Two of Florida’s leading political journalists gave St. Johns County Chamber of Commerce members a look inside the coming legislative session Friday, Dec. 4.
Peter Schosch, publisher of the Florida Politics blog, and Matt Dixon, bureau chief for Politico Florida, spoke during the Economic Development Council Breakfast virtual broadcast.
Schosch is a political consultant to numerous elected officials, as well as some of the state’s largest companies. Dixon has covered Florida politics and policy. Prior to that, he covered local government for The Villages Daily Sun and the Panama City News-Herald.
Both men agreed that there hasn’t been a lot of activity on the part of the Legislature as it prepares for the 2021 session.
“It’s been eerily quiet,” said Schosch. “I think that is indicative of a session where we’re not going to see a lot of movement on things.”
Dixon suggested that state lawmakers could be occupied with any COVID-related federal funding issues originating in the Congress.
“The flow of federal money to the state and how that looks is going to be hugely important for setting the stage for the legislative session,” he said.
With regards to member projects – those opportunities for legislators to bring funding back home for specific projects – Dixon had a suggestion.
“If you have something that you want to do as a member project, you would be smart to try to figure out a way to tie it to COVID,” he said. “Those are probably the only things the lawmakers are going to listen to.”
One area that could gain attention is anti-protest legislation proposed by Gov. Ron DeSantis. The idea was inspired by protests across the nation last summer, but there isn’t a related bill in either the House or Senate yet.
“It’s going to be a politically contentious bill that is going to get a lot of protests, a lot of attention, so that’s a politically dicey situation,” predicted Dixon.
One area where both Schorsch and Dixon expected action is COVID liability protections.
Dixon said the Senate is looking at immunity for health care facilities and nursing homes that would make the legal threshold for proving liability in a civil case related to COVID “gross negligence” – a high benchmark to hit.
“A deal is going to be reached,” he predicted. “Something is going to be passed. The governor is going to sign something. There’s too much pressure not to. But ultimately, what that looks like is going to be very interesting.”
Schorsch predicted that there will be attempts to extend legal liability protections to a growing number of businesses once people see the bill.
Concerning the passage of Amendment 2, which raises the minimum wage to $15 an hour in a series of steps and then ties it to inflation, Schorsch speculated that the Legislature may attempt to undermine it.
“I do think there will be an attempt, probably out of the House, to manipulate Amendment 2 or to implement it in a way that puts it off, delays it, makes it go through another vote or something like that,” he said.
