Latest / Conversations: Special Guests with Preston Scott / The Florida Legislative Session Preview ... Sort Of

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The Florida Legislative Session Preview ... Sort Of · Conversations: Special Guests with Preston Scott

• 0:04
  Speaker 1: And so we begin the third hour the Morning Show
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: with Preston Scott. You might not have noticed it, but
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: we started changing our count on the program back in
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: the final weeks of the show. Instead of talking about
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: the number of days we're being held to hostage, I
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: started counting down the days to deliverance. And so we
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: are now seven days away from inauguration.
• 0:35
  Speaker 2: From the what's his name, Mel Gibson in Braveheart Yell
• 0:39
  Speaker 2: at Freedom. Yes, yeah boy, we're a week away. We
• 0:44
  Speaker 2: will celebrate it when we come back after being off
• 0:47
  Speaker 2: next Monday. But it is inauguration day, and you know
• 0:51
  Speaker 2: the voice Salnuza with us. He is executive director of
• 0:54
  Speaker 2: Consumer's Defense. And good to see you again, sir. Happy
• 0:57
  Speaker 2: New Year, Happy New Year to you, although according to
• 1:00
  Speaker 2: Larry David, you're not allowed to say Happy New Year
• 1:03
  Speaker 2: after the seventh of January. I was told this, so
• 1:05
  Speaker 2: you know.
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: And of course I don't care what Lady David has
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: to say, and maybe either Yeah, when I see somebody
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: that I haven't seen since before the New Year, then
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: when I see them and greet them the first time
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: after that's my rule.
• 1:18
  Speaker 2: I'm still doing emails with Happy New Year to you.
• 1:20
  Speaker 2: If it's a first email.
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: Yes, yep, that's what that's called courtesy. Anyway, let's start
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: with some things that I think are maybe a little
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: bit outside the legislative world, even though we're fast approaching
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: the legislative session where we'll spend most of our time today.
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: But who's going to pick to be the replacement for
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: Mark Rubio? Who will governor around De Santa select.
• 1:45
  Speaker 2: It is definitely the sixty four thousand dollars question of
• 1:48
  Speaker 2: the week. Now, DeSantis did say the governor said he
• 1:51
  Speaker 2: wanted to make the pick before the inauguration, So we're
• 1:55
  Speaker 2: looking at sometime this week. And I think if you
• 2:00
  Speaker 2: put all of the names in the mix, you still
• 2:01
  Speaker 2: got Ashley Moody, You've got Lar Trump, You've got James
• 2:07
  Speaker 2: up Meyer's chief of staff. An interesting name popped up
• 2:10
  Speaker 2: over the past week, and that is Congressman Corey Mills
• 2:15
  Speaker 2: from over in the Atlantic side. He is a decorated veteran.
• 2:19
  Speaker 2: He is getting a lot of notoriety, and he publicly
• 2:22
  Speaker 2: stated that regardless of who the governor picks, he plans
• 2:26
  Speaker 2: to run for the seat in two years when it's
• 2:27
  Speaker 2: up for reelection, So that could go into the mix.
• 2:31
  Speaker 2: I think if we set all of the politics aside
• 2:35
  Speaker 2: and just look at kind of the dynamics of Florida
• 2:39
  Speaker 2: and try to make an objective selection. I think if
• 2:43
  Speaker 2: I were making the choice or advising, it would likely
• 2:47
  Speaker 2: be the Attorney General Ashley Moody appoint her to the
• 2:50
  Speaker 2: Senate seat, which would open up the AG position, and
• 2:54
  Speaker 2: then the governor could put James into that role because
• 2:59
  Speaker 2: James James Upmeyer, his current chief of staff, who had
• 3:03
  Speaker 2: been the General Council and is a very very good
• 3:06
  Speaker 2: attorney in his own right. So there are some dynamics
• 3:10
  Speaker 2: at play politically that we'll go into this mix, along
• 3:15
  Speaker 2: with the impending appointment of a CFO because of Jimmy
• 3:20
  Speaker 2: Petronis's resignation to run for the congressional district out that
• 3:25
  Speaker 2: Matt Gates vacated. So but setting all of that aside,
• 3:29
  Speaker 2: that seems to me to be the logical selection.
