February 20, 2013, Steve Bousquet, Times/Herald Tallahassee Bureau – TALLAHASSEE — In dramatic fashion, Rep. Darryl Rouson of St. Petersburg narrowly won a caucus vote Wednesday night to be leader of House Democrats in 2014. Rouson defeated Rep. Mia Jones of Jacksonville, 23-21, after the two deadlocked on a 22-22 vote and a second round of balloting was held. Lawmakers voted by secret ballot, so who switched sides and why remains a mystery.

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February 20, 2013, Gray Rohrer, The Florida Current – The Florida Legislature released the parameters for the study of the state’s gambling economy and laws Wednesday and invited firms to conduct the analysis. Both Senate President Don Gaetz, R-Niceville, and House Speaker Will Weatherford, R-Wesley Chapel, have set up committees this year dedicated to look at Florida’s gambling laws with an eye to a possible comprehensive overhaul. Read More…..

February 22, 2013, By Margaret Kavanagh, FLORIDA — A new law that went into effect January 1 could hurt tourism in our state, an industry that employs hundreds of thousands of people here in Florida. This law is so controversial, it’s caused an outcry among international travelers and now Florida Highway Patrol officials say they’re not going to enforce it. Visiting from Venezuela on vacation, Jose Osamonao and his mother said he showed his driver’s license from his home county and got a rental car. Osamonao said he loves Florida. He said they are going to the theme parks and doing a lot of shopping.  Read More…

February 21, 2012, written by John Kennedy, Post On Politics – An effort to give cities and counties authority to limit smoking at beaches and parks cleared its first legislative test Thursday — earning unanimous approval from the Senate Regulated Industries Committee. The measure (SB 258) is similar to one sponsored by Rep. Bill Hager, R-Boca Raton, who two years ago successfully got lawmakers to give school boards power to enact tougher anti-smoking restrictions than those contained in state law.  Read More….

March 14, 2013 – Hundreds of tourism and hospitality representatives from across the state came to the state’s capitol Wednesday and met with over 80 legislators and government officials. Thank you to those who made the trip to Tallahassee to lobby on behalf of Florida’s number one industry. Your voice was heard loud and clear – the way to our economic prosperity is through the support and funding of tourism marketing and industry funding. The day’s activities began with updates by The Partnership for Florida’s Tourism CEO’s and high level briefings from Agriculture and Consumer Services Commissioner Adam Putnam, State Senator David Simmons, House Majority Leader Stephen Precourt, Department of Business and Professional Regulation Secretary Ken Lawson, and Deputy Secretary of State for Cultural, Historical and Information Programs Kerri Post. The street party Wednesday evening, which drew well over 500 attendees, featured the band Southern Satisfaction and showcased food, prizes and exhibits from numerous members of the tourism industry and supporting organizations.  In addition to the great music and delicious food, the Florida Cattlemen’s Association hosted a Florida whip popping demonstration and invited legislators to try their hand at cracking the whip. Click this link to watch our highlight video of Tourism Day, along with our legislative update.

March 18, 2013, Breadenton.com — The Jacksonville Jaguars are getting initial support from state legislators to help pay for improvements to EverBank Field.A Florida Senate panel on Tuesday unanimously approved a measure (SB 922) that would guarantee $2 million a year for the next 30 years to help pay for stadium upgrades.The bill still has two more stops before it reaches the full Senate. Read more..

March 18, 2013, Written by Jim Stratton, Orlando Sentinel – Florida’s unemployment rate dipped to 7.8 percent in January, falling below the national jobless rate for the first time in five years, officials said Monday. The rate, down just a bit from December’s revised jobless rate of 7.9 percent, is at its lowest level since November 2008. And since December 2010, Florida businesses have created 282,200 private-sector jobs as the state’s economy slowly heals from the worst recession since the Great Depression. Read more…

(Source: South Florida Business Journal)

New bills under consideration by the Florida Legislature would ease the regulatory burden for restaurants statewide that have a good record with the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation.

According to the bills (HB-795 and SB-842), the department’s Division of Hotels and Restaurants will be permitted to adopt rules for a risk-based inspection process for all licensed food service businesses.

Essentially, the bill will allow regulators to focus on establishments that pose a higher risk to the public, effectively reducing the regulatory burden for businesses that have a positive compliance history with the department.

