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And Here It (Florida's Legislative Session) Is! · Conversations: Special Guests with Preston Scott

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: And here we go. It's the third hour, literally turning
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: the page to the rundown. We go to the third hour, Monday,
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: March the third, and that's Jose over there in Studio
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: one A. I am here in Studio one B and
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: joining me. It was so funny because I said to Sally,
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: I said, you're ready, and he just he goes, oh
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: my gosh, it's here, isn't it. Yep? Yeah, the session
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: starts tomorrow.
• 0:25
  Speaker 2: I really thought we had one more week min two
• 0:28
  Speaker 2: and I don't know what it was in my brain clock,
• 0:30
  Speaker 2: but yeah, we are, we are here, Off we go.
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: The setting is what how would you describe the setting
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: for this legislative session as opposed to the previous say
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: five or six when under Rohn DeSantis.
• 0:46
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I think this one is shaping up to be
• 0:48
  Speaker 2: a very intriguing and probably a very interesting session to
• 0:53
  Speaker 2: pay attention to if you're in for the drama.
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: You know.
• 0:57
  Speaker 2: In the prior five six we have had a very
• 1:01
  Speaker 2: big concentration on policy issues, transformational legislative sessions, and things
• 1:08
  Speaker 2: along those lines. I think while policy is certainly going
• 1:12
  Speaker 2: to be in the middle of all of this, this year,
• 1:15
  Speaker 2: it's just going to be downstream of the real dynamic,
• 1:18
  Speaker 2: which I think is the relationship or lack thereof, between
• 1:23
  Speaker 2: the governor's team and office and the governor and the
• 1:26
  Speaker 2: legislative chambers. And we saw that kind of brought to
• 1:31
  Speaker 2: bear publicly as they debated and dialogued on the special
• 1:36
  Speaker 2: session recently.
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: Is it possible that important things don't get done because,
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: let's just say, the three headed beast of the Governor,
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: the House, and the Senate can't get along.
• 1:51
  Speaker 2: I think it's always the case that stuff won't get
• 1:54
  Speaker 2: done because of relational dynamics between chambers and the what
• 1:59
  Speaker 2: we call the plaza, the governor's office and the other
• 2:02
  Speaker 2: cabinet officials. I think that happens every session, and that's
• 2:06
  Speaker 2: even in years when they get along. There's just the
• 2:08
  Speaker 2: dynamics of horse trading. What are one chambers priorities or
• 2:12
  Speaker 2: the plaza's priorities over the others, and how does that
• 2:15
  Speaker 2: all shake up? I think the relationships are going to
• 2:19
  Speaker 2: play a little bit more of a role between the
• 2:23
  Speaker 2: two chambers and the governor as opposed to the governor
• 2:27
  Speaker 2: in one chamber versus the other, which is sort of
• 2:30
  Speaker 2: what we have seen in not just run to Santis' term,
• 2:33
  Speaker 2: but dating back to Rick Scott and others, for those.
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: That might be new to Florida and for those that
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: might have forgotten, kind of break down the makeup of
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: the legislature.
• 2:43
  Speaker 2: Yeah, sure, so, kind of set the table here. You've
• 2:45
  Speaker 2: got one hundred and sixty members of the legislature.
• 2:48
  Speaker 1: You've got one.
• 2:48
  Speaker 2: Hundred and twenty House members currently, eighty six Republicans, thirty
• 2:52
  Speaker 2: three Democrats. There is one vacancy and that is Joel
• 2:56
  Speaker 2: Rudman's seed. He resigned to run in the primary for
• 3:00
  Speaker 2: the congressional district that Jimmy Petronis won the primary. So
• 3:04
  Speaker 2: there is also going to be one more vacancy coming,
• 3:08
  Speaker 2: and that is Debbie Mayfield, who will resign to run
• 3:12
  Speaker 2: for the Senate seat that Randy Fine is resigning for
• 3:16
  Speaker 2: to be or run for Congress. On the Senate side,
• 3:20
  Speaker 2: you've got forty Senators, twenty eight RS, eleven Democrats. One
• 3:24
  Speaker 2: vacancy that's Geraldine Thompson, she passed away unexpectedly. There is
• 3:30
  Speaker 2: going to be one more vacancy coming, that's Randy Fine
• 3:33
  Speaker 2: when he has to resign for officially for the congressional race.
