations Subcommittee will take up a bill (HB 199) that would remove the time limit for child sex-abuse victims to initiate criminal cases against their abusers when they meet at 9 a.m. in Morris Hall in the House Office Building.
— The House Workforce Development & Tourism Subcommittee will meet at 9 a.m. in Room 12 of the House Office Building.
— The Senate Agriculture Committee will meet at 9 a.m. in Room 301 of the Senate Office Building.
— The House Agriculture & Natural Resources Subcommittee will meet at noon in Room 12 of the House Office Building.
— The Senate Commerce and Tourism Committee will hear a bill (SB 474) that cut licensing regulations for several occupations when it meets at 9 a.m. in Room 110 of the Senate Office Building.
— The Senate Criminal Justice Committee meets at 9 a.m. in Room 37 of the Senate Office Building.
— The Senate Health Policy Committee will consider recommending confirmation for Department of Health Secretary Scott Rivkees when they meet at 9 a.m. in Room 412 Knott Building.
— The House Higher Education Appropriations Subcommittee will discuss a proposed committee bill (PCB HEA 20-01) that restrict athletic facility sponsorships at state colleges and universities when they meet at 10 a.m. in Room 212 of the Knott Building.
— The House Business & Professions Subcommittee will meet at noon in Room 212 of the Knott Building.
— The House Government Operations & Technology Appropriations Subcommittee will take up a bill that would preempt local regulations on vacation rentals when they meet at noon in Morris Hall in the House Office Building.
— The House Health Care Appropriations Subcommittee meets at noon in Reed Hall in the House Office Building.
— The Senate Banking and Insurance Committee will hear a bill that aims to curb “bad faith” lawsuits against insurance companies when they meet at 12:30 p.m. in Room 412 of the Knott Building.
— The Senate Children, Families and Elder Affairs Committee will meet at 12:30 p.m. in Room 301 of the Senate Office Building.
— The Senate Judiciary Committee will meet at 12:30 p.m. in Room 110 of the Senate Office Building.
— The Senate will hold a floor session. Among the bills being that could come up for a vote a controversial measure that would require at least one parent to sign off before a minor could have abortions. The session begins at 3 p.m. in the Senate chamber.
— The House Children, Families & Seniors Subcommittee meets at 3:30 p.m. in Room 12 of the House Office Building.
— The House Civil Justice Subcommittee meets at 3:30 p.m. in Room 404 of the House Office Building.
— The House Oversight, Transparency & Public Management Subcommittee will consider a bill that would put an amendment on the ballot to repeal public campaign-financing for statewide political candidates. The committee meets at 3:30 p.m. in Morris Hall in the House Office Building.
— The House PreK-12 Appropriations Subcommittee will consider a measure that would require all public schools to have panic alarms. The committee meets at 3:30 p.m. in Reed Hall in the House Office Building.
Full committee agendas, including bills to be considered, are available on the House and Senate websites.
