April 3, 2025 • 25 mins
A look at week four of Florida's legislative session with Sal Nuzzo of Consumers Defense.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
I don't realize that I like a wheelchair accessible shelter.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
When the floodwaters rise, me up in the attic with
twenty cans of beans.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
It's a recipe for disaster.
Speaker 3 (00:09):
Let's prepare so we all have a better story to tell.
Get started at ready dog gov slash Older Adults, brought
to you by FIMA and the ad Council.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
And so we begin the third hour of the morning show.
It is March thirty first, the beginning of the fifth
week of the legislative session. He's Jose, I'm Preston, and
this is Salnuzo. He is the executive director of Consumers
Defense and he has been a long time watcher, observer
and nerd on all things legislative session in Florida. Amen
(00:51):
to that. How are we having fun yet? I just
looked at you in the seconds before we started and
I said, this is the first legislative session and maybe
ever that I am not enjoying what I'm watching happen
because there's too much politics and not enough policy.
Speaker 4 (01:12):
Yeah, and so as a I would also call myself
a nerd, and as someone who's focused on policy and
worked in the policy arena for gosh, going on twenty
five years. This is definitely one where the political dynamics
and the political personalities have cast a larger than normal
shadow over the policy making process, which for the nerds
(01:36):
is very frustrating. So I would share and echo your
sentiment where this is probably the most frustrating legislative session
from that vantage point for me, I'm not.
Speaker 1 (01:47):
Going to ever intentionally at least put you in a
position of having to kind of pick a side on
any of this stuff. But is it possible that the
politics of this session will overshadow to the extent that
we don't get enough policy done because of the political dynamics.
Speaker 4 (02:07):
Oh, I think that that's absolutely going to be the case.
And I actually thought you were going to take the
question in the electoral direction. Is it something where it
casts a shadow over next year's campaigning in the mid
terms one we'll have a gubernatorial election. And I think,
while it's probably safe to say it's a little too
(02:27):
soon to articulate that at least during this legislative session,
I think if it doesn't improve and continues to build,
and if it builds too long, it could be a
legitimate threat.
Speaker 1 (02:40):
Did this begin with the special session controversy? Or were
the seeds to this laid far earlier that we don't
necessarily know about.
Speaker 4 (02:49):
I think there's a little bit of this that was
kind of laid in the ground a bit earlier than
the Special Session. I think the special Session debate and
dynamic was a feature of what had been going on
for a little bit. And you had the speaker transition
or the leadership transition to a new speaker, new Senate president.
(03:10):
You had a very powerful conservative governor. Arguably I would
consider him among if not the most conservative governors to
implement policy in my lifetime at least, and possibly in
history in terms of just the sheer accomplishments. He went
(03:30):
from an election where he won by thirty four thousand
votes to a re election winning by one point five million.
After that, used the next two years to implement policy
from the conservative wish list, and then helped expand the
legislative the legislative majority even more after that. And so
(03:53):
you've got that dynamic with a legislature that is a
coequal branch of government. And there were absolutely members who
felt like they may have gotten their arms twisted on
some votes or to push through some things that at
the time they weren't comfortable with, and then you have
the special interests playing a factor in that. And so
(04:15):
I think those seeds have been planted and watered and
these are the first fruits of that.
Speaker 1 (04:20):
When you say they weren't comfortable with, is there a
real consideration of someone's personal comfort versus what is best
for the constituents and the citizens.
Speaker 4 (04:33):
I think in some cases you would have members who
would make an argument that they were intertwined, that they
were personally and I'm going to throw out a hypothetical
example that they may have been personally uncomfortable with going
from say a fifteen week abortion restriction to a six
week abortion restriction because they represented a district where they
(04:57):
had more constituents who were very uncomfortable with that. There
are a number of those types of issues where I
think and that's fair over those two year period that
the new leadership is trying to, you know, kind of
plant a flag in the ground and say no, we're
going to establish ourselves more as a coequal branch and
(05:21):
push back.
Speaker 1 (05:22):
Yeah to that, I would just simply reply, as long
as you're representing the will of the people that put
you in office, that's fine, Yes, And there's another new
it's not a personal thing, and there's another nuance to
this that we could talk after the break. All right,
ten past the hour sell news. Oh with us, It's
sussy here on the Morning Show with Preston Scott Bradford Road.
