Days in Tallahassee 17
Remaining committees 7
Remaining Days for bills to be heard 28
Remaining days of funding 13
I stayed out of the Capital complex yesterday. After Wednesday, I was a little depressed.
Wednesday was awesome. Amy C and I had a great series of meetings culminating in that conversation with Jim, the policeman. I knew from the messages I was getting throughout the day that people really were calling into the Majority offices in both the House and the Senate. Sweet taste of success.
Then the President of the Senate, Mike Haridopolis, walked into the Criminal Justice Committee and fired Senator Fasano. I’ve written about the control the leadership exerts on the legislative process and Jeff Clemens talks about it during his presentation at the January 29, 2012 Silver Tour.
Talk about stealing the show. By four-twenty on Wednesday, the only thing anyone was talking about at the Capital was the schoolyard bully stunt pulled by the President. It was super unprofessional but it showed loud and clear, if the leadership doesn’t want something to move it won’t move.
I spent Thursday taking care of business and planning our final days here in the Capital. The highlight of the Thursday was the Miami Herald Blog. While I was so sure our day of action was overshadowed by the Presidents folly, it was a pleasant surprise to find “Cannabis Calling”.
The Miami Herald and later the Tampa Bay Tribune, both ran Cannabis Calling. The blip talked about the relentless calls received by the Majority Leaders office asking for a caucus. Representatives Lopez-Cantera is quoted as jokingly calling it the “420 Caucus”
Today’s tactic was two-fold, while hundreds of people sent e-mails about the effect of cannabis on Alzheimer’s, a disease that effects over 450,000 Floridians right now, I deliver information on the Endocannabinoid System to the medical professions in the House. Representative Grant of Tampa was quoted recently as wanting Florida to be a medical destination state! I wanted to be certain our lawmakers understand the importance of cannabis in the next wave of cutting edge medical discovery.
I had mixed feels about the four-twenty caucus remark – I laughed, not sure if it was so funny, but I was thrilled to make the news!
After one too many cups of coffee I headed in the Senate Majority office to ask about our caucus. While I was there, leaving the information on the Endocannabinoid system and explaining we wanted to bring in professionals to speak to the leadership, Lori from Sarasota called and shared her story. The aide said she’d heard incredible stories, calls from patients, family members and doctors.
By the time I got to Lopez-Cantera’s office I was full of righteous anger. Five aides sat enjoying their Friday on government time when I marched into the office. “I’m the four-twenty caucus representative” I announced. Then I promptly let them have it with both barrels. Not sure who was calling their office the past two days, the Senate Majority was hearing from suffering people, caregivers and doctors – making the Representatives little snide not funny on so many levels. Does the Representative think the suffering of thousands who need this medicine is funny?” The lowered eyes showed the appropriate amount of shame.
I gave my five minutes – using the two drop pieces, explained the emerging applications, the pages and pages of footnoted studies. How would we ever be the leader in medical research if we are not opening the door for this plant? Five aides asked questions and agreed to share the information with the Majority Leader.
Next week, we have appointments set with the incoming President and the Speaker. Time is growing short but we are still putting on the pressure full steam ahead.
We ran into Representative Clemen’s tonight at dinner. He talked again about what a difference having a full-time, knowledgeable representative here pushing the issue. He reports he still gets the occasional joke from colleagues, but more and more Republicans are talking to him about the issue. Where before they told him never, now, the message is, the time is coming.
For thousands of patients, “the time is coming” isn’t soon enough.
Showing posts with label Mike Haridopolis. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mike Haridopolis. Show all posts
Friday, February 3, 2012
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
A Day in the Life of a Bill
January 18, 2012
Day 5
Remaining Committees 7
Remaining days to be heard 41
Remaining funding 25 days
Yesterday, I promised to talk more about the committee process. Most of our government business at all levels of Government takes place at the committee level. State Government works on a tight schedule and with the sheer volume of bills they consider each year, committees run tightly.
The only thing the legislature is required to do annually (according to the Constitution) is pass a balanced budget. Every ten years, the legislative session starts early in order to accommodate the other mandate required of them, redistricting.
Because of redistricting our session started early this year. A typical session begins in February and runs for 60 days. Despite the early start, our regular session lasts 60 days. If lawmakers fail to pass a budget and redefine the legislative boundaries during the regular session a special session must be called.
