January 12, 2012 (From The Florida Current, Written by: Marcos Restrepo) – Everett Wilkinson, chairman of the South Florida Tea Party and state coordinator for the Florida Tea Party, this week announced his support for the casino bill that would allow three Las Vegas-style casino resorts in South Florida.

The bill filed by state Sen. Ellyn Bogdanoff, R-Fort Lauderdale, and Rep. Erik Fresen, R-Miami, passed a first vote (.pdf) in the state Senate last week.

Wilkinson wrote in Red County — an outlet for conservative politics — that after attending the unveiling of a casino destination resort in Miami last September by Genting Malyasia, he did his homework and followed the money. Wilkinson concluded that the Miami casino resort makes fiscal sense; supports free market competition, a tea party core value; and would create jobs in Miami and South Florida.

“The resort would create an estimated 5000 new jobs at a temporary facility, 25,000 jobs at the permanent facility, and 10,000 construction jobs (it would be 20,000 if this was a big Union state–and half of them would be working!) I started to think of it as a resort that had gambling versus a Las Vegas casino,” Wilkinson writes.

He concluded, “I believe that any legislator that is opposed to building resort casinos which will create thousands of jobs in South Florida should be given the title of ‘Job Killing Czar’. The Tea Party will be watching this bill closely and hold legislators accountable in November.”

The casino bill has the support of the Florida Carpenters Regional Council, the Florida Retired Workers Association and UNITE HERE Local 355.

“The simple truth is that Florida needs more jobs to reduce unemployment,” said Andy Madtes, secretary of UNITE HERE Local 355. “We represent workers who earn middle-class wages with benefits and job security – exactly the type of jobs that destination resorts will create.”

Madtes is also the president of the South Florida AFL-CIO.

The Bogdanoff’/Fresen bill also has the support of Associated Industries of Florida, Associated Builders and Contractors, the Florida Concrete Products Association, the Florida United Business Association, the Florida Transportation Association, the Latin Builders Association and other groups.

Not all Florida business groups are on board: No Casinos, the anti-gambling coalition includes the Florida Chamber of Commerce, the Florida Attractions Association, the Florida Retail Federation, the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association and the Florida Sheriffs Association.

Dear Rep. / Dear Senator

I am a small restaurant owner in ______________ that currently employs more than ___ people.  With the increase in food and fuel costs, unemployment tax hikes, and the minimum wage, restaurants are struggling to stay in business.

With your support of the Optional Guaranteed Tipped Employee Wage Bill (SB 2106), we will be able to increase jobs, expand our business, and create greater opportunities for those working within Florida’s hospitality industry.

We’ve heard from our employees that their wages can vary based on the season, the time of day, and the economy.  This provides a guarantee of higher, stable wages to many of our tipped workforce. This is a measure I support as do many of my colleagues.

SB 2106 will allow us to create a work place where our employees enjoy a competitive salary.  Please support SB 2106.

Kindest regards,

Name of Business Owner
Name of Business
City
BusinessTelephone
e-mail address

Commerce and Tourism Committee:
Nancy Detert
318 Senate Office Bldg.
(850) 487-5081
detert.nancy.web@flsenate.gov

Paula Dockery
224 Senate Office Bldg.
(850) 487-5040
dockery.paula.web@flsenate.gov

Anitere Flores
316 Senate Office Bldg.
(850) 487-5130
flores.anitere.web@flsenate.gov

Evelyn Lynn
416 Senate Office Bldg.
(850) 487-5033
lynn.evelyn.web@flsenate.gov

Bill Montford
208 Senate Office Bldg.
(850) 487-5004
montford.bill.web@flsenate.gov

Jeremy Ring
210 Senate Office Bldg.
(850) 487-5094
ring.jeremy.web@flsenate.gov

March 2, 2012 (From the Sun-Sentinel) Florida businesses may get a last-minute break on their taxes.
With a little less than two weeks left in the session, the Republican-controlled Legislature is moving ahead with a plan that would scale back a massive tax increase due this year from nearly 460,000 businesses.

It wouldn’t eliminate the tax hike entirely, but it would likely make it smaller than anticipated.

A Senate panel this week approved a measure (SB 1416) that would spread the tax hike over several years and make other changes designed to bring down the size of the increase.

The change means that the minimum tax rate this year would jump from $72.10 per employee to $121. The initial hike would have increased the tax to nearly $172 per employee. The legislation would also cap the maximum amount per employee at $432 instead of $459.