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: Ashley Moody, then maybe you're your outside number two pick
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: would be a Corey Mills.
• 3:38
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean I like Corey.
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: Election sets up another special election.
• 3:42
  Speaker 2: It sets up another special election, which would be the
• 3:45
  Speaker 2: third in Congress, because you've got Mike Waltz in addition
• 3:47
  Speaker 2: to Matt Gates, and so there's a lot of permutations
• 3:53
  Speaker 2: of how those dominoes could then fall, because in addition
• 3:57
  Speaker 2: to that, if let's just say he were to do
• 4:00
  Speaker 2: Corey Mills, you have that special election, who from the
• 4:04
  Speaker 2: legislature might consider running for that, and then you'd have
• 4:06
  Speaker 2: even more dominoes. So it's a dynamic time. It's fun
• 4:10
  Speaker 2: to be a Floridian right now.
• 4:12
  Speaker 1: You said it first. You said it first, Matt Gates.
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: I said the name, Yeah you did. So he sends
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: out a note and he says, yeah, I'm thinking about
• 4:22
  Speaker 1: running for governor. I made the comment that I'm not
• 4:26
  Speaker 1: sure that he can win a statewide race with the
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: luggage that he does have. He does have some.
• 4:33
  Speaker 2: Oh he's get some luggage.
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: I think he's a brilliant apologist for the conservative cause.
• 4:37
  Speaker 1: I think he's exceptional on his feet. I think he
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: has a great command of facts. But he's a lightning rod.
• 4:45
  Speaker 2: He is. And to that end, I've mentioned in the
• 4:50
  Speaker 2: past a Democrat senator from down in South Florida, Jason Pizzo,
• 4:53
  Speaker 2: is kind of the what should be the new face
• 4:56
  Speaker 2: of the Florida Democrat Party. Center left, moderate Democrat. He
• 5:01
  Speaker 2: saw that post from Matt Gates, and he tweeted out
• 5:04
  Speaker 2: or posted with it saying he looks forward to kicking
• 5:08
  Speaker 2: his mind. End yeah. And then on that our friend
• 5:15
  Speaker 2: John Steenberger then reposts the Jason Pizzow post saying, don't worry, Senator,
• 5:22
  Speaker 2: you won't have a chance. We're going to do it
• 5:24
  Speaker 2: in the primary, which made me chuckle to that end.
• 5:29
  Speaker 2: I think a Matt Gates run for the Republican nomination
• 5:34
  Speaker 2: for governor in two years, and this is all as
• 5:37
  Speaker 2: it stands. Two years is a lifetime in politics right now,
• 5:41
  Speaker 2: or it's actually five lifetimes in politics these days. It's
• 5:45
  Speaker 2: going to be a dynamic in which you have someone
• 5:49
  Speaker 2: who's a lightning rod like Matt Gates, but who you
• 5:53
  Speaker 2: are exactly right. He is an incredible apologist for conservative
• 5:57
  Speaker 2: movement principles. If Donald Trump's agenda takes off and the
• 6:02
  Speaker 2: populist movement continues to gain momentum, I do believe it
• 6:06
  Speaker 2: benefits Matt Gates for a potential run because Florida is
• 6:11
  Speaker 2: a very deep red populist state that it has shifted
• 6:15
  Speaker 2: populist versus the fiscal conservative, socially modern or socially conservative
• 6:24
  Speaker 2: to slightly more socially moderate, I think, and I think
• 6:27
  Speaker 2: that's gonna benefit Gates in a primary if Trump's agenda
• 6:32
  Speaker 2: takes off.
• 6:33
  Speaker 1: It'll be interesting to talk about it. And you and
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: I discussed where we'll deal with that in the soft
• 6:38
  Speaker 1: season when we're done with the session. But you think
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: there's a possibility, and I've read the governor's discussing a
• 6:46
  Speaker 1: potential special session before the session tell us about this.
