Easter Weekend is brought to you by these lobbyists and political associations

Beautiful colorful easter eggs on blue wooden background. Easter holiday concept.

Easter 2025 is going to be a big one, and not just for believers.

According to the Florida Retail Federation, Peter Cottontail will be hopping down the bunny trail with a lot more merchandise than just a year ago. A recent National Retail Federation (NRF) survey shows Americans are expected to throw down about $189.26 per person this year on average celebrating Easter. That’s about $12 more per person than last year.

NRF is expecting the nationwide grand total to hit $23.6 billion, a $1.2 billion bump year-over-year and only slightly off the record-setting $24 billion haul two years ago.

More than half of those surveyed said they planned to do their shopping at discount stores. That’s good news for Target and Walmart, both of which have shelves overflowing with baskets, plastic eggs, chocolate bunnies and the weird plastic grass nobody wants but everybody gets.

With customers checking out in droves, the big-box stores don’t have the bandwidth to track legislation or sit through a four-hour committee meeting just to waive in support of legislation working its way through the process — they have people for that!

(Yeah, yeah, we know there’s a lot more to lobbying that … but as they say, ‘you must be present to win!’)

Target’s contract lobbyists include Carlecia Collins, Joseph Salzverg and Jason Unger of GrayRobinson as well as in-house advocate Molly Cagle. Walmart is represented by Mike Corcoran, Jacqueline Corcoran, Noah Corcoran, Matt Blair, Brian Ford, Jeff Hawes, Will Rodriguez and Andrea Tovar of Corcoran Partners.

If it isn’t obvious, this year’s Easter is in April, which feels like a return to normalcy considering that last year was the first March Easter in nearly a decade. But not only is Easter in April, it falls particularly late on the calendar.

There have been a few Easters on or after April 20 this century, including in 2000, when it forced one FlaPol writer to attend church with relatives he barely knew instead of having a birthday party. For what it’s worth, Easter won’t be this late again until 2041.

Is all this calendar talk giving you a headache? Same. The only date we have circled at this point is May 2. The good news is, there are a bazillion calendar apps that will do all the thinking for you.

Google hosts the most commonly used calendar in the world. Google Calendar has more than 500 million unique monthly users and is the official go-to for more than 500,000 businesses worldwide. Just as many of us can’t go a day without Google, the tech giant can’t go a day without representation in Tallahassee.

Their team: Chris Moya of Jones Walker; Bill Rubin, Heather Turnbull, Erica Chanti and Zachary Hubbard of Rubin Turnbull & Associates; and Carlos Trujillo, James Card and Tyler Russell of Continental Strategy.

Of course, Google doesn’t have a monopoly. … Well, they don’t have a monopoly when it comes to calendars. Their biggest competitor is Apple, a company named after the fruit that, according to 17th Century poet John Milton, is responsible for mankind needing a savior in the first place.

Before you smash your iPhone to smithereens for turning the symbol of original sin into one of the most recognizable logos in history, remember that Milton knew about as much as you do about divinely influenced xeriscaping. Odds are the forbidden fruit was actually a fig, which is worse, because who would give up immortality to eat a fig that teaches you about evil? That’s only slightly more appealing than the rancid-rice-with-Keifer-Sutherland route to eternal life.

Also, a fun fact to keep in your pocket during this agriculture-heavy Legislative Session: Prior to 1893, apples tasted at best like a raw potato and at worst like dirt — that’s why the French call potatoes “pommes de terre,” or “apples of the earth.” A potentially more useful nugget: Thanks to marker-selected breeding researchers at institutions such as UF-IFAS, there are modern apple cultivars that not only taste better than dirt, but can thrive in Florida’s subtropical climate.

That aside, Apple Inc. relies on the powerhouse team at The Southern Group (TSG), which finished 2024 in the No. 1 spot on Florida Politics’ annual lobbying firm rankings. The roster: Paul Mitchell, George Anderson, Brian Bautista, Rachel Cone, Nelson Diaz, Chris Dudley, Mercer Fearington, David Hagan, Nicole Kelly, Karis Lockhart, Erin Rock, Clark Smith, Kira Smith, Monte Stevens and Sheela VanHoose. Meanwhile, UF’s massive ag research branch is repped by Mary Ann Hooks and Scott Angle.

Speaking of agriculture, Easter simply wouldn’t be the same without one of Florida’s top exports: sugar.

According to NRF, 89% of shoppers plan to purchase candy on Easter, and all the best candy is, by definition, jam-packed with sugar. Don’t come at us sideways with that alternative sweetener junk. If it isn’t granulated and spelled with an invisible “h,” we want nothing to do with it.

One of the largest sugar-growing operations on our side of the globe is U.S. Sugar. Even if you don’t celebrate the resurrection by chomping down on a sugar-encrusted hunk of marshmallow fluff, the Clewiston-based corporation still likely has a seat at your table for Easter dinner, as the crop rotation down south results in them producing enough fruit and vegetables to feed millions of Americans each year.

They have dozens of lobbyists in their corner, including the team at TSG, as well as Ballard Partners, the No. 1 Florida firm for 2023 and a close No. 2 last year. And, for good measure, U.S. Sugar has deals in place with another Top 5 firm in GrayRobinson, as well as two well regarded mid-majors, Floridian Partners and The Mayernick Group.

The mutilation of chocolate bunnies typically follows an actual meal. According to Delish, lamb is the most traditional of Easter eats, though ham comes in a close second. No matter which you prefer, it will likely be purchased at Publix — the grocery store of choice for true Floridians.

Though it’s one of the largest corporations in the Sunshine State, Publix’s lobbying team is what the Bard would describe as “small but mighty.” It consists of just seven members: in-house lobbyists Thomas Culligan and Tara Chilton, as well as contract lobbyists Teye Carmichael, Steve Crisafulli, Jeff Hartley, Samuel Powell and Jonathan Rees of SBM Partners, the new name for the firm formerly known as Smith Bryan & Myers, which earlier this year merged with the boutique shop run by Crisafulli, a former House Speaker.

For those who don’t feel like spending Sunday in the kitchen, there are plenty of restaurants that will be happy to seat you. The Florida Restaurant & Lodging Association (FRLA) could give you a list of options — the trade group represents every facet of the industry, from diners to fine dining.

Who represents them? Quite a few lobbyists, including Jim Daughton, Warren Husband, Doug Bell, Leslie Dughi, Anna Lewis, Allison Liby-Schoonover, Aimee Diaz Lyon, Andy Palmer and Karl Rasmussen of Metz Husband & Daughton. There’s also an in-house team headed up by FRLA President and CEO Carol Dover.

Egg hunts and hearty meals may be on the agenda for Sunday, but Friday, Saturday and Monday are reserved for travel. Those within a couple of hours of their family’s gathering place will pump some gas and buckle up.

When you head to the pump, there’s a decent chance it’ll be a RaceTrac. The Atlanta-based company operates 581 gas stations nationwide, and nearly half of them are in the Sunshine State. With a vested interest in Florida, they’ve tasked Lori Killinger and Chris Lyon of Lewis Longman & Walker and Stephen Winn of Stephen R. Winn & Associates to keep an eye on things in the Legislature.

If the drive is a little long, it might be better to snag a last-minute plane ticket (good luck with that). And many of those who choose to take off rather than roll out will find themselves aboard an American Airlines or Delta flight.

American Airlines has Jeff Johnston, Amanda Stewart, Anita Berry and Lauren Lange of Johnston & Stewart Government Strategies in the jump seat, while Delta Air Lines’ Tallahassee flight crew includes Nick Iarossi, Ron LaFace, Maicel Green, Jared Rosenstein and Chris Schoonover of Capital City Consulting.

While Delta and American are the icons of commercial air travel, they aren’t the only ones with a presence in the Capitol complex — a fleet of other companies are just as concerned with getting travelers to their destination ahead of the Easter Bunny’s arrival.

Southwest Airlines has Rubin Turnbull & Associates in its corner. The JetBlue crew is staffed by Slater Bayliss, Christopher Chaney, Steve Schale, Stephen Shiver and Sarah Busk Suskey of The Advocacy Partners.

However you plan to celebrate, enjoy the time with family and take advantage of the chance to catch your breath before the final stretch of Session.

Happy Easter!