BAN ALL ILLEGAL FIREWORKS

First Report --Our Lobbyist in Tallahassee

Mar 12, 2008

CITIZENS FOR A SAFER FLORIDA
1. Report ?– March 10, 2008
All 160 legislators were lobbied through their aides or directly last week through our letter of introduction and brief discussion. At least ?½ of those lobbied agreed that stronger regulation needs to take place. Fireworks have gotten out of control. That is a good first reaction.
Since there are dozens of ?“shell?” bills in which potential fireworks legislation could arrive, none of the Senators sponsoring these shell bills admit to working on fireworks legislation. We know the fireworks industry does not like the Task Force?’s recommendation, so they may be pushing for another task force. We will oppose this, but if push comes to shove, we want a seat at the table.
Senator Lawson has filed fireworks legislation ?– SB 2270, but this bill has no House companion and probably won?’t even see a committee. However, instead of waiting for the industry to do something, I would like us to take the opportunity to draft our own legislation on how we?’d like F.S. 791 changed to make a safer Florida. I can distribute this to the legislators as well.
Finally, since one of the Task Force members has written a diatribe regarding the Task Force?’s recommendation, I think we should do the same. Jorja and Wofford, you began giving me your thoughts on the Task Force recommendations. I believe we should turn these into a letter from the President as soon as possible.
My goal is weekly contact with all legislators. The Senate Agriculture Committee does NOT meet this week, so we have a reprieve from any bill showing up.
Call with any questions, and feel free to distribute to your statewide group.
Your Legislative Advisor,
Denise Layne
813-246-0485