Members may begin filing bills in the fall prior to the legislative session. For weeks prior to the regular session legislators attend “committee weeks”. Many of the bills that were pre-filed made their way through committees prior to the beginning of session.
House members are limited to six bills each, while Senators have an unlimited number of bills they can file. With 120 members in the House, over 600 bills jockey to be heard each session. The role I’ve been sent to accomplish is vital to the passage of a bill. Bills require someone who can shepherd them from committee to committee.
The Speaker or President of the Senate appoints committee chairs. Chair appointments bring a lot of power and attention. I’ve written before about how important it is to get leadership on board. If the leadership doesn’t believe in a bill, the Chair will ignore it.
So far this week I’ve been talking members of the Criminal Justice committee in the House. There are 15 people on the Criminal Justice Committee, 10 Republicans and 5 Democrats. Since the bill sponsor is a Democrat, my work this week was assuring we’ll get all the Democratic votes in the committee. With five votes in our pocket, we simply need to find 3 Republicans to support the bill in order for it to pass the first committee.
The big hurdle is getting the Chair to hear the bill. Perception is reality in Tallahassee. Lawmakers perceive their constituents don’t support medical access. The other perception is if a Chair hears a bill, they support the bill.
Our work is bearing fruit. Today I met with a Democrat who said, “If you had asked me about this bill two weeks ago, I’d have said no. Since then I’ve had a number of calls and e-mails asking me to support it. I did the research and now believe this is an issue that has merit and I support the bill.” The nearly 1000 e-mails generated through www.FLDecides.org is making a difference.
For this legislation to pass this year, we need an avalanche of support- lucky for us avalanches do happen. Perhaps since we’re in Florida, its more appropriate to look for the perfect storm. Either way, without the calls and letters you’ve generated, success would not be possible.
Day 5
Remaining Committees 7
Remaining days to be heard 41
Remaining funding 25 days
Yesterday, I promised to talk more about the committee process. Most of our government business at all levels of Government takes place at the committee level. State Government works on a tight schedule and with the sheer volume of bills they consider each year, committees run tightly.
The only thing the legislature is required to do annually (according to the Constitution) is pass a balanced budget. Every ten years, the legislative session starts early in order to accommodate the other mandate required of them, redistricting.
Because of redistricting our session started early this year. A typical session begins in February and runs for 60 days. Despite the early start, our regular session lasts 60 days. If lawmakers fail to pass a budget and redefine the legislative boundaries during the regular session a special session must be called.
Members may begin filing bills in the fall prior to the legislative session. For weeks prior to the regular session legislators attend “committee weeks”. Many of the bills that were pre-filed made their way through committees prior to the beginning of session.
House members are limited to six bills each, while Senators have an unlimited number of bills they can file. With 120 members in the House, over 600 bills jockey to be heard each session. The role I’ve been sent to accomplish is vital to the passage of a bill. Bills require someone who can shepherd them from committee to committee.
The Speaker or President of the Senate appoints committee chairs. Chair appointments bring a lot of power and attention. I’ve written before about how important it is to get leadership on board. If the leadership doesn’t believe in a bill, the Chair will ignore it.
So far this week I’ve been talking members of the Criminal Justice committee in the House. There are 15 people on the Criminal Justice Committee, 10 Republicans and 5 Democrats. Since the bill sponsor is a Democrat, my work this week was assuring we’ll get all the Democratic votes in the committee. With five votes in our pocket, we simply need to find 3 Republicans to support the bill in order for it to pass the first committee.
The big hurdle is getting the Chair to hear the bill. Perception is reality in Tallahassee. Lawmakers perceive their constituents don’t support medical access. The other perception is if a Chair hears a bill, they support the bill.
Our work is bearing fruit. Today I met with a Democrat who said, “If you had asked me about this bill two weeks ago, I’d have said no. Since then I’ve had a number of calls and e-mails asking me to support it. I did the research and now believe this is an issue that has merit and I support the bill.” The nearly 1000 e-mails generated through www.FLDecides.org is making a difference.
For this legislation to pass this year, we need an avalanche of support- lucky for us avalanches do happen. Perhaps since we’re in Florida, its more appropriate to look for the perfect storm. Either way, without the calls and letters you’ve generated, success would not be possible.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)