• 6:50
  Speaker 2: Yeah, So the session begins the second to the first
• 6:53
  Speaker 2: Tuesday in March. Prior to that, they do have some
• 6:56
  Speaker 2: legislative committee weeks, but the governor is announced that he
• 6:59
  Speaker 2: would like like a special session to come for the
• 7:02
  Speaker 2: primary purpose that I'm reading and seeing on immigration legislation,
• 7:08
  Speaker 2: largely to make sure that Florida's ready to assist with
• 7:12
  Speaker 2: any federal efforts on deportations. So my guess is there
• 7:16
  Speaker 2: could be some state preemption language on locals, especially if
• 7:21
  Speaker 2: you've got areas like Tallahassee or other center left cities
• 7:25
  Speaker 2: that may try to fight back against some of that
• 7:29
  Speaker 2: or may try to Yeah, So my guess is it
• 7:33
  Speaker 2: could be somewhere along those lines. But I really would
• 7:35
  Speaker 2: not be surprised if another topic or two gets added
• 7:39
  Speaker 2: into a special session ahead of it. I keep hearing
• 7:44
  Speaker 2: grumblings about, you know, the possibility of tweaking the condo
• 7:49
  Speaker 2: inspection law that passed a year ago, because, as we've
• 7:52
  Speaker 2: talked in prior sessions when I've been in that the
• 7:56
  Speaker 2: implementation of that law is hitting hard on people who
• 8:00
  Speaker 2: have long standing residencies in areas like South Florida or
• 8:05
  Speaker 2: out on the Panhandle, where all of a sudden they're
• 8:07
  Speaker 2: getting hit with assessments for multiple thousands of dollars that
• 8:11
  Speaker 2: they just cannot afford. You know, there's a ton of
• 8:15
  Speaker 2: different things that they could take up. I'm hearing, you know,
• 8:18
  Speaker 2: the possibility of either in a special or in the
• 8:22
  Speaker 2: regular going back to the open carry debates that we've had,
• 8:27
  Speaker 2: there's a ton of possibility, and I'm really starting to
• 8:30
  Speaker 2: get my intenta up on it.
• 8:32
  Speaker 1: Our legislative session preview and we'll preview it one more
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: time before we actually get to the session, and then
• 8:39
  Speaker 1: we'll preview the session right right then and there. How
• 8:42
  Speaker 1: quickly does the kind of the marching orders of the
• 8:45
  Speaker 1: session come out? I mean, and does it come from
• 8:47
  Speaker 1: the governor along with the new President and the new Speaker.
• 8:51
  Speaker 2: Well, typically over the course of the governor's I would
• 8:56
  Speaker 2: say the meat of his term, which I would say
• 8:59
  Speaker 2: is the second two years of his first term. Yeah,
• 9:02
  Speaker 2: and the first two years of his second term. I
• 9:05
  Speaker 2: would suggest he did a whole lot of the calling,
• 9:09
  Speaker 2: the plays on the priorities that especially under Speaker Paul Renner,
• 9:15
  Speaker 2: that they took up. And to his credit, he got
• 9:19
  Speaker 2: just about everything he wanted policy wise and in his
• 9:24
  Speaker 2: agenda and mostly in the budget. I think what we're
• 9:28
  Speaker 2: going to see in Speaker Danny Perez and Senate President
• 9:33
  Speaker 2: Ben Albritton is not necessarily pushback, but a little bit
• 9:39
  Speaker 2: more of a level of independence on the legislature that
• 9:45
  Speaker 2: will kind of bring its own color and flavor to
• 9:49
  Speaker 2: the governor for some items that may not be in
• 9:53
  Speaker 2: the governor's you know, prior top five or top ten
• 9:56
  Speaker 2: priority list.
• 9:56
  Speaker 1: How much consideration does experience tell you goes into this
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: two year window where, okay, the final two years of
• 10:05
  Speaker 1: Governor Round de Santas match the two year term of
• 10:08
  Speaker 1: a Senate President and a new Speaker, and then everyone's
• 10:12
  Speaker 1: going to be new together. We're gonna have a new governor,
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: we're gonna have a new Speaker and a new president.
