News and Government Affairs

FPMA,
 
Thank you once again to Missy Timmins for providing us with our Session report and for all of her hard work on our behalf.  This session begins its 60 days (if it stays on track) today.  Similar to previous years, thousands of bills are filed with only hundreds passing to become law.  In 2019, one of the lowest passage rate years yet, some 200 bills made it to law.  This year we have a bunch of things on our radar and tracking list as seen in the attached report.
 
You know and have heard it before, each session has its own identity.  This one will likely have a lot of election issues spinning around it so keep your eyes open for strategies related to that.  As a matter of fact, the State has proposed $6.2 million for election funding that will help keep all 67 counties up to par in areas like cybersecurity.  Don’t forget Amendment 4 (Felon voting rights) didn’t get finished and judges ruled some things as late as this past October.  Water quality is always a high priority and you will see that in our tracking but just know that algae and red tide are going to be on the topic lists.  One that is late to the game is E-Verify which Governor Desantis would like to see employers using to verify employment eligibility.  Gun bills are all the rage again, too, with probably a dozen or so filed already including many that are the opposite of others.  If you want to see the entire list of bills click here https://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bills/2020 .
 
As many of you know there were some changes at FDACS this year.  Bureau Chief Sarah Oglesby and Assistant Division Director Davis Daiker are no longer with DACS.  Assistant Chief Tamara James took over for Sarah in interim and a new person is moving to that seat now from another Division.  Courtney Frazier, formerly DACS Legal Counsel, is now Assistant Division Director to AES Director Kelly Friend.  We welcome the new folks in to their new jobs respectively and say goodbye to Sarah and Davis who have moved on to new jobs in the private sector. 
 
As far as we know, this year won’t be fireworks and bombshells for our industry.  We are keeping close tabs and working with DACS on issues pertaining to us.  We have plenty to watch and plenty to work on through our usual channels.  We will keep you apprised and if something pops up, be ready for us to call you in for the effort.
 
I hope to see you all in a few weeks at the FPMA Expo in Orlando!
 
Sincerely,
Sean Brantley and Suzanne Graham
FPMA GAC Co-Chairs

Sean Brantley Suzanne Graham FPMA GAC Co-Chairs