Cam Fentriss, FRSA LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL
The 2018 legislative session is over, and it has been an unusual one for a number of reasons.
The start of session in early January (rather than early March) seems to throw us all off a little. This may be most difficult for those who do not live in Tallahassee (which is the majority of legislators and staff) because, right after the holidays, they have to make arrangements to be away for most of the next two months.
This is an election year that includes election of our governor and cabinet. The impact of this on legislation and the legislative process should not be underestimated.
This is a Florida Constitution revision year which also tends to have an impact on the legislative session.
The most tragic unusual circumstance of this year’s session was the horrible Parkland shooting. This had a real time impact on legislative proceedings.
From our perspective, the most problematic unusual aspect of this session is the fact that almost nothing relating to construction was accomplished. It almost feels like construction is invisible to our elected officials. Before we say that is disappointing, we should consider that it is not always a good thing to be noticed by the Legislature (especially if you have money). But what we should find troubling is the apparent unwillingness to address one of our most important needs that is also an important need for the whole state of Florida: workforce shortages.
There has been some attention paid to workforce and training, but very little of it is related to or with input from construction groups. I don’t know whether that stems from ignorance or audacity. A quick glance indicates the perception of our elected officials is:
■ preference for training tied to college (such as IT or nursing)
■ disinterest (or worse) in training for good but non-traditional college education
■ willingness to accept whatever Florida’s education bureaucracy says (apprenticeship)
This perception is an error. The Legislature needs to understand that construction drives progress in Florida, that construction is a fantastic career path for those who are not interested in a desk or hospital job, and that Florida’s Department of Education (DOE) is a
state bureaucracy stuck in the past and more interested in preserving its lazy but lucrative collection of state and federal dollars.
If DOE were doing its job, there would be fewer high school graduates sitting on couches playing video games. If DOE were doing its job, it would look to be a partner with the construction industry to support a broad range of construction training. If DOE were doing
its job, it would provide us and the Legislature with a solid report on construction education programs currently in place. Instead, DOE seems to have spent all of the 2018 legislative session stonewalling and avoiding the subject.
That’s the bad news. Here is the good news: we don’t have to depend on DOE to get something done or to succeed. We can focus our attention on the Legislature which needs to pay better attention to individuals, organizations, and other state agencies that are actually interested in results, rather than DOE’s desire to maintain the status quo.
One of the things we need to do over the summer and into the fall is tell our local candidates and sitting legislators that the need for construction workers cannot be ignored and we need help and we need to be a part of the solution. We need to let them know that, at best, DOE is resisting change (as is human nature) and that cannot rule the day. Candidates and legislators need to understand that the way to fix the problem is not merely throwing more money at apprenticeship. We need more outreach to bring in potential
employees. We need better coordination of types of construction training. Last, we need to make sure they understand that failure to address construction workforce shortages will be Florida’s failure.
Anna Cam Fentriss is an attorney licensed in Florida since 1988 representing clients with legislative and state agency interests. Cam has represented FRSA since 1993, is an Honorary Member of FRSA, recipient of the FRSA President’s Award and the Campanella Award in 2010. She is a member of the Florida Building Commission Special Occupancy Technical Advisory Committee, President of Building A Safer Florida Inc. and past Construction Coalition Chair (1995-1997).
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