• 10:16
  Speaker 1: So how much of that might modify what the House
• 10:20
  Speaker 1: Speaker and the Senate President do because at least they
• 10:23
  Speaker 1: know they've got a bonified conservative in the governor's office.
• 10:27
  Speaker 2: Yes, definitely, and I think there's going to be some
• 10:29
  Speaker 2: of that at play because it's not even a re
• 10:32
  Speaker 2: election year, it is a term out election in twenty
• 10:35
  Speaker 2: twenty six. You also have the dynamic of and I
• 10:39
  Speaker 2: know it is Speaker Perez's first session as Speaker, but
• 10:46
  Speaker 2: it's actually a dynamic where you have Speaker Designate Sam
• 10:51
  Speaker 2: Garrison beginning to take a hold of some of the
• 10:56
  Speaker 2: things in his committee chairmanships and as a as an
• 11:00
  Speaker 2: incoming speaker, even though it's not for two years, he's
• 11:03
  Speaker 2: beginning to ascending get more under his belt as well.
• 11:08
  Speaker 2: So you've got these things at play that take hold
• 11:12
  Speaker 2: in ways that do not really reflect in other states
• 11:16
  Speaker 2: that I've worked in over my years. And so it's
• 11:20
  Speaker 2: a fun dynamic because a lot of things are in flux.
• 11:24
  Speaker 2: As this first session begins to kind of, you know,
• 11:28
  Speaker 2: kind of get played out.
• 11:30
  Speaker 1: We've got a couple more segments left, but we've got
• 11:33
  Speaker 1: a couple more minutes left in this one. Housing is
• 11:37
  Speaker 1: going to be a big part of the upcoming session
• 11:39
  Speaker 1: define that for us though.
• 11:41
  Speaker 2: Yeah, excellent question on this, because I think what you've
• 11:43
  Speaker 2: got in the idea or theme of housing is you've
• 11:48
  Speaker 2: got the issue of property insurance, which has been kind
• 11:51
  Speaker 2: of the problem that does not seem to want to
• 11:54
  Speaker 2: go away. You've got the issue of housing affordability, which
• 12:00
  Speaker 2: I think it is definitely worth us unpacking kind of
• 12:04
  Speaker 2: the root causes of it, because it's very different from
• 12:08
  Speaker 2: what we experienced about fourteen years ago during the Great Recession.
• 12:13
  Speaker 2: And then you've got the issue of condos, which are
• 12:17
  Speaker 2: in other states you do not have as many, but
• 12:20
  Speaker 2: in Florida it is a big, big issue that I
• 12:24
  Speaker 2: think is needing to be unpacked a bit separately from
• 12:29
  Speaker 2: your traditional single family homes, housing, affordability, workforce housing, things
• 12:35
  Speaker 2: that kind of come into the policy reform mix.
• 12:38
  Speaker 1: So when we say housing, then that's almost now an
• 12:42
  Speaker 1: umbrella term for a multitude of things that come underneath it.
• 12:46
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and so on the affordability piece. Whereas you had
• 12:50
  Speaker 2: a massive housing bubble back in two thousand and a,
• 12:54
  Speaker 2: two thousand and nine, what you have now driving affordability
• 13:00
  Speaker 2: is two things, and neither of them are bubbles. They're
• 13:04
  Speaker 2: both kind of economics. One oh one, you had massive
• 13:08
  Speaker 2: influxes of people from other states into Florida to live.
• 13:13
  Speaker 2: You had people at the rate of in some years
• 13:16
  Speaker 2: one thousand a day moving to Florida.
• 13:18
  Speaker 1: Now they need somewhere to live.
• 13:20
  Speaker 2: They need somewhere to live, and oftentimes they are selling
• 13:23
  Speaker 2: their homes in Midwestern and New England states with inflated
• 13:27
  Speaker 2: money and then coming down and you have bidding wars
• 13:31
  Speaker 2: on homes. You have a you know, it takes a
• 13:34
  Speaker 2: while to build new structures, so you have supply and
• 13:38
  Speaker 2: demand driving the prices up. And so that's where the
• 13:43
  Speaker 2: housing affordability issue is a bit different than what we
• 13:46
  Speaker 2: experience back in two thousand and eight and nine.