Speaker 5 (06:10):
I'm Woodward Avenue Sophology to our signs from the job
Centerrome Sha tab.
Speaker 2 (06:15):
Morning hours are quiet. Later this afternoon strong to potentially
severe storms, including the risk of damaging winds, tornadoes and hail.
Later today eighty the high tomorrow only a slight chance
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Speaker 5 (06:34):
Thank you, child might have swallowed the wrong medication gotten
into your household products had a reaction to a bit
or sting called the Poison Helpline first for fast free
advice for medical professionals.
Speaker 1 (06:42):
Call one eight hundred.
Speaker 5 (06:43):
Two to two one two two two anytime anywhere, save
the number.
Speaker 1 (06:46):
Save a Life.
Speaker 5 (06:47):
Rought to you by the US Department of Healthing Human Services.
Speaker 6 (06:49):
Two decades of doing morning drive radio differently doing it
his way, like old Blue Eyes, except he has a
little more hair.
Speaker 1 (06:59):
The Morning Show rest In Scott talking about the legislative
session that is sixty days of fun and break down,
where the animosity is found. What's the fighting about.
Speaker 4 (07:21):
Well, there's a number of issues that they're kind of
in the back and forth, and there was something I
wanted to reference that is real important to this discussion,
and that is, right now you have a very vocal
cohort of social media platforms, cable news and whatnot shining
(07:42):
a light on all of this. And the question that
pops into my head because it's something that I am
paid to pay attention to, and people who are in
the grassroots pay attention to it very aggressively as well,
is how much of the back and forth in the
explosive dynamics that we're seeing are a very vocal minority
(08:07):
and the vast majority of the voters are not tuned
into yet. And so as we get further toward the
twenty twenty six campaign area, if those tensions continue, and
if the twenty twenty six session mirrors this, I think
we then get into the realm where it could cost
(08:30):
you a supermajority. It could cost you swing seats, swing seats,
It could cost you, it could cost you giving the
left a foothold in Florida that then, you know, floods
money into the state for campaigns and such. And I
think right now we may be a little bit too
soon for that. And it may be if the to
(08:53):
borrow a phrase from The Godfather when Colemenza talks about
every five or ten years, you've got to have this
blood letting and then you know, you'll let all the
bad tension gets out and everybody goes back to normal.
If that's the case, I think this is a year
to do it. Let's get through it, let's get on,
and then we'll all be in good shape for twenty
twenty six. But if it carries forward, that's where I
(09:13):
think it's a big threat.
Speaker 1 (09:15):
And that's where my concerns over where the leadership is
in the House and the Senate that they in Just
being an observer of humans and of politics, it tells
me that this is a little bit more personally held
than policy held.
Speaker 4 (09:36):
It could be, and it could be some personal animosities
or feelings that have kind of carried over from prior
sessions that are now manifesting themselves here. But what we
see is we see a whole lot of back and
forth in committee hearings and over bills that we hadn't
seen in prior years. And we're also seeing very public
(09:58):
things going on that I think in prior years would
have happened behind the scenes and we wouldn't have had
kind of public twitter or expats back and forth and
so forth. So I think that's where the differences between
you know, this year and maybe you know five eight
years ago.
Speaker 1 (10:16):
We have a minute left in this segment. Let's touch
on where the fights are.
Speaker 4 (10:20):
Sure you've got one in particular which is interesting is
the legislator of the House side has overridden four different
vetos that the governor put in the existing budget. Didn't
total very much. It was only you know, maybe thirty
forty million dollars a total or something like that, but
(10:41):
four specific vetos, and the governor kind of came out
publicly and castigated them that for that, and that's where
that kind of public back and forth that I mentioned
comes through. Interestingly enough, the Senate has not indicated where
whether they will go forth and override because they've got
to do it as well. So whether those overrides come
(11:02):
to fruition or not, we don't know.
Speaker 1 (11:05):
All right, We're going to cover some other areas next,
and we're going to keep plowing through this kind of
what's going on in the session, and a look ahead
as well still to come with sal Nuzzo of Consumer's
Defense here on the Morning Show with Preston Scott.
Speaker 7 (13:28):
Mcoster. President Trump says Ukraine's President Zelenski has big problems
if he backs out of a rare earth minerals deal,
and he's angry with Russia's President Putin, but he.
Speaker 8 (13:37):
Considers Zelenski not credible.
