Sunburn — The Morning Read Of What’s Hot In Florida Politics — 10.27.21

 By Peter Schorsch    

Good Wednesday morning.

The Florida Chamber of Commerce’s 2021 Annual Meeting & Future of Florida Forum begins today in Orlando.

The event promises an in-depth look at how business leaders are uniting behind the Florida Chamber’s “Six Pillars Framework” and accomplishing the 39 goals outlined in the Florida 2030 Blueprint with the end goal of making Florida a top-10 global economy.

Attendees will hear from the foremost business leaders and politicians in the Sunshine State.

Day One opens with an address from Florida Chamber President and CEO Mark Wilson, who will outline the “magic” happening in Florida and speak on the ways Florida businesses are adapting to a changing world.

The ensuing agenda is a who’s who of Florida politics.

CFO Jimmy Patronis will take the stage in the morning to speak about how Florida can grow its economy by protecting tax dollars, fighting fraud, and supporting small businesses and first responders. Senate President Wilton Simpson, a candidate for Agriculture Commissioner, will deliver a post-lunch speech on “Building a Post-Pandemic Florida.”

More than a dozen panels and deep dives are planned for the interim, with featured speakers including Florida Chamber Chief Economist Jerry Parrish, Orlando Health HR Director Tiffany Pratt, Florida Ready to Work Executive Director Colleen Englert.

Shutts & Bowen managing partner Jason Gonzalez is also on tap to moderate a discussion titled “Fixing Florida’s Broken Legal System” with Publix VP of Risk Management Marc Salm and Georgia-Pacific VP and General Counsel Tye Darland.

The full Future of Florida Forum agenda is available online.

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Florida TaxWatch will kick off its 42nd Annual Meeting in Sarasota today.

The meeting, held at the Ritz Carlton Sarasota, will focus on one of the most pressing issues facing the Sunshine State: What remains to be done to get Florida back on track after the pandemic?

The meeting will focus heavily on FTW’s recent research reports, such as “Who Knows What — Analysis of Data Privacy Legislation in Florida” and “A Rising Tide Sinks All Homes — The Effects of Climate Change on Florida’s Economy.”

The meeting gets underway at 5:30 p.m. with a reception and dinner, during which Bradenton Republican Sen. Jim Boyd — the Senate lead on this year’s property insurance reform package — is scheduled to speak.

It continues Thursday with a speaker list that includes FTW Chair and former U.S. Sen. George LeMieux, Sarasota Mayor Hagen Brody, Miami Republican Sen. Ana Maria Rodriguez, Department of Management Services Secretary Todd Inman, Department of Transportation District One Secretary L.K. Nandem, Keiser University Vice-Chancellor Belinda Keiser and The Chiles Group owner Ed Chiles.

After FTW issues its annual TaxWatch Productivity Awards during a midday ceremony, Patronis will take the stage to deliver the meeting’s final address.

— SITUATIONAL AWARENESS —

Tweet, tweet:

—@DavidAxelrod: Leaving aside that COVID’s proven more lethal to law enforcement than criminals in the past year, the defiance of Chicago police to a vaccine mandate raises a disturbing question: What happens when those we rely on to enforce the law pick and choose rules w/which they’ll comply?

Tweet, tweet:

—@CindyPoloFL103: Is anyone struggling whether to stay on FB? I, for one, am. I keep posting and liking posts, as if nothing has happened. The only thing I know for certain is that we, as a society, are not worthy of whistleblowers. They risk so much, and we continue on, as if nothing has happened.

—@Stephanixmedina: Dios mío, y’all put down the GOOGLE TRANSLATE, stop asking your Spanish speaking staff to do stuff out of their pay grade and just hire someone whose job it is to translate and create culturally competent content 

—@JeffWeinerOS: The claim of not being able to “communicate effectively” while masked is odd coming from a member of a profession in which workplace mask use has been a norm since well before the pandemic.

—@kylamb8: If you are a journalist and respect the job of bringing honest and accurate reporting to the public, do not be upset at those expressing distrust toward your profession. Be upset at the colleagues and peers that do not take the job seriously to cause the distrust to begin with.

Tweet, tweet: