Cam Fentriss, FRSA LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL
This year, Florida will elect a new governor and cabinet. Although I am sure we have already seen plenty of campaign
ads, it doesn’t really count until we see who actually files to run for office and that will take place by June 22, 2018. Let’s take a look at the seats up for grabs and the line up as it stands, about two months before the deadline to file
(at the time of this writing).
At the top level of Florida’s government, we have four elected positions: governor, attorney general, chief financial
officer (CFO), and agriculture commissioner. For the roofing industry, all of these offices are important, and here is why:
Governor – signs legislation into law, issues executive orders (usually that we do not like after a hurricane), is in charge of a number of state agencies, including the Department of Business and Professional Regulation (includes
Construction Industry Licensing Board and Florida Building Commission) and Department of Environmental Protection.
Attorney General – handles crimes, including fraud and price gouging.
Chief Financial Officer – this cabinet agency covers insurance (Office of Insurance Regulation) – one of our most
important topics.
Agriculture Commissioner – while we do not get involved with agriculture, this cabinet agency includes the Energy Office and consumer protection matters.
For each of these elected offices, we can look back to see if there is some insight into what we should want for the next eight years.
Most likely, this is the most important cabinet post for us. Looking back, we have had some disappointments with
Governor Rick Scott. The two major ones are:
A. Supporting taxpayer-subsidized entry of a “national roofing company” into Florida and pretending that would bring all kinds of new jobs to Florida. Interestingly, it seems that when the company entered the market, it spent more time picking off existing workers from established Florida companies to compete for the finite amount of roofing work
– all while collecting a fat government check. Any worker who left one company to join the new government subsidized company should not have been counted by Governor Scott as a job created by him.
B. Rushing to allow general, building, and residential contractors to perform roofing after Hurricane Irma. Mostly,
that was a political move. Largely, it was a move that created an opportunity for general, building, and residential
contractors to snap up a lot of roofing contracts and lure away our workforce. It is unfortunate Governor Scott was
not able to appreciate the deficiency in this strategy.
It is possible that this political game of “pretend job creation” has turned what used to be a problem into a crisis of workforce shortages. This is a terrible situation for us, and it could have been so easily avoided. So, what is the take
away? Well, we definitely need to support a candidate who will be honest and serious about job creation AND serious about the construction industry’s need for jobs. We also need to support a candidate who will respect the roofing industry.
Decisions made by this cabinet officer will impact your revenue. We have been fortunate with those who have served as CFO (previously known as the elected insurance commissioner). We have asked for and received specific consideration to ensure workers’ compensation rate stability for the roofing class code, and we have had very strong support on our property insurance concerns (codes, AOB, and sufficient pricing for post-storm work). Not the only, but the most meaningful support we received was when then Insurance Commissioner Bill Nelson (now a U.S. Senator) denied a workers’ comp roofing rate increase during a time when rates were climbing every year.
Our departing attorney general, Pam Bondi, has been very proactive in trying to reduce price gouging, especially post-storm price gouging. This is what we need. We will be best served by someone who has strong experience as a prosecutor and/or judge – that is what it takes to understand that the job is not really about politics, but about enforcing the law.
This is the office that affects us the least, but that status could change as energy is a growing topic. We should be
looking for someone who has experience governing (not experience in business, but in governing) and who has a true
interest in Florida.
FRSA is very active in studying and assessing the candidates running for Florida’s statewide offices. We will have much more information about these races and state legislative races as we move into summer and fall. Please watch for legislative reports and future articles, and please feel free to contact me if you have questions about specific
candidates.
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