Speaker 1 (13:41):
Must be making a deal with.
Speaker 7 (13:42):
It, Must negotiations with a new temporary Ukrainian administration. Our
right French leader Marine Lepen is banned from seeking public
office for.
Speaker 1 (13:49):
Five years, so No.
Speaker 7 (13:51):
Twenty twenty seven presidential race.
Speaker 8 (13:52):
Marie Lepen and eight other current or former lawmakers with
her National Rally party have been found guilty of embezzlement.
She didn't week here how long before walking into the
courts into a waking car before.
Speaker 7 (14:07):
Your prison term and two years suspended all ending appeal
that keeps her current seat in the French National Assemblage
run for president before convictions are for stealing for European Unions, News, weather, traffic,
and the big stories in the press box the fastest
(14:27):
three hours in media, and don't be surprised if you have.
Speaker 1 (14:31):
A chuckle here and there, just like that. Thanks for listening.
Speaker 6 (14:38):
It's the Morning Show with Preston Scott.
Speaker 1 (14:54):
Moving faster then then I might have otherwise expected South
newsoh with me from Consumers Defense. You can learn more
at Consumers defense dot com. We're talking about the legislative session.
I made a comment that I worry that good policy,
things that need to get done, are not getting done.
(15:16):
Is there any validity to my concern? Oh?
Speaker 4 (15:18):
Yeah, And I think there's always going to be areas
of policy where you know, one chamber goes in the direction,
you know, as part of the deal. But there's a
lot that I think when we look back on this
session is going to be kind of left on the table.
Speaker 1 (15:33):
And would we call it low hanging fruit. I mean,
in my opinion it would be okay. I think in
yours it would be as well. And so, you know,
just kind of running through a couple of them. On
the immigration side, I mean, we've talked for a few years,
let alone just this session, about the need to close
the everify loophole, which, if you know, if you haven't
(15:54):
got two loopholes. Well, yeah, and you've got the one
loophole that says, if you have under twenty five employees,
you can use the I nine forum, which gives employers
the ability to kind of claim plausible deniability in a
whole host of things. So you could apply it to
any employer. And anyone who argues that that is cumbersome
(16:15):
is a fool because it takes a moment to just
log in and check. And the second loophole that I've
recently learned is that employers are not subjecting their entire
staff if they have a large staff to it, only
applying new hires. After everify one into effect.
Speaker 4 (16:33):
Yeah, all existing employees of a company, even when over
twenty five employees was grandfathered in.
Speaker 1 (16:39):
So you've got that big. Every employee should be covered
by that, whether they were hired yesterday or fifteen years ago.
Speaker 4 (16:47):
Yeah, And so you see and hear individual members talking
about the need to close it. You can even hear
on occasion trade associations talking about the need to close it.
And yet it know it likely will not happened this session.
Speaker 1 (17:01):
What else?
Speaker 4 (17:01):
Gun rights very low hanging fruit. In my opinion, you've
got to bill to restore the rights of eighteen and
twenty year old adults to purchase firearms. It moved past
its last committee before the full House, but none of
the Senate bills that have been filed have been heard
by a single committee. So I can't anticipate anything happening.
Speaker 1 (17:22):
There is there a reason given why they're not touching
something that is so fundamental to our constitution.
Speaker 4 (17:29):
I do not know, and you even have. I saw
a post from the Attorney General of Florida saying, you know,
he's hunting, and he's saying there is no legal or
constitutional reason that an eighteen, nineteen, or twenty year old
should not be able to purchase a firearm. And so
you've even got the Florida a g behind this. But
(17:50):
I did kind of want to touch on one element
of this, which was the last week Senator Randy Fine,
who's about to go through the election for Congress, he
presented the campus carry bill and its committee stop. Now,
there were tons of public testimony against it, as expected.
(18:11):
Then it got to debate and you had Senator Carlos
Girima Smith, who's this very loud, boisterous senator. He was
in the House very left. He did his typical oration
and opposition. But then you had Senator Jason Pizzow and
even though he opposed the bill, and I disagree with
him on his opposition, but he came to its defense
(18:32):
in a way that I would absolutely encourage anyone to watch,
especially considering how then Senator Fine used it with the
close on his bill. That was really how the process
should unfold. The sad part is the bill failed in
committee because you did have two Senators Corey Simon and
(18:55):
Jen Bradley, they were not president in the committee hearing
to vote, and then publican Senator Eleana Garcia voted no,
so it completely killed the bill. So those are the
things that are going on in that front, and it's
a sad thing on a low hanging piece of policy.