• 13:49
  Speaker 1: When we talk about housing, when we talk about insurance,
• 13:52
  Speaker 1: when we talk about a lot of these things, there
• 13:54
  Speaker 1: is the mindset of let the market do its thing.
• 14:00
  Speaker 1: There are those that say, yeah, but the government plays
• 14:02
  Speaker 1: a very significant role in how that unfolds. Sal Nuzo
• 14:04
  Speaker 1: with us from Consumer's defense. What should the role of
• 14:07
  Speaker 1: government be in all of this?
• 14:09
  Speaker 2: And that really should be the overriding question of how
• 14:13
  Speaker 2: policy is formulated and developed to impact individuals' lives. And
• 14:17
  Speaker 2: so when you see what we have seen over the
• 14:20
  Speaker 2: last fifteen or so years in Florida. We recognize that
• 14:25
  Speaker 2: ultimately it is a supply and demand equation. We need
• 14:30
  Speaker 2: more supply and we need more supply of homes at
• 14:34
  Speaker 2: particular levels. So we need starter homes, homes that when
• 14:39
  Speaker 2: I can remember when my parents were starting out in
• 14:44
  Speaker 2: the nineteen seventies home values, they could buy a very
• 14:48
  Speaker 2: small home for thirty to forty or fifty thousand dollars
• 14:52
  Speaker 2: back then, which then allowed them to build some equity,
• 14:55
  Speaker 2: which ultimately allowed them to ten years later buy a
• 14:59
  Speaker 2: bigger home when they had kids and so forth. So
• 15:02
  Speaker 2: what we're talking about is a supply of homes that
• 15:07
  Speaker 2: are affordable for workforce housing needs in that middle income stage.
• 15:14
  Speaker 2: Now where the government comes in, and it's largely at
• 15:18
  Speaker 2: the not state, but local level, are on things like permitting,
• 15:24
  Speaker 2: user and impact fees and all of these things that
• 15:27
  Speaker 2: local governments do via the building codes and all of
• 15:31
  Speaker 2: the ways in which the local government levers are brought
• 15:35
  Speaker 2: to bear that too often negatively impact the ability of
• 15:41
  Speaker 2: developers and home builders to get more affordable homes. I
• 15:48
  Speaker 2: hate saying inexpensive homes or cheap homes or the low income.
• 15:54
  Speaker 2: It's really about making housing more affordable across the board.
• 15:59
  Speaker 1: It's not all that different, is I'm thinking about it
• 16:02
  Speaker 1: sol than what we've argued against the minimum wage, in
• 16:05
  Speaker 1: that the minimum wage hinders the people it's supposed to help.
• 16:09
  Speaker 1: It hinders entry level workers, and we need policy that
• 16:13
  Speaker 1: helps entry level homeowners exactly.
• 16:15
  Speaker 2: And if you look at what, for example, the left
• 16:18
  Speaker 2: is proposed in various pockets around the state, or Lando
• 16:23
  Speaker 2: and a couple of others, they see the problem affordable
• 16:28
  Speaker 2: or housing affordability, and their solution or their policy prescription
• 16:32
  Speaker 2: is rent control. And rent control does nothing but exacerbate
• 16:37
  Speaker 2: the shortage of developers and builders building homes. And so
• 16:43
  Speaker 2: what that does is it creates more of the problem.
• 16:47
  Speaker 2: And so what I hope happens at the state level
• 16:51
  Speaker 2: is the state can make policy that trickles down a
• 16:56
  Speaker 2: bit to the locals through preemption, through whether or not.
• 17:00
  Speaker 2: And I know incentives become kind of a bad term
• 17:02
  Speaker 2: among free marketers, but what are the things that the
• 17:06
  Speaker 2: state can do. Two local governments to maybe use the
• 17:10
  Speaker 2: carrot and the stick to try and get away from
• 17:15
  Speaker 2: these restrictive policies at the local level and move toward
• 17:19
  Speaker 2: things that actually incentivize builders to make homes and increase
• 17:25
  Speaker 2: that supply, which ultimately puts downward pressure on.