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: Given the margins the way that they are. The vacancies
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: are basically irrelevant.
• 3:42
  Speaker 3: They are irrelevant.
• 3:43
  Speaker 2: And also the vacancies come in heavy art districts, so
• 3:48
  Speaker 2: it's very unlikely that any of those districts are going
• 3:52
  Speaker 2: to flip. And even in the off season, the flips
• 3:55
  Speaker 2: that occurred came the other way, so you had a
• 3:58
  Speaker 2: couple of Democrats that were elected actually flip parties and
• 4:01
  Speaker 2: are now Republicans. So Republicans have a super majority in
• 4:07
  Speaker 2: both chambers. There is one constitutional mandate, yet one pass
• 4:11
  Speaker 2: a balanced budget. So the budget for the current year,
• 4:15
  Speaker 2: the current fiscal year that we're in, is a round
• 4:17
  Speaker 2: one hundred and eighteen billion dollars. The governor submitted a
• 4:20
  Speaker 2: budget proposal, which he does prior to the session each year,
• 4:24
  Speaker 2: and that proposal is an actual cut, and we're not
• 4:28
  Speaker 2: talking about a cut in the projected growth or anything
• 4:31
  Speaker 2: along those lines. It's an actual cut of three billion
• 4:34
  Speaker 2: dollars one hundred and fifteen billion dollar budget. The majority
• 4:38
  Speaker 2: of those cuts are coming in what we would call
• 4:40
  Speaker 2: the federal portion of that budget, you know, the stuff
• 4:44
  Speaker 2: that comes from Washington for Medicaid reimbursement and all of
• 4:47
  Speaker 2: those things. The general fund revenues come in at about
• 4:51
  Speaker 2: fifty billion dollars in his proposal, But that's just a proposal.
• 4:55
  Speaker 2: The legislature will submit a formal budget with all of
• 4:59
  Speaker 2: the items and everything to him at the tail end
• 5:02
  Speaker 2: of session.
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: Salnuzzo is the executive director of Consumer's Defense. Something we
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: in the excitement of getting started here, we failed to
• 5:10
  Speaker 1: mention and has followed the state legislature for what decades?
• 5:17
  Speaker 2: Oh, I'm in my I think twenty fifth year.
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: Zee.
• 5:23
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's amazing how fast it all flies by. But
• 5:28
  Speaker 2: still enjoying the heck out of it.
• 5:31
  Speaker 1: We were talking about the budget and I want to
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: I want to start theory on this segment as well. Sal.
• 5:36
  Speaker 1: Some would say, if my memory serves me right, it
• 5:38
  Speaker 1: always seems as though the budget gets submitted and it's
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: at the tail end of the session and there's horse
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: trading involved. Is that why we don't get the budget
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: done at the front end of the session and it
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: waits till the end because it's part of the horse
• 5:51
  Speaker 1: trading process.
• 5:52
  Speaker 3: Oh?
• 5:53
  Speaker 2: Probably, And a lot of times. What they will do
• 5:56
  Speaker 2: is they will have the appropriations process begin, but also
• 6:01
  Speaker 2: recognize that it's more than just a like, all right,
• 6:06
  Speaker 2: we're going to spend ten billion dollars on education and
• 6:09
  Speaker 2: fifteen billion dollars on corrections. There are hundreds and hundreds
• 6:14
  Speaker 2: of line items that relate to policy. So if a
• 6:19
  Speaker 2: particular policy bill passes and has a fiscal line to it,
• 6:23
  Speaker 2: a cost that has to go into the budget. A
• 6:27
  Speaker 2: member can submit an appropriation's request for a particular project
• 6:32
  Speaker 2: in their district and that has to go into the process.
• 6:35
  Speaker 2: So that alone takes several, you know, iterations in weeks,
• 6:40
  Speaker 2: and it has to run through the committee process, It
• 6:42
  Speaker 2: has to go before both chambers, it has to go
• 6:45
  Speaker 2: through a conference committee that usually takes a week to
• 6:49
  Speaker 2: a week and a half, and then they have the
• 6:51
  Speaker 2: three day cooling off period. So the choreography of that
• 6:55
  Speaker 2: just is something where it always kind of makes sense
• 6:58
  Speaker 2: to do it towards the tail end, especially when you
• 7:00
  Speaker 2: know your passing bills that are going to have an
• 7:02
  Speaker 2: impact on that budget.