Speaker 1 (19:11):
Forty one minutes passed the hour. More to come.
Speaker 2 (20:02):
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Speaker 6 (20:19):
And asking the questions you want the answers to the
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Speaker 1 (20:25):
Hundred point seven w FLA final segment. I don't know
where the time went. Salnuzo with me from Consumers Defense.
We've talked about some things that maybe ought to have
the attention of lawmakers that might not be getting the
(20:48):
full attention. Are there things that they're spending time on
that perhaps would be better spent on some of those
other things.
Speaker 4 (20:54):
Yeah, And I think one that we can kind of
home in on because we've talked about it a whole
lot of the years is the issue of insurance in
the state of Florida, particularly in property insurance and then
in auto. And honestly, this is one where I have
a lot of trouble understanding it from a policy angle.
I get the politics behind it, but from a policy angle,
(21:16):
I just don't. The House is moving a bill. It's
HB fifteen fifty one. It would pretty much reverse course
completely on the tort reforms from just two years ago.
In twenty twenty three, the committees voted on it. The
two committees, it's been to sixteen one and fifteen one
to move it forward. So you have members in fact
that voted for the tort bills two years ago that
(21:39):
are now turning basically one hundred and eighty degrees and
voting the opposite way. Now, the Senate does have a
companion bill to this, but it has not made an
agenda for a committee yet. Now, ordinarily I would say
it's almost likely dead for the session, But with so
many of those types of bills in the sale imposture
(22:01):
that we're seeing with this, I'm kind of prepping myself
for some major move in the final couple of weeks
a session the leaders work out a massive final agreement
includes taking up these dangling bills and moving them through,
and then they go forward. So on the property side,
you've got that it would reverse course on the tort reforms,
(22:22):
and then you've got the shift to auto insurance. And
this is one where the legislature has done this before.
They've passed a repeal of the Personal Injury Protection PIP
and they've sent it to the governor and he vetoed
it because he rightly deduced it would effectively raise rates
on drivers because it wasn't paired with some other needed reforms.
(22:45):
I've looked over this year's bill that would repeal it,
and it's pretty much the same version. And what I'm
intrigued by is it's in both the Senate and the House,
and they're gonna move something, and I wonder if he's
going to vet it.
Speaker 1 (23:00):
And if so, do they try to override it? Do
consumer citizens in the state have unrealistic expectations of the
industry because I feel like there's been a perfect storm
in that any changes that have been put into place
have had to go against the wind of inflation.
Speaker 4 (23:17):
Yes, and I think you're spot on. I would try
to be as diplomatic as possible in saying this that
I think as non informed people within the insurance arena,
I mean, who really pays attention to the insurance arena, well,
(23:37):
policymakers and people in the insurance arena and trial attorneys.
Speaker 1 (23:41):
And everyone once or twice a year when they get.
Speaker 4 (23:44):
Their premium exactly, and so all that they're looking at
is did my premiums go up or my premiums go down?
And they don't care why. And there is a big
why in this, And so you are spot on when
ruth shingles and lumber and glass and all of these
other things that go into making you whole, when the
prices of them have gone up over the last four
(24:06):
years in some years double digits. It's not an easy
fix to get those rates down because those rates are
reflective of where inflation is.
Speaker 1 (24:15):
At thirty seconds. What's the big task for the week?
Speaker 4 (24:19):
The big big task for the week, and I struggle
because we didn't get to it until the end. Here
is the budget. It's the one constitutional responsibility. Both the
Senate and House have released their budget proposals. The House
is six billion dollars less than the current year and
two point five billion dollars less than the governor proposed,
(24:41):
and the Senate version is a little bit higher. I
think there's about a three and a half four billion
dollar gap between the House and the Senate. The big
thing for this week is the appropriations. The full appropriations
committees will pass those budgets, and then they go to
the chambers, which triggers the Conference committee. So maybe next
week we'll have some time to un pack the various proposals,
where the differences are, and how they're kind of moving
(25:04):
ahead with a conference plan.
Speaker 1 (25:06):
Thanks for the time, Always a pleasure to be with you, Saluzo.