• 17:28
  Speaker 1: The cost changing gears. We got about a minute left
• 17:30
  Speaker 1: in the segment. You mentioned immigration at the very beginning
• 17:33
  Speaker 1: that there could be a special session. But broadly speaking,
• 17:36
  Speaker 1: is there a place for Florida kind of set the
• 17:38
  Speaker 1: stage and set the tone and create policy that works
• 17:42
  Speaker 1: with regard to good legal immigration.
• 17:46
  Speaker 2: I hope so. And you know, it's one of those
• 17:49
  Speaker 2: things where the federal immigration system is broken. And that
• 17:55
  Speaker 2: statement is something that both Republicans, Independents and Democrats across
• 18:00
  Speaker 2: the board just kind of they say it all the time.
• 18:05
  Speaker 2: It is a bipartisan statement. How much of that can
• 18:11
  Speaker 2: be brought to baron state policy on top of what
• 18:15
  Speaker 2: Florida has already done. I think we're going to see
• 18:19
  Speaker 2: some things via our agriculture industry that may dovetail into that.
• 18:26
  Speaker 2: And I'm really intrigued by what might transpire in that
• 18:31
  Speaker 2: special session. But at this point it's one of those
• 18:35
  Speaker 2: things where I'm questioning it as much as probably you are.
• 18:38
  Speaker 1: At this point, what can we tell our listeners, And
• 18:41
  Speaker 1: we always use the idea of we want to inform
• 18:46
  Speaker 1: people so they are better citizens of this state, more
• 18:51
  Speaker 1: informed about what's going on. What are some topics that
• 18:54
  Speaker 1: you're hearing about that might pop up during the session.
• 18:57
  Speaker 2: Sure, and kind of jumping back on the immigration question earlier,
• 19:01
  Speaker 2: there is one bill that I think is being considered
• 19:05
  Speaker 2: to be filed by Randy Fine prior to him resigning
• 19:09
  Speaker 2: to take that congressional election on and that would classify
• 19:14
  Speaker 2: bringing children into the US without authorization as human trafficking,
• 19:19
  Speaker 2: and that would open up some penalties that would not
• 19:24
  Speaker 2: be considered if it weren't a human trafficking issue.
• 19:29
  Speaker 1: See, that's the kind of thing I was talking about
• 19:31
  Speaker 1: when I said setting the tone for what the nation
• 19:34
  Speaker 1: might consider.
• 19:35
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and it's definitely something that might translate well into
• 19:40
  Speaker 2: a couple of other states. But I don't know if
• 19:42
  Speaker 2: it's got the broad appeal that it would have outside
• 19:46
  Speaker 2: of maybe Florida and Texas. I don't anticipate Arizona, New Mexico,
• 19:51
  Speaker 2: or California taken attack on this, but I mean I've
• 19:55
  Speaker 2: been proven wrong many other times. You've also got Representative
• 19:59
  Speaker 2: Bernie Jackson is looking to introduce a bill to strengthen
• 20:03
  Speaker 2: the ban on sanctuary cities. And he's also looking at
• 20:08
  Speaker 2: something on citizen very verification on voting. But i'd have
• 20:12
  Speaker 2: to see the language because I don't know how much
• 20:14
  Speaker 2: more we can do. And certainly there's maybe increased penalties
• 20:19
  Speaker 2: for violating laws, but I don't know how much more
• 20:23
  Speaker 2: we can strengthen in that front.
• 20:24
  Speaker 1: All right, healthcare, healthcare.
• 20:26
  Speaker 2: Alex Rizzo, representative down in South Florida, he's got a bill.
• 20:30
  Speaker 2: It's gonna we talk years past, something called the eyeball wars.
• 20:35
  Speaker 2: It's the ophthalmologist versus the optometrists. His bill would expand
• 20:40
  Speaker 2: the optometrists scope of practice and basically it would allow
• 20:46
  Speaker 2: licensed optometrists to prescribe some additional meds and to perform
• 20:50
  Speaker 2: this one specific procedure to relieve inner corneal pressure. I'm
• 20:56
  Speaker 2: not sure you know how big of an issue it's
• 21:00
  Speaker 2: going to be. I'm not sure how much the optometrists
• 21:02
  Speaker 2: are going to push back on it.
