Florida Chamber Sets Goals for 2006

Florida Chamber Sets Goals for 2006

By Mark Gordon

Managing Editor

The Florida Chamber of Commerce just isn't going to give up.

Gathering at the Ritz-Carlton, Sarasota last week for its annual meeting, members set their 2006 agenda, and it includes many issues that topped their list last year - tort reform, limiting the ability to amend the state constitution and lower taxes.

The Tallahassee-based chamber represents more than 137,000 businesses; about 150 people from across the state attended the three-day event.

Outgoing Chairman Vern Buchanan, the Sarasota auto dealer entrepreneur who is running for Congress, told the Review, "People need to have access to the ballot, but we had the easiest constitution in America to amend."

One step toward toughening that process the Chamber pushed for and ultimately received is having the time frame for getting an amendment proposal on the ballot moved from just three months to nine months.

This allows for more time for the public to scrutinize an issue and see the ramifications - and cost - of a proposed amendment. The Chamber also succeeded in persuading the Legislature to raise the voter-approval margin on amendments to 60% from 50%.

In 2006, the Chamber will lobby for legislation to stop petition fraud and close loopholes that allow other projects to be buried in amendments.

For legal reform, a perennial issue, the Chamber continues to point out Florida's status as one of the worst states in the nation for frivolous lawsuits, as measured by the Institute for Legal Reform, a group under the U.S Chamber of Commerce.

"It doesn't play well to be the 42nd worst state," Buchanan says.

Buchanan says tort reform can be achieved by looking at each issue separately, such as joint and several liability. The chamber's position on that issue, of who pays what when a lawsuit verdict is reached, is that each defendant in a case should only be held liable only for his own negligence, not pay for others on the losing end of a suit.

Another specific issue is class-action lawsuits, for which the chamber is pushing to have closer scrutiny of whether plaintiffs meet minimum requirement for filing this type of lawsuit.

The chamber's other goals for 2006 include:

• Supporting a repeal of the annual intangibles tax, which the legislature could vote on next year;

• Eliminating sales tax on research and development related products;

• Supporting the expansion of an education program geared toward encouraging private investment in schools, where the state would give money based on corporate donations.

FLORIDA CHAMBER ELECTED BOARD MEMBERS

The Florida Chamber of Commerce elected board members and officers at its annual meeting in Sarasota last week. The officers include:

Chair: Robert White, President Compass Bank

Chair-elect: Philip Blumberg, President and CEO, American Venture

West Coast Regional Chair: John Rami, President, Teco Energy

Southwest Regional Chair: David Hart, Vice President of Governmental Relations, WCI Communities, Inc.

Southeast Regional Chair: Adolfo Henriques, Chairman, President and CEO, Florida East Coast Industries, Inc.

Northwest Regional Chair: Jerry Maygarden, President, Baptist Health Care Foundation

Northeast Regional Chair: John Storm, Managing Partner, PricewaterhouseCoopers