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: Let's help listeners understand the cut that's proposed in the budget.
• 7:07
  Speaker 1: There are some economists that are suggesting Florida is going
• 7:11
  Speaker 1: to not have as much revenue in the coming years
• 7:13
  Speaker 1: for the rest of the decade, in part because of
• 7:16
  Speaker 1: migration numbers slowing down into the state. Even though we
• 7:20
  Speaker 1: are seeing record tourism continue, which obviously keeps everyone happy,
• 7:25
  Speaker 1: but as well, there's a federal component to this as well.
• 7:28
  Speaker 1: So help us understand the proposal that the governor's making
• 7:31
  Speaker 1: where that money's coming from for the cuts.
• 7:33
  Speaker 2: Yeah, so you've got, first off, it is a fiscally
• 7:38
  Speaker 2: very conservative budget, and you're right. I know, Florida TaxWatch
• 7:41
  Speaker 2: and some others have put out numbers and analyzes that
• 7:45
  Speaker 2: show that not this year and maybe not next year,
• 7:49
  Speaker 2: but when you look at the three to five year
• 7:51
  Speaker 2: time horizon, the kind of stratospheric growth that Florida has
• 7:57
  Speaker 2: achieved at some point a plateau or EBB a bit,
• 8:02
  Speaker 2: and that's going to have implications on the economy of
• 8:05
  Speaker 2: the state. And for something like medicaid. Let's look at Medicaid.
• 8:09
  Speaker 2: So Medicaid is a half and half, the state ponies
• 8:13
  Speaker 2: up fifty percent and the federal government ponies up fifty percent.
• 8:17
  Speaker 2: Florida addresses this through what's called a managed care program.
• 8:21
  Speaker 2: If you're in the Medicaid program, you're placed into a
• 8:24
  Speaker 2: managed care program and the federal government puts fifty percent
• 8:27
  Speaker 2: of the cost in there. So if those numbers are
• 8:32
  Speaker 2: going to kind of EBB a little bit, or we're
• 8:35
  Speaker 2: moving people off of the medicaid rules the amount of
• 8:39
  Speaker 2: money that we're going to need from the Feds. And
• 8:42
  Speaker 2: it's not just Medicaid, it's transportation dollars and other things.
• 8:45
  Speaker 2: But that's just one example of where those reductions generally
• 8:49
  Speaker 2: seem to be coming from. There's also some things in
• 8:52
  Speaker 2: the environmental space where the governor has been proposing that
• 8:56
  Speaker 2: the state take control of some things that the FEDS
• 8:59
  Speaker 2: have just been just not doing, whether it's the Everglades
• 9:03
  Speaker 2: or the Herbert Hoover Dyke down at Lake Okachobee and
• 9:07
  Speaker 2: some other elements there. So that's kind of a little
• 9:09
  Speaker 2: bit of a top level review there.
• 9:10
  Speaker 1: Sound News and with Consumers Defense, my guest, the legislative
• 9:13
  Speaker 1: session starts tomorrow. The state of the state precedes at all.
• 9:17
  Speaker 2: Yeah, And to our point from the first segment, with
• 9:21
  Speaker 2: all of the dynamics at play, I'm very interested in
• 9:25
  Speaker 2: tuning in on you can watch it on the Florida
• 9:28
  Speaker 2: Channel commer dot org. And I'm really intrigued at the
• 9:33
  Speaker 2: governor's positions on certain things and how the legislature responds.
• 9:37
  Speaker 2: Even in that context.
• 9:39
  Speaker 1: Bills, they've spent a lot of time in committee weeks,
• 9:43
  Speaker 1: this is the stage set or are there still more
• 9:46
  Speaker 1: bills to be filed?
• 9:47
  Speaker 2: Well, So the bill filing deadline was Friday, February twenty
• 9:52
  Speaker 2: eighth for the vast, vast majority of bills. So unless
• 9:58
  Speaker 2: it's a what they call a proposed committee bill or
• 10:01
  Speaker 2: the chamber what they call waves the rule, all of
• 10:05
  Speaker 2: the bills had to have been submitted by Friday. When
• 10:09
  Speaker 2: I checked at the end of the day, there were
• 10:12
  Speaker 2: one eight hundred and twenty four bills filed. Now, they
• 10:16
  Speaker 2: can be very very general, a bill related to education,
• 10:20
  Speaker 2: and that will oftentimes become what they call a train bill.