• 21:03
  Speaker 1: What's fueling this? Does he have vision issues?
• 21:08
  Speaker 2: Oh?
• 21:09
  Speaker 1: Okay, well no, I mean most so often we see
• 21:12
  Speaker 1: legislation that is brought about because of a friend or
• 21:14
  Speaker 1: a loved one, or a newspaper headline.
• 21:16
  Speaker 2: I don't know if there is a specific thing that
• 21:18
  Speaker 2: he's got. And I've known him for years and I'm
• 21:22
  Speaker 2: trying to remember if he even wears glasses. But with
• 21:25
  Speaker 2: that in mind, Florida has generally been at the forefront
• 21:29
  Speaker 2: on this idea of expanding scope of practice in healthcare,
• 21:34
  Speaker 2: and what that means is allowing practitioners to perform all
• 21:39
  Speaker 2: of the things that they get trained on in their
• 21:42
  Speaker 2: training or education. And what frequently happens in other states
• 21:46
  Speaker 2: is you've got where an individual gets trained on a
• 21:49
  Speaker 2: specific thing, but then the licensing and regulations in that
• 21:53
  Speaker 2: state prohibit them from doing it. So that's one of
• 21:56
  Speaker 2: the things they're on the similar front, you've got a
• 22:00
  Speaker 2: priority from the Speaker from all of his years in
• 22:04
  Speaker 2: the Florida House, which is expanding dental care to include
• 22:08
  Speaker 2: a new occupational category called dental therapists. Rep. Cheney, who
• 22:13
  Speaker 2: filed the bill last year, also has that this year
• 22:16
  Speaker 2: on the election front, I would be on the lookout
• 22:19
  Speaker 2: for tightening ballot initiatives. The twenty twenty four cycle, we
• 22:25
  Speaker 2: saw fourteen million dollars pumped into the two big ballot
• 22:31
  Speaker 2: questions from foreign nationals. Now they're not allowed to contribute
• 22:36
  Speaker 2: to elections, but there's a loophole on state ballot initiatives.
• 22:41
  Speaker 2: So I believe that that loophole is going to be
• 22:45
  Speaker 2: closed this year. Florida would be the second state to
• 22:48
  Speaker 2: do it. Ohio did it last year. The other big
• 22:51
  Speaker 2: question is going to be guns. It's flying under the
• 22:54
  Speaker 2: radar right now, but there is a lawsuit that's working
• 22:57
  Speaker 2: through the courts from gun owners of America who are
• 23:01
  Speaker 2: suing Palm Beach County both the sheriff and the prosecutor
• 23:05
  Speaker 2: to rule the ban of open carrie a violation of
• 23:08
  Speaker 2: the Second and fourteenth Amendments. Now, the fun little nugget
• 23:12
  Speaker 2: in all this is the Biden administration asked Attorney General
• 23:16
  Speaker 2: Ashley Moody to help defend the sheriff and prosecutor against
• 23:20
  Speaker 2: this lawsuit. She refused. Basically, she's, you know, kind of insinuating. No,
• 23:26
  Speaker 2: she's almost in favor of And I don't want to
• 23:29
  Speaker 2: put words into her mouth, but you would be able
• 23:32
  Speaker 2: to read into this a little bit that she may
• 23:34
  Speaker 2: hope that this lawsuit is successful and therefore Florida and
• 23:39
  Speaker 2: even other states, potentially all fifty states would then be
• 23:43
  Speaker 2: open carry by way of a Supreme Court ruling. Potentially.
• 23:47
  Speaker 1: Well, it's mostly a non contact sport. The legislative session
• 23:51
  Speaker 1: is coming quickly, and thank you for giving us a
• 23:54
  Speaker 1: little bit of a preview, and I can't wait for
• 23:56
  Speaker 1: it to start.
• 23:57
  Speaker 2: I cannot wait for our weeklies. It's going to be
• 23:59
  Speaker 2: a blast, and it is always a pleasure
• 24:01
  Speaker 1: To be with you.