Legislative Review
Philip L. Leary, AICP
pleary@LearyGAC.com www.LearyGAC.com
A View of the 2015 Legislative Session
With the November General Election a few weeks away, and the 2015 Legislative Session beginning the first week of March, the following is an outlook on what I see happening in both the upcoming elections and legislative session. Based on recent polling, I am quite certain that Governor Scott, Commissioner Adam Putnam, Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater and Attorney General Pam Bondi will all be reelected to a second four year term.
In the House of
Representatives, Rep. Steve Crusafulli (R-Merritt Island) will be the new Speaker of the House, and Senator Andy Gardi- ner (R-Orlando) will be the new Senate President. It also appears that the Republicans will regain the super majority they held two years ago in the House and at least one seat from the Democrats in the Senate, increasing their majority to 27-14. In the 2014 Session, Senator Wilton Simpson (R-New Port
Richey) filed SB 624 and Rep. Ray Rodriguez (R-Ft. Myers) filed the companion bill HB 1259 in the House. The bill did not pass out of the committee process. The legislation would have prohibited a county from levying a tax, special assessment, or fee for the planning, construction, opera- tion, use, or maintenance of stormwater facilities against land owned by a fair association; prohibited a county, mu- nicipality, or special district from imposing an impact or mo- bility fee on a fair association; and would have exempted fair associations from the assessment or imposition of a fee by local or regional governmental entities for the planning, construction, operation, use, or maintenance of stormwater management systems.
I anticipate the bills will be refilled
in the upcoming session. The other legislation affecting Fairs, SB 1142/HB 1057
Ticket Sales; By Sen. Tom Lee (R-Brandon) and Rep. Jason Brodeur (R-Sanford) passed both Houses and was signed into law by the Governor and went into effect July 1st. SB 1142 provides that a person who counterfeits, forges, al- ters, clones, or possesses a ticket, card, wristband, or other medium that accesses or is associated with a specified tick- et, token, or paper with the intent to defraud commits a misdemeanor of the first degree. Key legislative issues lawmakers will be addressing in the upcoming session include Water, Springs, Health Care and Medicare access, Gambling/Seminole Gaming and Public-
Featuring:
Private Partnerships in Education. And for the second consecutive year, state budget ana- lysts are predicting a surplus in excess of a billion dollars. Although there are parts of the state that are still lingering in the effects of the recession, overall the long-term eco- nomic outlook for the state continues to improve. Following the November elections, the Legislature will
convene the week of November 18th for a reorganizational session to officially elect the new presiding officers. Interim Committee meetings will begin the first week of January and run through the month of February, leading up to the start of the 2015 Session on March 3rd. For individual Fairs, it is important to know your state leg- islator and it just takes a little time and effort.
If you do
not know your state Senator or Representative, call their respective legislative office and set up an appointment to meet with them or better yet, invite them out to see your Fair Grounds and operations. One very important note, House and Senate members are term limited to eight years, four two year terms in the House and two four terms in the Senate. This creates a need for continually being involved in the legislative process and campaigns so that newly elected members understand our industry and issues. The Florida Federation of Fairs continues to fight for and represent Fairs. Help us help you! Get involved today!!
Fun.
Interactive. Affordable.
Celebrating 25 years of bringing over 100
family-friendly entertainers
to fairs and festivals across the US
Alex Clark High Energy Comic Juggler
Divas Gone Country Music from America’s Heartland
Contact talent expert Tim Stevens 1-888-654-6901
www.glberg.com •
tim@glberg.com 27
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