• 10:23
  Speaker 2: A lot of stuff related in that field arena will
• 10:26
  Speaker 2: get added to it as it moves through committee. But
• 10:29
  Speaker 2: then there's like super super specifics, one specific ones. I
• 10:32
  Speaker 2: saw one entitled Building and Plumbing Permits for the use
• 10:36
  Speaker 2: of on site sewage treatment and disposal systems. So you
• 10:39
  Speaker 2: could see kind of the disparity in how bills kind
• 10:44
  Speaker 2: of are. You got one or two page bills, You've
• 10:47
  Speaker 2: got several hundred page bills. But one other thing that
• 10:50
  Speaker 2: I'll mention between the two chambers, which is important. Each
• 10:53
  Speaker 2: House member only has seven bill slots not including their
• 10:58
  Speaker 2: appropriations bills, so they only can be the prime sponsor
• 11:01
  Speaker 2: on seven policy bills, while senators can file as many
• 11:04
  Speaker 2: as they like.
• 11:06
  Speaker 1: The mechanism for whittling this down as bills are filed,
• 11:11
  Speaker 1: does leadership in the House and the Senate look at
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: a bill and go, oh, yeah, we're doing that one,
• 11:15
  Speaker 1: or do they wait until they're all filed and then
• 11:17
  Speaker 1: talk about them.
• 11:18
  Speaker 2: Oh? I would say that the leadership is almost certainly
• 11:22
  Speaker 2: involved in that process before.
• 11:25
  Speaker 1: They get so they're guiding the process.
• 11:27
  Speaker 2: Yes that I mean, you've got fifty some brand new
• 11:30
  Speaker 2: members of the legislature as well. Yes they've had orientation,
• 11:35
  Speaker 2: Yes they're being mentored. But there is a degree of
• 11:39
  Speaker 2: choreography for the committee agendas and the way that bills
• 11:43
  Speaker 2: are referenced and moved. That one of leadership's main responsibilities
• 11:47
  Speaker 2: is to make sure that all of those things are
• 11:50
  Speaker 2: shepherded through, and that starts even before they get filed.
• 11:55
  Speaker 1: The process then involves passing a bill through committees and
• 11:59
  Speaker 1: then getting full votes, having companion bills on each side,
• 12:03
  Speaker 1: and then it gets to a governor.
• 12:04
  Speaker 3: Yep, so it's got to pass both chambers identical.
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: Most bills have a certain number of committees they have
• 12:12
  Speaker 1: to go through or do they vary?
• 12:14
  Speaker 2: It varies, And there's a kind of a if your
• 12:16
  Speaker 2: bill is fast tracked, it'll be one or two committees
• 12:20
  Speaker 2: if that's a priority. If your bill most bills have
• 12:23
  Speaker 2: three maybe four committees.
• 12:25
  Speaker 1: Can I stop you priority according to.
• 12:27
  Speaker 2: According to the leadership, the governor, what have you gotcha?
• 12:31
  Speaker 2: If it's got four or more, it's likely something that's
• 12:34
  Speaker 2: either gotta get vetted a lot more or it's going
• 12:39
  Speaker 2: to be a slog.
• 12:40
  Speaker 3: To get it through. That's a good way to put it.
• 12:43
  Speaker 1: Okay, Yeah, are there bills of note in your opinion
• 12:47
  Speaker 1: that don't have companions on the other side.
