Legislative session
ended last week with few bills passed and much up in the air. The debate over
funding for federal Medicaid programs proved insurmountable, with the Senate
endorsing a version of Obamacare expansion and the House standing in firm
opposition. This left the chambers’ respective budgets miles apart, so the
House adjourned sine die early on Tuesday, April 28 and all bills that had not
yet passed were essentially dead.
Many of these bills NFIB/Florida opposed, including a bill to increase the
minimum wage to $15/hour, a bill to prevent employers from inquiring about an
applicant’s criminal history, and a bill creating a protected class based on
sexual orientation and gender identity. But many of NFIB’s small business
priorities were left incomplete.
Senate President Andy
Gardiner and House Speaker Steve Crisafulli this week announced that the dates for Special Session A are tentatively June 1 – 20, prior to the June 30 deadline for completing the state budget. They are still in the process of delineating delineate what issues the legislature can address, and NFIB is poised to advocate that our small business tax cuts and the direct
primary healthcare model are included. We’ll also fight to keep
anti-small business bills off of the agenda.
In the meantime, NFIB/Florida will be hitting the road to talk about what this
year’s session means for your business, and to hear from you. Click here for
more on our meetings.
