Money Talks
By Kari Hebrank , Carlton Fields
In the world of politics , like it or not , money talks . The fundraising by lawmakers and state- elected or “ wantto-be elected ” officials is a 24 / 7 , 365 days- a- year process , although state lawmakers must take a break from hounding lobbyists during any Regular Session or Special Session . Campaigns cost money and like everything else , inflation has impacted the campaign world as well . Advertising on television , in newsprint and mailers , on billboards , with yard signs and by maintaining a social media presence all require cash . The new crop of lawmakers don ’ t think twice about reaching out after hours or during the weekends , forever in the money race to bolster campaign accounts and head off would-be opponents . Moreover , the political parties are constantly trying to entice donations thru special events where lobbyists can mix and mingle with lawmakers in a more relaxed setting . These opportunities do provide more quality time with those that vote on issues of importance to our industry , but they don ’ t come cheap . Most of these special fundraising events hover between $ 5K and $ 25K , an amount that can be a hard sell to the members who contribute to the PACs that fund these activities .
By now you may be wondering why is she telling us this , what ’ s the relevance ? Simply because campaign contributions do sway the policies that are promoted at both the state and local level . Oftentimes , an industry group will fundraise in hopes of making large donations to the political party in charge as well as key leadership in order to push their legislative agenda . To illustrate , this past Session some of the utilities rallied around the Sunshine 811 legislation that would have increased the timeline for marking underground utilities from the current 2 days to 3 days and would have increased the timeline for a positive response from the current 2 days to 3 days . NUCA of Florida opposed the legislation in large part because the current timelines are not followed nor enforced and our membership believes there needs to be a wholesale review of the Sunshine 811 process to create efficiencies and provide safeguards for damage prevention . We were able to prevail in stopping the legislation when the proponents would not agree to add one or two Florida-licensed underground utility contractors to the Sunshine 811 Board of Directors . Shockingly , the current Sunshine 811 Board , comprised of 21 members , does not have a Floridalicensed underground contractor on the Board !
2 DITCHMEN • APRIL 2024