• 12:49
  Speaker 2: Yeah, there's a few, and i'll kind of when we
• 12:51
  Speaker 2: get into the topics, we can kind of articulate a
• 12:53
  Speaker 2: few of them. And that doesn't mean necessarily that they
• 12:58
  Speaker 2: won't have something that happens that gets a that gets
• 13:03
  Speaker 2: language into that chamber ahead of you know, the time,
• 13:06
  Speaker 2: or gets it through. It just means that at the
• 13:09
  Speaker 2: time of bill filing, there was only one chamber that
• 13:12
  Speaker 2: had had filed this, and there's ways in procedural maneuvers
• 13:18
  Speaker 2: that can bring the other chambers bill over and then
• 13:22
  Speaker 2: kind of move it through either the committees or directly
• 13:26
  Speaker 2: on the floor, even which happens occasionally. As you heard,
• 13:28
  Speaker 2: for friends, better than a thousand bills filed. So sal
• 13:32
  Speaker 2: has boiled this down into things that are the most
• 13:34
  Speaker 2: important for you to know about. Let's at least cover technology. Yeah,
• 13:38
  Speaker 2: So what I did was I went through all eighteen
• 13:40
  Speaker 2: hundred and twenty four bill titles, I didn't read them all,
• 13:43
  Speaker 2: and try to get what would be the most appropriate
• 13:47
  Speaker 2: to discuss that kind of impact the most people. And
• 13:49
  Speaker 2: I've got some buckets that we can kind of talk through.
• 13:52
  Speaker 2: The first is technology, and there's a couple that I
• 13:55
  Speaker 2: think are notable HB three sixty nine or cent A
• 13:58
  Speaker 2: Bill seven two from Rep. McFarlane and Senator Danny Burgess
• 14:02
  Speaker 2: AI Providence, and there's going to be a noted increase.
• 14:08
  Speaker 3: In the.
• 14:10
  Speaker 2: Use of the legislative process to govern and regulate artificial intelligence.
• 14:15
  Speaker 2: This is one step, and it would require any platform
• 14:19
  Speaker 2: that's hosting AI related content to be able to discuss
• 14:24
  Speaker 2: what is the source material of that content for anything
• 14:29
  Speaker 2: like liability, defamation, things along those lines. And the other
• 14:33
  Speaker 2: one in the AI spaces is really intriguing from Rep.
• 14:36
  Speaker 2: Miller and Blazingolia prohibiting the use of artificial intelligence to
• 14:41
  Speaker 2: detect firearms in public places HB four ninety one, Senate
• 14:46
  Speaker 2: Bill five sixty two. I think this is really a
• 14:48
  Speaker 2: first step in this legislature saying, hold up, we need
• 14:53
  Speaker 2: to make sure that Fourth Amendment rights are not violated.
• 14:57
  Speaker 2: This is very sticky and complicated stuff at all of that,
• 15:01
  Speaker 2: and I'm paying particular attention to that one healthcare, health care,
• 15:05
  Speaker 2: And I think I want to also, I know we
• 15:06
  Speaker 2: jumped into technology. I want to point out that, like
• 15:09
  Speaker 2: everything that we're talking through right now are bills that
• 15:12
  Speaker 2: are notable that have been filed now. Some of those
• 15:16
  Speaker 2: will go through and pass, others will monitor as they go,
• 15:20
  Speaker 2: some will die, some will go on life support. So
• 15:23
  Speaker 2: I think it's important to know that like this doesn't
• 15:26
  Speaker 2: mean that all of these are.
• 15:28
  Speaker 3: Set and are going to sail.
• 15:29
  Speaker 2: Sure in the healthcare space, which is absolutely one of
• 15:32
  Speaker 2: the priority areas for the House Speaker. He has indications
• 15:37
  Speaker 2: from what perspective in a number of kind of public
• 15:41
  Speaker 2: statements and speeches that he's given he wants to continue
• 15:45
  Speaker 2: to push the envelope on making health care for Floridians better,
• 15:52
  Speaker 2: more efficient, more affordable, more access. We've talked you and
• 15:57
  Speaker 2: I in the segments about the shore that we have
• 16:01
  Speaker 2: for practitioners simply because we're a big growth state. We
• 16:05
  Speaker 2: need more doctors and surgeons and dentists and everything else.
• 16:09
  Speaker 2: So all of those are going to come into play
• 16:11
  Speaker 2: with what they propose for policy reforms in this and
• 16:16
  Speaker 2: next session under Speaker Perez. So you've got a few
• 16:21
  Speaker 2: to note. You've got HB ten sixty seven, SB eleven thirty.
