October 15, 2012 , Written by Rick Levinthall, Politico – The Citizens United decision gave corporations and unions new powers to spend money for political purposes, and organized labor is taking advantage of late. The United Auto Workers funneled more than $5.44 million this summer into its super PAC, the UAW Education Fund, a super PAC, new federal records show.

Read more…

October 17, 2012, Written by: Marc Caputo, The Miami Herald – In a sign of the intense interest in the presidential race, about 500,000 Floridians have already cast absentee ballots and that number is growing by the day.More than 1.8 million additional voters have requested the ballots, which are typically mailed in. The heaviest voting so far is taking place in Tampa Bay, Miami-Dade and the so-called Interstate 4 corridor in the center of the state. Generally, whoever wins the I-4 corridor — the swing area of the swing state — wins the election. Overall, Republicans lead Democrats in the number of voted absentee ballots so far, by a 45-40 percent spread. That’s despite the fact that registered Democrats exceed Republicans by a 4-percentage-point margin in the state.

Read more…

October 17, 2012, Written by: Brendan Farrington, TBO.com – DAVIE, Fla. (AP) — The first and only debate between Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson and Republican challenger Rep. Connie Mack IV Wednesday came across almost like the old school-yard taunt, “I know you are, but what am I?” Both candidates accused each other of lying about the other’s records, both used the “there you go again” line made famous three decades ago by President Ronald Reagan and both strayed from the subject of questions to take shots at the other. The debate wasn’t so much a look at what the candidates will support if elected, but rather a lot of finger pointing about each other’s records to date.

October 21, 2012, New York Times, Herald Tribuen – In Florida, which wrote the book on battleground states in 2000, “it’s going to be hand-to-hand combat all the way down,” a senior adviser to the Romney campaign, Brett Doster, said over the weekend. When Vice President Joe Biden visited Orlando on Saturday, he skipped a public rally in favor of dropping in on a campaign office, where he urged volunteers to canvass their neighborhoods — “the thing that matters the most.”

Read more…

October 23, 2012, Laurel Brubaker Calkins and Margaret Cronin Fisk, Bloomberg News  – BP PLC urged a U.S. federal judge to approve a proposed US$7.8-billion settlement of thousands of claims by coastal businesses and property owners who sued over economic damages from the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill. “The settlement will bring full compensation to all class members, including those on the Gulf Coast, while resolving a major component of the Deepwater Horizon litigation,” BP lawyers said Monday in an after-hours filing in New Orleans. “The alternative is all-out litigation that would last many years and have an uncertain outcome for class members.”

Read more…

(NRA) – Employers should not wait until 2014 to determine the impact on their business.  Now is the time to understand the law’s requirements and what it will take to comply. For the 10 steps to take now to prepare for the health care law click here.

February 20,2013 , Associated Press – TALLAHASSEE, Fla. –  Gov. Rick Scott announced plans Wednesday to expand Medicaid coverage to roughly 900,000 more people under the federal health overhaul, a surprise decision from the vocal critic of President Barack Obama’s plan. Scott said he will ask the Legislature to expand the program under a bill that would expire in three years, after which it would require renewed legislative support. He’s the seventh Republican governor so far to propose expanding the taxpayer-funded health insurance program.
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…

(Source: The Gainesville Sun, April 5, 2013)

The Gainesville Sun’s recent coverage of wage theft in Alachua County has led the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division to plan an upcoming investigation into the issue in the Gainesville-area restaurant industry.

The Jacksonville district office of the Wage and Hour Division plans to launch an investigation to determine if wage theft is a problem among local restaurants, said District Director Michael Young. The office decided to investigate as a result of The Sun’s reporting.

Common forms of wage theft include mandatory off-the-clock work and tips-only compensation. The Alachua County Commission is considering an ordinance that would allow the county to mediate worker-employer disputes over unpaid wages.

Typically, the Jacksonville district office targets a specific industry or geographical area for investigation — in this case, both — to determine whether wage theft is widespread. If the initial investigation indicates a problem, the office will expand its investigation accordingly to cover more establishments or a wider region.

To read more click here. 

The Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association (FRLA), a proud member of the National Restaurant Association, commends the bipartisan immigration reform proposal unveiled this week in Washington, D.C.

“This bipartisan reform proposal gives us hope that we are headed down a better path toward immigration reform,” said Carol Dover, president and CEO of the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association. “The FRLA has consistently supported a federal solution in supporting a guest worker program that allows foreign workers to remain a vital part of Florida’s economic engine, particularly in the tourism and hospitality industry.”

The National Restaurant Association, representing an industry of nearly one million restaurants and 13 million employees, issued the following statement Tuesday about the federal proposal:

“We commend the ‘Gang of Eight’ for their leadership in crafting a comprehensive reform bill to help fix our nation’s broken immigration system,” said Dawn Sweeney, President and CEO of the National Restaurant Association.  “The opportunity is now. This is the year for Congress to pass sensible immigration reform.

“The National Restaurant Association has been involved in the immigration reform debate at each step of the process for over two decades, and as an industry that plays such an important role in the nation’s economy, with the second largest private sector workforce, we are pleased to see some of the most critical priorities of the restaurant industry addressed in this proposal.

“We commend the bipartisan commitment and process that resulted in the legislation that will be introduced this week, and we believe the proposal has the right framework to tackle our three key priorities:

– At its core, the proposal includes a pathway to legal work status, offering undocumented workers and their families a process of known steps to gain permanent legalization.

– The plan incorporates a national employment verification system that would provide employers with certainty in regard to their legal obligations, while preempting a patchwork of state and local laws.

– The proposal includes improved border security that helps prevent illegal border crossings, while encouraging legitimate travel and tourism to the United States to grow jobs here at home.

“We look forward to working with legislators to address some deficiencies in the guest worker program framework, and to improve the employment verification component of the legislation, however we again commend the ‘Gang of Eight’ for their bipartisan efforts moving a comprehensive immigration reform package forward.

“In addition, this week, hundreds of restaurateurs from across the country will be in Washington for the National Restaurant Association’s Public Affairs Conference, and will have the opportunity to share their thoughts about the proposal firsthand with legislators on Capitol Hill.”

# # #

About the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association
FRLA’s mission is to ‘Protect, Educate and Promote’ Florida’s hospitality industry – which represents a $71.8 billion industry, 23% of Florida’s economy, $4.3 billion in sales tax revenue, and over one million employees, making it Florida’s largest employer. It is Florida’s premier non-profit, hospitality industry trade association. FRLA safeguards the needs of the hospitality industry, improves the business climate, promotes the highest levels of quality and safety for our patrons, provides legislative advocacy, and eases navigation of government regulation. The Association represents and serves more than 10,000 independent and household name members, suppliers, and theme parks. For more information, go to www.FRLA.org. – See more at: http://frla.org/government-relations/federal-news/item/1309-the-florida-restaurant-and-lodging-association-and-the-national-restaurant-association-applauds-us-senators-for-bipartisan-immigration-reform-proposal-#sthash.RsOGTTlA.dpuf