Roofing Day in Tallahassee

Sun, Mar 10, 2024 at 12:35PM

Lisa Pate, FRSA Executive Director

In mid-January, FRSA held the second annual Roofing Day in Tallahassee, where a small group of members visited the Capitol to speak with legislators. The event mirrored NRCA’s successful Roofing Day in D.C. Spearheaded by Governmental Affairs Committee Chairs, Ralph Davis, Streamline Roofing & Construction Inc., Tallahassee and Tammy Hall, CFS Roofing Services LLC, Ft. Myers and organized by FRSA Legislative Counsel, Chris Dawson, the group held several successful meetings over the two-day event.

With the legislative session only a week in, some of the topics we addressed were just being presented to members of the legislature and were new to our group as well. Chris was able to schedule meetings with several key legislators who focused on business, education, building codes, workers’ comp and contractor fraud. A large number of bills contained language attempting to limit the control Homeowners Associations (HOAs) held over homeowners, including various types of hurricane protection and materials currently not allowed by many HOAs.

In order to cover as many meetings as possible, attendees broke into two groups. Meetings were held with Representatives John Snyder, Bobby Payne, Dan Daley, Griff Griffitts, Vicki Lopez, Adam Botana, Wyman Duggan, Linda Chaney and David Smith. Senators included Ana Maria Rodriguez, Ed Hooper, Blaise Ingoglia and Jay Collins. The team also had dinner with Senator Keith Perry, FRSA member and industry supporter.

Top legislative priorities for the team included: HB 917 Career and Technical Education, SB 604 Citizens Property Insurance, SB 802 Condominium Windstorm Pilot Program, SB 1200 Enforcement of the Florida Building Code, SB 600 Hurricane Protections for Homeowners’ Associations, HB 939 Consumer Protection, SB 1658, PEO Workers’ Compensation Gap and Residential Property Insurance Roof Inspections, HB 49 Employment and Curfew of Minors and SB 1778 Escrow Accounts for Improvements to Residential Real Property.

During several meetings, the team asked that roofing contractors be added to those allowed to perform roof inspections via amendments to HB 1611 and SB 1622. Both bills are omnibus insurance bills moving through the legislative process.

The final meeting was with Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis where the team addressed property insurance issues and contractor fraud prevention.

All of the meetings were very productive and the team had the opportunity to provide additional language for consideration on some bills.

Chris was able to keep us on task, focused and on time – no small feat. Special thanks to our sponsors Eagle Roofing Products and the Southwest Roofing Florida Roofing Contractors Association (SWFRCA) for underwriting the expense!