Sunburn — The Morning Read Of What’s Hot In Florida Politics — 1.14.22

By Peter Schorsch

Good Friday morning.

Lewis Longman & Walker has bolstered its environmental law practice with the addition of attorneys Lauren Brooks in Tallahassee and Paul Joseph Polito in West Palm Beach.

Brooks brings nine years of experience in federal and state environmental and land use regulation and litigation, a strong understanding of local government law, business litigation and the appellate process.

While earning her law degree from the University of Florida, Brooks served as a Judicial Intern for U.S. District Judge Roy Dalton. After law school, she served as Senior Judicial law clerk for 1st District Court of Appeal Judge Scott Makar. She has represented corporate, individual and local government clients across the state in private practice.

“We are thrilled that Lauren has joined LLW. Her experience will be integral to the solutions that we offer our clients. We know that she will serve the firm’s clients well with her deep knowledge and experience dealing with complex environmental and land use matters,” LLW President Michelle Diffenderfer said.

Polito comes to the firm from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, where he worked as a litigator representing the department in environmental permitting and enforcement matters. He had served as lead counsel in almost two dozen administrative proceedings before the Division of Administrative Hearings and argued before 1DCA.

Before joining DEP, Polito clerked for Chief Environmental Administrative Law Judge Bram Canter, drafting Recommended and Final Orders. He earned his law degree from Florida State University.

“Paul has already hit the ground running and will be an asset to our firm and the clients we serve as they navigate through complex development and environmental matters. His deep knowledge as a litigator and understanding of Florida’s environmental laws, and a strong grasp of complex policy issues makes him a perfect fit,” Diffenderfer said.

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The Associated Industries of Florida published its wishlist for the 2022 Legislative Session on Thursday, outlining the agenda it will pursue on behalf of its members.

“As we kick off the 2022 Legislative Session this week, I could not be prouder to start my tenure at the helm of AIF in a state that has been laser-focused on remaining open for business and recruiting new employers to our state,” said AIF President & CEO Brewster Bevis.

“With 60 days of policy discussions now underway, we look forward to advocating for our members to be able to live, work and flourish in a state that truly believes in free enterprise. We are proud of our long history of legislative advocacy and success on behalf of Florida’s businesses and are ready to continue to work to generate a strong economic engine for our great state.”

AIF’s “2022 Session Priorities” publication includes support for a full slate of economic development programs — funding the Florida Job Growth Grant Fund, VISIT FLORIDA, and Enterprise Florida. The business group also supported Gov. Ron DeSantis’ plan to use federal dollars to offset gas taxes.

“The budget Gov. DeSantis has put forth, which includes a significant gas tax holiday that will save hardworking Florida families and businesses over $1 billion,” said Bevis. “We commend Gov. DeSantis and the Legislature for ensuring Florida’s economy continues to thrive and for creating a brighter future for all Floridians.”

AIF’s agenda also includes priorities in a range of policy silos, including education, energy, the environment, health care, insurance, IT governance and more.

— SITUATIONAL AWARENESS —

—@AGAshleyMoody: Extremely happy #SCOTUS ruled in our favor and stayed the offensive and overreaching @JoeBiden OSHA vaccine mandate.

—@LeaderBookFL: Heartbroken to learn of tragic loss of Jorge Diaz-Johnston — esp under these circumstances. Jorge & his husband Don helped pave the way for marriage equality in FL; his courage will never be forgotten. Prayers to @Manny_A_Diaz, Don, & all who loved Jorge May Justice be served.

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—@LoranneAusley: Exciting day — today is my first meeting as a member of the National Precision Ag Connectivity Task Force. I’m honored to have been selected by the FCC to serve on this Task Force, which is working on broadband expansion in rural areas to promote precision agriculture practices.

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