• 16:25
  Speaker 2: It's Jeff Holcomb and Senator Avella Brian Abla. A portable
• 16:31
  Speaker 2: benefits program for independent contractors. Now, this one's very intriguing
• 16:34
  Speaker 2: to me because as I read it, it kind of
• 16:36
  Speaker 2: struck a light in my head. It would allow employers
• 16:40
  Speaker 2: who have independent contractors to set up a fund that
• 16:44
  Speaker 2: would allow those employees to access the money to pay
• 16:48
  Speaker 2: for health insurance premiums. And so what it does is
• 16:51
  Speaker 2: it creates a way that that independent contractor can take
• 16:56
  Speaker 2: those monies with them should they go on to another
• 16:59
  Speaker 2: job or kind of handle multiple accounts or things along those.
• 17:03
  Speaker 1: These are ten ninety nine workers.
• 17:04
  Speaker 2: Yes exactly. Another one that's going to be very very
• 17:09
  Speaker 2: interesting because it pits some associations and chambers against each other.
• 17:15
  Speaker 2: Here HB twenty one, SB eighty two dental therapy. It
• 17:19
  Speaker 2: has popped up a number of times. We have massive
• 17:22
  Speaker 2: shortages of dental care providers, dentists and whatnot. This would
• 17:27
  Speaker 2: create an occupational category more than a dental hygienist, less
• 17:32
  Speaker 2: than a dentist. It would create a set of procedures
• 17:36
  Speaker 2: that that classification could perform, and it would also and
• 17:41
  Speaker 2: panel or allow the state university systems around the state
• 17:45
  Speaker 2: to develop the curriculum for it. The Florida Dental Association
• 17:50
  Speaker 2: has fought this tooth and nail for years, unintended, pun intended,
• 17:55
  Speaker 2: and it's like the same type of thing we saw
• 17:58
  Speaker 2: with the Florida Medical Association fighting the physician assistant programs
• 18:03
  Speaker 2: years ago. Another big issue is going to be scope
• 18:08
  Speaker 2: of practice expansion. What can existing practitioners do that they
• 18:14
  Speaker 2: couldn't do prior. So You've got a number of bills
• 18:17
  Speaker 2: in that sense. Our own Senator Corey Simon's got one
• 18:21
  Speaker 2: SB two fifty more prescribing authority for psychologists. You've got
• 18:27
  Speaker 2: Representative Alex Rizzo with HB four forty nine, which would
• 18:31
  Speaker 2: expand the scope of practice for optometrists, which we have
• 18:34
  Speaker 2: always called the eyeball Wars because the ophthalmologists fight that.
• 18:39
  Speaker 2: You've also got again, Corey Simon and our representative Jason
• 18:43
  Speaker 2: chof further expanding scope for advanced practice registered nurses to
• 18:50
  Speaker 2: move them into more mental health screening, along with some
• 18:54
  Speaker 2: bills from Dana Trebalsi and Alexis Klatude.
• 18:58
  Speaker 1: Forty one minutes after. We're going to run just a
• 18:59
  Speaker 1: little long in this segment because we promised to tee
• 19:04
  Speaker 1: up this session the best we could go.
• 19:08
  Speaker 3: All right, let's start.
• 19:09
  Speaker 2: I'm going to talk around housing and insurance, so I'm
• 19:11
  Speaker 2: going to talk really fast, okay, Senator. Andngolia has got
• 19:15
  Speaker 2: a proposal to raise homestead exemptions to seventy five thousand dollars.
• 19:19
  Speaker 2: You also have the governor wanting to eliminate property taxes altogether.
• 19:23
  Speaker 2: There's a separate bill that would create a study to
• 19:26
  Speaker 2: figure out how to do that without having to raise
• 19:29
  Speaker 2: the sales tax to a rate that we just wouldn't
• 19:32
  Speaker 2: wouldn't like and want.
• 19:34
  Speaker 1: How much of that depends on cities and counties figuring
• 19:38
  Speaker 1: out their way of maneuvering through this, or does it
• 19:40
  Speaker 1: take all that into account?
• 19:41
  Speaker 2: Oh, we would have to take all of that into
• 19:43
  Speaker 2: account because the cities and counties are going to be
• 19:46
  Speaker 2: the most hard hit absolutely going through that. Okay, you've
• 19:49
  Speaker 2: got a number of things in the housing arena. That's
• 19:52
  Speaker 2: also a speaker priority SB eighty four from J. Collins
• 19:57
  Speaker 2: Housing for agricultural workers. That was something that passed last year,
• 20:00
  Speaker 2: but the governor vetoed it. It's going to come back
• 20:03
  Speaker 2: with some added protections based on the immigration concerns there.
