Please Join Speaker Pro Tempore Leslie Waters & Representatives Trey Traviesa, Ed Homan, Bill Galvano and John Legg for THE FUTURE OF FLORIDA FORUM & 'IDEARAISER'
 

WHAT:	Statewide forum for business
	and healthcare community
	leaders to discuss issues
	important to the future of Florida
WHEN:	Monday, July 31, 2006
	11:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m.
	Lunch will be served (no cost)
WHERE:	All Children's Hospital
	Education & Conference Center
	701 4th Street South
	St. Petersburg, FL 33701
	(727) 767-8831

U.S. Senator Mel Martinez (R-FL) today announced Senate lawmakers have agreed to provide a 125-mile "no-drill" zone around Florida in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico.

The agreement, reached after deliberations with Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) and Senator Pete Domenici (R-NM), chairman of the Senate Energy Committee, provides Florida at least 125-miles of protection through 2022.

The agreement also ensures there shall be no drilling east of the Military Mission Line through 2022, meaning no drilling would take place within 234 miles from the coast of Tampa. The agreement also provides an option for existing leaseholders within the 125 mile buffer to swap their leases in other areas open for leasing.

"This is a good deal for Florida and one we need to take so that we can protect our tourism economy, our pristine environment and our expansive military training area.

"After the relentless attempts and growing pressure in Congress to open drilling as close as 50 miles from our coast, this agreement gives Floridians the concrete assurances we need that our coasts are protected now and well into the future.  We cannot continue to be in the position of having Florida's coasts continuously vulnerable to the whims of those who want to drill on our shores."

Statement By:

 

GOVERNOR JEB BUSH 

"I applaud Senator Martinez for negotiating proposed legislation with Senator Domenici and Senate leadership that blocks any new leasing within 125 miles of the Gulf Coast of Florida and protects the military training area until 2022.

"I look forward to the Senate vote on this proposal and urge its members to work closely with the House to forge an agreement on legislation that protects the state's pristine beaches, which is the foundation of our tourism-based economy and our great quality of life."

SAY NO TO OIL DRILLING IN OUR GULF

OUR COASTLINE NEEDS YOUR HELP

*Townhall Meeting on Drilling in the Gulf
Monday, April 3
9:30 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.
Tampa Port Authority's Board Room,
1101 Channelside Drive

As you may remember, our Chamber wrote a letter of support for the Permanent Protection of Florida Act.

Rep. Davis is the House sponsor for the bill.  He will be hosting a public meeting to discuss offshore oil and gas drilling in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico. In February, the U.S. Department of the Interior released a draft five year plan for drilling activities in the Outer Continental Shelf. The proposal would open up the Eastern Gulf of Mexico to oil and gas drilling and would severely limit Florida's ability to object proposed drilling projects in the Gulf.

The Department of the Interior is holding many public meetings to discuss the plan in pro-drilling states, however only one has been scheduled in the state of Florida. Because of this, Rep. Davis plans to videotape the public meeting he is hosting on Monday, April 3rd to submit the concerns of Tampa Bay residents to the Department of the Interior at their meeting in Tallahassee on April 6th.

A tourism business perspective is very needed at this press conference. We have received calls from Rep. Davis' office requesting people's opinions of potential negative effects of offshore drilling off Florida's coast.  If anyone feels passionately about this issue, it would be very appropriate for you to attend and even speak at this press conference.

 

SENATE PASSES FULL REPEAL OF JOINT AND SEVERAL BY A VOTE OF 27 TO 13

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (March 30, 2006)—The Florida Chamber applauds the Florida Senate for passing the full repeal of joint and several liability by a vote of 27 yeas to 13 nays.

Today, Floridians came one step closer to securing a fair and just legal system.  This tremendous progress was not due solely to the efforts of individual organizations like the Florida Chamber, but was due to the unified efforts of our partner, the Florida Justice Reform Institute.

The Florida Chamber, via the Florida Justice Reform Institute, is part of a coalition of 25 pro-business organizations working together to communicate with members and educate all of the stakeholders as to the good policy in SB 2006 by Sen. Dan Webster and HB 145 by Rep. Don Brown, repealing joint and several liability.

Under Florida?s current law, businesses can be sued because of their ability to pay, not because they caused the accident. This bill ensures businesses are paying 100 percent of their share of the fault, rather than the share of the wrongdoer.  This repeal is a top priority for the Florida Chamber?s 137,000 member employers.

Voters have shown that they are overwhelmingly in support of legal reforms.  A statewide survey of 800 registered voters conducted in January indicated that 6 out of 10 voters support holding individuals responsible only for their share of the damages they caused in an accident, even if the injured person does not collect all of their money. Additionally, eighty-three percent of Florida voters believe trial lawyers are more interested in making money than protecting the rights of the people.

?Today is a historic day for putting fairness back into our civil legal system and the Florida Senate should be applauded for choosing the needs of the voters over the demands of the trial lawyers,? said Mark Wilson, executive vice president, Florida Chamber of Commerce. ?The Florida Chamber commends President Tom Lee and Senator Dan Webster for their leadership in taking quick action on this bill.?