State Rep. Mike La Rosa, R-St. Cloud, and state Sen. Kelli Stargel, R-Lakeland, sponsored the bill.

“The inspection process won’t change,” said Sandi Poreda, director of communications for the DBPR. “The forms will be the same and the food code won’t change. Instead, it’ll be the frequency at which the callbacks happen. Our inspectors will be freed up to check back with those restaurants that pose a higher risk to the public.”

If the legislation passes, the department will be able to use its 186 state inspectors to focus on repeat offenders by conducting more unannounced inspections.

The department normally performs two unannounced inspections a year on the state’s 45,000 licensed food establishments.

The department also keeps track of establishments that did not have any sanitation or safety violations within the past year. During the week of March 18, 35 restaurants were on the list – the highest amount so far this year, Poreda said.

The Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association supports the bill’s push for risk-based inspections, vice president Geoff Luebkemann said.

“If a place that has proven over the course of how many inspections, and they establish that they get it and are executing it, then they earn a lower level of scrutiny,” he said. “The FRLA has been on the record of supporting a robust and effective inspection system. One bad foodborne illness outbreak hurt the entire industry, and not just the business.”

The House bill has passed the Business and Professional Regulation Subcommittee and will head next to the Government Operations Appropriations Subcommittee. The Senate bill has passed the Regulated Industries Committee and will head next to the General Government Appropriates Subcommittee.

To see the article: click here.

Governor Rick Scott today announced that since Dec. 2010, Florida has created 294,200 private-sector jobs and Florida’s February 2013 unemployment rate decreased 0.2 percentage points to 7.7 percent – the lowest since October 2008. Governor Scott made the announcement at Amcor Rigid Plastics USA Inc. in Orlando, a plastics manufacturing company, which opened a new 500,000 sq-ft manufacturing facility in January, hiring 29 employees with a capital investment of $20 million.

Governor Scott said, “With an unemployment rate of 7.7 percent, the lowest in more than four years, and nearly 300,000 private sector jobs created over the last two years, we have proof that IT’S WORKING. Our efforts to reduce taxes, pay down state debt and grow the economy, demonstrates our success in growing jobs for Florida families. While today’s announcement is great news, we know we have more work to do to ensure that every Florida family that wants a job can get one.”

Over the month, the state experienced an increase of 7,700 private-sector jobs, while 139,200 private sector jobs have been created since February 2012. Since Governor Scott took office, the state’s unemployment rate has dropped 3.4 percentage points, the second largest drop in the nation.

More Jobs Being Created
• Florida has experienced positive annual job growth now for 31 consecutive months.
• Florida job postings increased in February 2013 compared to the previous February by 21,366 (+8.8 percent), for a total of 263,240 openings (seasonally adjusted) according to the Help Wanted OnLine data series from the Conference Board.
• Florida’s job growth month-to-month has been positive for 19 of the last 20 months.
• Florida is expected to create more than 900,000 new jobs by 2018, according to the Florida Economic Estimating Conference.
• The number of available online job openings in STEM-related (sciences, technology, engineering, and math) fields in Florida have increased since last year, up 10.4 percent, for a total of 57,488 postings in February 2013.

Unemployment Continues to Decline
• Florida’s unemployment rate has now declined year-over-year for 28 consecutive months.

Home Sales Robust 
• Home sales remain robust as the backlog of existing homes on the market is down by 32 percent from February 2012 (Florida Realtors).
• Florida housing starts were up over the year in January 2013 (the most recent month available) by 52.6 percent and median home prices were up 12.8 percent in February 2013 over the year.

Economic Growth Trends Up Across State
• A recent U.S. Census Survey reported that Florida experienced an influx of people moving into the state. Florida also led the nation in migrations from Puerto Rico.
• Florida is running a trade surplus of over $24 billion – with $86.8 billion in exports and $62.4 billion in imports in 2011, up from $73.1 billion in exports in 2010 and $53.2 billion in imports in 2010.

Workforce Boards Assisting in Employment 
• In February, the state’s 24 Regional Workforce Boards reported more than 38,000 Floridians placed in jobs.
• More than 426,000 Floridians were placed in jobs in 2012, with 111,173 former claimants finding employment.

To watch the announcement: CLICK HERE.
To view the February 2013 monthly employment data visit:www.floridajobs.org/labor-market-information/labor-market-information-press-releases/monthly-press-releases.