• 20:06
  Speaker 2: You've also got some bills on incentives for the development
• 20:10
  Speaker 2: of mid range housing and pre certification for certain types
• 20:15
  Speaker 2: of structures to get them into the supply quicker. That's
• 20:18
  Speaker 2: HB nine to twenty three. You've got HB four to
• 20:21
  Speaker 2: oh one from Bernie Jackas allowing locals to designate specific
• 20:26
  Speaker 2: areas only for residential use. What he's trying to do
• 20:30
  Speaker 2: is get these big asset managers out who are buying
• 20:34
  Speaker 2: up entire developments and turning them into rental developments. HbA
• 20:39
  Speaker 2: forty one and a couple of others. Adam Battana a
• 20:42
  Speaker 2: forty five or ninety day notice for the cancelation of
• 20:46
  Speaker 2: property insurance policy. I think this is important because the
• 20:50
  Speaker 2: insurance industry got almost all of what they wanted in
• 20:54
  Speaker 2: the tort reform battles of the last two cycles. I
• 20:57
  Speaker 2: think legislators are beginning to turn an I on the
• 21:02
  Speaker 2: insurers and say, Okay, why are where are rates at?
• 21:05
  Speaker 2: And if they're not coming down, what are you doing
• 21:08
  Speaker 2: about it? And this these servings, and that's gonna that's
• 21:11
  Speaker 2: going to be an area of concern of the legislature
• 21:15
  Speaker 2: on the insurance arena. Shift over to public safety. There's
• 21:19
  Speaker 2: a few things in the firearm related arena that I
• 21:22
  Speaker 2: think are important. HB thirty one, SB five forty eight
• 21:26
  Speaker 2: from Joel Rudman and Joe Gruder's open kerry statewide. The
• 21:30
  Speaker 2: governor said he wants it, he would like to sign it.
• 21:32
  Speaker 2: You've got HB sixty twenty five an SB nine fifty two.
• 21:37
  Speaker 2: Miller and Anglia repeals the gun restrictions in emergency so
• 21:42
  Speaker 2: locals will pass these Like in a state emergency, these
• 21:46
  Speaker 2: restrictions apply. You can't buy mo or things like that.
• 21:50
  Speaker 2: This would lift all of that. You've also got Senator
• 21:53
  Speaker 2: and Golia repealing the twenty one and over to purchase
• 21:57
  Speaker 2: a gun law. The thing that happened after Park They
• 22:00
  Speaker 2: want to go back, and I do believe there's litigation.
• 22:03
  Speaker 1: Oh, there's a court case in New York.
• 22:05
  Speaker 2: I believe, so this will kind of probably message in
• 22:09
  Speaker 2: alignment with that. And then I was real excited on
• 22:13
  Speaker 2: this bill from Senator de segli S three point fifty
• 22:18
  Speaker 2: on unlawful speed because I thought it was going to
• 22:20
  Speaker 2: raise a speed limit, but it actually makes it such
• 22:22
  Speaker 2: that you can drive lower and not get a ticket
• 22:25
  Speaker 2: for driving too slow. I think that's a bad idea.
• 22:28
  Speaker 1: I think it's a terrible idea.
• 22:29
  Speaker 3: But we'll see what happens, all right.
• 22:31
  Speaker 2: Moving on into government HB seven thirty one eliminating DEI
• 22:35
  Speaker 2: in all state agencies and medical institutions that have a
• 22:39
  Speaker 2: university attached to them. Big big deal. Pay attention, Lauren Mellow.
• 22:43
  Speaker 2: There one I love is the Florida doge at HB
• 22:49
  Speaker 2: thirteen twenty five, Senate Bill seventeen fifty six. I believe
• 22:52
  Speaker 2: in there's a couple of others also.
• 22:54
  Speaker 3: Rep.
• 22:55
  Speaker 2: Esposito's got a big bill on this. It would I
• 22:57
  Speaker 2: believe there's part of it that would eliminate the liluten
• 23:00
  Speaker 2: and governor That's what I was going to ask you about.
• 23:02
  Speaker 2: It would add in a permanent doze. Part or agency
• 23:07
  Speaker 2: within the state currently and I know this because I
• 23:10
  Speaker 2: was appointed by the governor too. If there's a Florida
• 23:13
  Speaker 2: Government Efficiency Task Force that meets every five years, this
• 23:17
  Speaker 2: would make it basically every single year, all the time.
