Your Week 5 Legislative Session Review from Team Anna

Dear Friend,

We are starting Week 6 of Florida’s 2022 Legislative Session and the stakes couldn’t be higher. On the House Floor this week is HB5, Florida’s 15 week abortion ban. Please scroll down for ways to take action and for your weekly update from the Florida Capitol along with a brief COVID-19 update too.

Remember, our legislative updates are thorough but will never be all encompassing. I encourage you to tune into the Florida Channel live, and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.

Onward,

Representative Anna V. Eskamani

 

COVID19 UPDATES

FIGHTING BACK AGAINST ABORTION BAN

House Bill 5, Florida’s 15 week abortion ban, is being fast tracked through the legislative process and will be on the House Floor this Tuesday and Wednesday. The Senate has one more committee stop, and then it’ll be on the Senate Floor too.

This bill could be on the Governor’s desk in as little as two weeks. We must act now to show our collective opposition to this ban, and let Florida lawmakers know how important reproductive freedom is to us and our state. 

Contact your State House Representative who will be voting on this on the House Floor. Click Here to Find your House Representative.

USE THIS SCRIPT: Script: “Hello my name is ________. I am urging Representative ____ to vote NO on HB 5 when it comes to the House floor. The people of Florida will remember. Abortion bans are unpopular with most Floridians, who respect the privacy of medical decision.”

 Encourage others to contact their legislators, too.

REDISTRICTING UPDATE

As reported by NBC News: Despite controlling both the Legislature and the Governor’s Mansion, Republicans are at odds over how Florida’s 28 congressional districts should look over the next decade. The intra-party debate is focused on the 5th Congressional District — which is about 46 percent Black — which DeSantis wants to divide up into several GOP-leaning districts instead of one favoring Democrats.

The Governor actually sought a State Supreme Court opinion to redraw the 5th Congressional District and he was denied — the Florida high court refused DeSantis request on redistricting. 

VOTER SUPPRESSION CONTINUES

Florida Republicans are proposing yet another sweeping change to state election laws. The new bill would establish an Office of Election Crimes and Security – a slimmed-down version of Gov. Ron DeSantis’s “elections police” proposal. The bill also would require voters to write identification numbers on mail-in ballots and create a new envelope, which Democrats say raises new barriers. It would also put into place new financial penalties for 3rd Party Voter Reg Organizations.

Meanwhile, Governor DeSantis has avoided confirming if he thinks the 2020 elections should be overturned, and he continues to be silent on suspected cases of senior citizens in South Florida having their party affiliation switched from Democrat to Republican. See more below.

https://twitter.com/JKennedyReport/status/1490779875472547849?s=20&t=mzzqA7KHqWvQJCYYSvqQdw

 

ANTI NET-METERING BILL & PROBLEMATIC WATER BILLS HEARD IN FLORIDA SENATE

Legislation favored by Florida Power & Light (FPL) and other utility monopolies to require future rooftop solar panel customers to pay higher rates was approved by another Senate committee. The bill has received stiff opposition from the solar industry in Florida, with many companies and advocates arguing it would severely hurt the industry. The only groups that waived in support of the bill in committee seemed to be groups that are backed by FPL, too. 

https://twitter.com/AnnaForFlorida/status/1491177461794897924?s=20&t=jf0MB_MHsjYMGEB9Qsa0DQ

 

Last week we joined advocacy organizations and the rooftop solar industry for a Save Our Solar Rally! See below for my remarks.

https://twitter.com/AnnaForFlorida/status/1491393408337809412?s=20&t=nVxZfJBAYkmk4DXXNH8Rkg

We wholeheartedly oppose this bill, and have been doing what we can to amplify the concerns of both business leaders in the solar industry along with environmentalists. 

Meanwhile, another bill (SB2508) is moving through the Florida Legislature that would damage Everglades restoration efforts. This bill is a gift to Big Sugar and utility companies — read more here.

https://twitter.com/AnnaForFlorida/status/1491574398603694083?s=20&t=1GjB9JaAxesPHxQRHaeDKw

 

MORE CORPORATE TAX BREAKS

Our Ways & Means Committee Meeting saw two more corporate tax breaks!

For HB1387: Broadly speaking, the Florida Constitution says only that property owned and used by a municipality is exempt from property tax. But the Legislature has expanded the exemption in two ways: 1) By extending the exemption to also include property leased by a municipality to a private company, as long as the private company uses the property for a public purpose; and 2) By adopting a very wide definition of “public purpose.” (Technically, the Legislature uses the term “governmental, municipal or public purpose.”)

But the Florida Supreme Court has historically taken a much narrower view than the Legislature of what actually constitutes a public purpose for these tax exemptions.

As a result, there’s a lot of gray area. The property appraiser in Lakeland, for instance, has ruled that Amazon’s $100 million air-cargo hub is not tax-exempt, which means Amazon is paying $1 million a year in property taxes right now. Locally, Amy Mercado in Orange County has denied a property-tax exemption to JetBlue on its employee lodge and training center, which means JetBlue could wind up paying $800,000 a year in property taxes on that.

This issue is also the subject of two big appellate court cases that are currently pending before the Second DCA – involving companies leasing property at Tampa International Airport and Port Tampa Bay. 

It’s clear to me that this bill was definitely written in response to the Hillsborough County court cases; it tweaks the definition of “governmental, municipal or public purpose” in a way that echoes some of the legal arguments made by the companies in those cases. But it could be applied to any of these cases, and companies like Amazon — who are making money while using public resources — should absolutely pay their taxes.

Another bill we had in that same committee, HB417,  is entirely about tying the hands of property appraisers when a taxpayer appeals an assessment to a Value Adjustment Board (VAB) and persuades the VAB to reduce the taxable value of their properties. Under current law, a property appraiser can only appeal a VAB’s decision if the VAB reduces the taxable value of a property by a big enough amount within specific thresholds. The bill increases those appeal thresholds, which means that property appraisers will forbidden from appealing more cases. But what’s especially gross about it is that it makes the biggest increases to the thresholds for the most expensive properties. 

We voted no on both bills, but they still passed. 

CULTURE WARS CONTINUE

A Republican effort to pursue culture wars in classroom and corporate settings cleared its final Florida House committee Tuesday night. HB7  saw a deluge of criticism from the public and Democrats, who uniformly voted against it in the House Education and Employment Committee.

Orlando Democratic Rep. Travaris McCurdy called HB 7 the one of many in a series of measures meant to suppress minority voices, including bills banning certain protests, barring transgender athletes from playing school sports and another so-called “Don’t Say Gay” bill advancing through the Legislature.

We’ll be ready to fight back against this bill when it comes to the Florida House.

EQUALITY FLORIDA IN TALLAHASSEE

EDUCATION POLICY ISSUES

In addition to the education news shared above with the Don’t Gay Say Bill and HB7, both chambers unveiled their education budget proposals for the coming fiscal year. Though they adhered largely to the wishes of Gov. Ron DeSantis, the spending plans included some surprises. Perhaps the biggest one came out of the House.

Rep. Randy Fine, who chairs the PreK-12 Appropriations subcommittee, recommended punishing the dozen districts that implemented strict mask mandates against state rule and law. He said they should have $200 million taken away, with that amount to be distributed to the 55 other districts that followed instructions. Read more from the Tampa Bay Times here. As you’ll see below this idea doesn’t even have the support of Governor DeSantis but will still be debated n the House Floor today.

As the Florida Legislature debates changes to Florida’s testing requirements, some school districts are asking the state to waive the consequences associated with annual spring testing results for another year. Read more here.

The Florida Legislature’s big push this session? Raise students’ level of ignorance | Opinion

ATTACKING IMMIGRANT KIDS

Republicans in a Florida Legislature are pushing through a bill that would bar the state from doing business with companies that transport undocumented migrants into the state, giving a nod to a controversial but key part of Gov. Ron DeSantis’ election-year agenda. The measure would also expand the scope of a 2019 law that barred so-called sanctuary cities in the state, less than four months after a federal judge in Miami deemed portions of the law unconstitutional and tinged with “discriminatory motives.” Much of what DeSantis is seeking in this proposal is not even necessary.

Faith based organizations, who are often the ones providing shelter to undocumented youth, are overwhelmingly opposed to this bill (and DCF’s efforts to politicize undocumented kids too) and many have been speaking out. See below for examples.

CRIMINAL LEGAL SYSTEM

A bill to create harsher sentences for retail theft moved through the process last week, but with mixed reviews. The ACLU of Florida and Florida Rising oppose the bill, noting it would result in more incarcerations. The Florida Sheriffs Association and Home Depot, meanwhile, support it. Read more here.

A pro-active bill for reforming the prison system did see a committee hearing lsat week. HB169 would create a program to prepare parole-eligible inmates for reintegration to society. Read more here.

HOUSING ISSUES & CONSUMER RIGHTS

The Florida Legislature has continued to ignore the renters crisis by (thus far) providing no relief or policy solutions. Democrats did host a press conference focused on housing issues, and later we joined local elected leaders in hosting a press conference centered on restoring local control and allowing municipalities to have the power to solve these problems by ending several preemptive bills and laws.

 

In the arena of consumer rights: car dealers have been reselling used vehicles without first possessing the title, a longtime practice in an industry that emphasizes selling vehicles as quickly as possible. But this has created major delays for consumers, who can’t drive a car without the title.

The solution some lawmakers came up with is to give dealers more time to transfer titles to owners, extending it from 30 days to 60 days. That has both state tax collectors, who register vehicles, and the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles warning the legislation could harm consumers. Read more here.

In the world of car insurance and as reported by Florida Politics:

Over the objections of Florida insurance companies, the House Civil Justice & Property Rights Subcommittee on Monday voted 15-3 to pass a bill that would eliminate Florida’s long-standing no-fault insurance program and the requirement to carry $10,000 in personal injury protection (PIP).

Before the vote, HB 1525bill sponsor Rep. Erin Grall called out the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR) for its decision last year to commission a report on the fiscal impact of a near-identical bill from 2021 that eliminated PIP. The OIR released the Pinnacle report before Gov Ron DeSantis vetoed the bill.

Read more here.

STATE BUDGET UPDATE

Appropriations committees in the Senate and House took up budget proposals last Wednesday and have sent spending plans to the full Senate and House to be debated on this week. Ultimately, the two chambers will have to agree on a final budget for the 2022-2023 fiscal year, which will start July 1.

As the big numbers might suggest, lawmakers are flush with cash, thanks to federal stimulus money and larger-than-expected tax collections as Florida’s economy has recovered during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Gov. Ron DeSantis did indicate on Friday he does not support a House proposal that would shift $200 million away from 12 school districts that required students to wear masks last year during the COVID-19 pandemic, mainly because he would rather allow parents to sue them. Read more here.

Neither state budget proposals includes anything for the rising of rent, but we do pay raises for state employees. Watch the Florida Channel this week to see debates on the House and Senate budgets.

SCENES FROM TALLAHASSEE & THE DISTRICT