Consumers Defense our guest legislative stuff here on The Morning
Show with Preston Scott
I don't realize that I like a wheelchair accessible shelter.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
When the floodwaters rise, me up in the attic with
twenty cans of beans.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
It's a recipe for disaster.
Speaker 3 (00:09):
Let's prepare so we all have a better story to tell.
Get started at ready dog gov slash Older Adults, brought
to you by FIMA and the ad Council.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
And so we begin the third hour of the morning show.
It is March thirty first, the beginning of the fifth
week of the legislative session. He's Jose, I'm Preston, and
this is Salnuzo. He is the executive director of Consumers
Defense and he has been a long time watcher, observer
and nerd on all things legislative session in Florida. Amen
(00:51):
to that. How are we having fun yet? I just
looked at you in the seconds before we started and
I said, this is the first legislative session and maybe
ever that I am not enjoying what I'm watching happen
because there's too much politics and not enough policy.
Speaker 4 (01:12):
Yeah, and so as a I would also call myself
a nerd, and as someone who's focused on policy and
worked in the policy arena for gosh, going on twenty
five years. This is definitely one where the political dynamics
and the political personalities have cast a larger than normal
shadow over the policy making process, which for the nerds
(01:36):
is very frustrating. So I would share and echo your
sentiment where this is probably the most frustrating legislative session
from that vantage point for me, I'm not.
Speaker 1 (01:47):
Going to ever intentionally at least put you in a
position of having to kind of pick a side on
any of this stuff. But is it possible that the
politics of this session will overshadow to the extent that
we don't get enough policy done because of the political dynamics.
Speaker 4 (02:07):
Oh, I think that that's absolutely going to be the case.
And I actually thought you were going to take the
question in the electoral direction. Is it something where it
casts a shadow over next year's campaigning in the mid
terms one we'll have a gubernatorial election. And I think,
while it's probably safe to say it's a little too
(02:27):
soon to articulate that at least during this legislative session,
I think if it doesn't improve and continues to build,
and if it builds too long, it could be a
legitimate threat.
Speaker 1 (02:40):
Did this begin with the special session controversy? Or were
the seeds to this laid far earlier that we don't
necessarily know about.
Speaker 4 (02:49):
I think there's a little bit of this that was
kind of laid in the ground a bit earlier than
the Special Session. I think the special Session debate and
dynamic was a feature of what had been going on
for a little bit. And you had the speaker transition
or the leadership transition to a new speaker, new Senate president.
(03:10):
You had a very powerful conservative governor. Arguably I would
consider him among if not the most conservative governors to
implement policy in my lifetime at least, and possibly in
history in terms of just the sheer accomplishments. He went
(03:30):
from an election where he won by thirty four thousand
votes to a re election winning by one point five million.
After that, used the next two years to implement policy
from the conservative wish list, and then helped expand the
legislative the legislative majority even more after that. And so
(03:53):
you've got that dynamic with a legislature that is a
coequal branch of government. And there were absolutely members who
felt like they may have gotten their arms twisted on
some votes or to push through some things that at
the time they weren't comfortable with, and then you have
the special interests playing a factor in that. And so
(04:15):
I think those seeds have been planted and watered and
these are the first fruits of that.
Speaker 1 (04:20):
When you say they weren't comfortable with, is there a
real consideration of someone's personal comfort versus what is best
for the constituents and the citizens.
Speaker 4 (04:33):
I think in some cases you would have members who
would make an argument that they were intertwined, that they
were personally and I'm going to throw out a hypothetical
example that they may have been personally uncomfortable with going
from say a fifteen week abortion restriction to a six
week abortion restriction because they represented a district where they
(04:57):
had more constituents who were very uncomfortable with that. There
are a number of those types of issues where I
think and that's fair over those two year period that
the new leadership is trying to, you know, kind of
plant a flag in the ground and say no, we're
going to establish ourselves more as a coequal branch and
(05:21):
push back.
Speaker 1 (05:22):
Yeah to that, I would just simply reply, as long
as you're representing the will of the people that put
you in office, that's fine, Yes, And there's another new
it's not a personal thing, and there's another nuance to
this that we could talk after the break. All right,
ten past the hour sell news. Oh with us, It's
sussy here on the Morning Show with Preston Scott Bradford Road.
Speaker 5 (06:10):
I'm Woodward Avenue Sophology to our signs from the job
Centerrome Sha tab.