• 23:20
  Speaker 1: One officer that would eventually be elected exactly, and that's exceptional.
• 23:24
  Speaker 1: You've got some stuff on the election front with respect
• 23:28
  Speaker 1: to term limits for county commissioners and school boards. Senator
• 23:32
  Speaker 1: and Golia. You're going to hear his name a lot.
• 23:33
  Speaker 1: He's filed a ton of bills. That one is SB
• 23:37
  Speaker 1: eight h two going to eight years for county and
• 23:41
  Speaker 1: school boards. But he's also got a bill to create
• 23:47
  Speaker 1: clarity on legislative term limits, which would basically make it
• 23:51
  Speaker 1: such where you can serve sixteen years and that.
• 23:54
  Speaker 2: Is that is it eight in the House, eight in
• 23:57
  Speaker 2: the Senate. You can't sit out a cycle and then
• 24:01
  Speaker 2: come back. We've had instances of that over the years,
• 24:04
  Speaker 2: so this would provide clarity to that and kind of
• 24:08
  Speaker 2: settle it once and for all. You've got HB fifteen
• 24:12
  Speaker 2: seventy one and SB four twenty from Dean Black and
• 24:15
  Speaker 2: Clay Yarborough preempting local governments on DEI. So let's get
• 24:19
  Speaker 2: it all out of municipals as well, and then a
• 24:22
  Speaker 2: few that I'm gonna kind of land on the other
• 24:24
  Speaker 2: and I think there is got a minute left, all right.
• 24:27
  Speaker 2: SB seven eighty two from Jason Pizzo mandates e verify
• 24:31
  Speaker 2: for every employer in the state, regardless of size. Currently,
• 24:36
  Speaker 2: if you have more than twenty five employees, you do
• 24:39
  Speaker 2: not have to perform the e verify more then or
• 24:43
  Speaker 2: less then, uh, if you have less than twenty five employees,
• 24:47
  Speaker 2: I'm sorry. If you have twenty five employees or more,
• 24:49
  Speaker 2: you're mandated to do everify. Twenty less than twenty five,
• 24:52
  Speaker 2: you don't. This creates I mean, just the loophole is easy.
• 24:58
  Speaker 1: But you still have a respect sponsibility to know that
• 25:01
  Speaker 1: you're hiring legal right here and you've got.
• 25:04
  Speaker 3: To do the I nine form.
• 25:06
  Speaker 2: But that is it is so easy to kind of
• 25:08
  Speaker 2: get through the get around that that you're going to see.
• 25:13
  Speaker 2: You've seen a lot of that happen. Plus, if you've
• 25:17
  Speaker 2: got a company with thirty employees and your subject to everify,
• 25:21
  Speaker 2: they just create two companies off of that, and then
• 25:24
  Speaker 2: each of those only have fifteen employees and you're not
• 25:27
  Speaker 2: subject to it. So it's a loophole to close that,
• 25:30
  Speaker 2: and I think it's incredibly important to do so. A
• 25:33
  Speaker 2: bill from a Democrat, and it's a bill from a
• 25:36
  Speaker 2: Senate Democrat, and I'm going to land on my favorite
• 25:40
  Speaker 2: bill of the year, HB nine twenty four Toby or Overdoff,
• 25:45
  Speaker 2: mandating the instruction of cursive writing by the end of
• 25:50
  Speaker 2: grade five. I love this bill. I just want to
• 25:54
  Speaker 2: see it go through. I think it's a lost art
• 25:56
  Speaker 2: and we've got to get back to it.
• 25:58
  Speaker 1: Nice. Can't wait to start fun next week.
• 26:01
  Speaker 2: We are gonna have a lot of fun this session.
• 26:03
  Speaker 2: It's gonna be it's gonna be really, really interesting, and
• 26:05
  Speaker 2: I'm really looking forward to it.
• 26:07
  Speaker 1: Thanks for the time.
• 26:07
  Speaker 3: Always a pleasure.
• 26:08
  Speaker 1: Sal Newzoh with Consumers Defense. My guest. It's The Morning
• 26:11
  Speaker 1: Show with Preston Scott M.