 |
|
2020 Session: Committee Week 1
| |
| In Tallahassee last week, the 2020 Legislative Session got off to an official start with the first committee week. The September interim committee week functioned primarily for the purpose of setting an agenda for ensuing meetings, and perhaps the most notable highlight of last week’s events was recognition of state Rep. Chris Sprowls as Speaker-Designate.
The Palm Harbor Republican is in line to preside over the House chamber for the 2021 and 2022 Legislative Sessions. A speech delivered last week to his colleagues indicated some of what Sprowls has planned for his leadership role. His remarks generally expressed a need to reduce legislative spending, facilitate transparency in how state dollars are spent at the local level, encourage school choice, and continue efforts to protect Florida’s environment. Sprowls left few stones unturned in his speech. While he did not dive deeply into health care issues or criminal justice concerns, he encouraged members to not “read into that oversight.” What Sprowls did address, however, is indicative of the general direction the Legislature — or at least the House — should pursue.
The Speaker-Designate discussed how the state “budget is growing faster than our reserves.” He added: “We need to increase our reserves and create a new fund for disaster recovery. There is no excuse not to be prepared for the next storm or the next recession.” Sprowls also described an initiative he thinks could curb misuse of tax dollars. “We need an Inspector General with the power to investigate these organizations, recover misspent funds, impose civil fines, and, in extreme cases, refer matters to our State Attorneys for criminal prosecution,” he said.
And following a record-breaking year in environmental spending, Sprowls suggested the environment will remain among his top priorities. “We don’t live in Iowa,” Sprowls said. “We live on a peninsula. We cannot afford to put our head in the sand and hope the beach doesn’t disappear under a permanent rising tide.”
These early signs of what Sprowls values could manifest in this year’s Session, which formally begins Jan. 14. And for those looking more than a few months down the line, the remarks help predict what’s to come from Tallahassee in 2021 and beyond.
| |
On Budgeting
The House Appropriations Committee — and the state coffers as a whole — were met last week with some less-than-ideal news from the Legislature’s Office of Economic and Demographic Research chief Amy Baker.
Baker informed lawmakers that the long-range economic outlook currently projects $867 million fewer in revenue collections than previously forecasted. That’s significantly less money than the members had previously planned to have for spending over the next two years.
Taking Baker’s presentation and Sprowls’ urging to increase reserves spending, lawmakers could be looking at a tight budget year. Adding credence to this idea are remarks from House Appropriations Chair Travis Cummings to reporters afterward.
Cummings, who told the media that hurricane resiliency and preparation is top of mind, suggested “it probably would be a good idea … to try to increase reserves or try to allocate some dollars and have a [hurricane] plan moving forward,” meaning that less money could potentially be available for funding other parts of the budget.
| |
|
|
GrayRobinson Spotlight
Beyond the Capitol, we’d like to take the opportunity here to again congratulate and welcome GrayRobinson’s new President and CEO Dean Cannon. Our community may be aware of this move, announced in April. But Cannon, a former Speaker of the Florida House and lawyer/lobbyist at GrayRobinson, began acting in this new leadership role in September.
The Daily Business Review recently interviewed Cannon as he assumed the new position at our firm. In it, he discusses the direction he’d like to see the firm head toward and how he has parlayed his legislative experience into his career in government relations.
The full interview can be found here.
| |
Issue Roundup
Well ahead of bill-filing deadlines, lawmakers already are looking at legislation and hearing from agencies on how they think Florida can improve its government services.
- CRC targeted: After failing to catch traction last year, Florida senators are again pushing a proposal to abolish the Constitution Revision Commission (CRC), an appointed body of members that meets every 20 years to vet and put forward to voters constitutional changes. Critics of the CRC have, among other things, taken umbrage with its practice of “bundling,” or looping together seemingly unrelated provisions into individual ballot items. Meanwhile, proponents of the CRC practice have argued it’s necessary to prevent ballot fatigue and to minimize ballot length. The Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously approved the proposal (SJR 142) last week.
- Public Safety: Widely covered by news media this past week, lawmakers received lengthy testimony from experts from across the state on mass violence. The Legislature has publicly noted that it will pursue actions this year that would help prevent shootings and other forms of large-scale violence. More extensive gun background checks could be on the table this year, according to state Sen. Tom Lee, who chaired the meeting.
- Under the Radar: Lawmakers and stakeholders are taking action toward some of the niche issues they’d like to see tackled this Session. One bill (SB 276), for example, would require cancer-awareness instruction in high schools to educate students on the dangers of prostate and breast cancer. A group of lawmakers this week also held a press conference to express the need to financially aid the storm-battered Bahamas. Meanwhile, in the criminal justice sphere, Department of Corrections Secretary Mark Inch informed lawmakers that he’d be asking for an additional $89 million in his legislative budget request to help cover the cost of potentially scaling back the length of prison guard shifts.
| |
Mark your calendars, lawmakers are not expected to return to Tallahassee for interim committee weeks again until October 14.
| |
* Denotes non-attorney professional
| |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