Speaker 2 (06:15):
Morning hours are quiet. Later this afternoon strong to potentially
severe storms, including the risk of damaging winds, tornadoes and hail.
Later today eighty the high tomorrow only a slight chance
of a thunderstorm. I'm News Radio one hundred point seven
wfla's Terry Smith in the Weather Channel forecast Center.
Speaker 5 (06:34):
Thank you, child might have swallowed the wrong medication gotten
into your household products had a reaction to a bit
or sting called the Poison Helpline first for fast free
advice for medical professionals.
Speaker 1 (06:42):
Call one eight hundred.
Speaker 5 (06:43):
Two to two one two two two anytime anywhere, save
the number.
Speaker 1 (06:46):
Save a Life.
Speaker 5 (06:47):
Rought to you by the US Department of Healthing Human Services.
Speaker 6 (06:49):
Two decades of doing morning drive radio differently doing it
his way, like old Blue Eyes, except he has a
little more hair.
Speaker 1 (06:59):
The Morning Show rest In Scott talking about the legislative
session that is sixty days of fun and break down,
where the animosity is found. What's the fighting about.
Speaker 4 (07:21):
Well, there's a number of issues that they're kind of
in the back and forth, and there was something I
wanted to reference that is real important to this discussion,
and that is, right now you have a very vocal
cohort of social media platforms, cable news and whatnot shining
(07:42):
a light on all of this. And the question that
pops into my head because it's something that I am
paid to pay attention to, and people who are in
the grassroots pay attention to it very aggressively as well,
is how much of the back and forth in the
explosive dynamics that we're seeing are a very vocal minority
(08:07):
and the vast majority of the voters are not tuned
into yet. And so as we get further toward the
twenty twenty six campaign area, if those tensions continue, and
if the twenty twenty six session mirrors this, I think
we then get into the realm where it could cost
(08:30):
you a supermajority. It could cost you swing seats, swing seats,
It could cost you, it could cost you giving the
left a foothold in Florida that then, you know, floods
money into the state for campaigns and such. And I
think right now we may be a little bit too
soon for that. And it may be if the to
(08:53):
borrow a phrase from The Godfather when Colemenza talks about
every five or ten years, you've got to have this
blood letting and then you know, you'll let all the
bad tension gets out and everybody goes back to normal.
If that's the case, I think this is a year
to do it. Let's get through it, let's get on,
and then we'll all be in good shape for twenty
twenty six. But if it carries forward, that's where I
(09:13):
think it's a big threat.
Speaker 1 (09:15):
And that's where my concerns over where the leadership is
in the House and the Senate that they in Just
being an observer of humans and of politics, it tells
me that this is a little bit more personally held
than policy held.
Speaker 4 (09:36):
It could be, and it could be some personal animosities
or feelings that have kind of carried over from prior
sessions that are now manifesting themselves here. But what we
see is we see a whole lot of back and
forth in committee hearings and over bills that we hadn't
seen in prior years. And we're also seeing very public
(09:58):
things going on that I think in prior years would
have happened behind the scenes and we wouldn't have had
kind of public twitter or expats back and forth and
so forth. So I think that's where the differences between
you know, this year and maybe you know five eight
years ago.
Speaker 1 (10:16):
We have a minute left in this segment. Let's touch
on where the fights are.
Speaker 4 (10:20):
Sure you've got one in particular which is interesting is
the legislator of the House side has overridden four different
vetos that the governor put in the existing budget. Didn't
total very much. It was only you know, maybe thirty
forty million dollars a total or something like that, but
(10:41):
four specific vetos, and the governor kind of came out
publicly and castigated them that for that, and that's where
that kind of public back and forth that I mentioned
comes through. Interestingly enough, the Senate has not indicated where
whether they will go forth and override because they've got
to do it as well. So whether those overrides come
(11:02):
to fruition or not, we don't know.
Speaker 1 (11:05):
All right, We're going to cover some other areas next,
and we're going to keep plowing through this kind of
what's going on in the session, and a look ahead
as well still to come with sal Nuzzo of Consumer's
Defense here on the Morning Show with Preston Scott.
Speaker 7 (13:28):
Mcoster. President Trump says Ukraine's President Zelenski has big problems
if he backs out of a rare earth minerals deal,
and he's angry with Russia's President Putin, but he.
Speaker 8 (13:37):
Considers Zelenski not credible.