“It’s a relief to the small business community so they are not going to be hit too badly,” said Sen. Ellyn Bogdanoff, R-Fort Lauderdale, and sponsor of the legislation.
Businesses pay unemployment taxes that are used to provide benefits to those who are out of work. But the problem is that the trust fund used to pay those benefits has been drained due to the state’s high unemployment rate. The rate is now 9.9 percent.

Since 2009, the state has been forced to borrow $2.4 billion from the federal government to keep the trust fund solvent. The state — which manages the trust fund outside of the regular state budget — has paid part of the money back. But now it’s paying interest on the unpaid balance, which is passed on to employers through a once-a-year assessment.

State legislators initially voted to increase the taxes in order to replenish the fund, but have delayed the tax hikes in hopes the economy would recover.
A coalition of business groups, including the Florida Chamber of Commerce and the Florida Retail Federation, pleaded with Gov. Rick Scott and lawmakers last December to block the $817 million increase planned for this year.

But legislators were reluctant to go along with another delay because blocking the tax hike would stretch out the time Florida has to pay back the federal government and subject employers to higher costs over a longer period of time.

After weeks of negotiations top Republicans and business groups instead have reached a compromise to lessen the size of the planned tax increase.
“It’s still hundreds of millions of dollars in savings,” said Dave Hart, executive vice president for the Chamber.

Florida employers pay the annual tax based on each business’ employment history over the past three years. Businesses with no layoffs — nearly half of the total — pay the minimum rate while those with the worst records pay the maximum. The rest pay somewhere in between.

Read more from the Sun-Sentinel

The handkerchief has fallen on the 2012 legislative session.  Although FRLA had a great session, it certainly was one of the most challenging in recent years.  To read an outline of the major actions and bills affecting the hospitality industry, click here for the 2012 Sine Die Report.

On Thursday, March 15, 2012, Attorney General Eric Holder signed a final rule extending the date for compliance with sections 242 and 1009 of the 2010 Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Standards for Accessible Design as it relates to the provision of accessible entry and exit to existing swimming pools, wading pools, and spas for a period of 60 days after the publication of the rule in the Federal Register. On that same day, the Attorney General also signed a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) seeking public comment on whether a longer period of time would be appropriate to allow pool owners and operators to meet their compliance obligations. Specifically, the NPRM proposes a 180-day extension of the deadline. Comments on the NPRM must be submitted on or before April 4, 2012.

Read More

March 26, 2012 (Written By Brandon Larrabee, Naples Daily News)  TALLAHASSEE — With the new Senate maps expected to easily pass the House this week, lawmakers in the upper chamber and potential candidates for those seats are beginning to evaluate their electoral futures.

For a few, the decisions are where and whether to run for another term. And at least one legislative leader is already openly pondering whether to serve out the four-year term that he would be awarded by the literal bounce of the ping-pong ball.

Read More from Naples Daily News

March 30, 2012 (Written By Seth McLaughlin – The Washington Post) – Sen. Marco Rubio threw his support behind Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign on Wednesday and pushed back against the other candidates’ plans to fight until the national convention this summer – handing the former Massachusetts governor a major endorsement from one of the stars of the conservative movement.

Read more from the Washington Post 

March 28, 2012 (Written by Kate Santich and David Damron –  Orlando Sentinel) – If you run up a $100 tab for food and drinks at a Miami restaurant, one dollar of the bill goes to help the homeless and victims of domestic violence. Since the passage of the 1 percent tax on high-end eateries nearly two decades ago, the number of homeless people living on Miami’s streets has plummeted from 8,000 to about 800, and theMiami-Dade CountyHomeless Trust has become the envy of homeless agencies throughout the state.

Read more for the Orlando Sentinel

March 28, 2012 (Written by the Associated Press – Herald Tribune) – Gov. Rick Scott on Wednesday signed into law the main elements of his “jobs agenda” for this year, which includes another small cut in the corporate income tax and changes in the state’s unemployment compensation program. Scott also signed a measure to scale back the size of an unemployment tax increase due this year for nearly 460,000 businesses. The tax will still go up, but not as much as once anticipated.

Read more…. 

March 30, 2012 (Written by Aaron Deslatte, Tallahassee Bureau Chief –  Orlando Sentinel)   — The Florida Legislature completed a two-week extra-innings session Tuesday by passing a redrawn map of new Senate districts that was hailed as a marked improvement over the last try struck down by the state Supreme Court. The new map appears to perform slightly less favorably for Republicans than the previous effort — although the GOP would likely retain a majority in the 40-seat chamber — and creates slightly more consternation for a handful of Central and South Florida incumbents.

Read more from the Orlanod Sentinel…..