Speaker 1 (13:41):
Must be making a deal with.
Speaker 7 (13:42):
It, Must negotiations with a new temporary Ukrainian administration. Our
right French leader Marine Lepen is banned from seeking public
office for.
Speaker 1 (13:49):
Five years, so No.
Speaker 7 (13:51):
Twenty twenty seven presidential race.
Speaker 8 (13:52):
Marie Lepen and eight other current or former lawmakers with
her National Rally party have been found guilty of embezzlement.
She didn't week here how long before walking into the
courts into a waking car before.
Speaker 7 (14:07):
Your prison term and two years suspended all ending appeal
that keeps her current seat in the French National Assemblage
run for president before convictions are for stealing for European Unions, News, weather, traffic,
and the big stories in the press box the fastest
(14:27):
three hours in media, and don't be surprised if you have.
Speaker 1 (14:31):
A chuckle here and there, just like that. Thanks for listening.
Speaker 6 (14:38):
It's the Morning Show with Preston Scott.
Speaker 1 (14:54):
Moving faster then then I might have otherwise expected South
newsoh with me from Consumers Defense. You can learn more
at Consumers defense dot com. We're talking about the legislative session.
I made a comment that I worry that good policy,
things that need to get done, are not getting done.
(15:16):
Is there any validity to my concern? Oh?
Speaker 4 (15:18):
Yeah, And I think there's always going to be areas
of policy where you know, one chamber goes in the direction,
you know, as part of the deal. But there's a
lot that I think when we look back on this
session is going to be kind of left on the table.
Speaker 1 (15:33):
And would we call it low hanging fruit. I mean,
in my opinion it would be okay. I think in
yours it would be as well. And so, you know,
just kind of running through a couple of them. On
the immigration side, I mean, we've talked for a few years,
let alone just this session, about the need to close
the everify loophole, which, if you know, if you haven't
(15:54):
got two loopholes. Well, yeah, and you've got the one
loophole that says, if you have under twenty five employees,
you can use the I nine forum, which gives employers
the ability to kind of claim plausible deniability in a
whole host of things. So you could apply it to
any employer. And anyone who argues that that is cumbersome
(16:15):
is a fool because it takes a moment to just
log in and check. And the second loophole that I've
recently learned is that employers are not subjecting their entire
staff if they have a large staff to it, only
applying new hires. After everify one into effect.
Speaker 4 (16:33):
Yeah, all existing employees of a company, even when over
twenty five employees was grandfathered in.
Speaker 1 (16:39):
So you've got that big. Every employee should be covered
by that, whether they were hired yesterday or fifteen years ago.
Speaker 4 (16:47):
Yeah, And so you see and hear individual members talking
about the need to close it. You can even hear
on occasion trade associations talking about the need to close it.
And yet it know it likely will not happened this session.
Speaker 1 (17:01):
What else?
Speaker 4 (17:01):
Gun rights very low hanging fruit. In my opinion, you've
got to bill to restore the rights of eighteen and
twenty year old adults to purchase firearms. It moved past
its last committee before the full House, but none of
the Senate bills that have been filed have been heard
by a single committee. So I can't anticipate anything happening.
Speaker 1 (17:22):
There is there a reason given why they're not touching
something that is so fundamental to our constitution.
Speaker 4 (17:29):
I do not know, and you even have. I saw
a post from the Attorney General of Florida saying, you know,
he's hunting, and he's saying there is no legal or
constitutional reason that an eighteen, nineteen, or twenty year old
should not be able to purchase a firearm. And so
you've even got the Florida a g behind this. But
(17:50):
I did kind of want to touch on one element
of this, which was the last week Senator Randy Fine,
who's about to go through the election for Congress, he
presented the campus carry bill and its committee stop. Now,
there were tons of public testimony against it, as expected.
(18:11):
Then it got to debate and you had Senator Carlos
Girima Smith, who's this very loud, boisterous senator. He was
in the House very left. He did his typical oration
and opposition. But then you had Senator Jason Pizzow and
even though he opposed the bill, and I disagree with
him on his opposition, but he came to its defense
(18:32):
in a way that I would absolutely encourage anyone to watch,
especially considering how then Senator Fine used it with the
close on his bill. That was really how the process
should unfold. The sad part is the bill failed in
committee because you did have two Senators Corey Simon and
(18:55):
Jen Bradley, they were not president in the committee hearing
to vote, and then publican Senator Eleana Garcia voted no,
so it completely killed the bill. So those are the
things that are going on in that front, and it's
a sad thing on a low hanging piece of policy.
Speaker 1 (19:11):
Forty one minutes passed the hour. More to come.
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And asking the questions you want the answers to the
Morning Show with Preston Scott on News Radio One.
Speaker 1 (20:25):
Hundred point seven w FLA final segment. I don't know
where the time went. Salnuzo with me from Consumers Defense.
We've talked about some things that maybe ought to have
the attention of lawmakers that might not be getting the
(20:48):
full attention. Are there things that they're spending time on
that perhaps would be better spent on some of those
other things.
Speaker 4 (20:54):
Yeah, And I think one that we can kind of
home in on because we've talked about it a whole
lot of the years is the issue of insurance in
the state of Florida, particularly in property insurance and then
in auto. And honestly, this is one where I have
a lot of trouble understanding it from a policy angle.
I get the politics behind it, but from a policy angle,
(21:16):
I just don't. The House is moving a bill. It's
HB fifteen fifty one. It would pretty much reverse course
completely on the tort reforms from just two years ago.
In twenty twenty three, the committees voted on it. The
two committees, it's been to sixteen one and fifteen one
to move it forward. So you have members in fact
that voted for the tort bills two years ago that
(21:39):
are now turning basically one hundred and eighty degrees and
voting the opposite way. Now, the Senate does have a
companion bill to this, but it has not made an
agenda for a committee yet. Now, ordinarily I would say
it's almost likely dead for the session, But with so
many of those types of bills in the sale imposture
(22:01):
that we're seeing with this, I'm kind of prepping myself
for some major move in the final couple of weeks
a session the leaders work out a massive final agreement
includes taking up these dangling bills and moving them through,
and then they go forward. So on the property side,
you've got that it would reverse course on the tort reforms,
(22:22):
and then you've got the shift to auto insurance. And
this is one where the legislature has done this before.
They've passed a repeal of the Personal Injury Protection PIP
and they've sent it to the governor and he vetoed
it because he rightly deduced it would effectively raise rates
on drivers because it wasn't paired with some other needed reforms.
(22:45):
I've looked over this year's bill that would repeal it,
and it's pretty much the same version. And what I'm
intrigued by is it's in both the Senate and the House,
and they're gonna move something, and I wonder if he's
going to vet it.
Speaker 1 (23:00):
And if so, do they try to override it? Do
consumer citizens in the state have unrealistic expectations of the
industry because I feel like there's been a perfect storm
in that any changes that have been put into place
have had to go against the wind of inflation.
Speaker 4 (23:17):
Yes, and I think you're spot on. I would try
to be as diplomatic as possible in saying this that
I think as non informed people within the insurance arena,
I mean, who really pays attention to the insurance arena, well,
(23:37):
policymakers and people in the insurance arena and trial attorneys.
Speaker 1 (23:41):
And everyone once or twice a year when they get.
Speaker 4 (23:44):
Their premium exactly, and so all that they're looking at
is did my premiums go up or my premiums go down?
And they don't care why. And there is a big
why in this, And so you are spot on when
ruth shingles and lumber and glass and all of these
other things that go into making you whole, when the
prices of them have gone up over the last four
(24:06):
years in some years double digits. It's not an easy
fix to get those rates down because those rates are
reflective of where inflation is.
Speaker 1 (24:15):
At thirty seconds. What's the big task for the week?
Speaker 4 (24:19):
The big big task for the week, and I struggle
because we didn't get to it until the end. Here
is the budget. It's the one constitutional responsibility. Both the
Senate and House have released their budget proposals. The House
is six billion dollars less than the current year and
two point five billion dollars less than the governor proposed,
(24:41):
and the Senate version is a little bit higher. I
think there's about a three and a half four billion
dollar gap between the House and the Senate. The big
thing for this week is the appropriations. The full appropriations
committees will pass those budgets, and then they go to
the chambers, which triggers the Conference committee. So maybe next
week we'll have some time to un pack the various proposals,
where the differences are, and how they're kind of moving
(25:04):
ahead with a conference plan.
Speaker 1 (25:06):
Thanks for the time, Always a pleasure to be with you, Saluzo.
Consumers Defense our guest legislative stuff here on The Morning
Show with Preston Scott
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