This is a new and growing Tea Party group in the Leesburg, FL (Lake County) area, so here is their report. If you want to join them, email Carol Knighton to get information and ask to be added to their email list:
Carol Knighton [[email protected]]
Todd Parrish, Americans For Prosperity - www.AFPFlorida.com - came to our meeting. Todd has been working in the political arena for about 25 years and is a fountain of knowledge. He explained to us the legislative process in Tallahassee and gave us some insight as to when and how to best contact our elected representatives. (Attached is a picture of Todd and some of our attendees.)
Most bills that are introduced in the legislature come from constitutent ideas. Each House member can introduce up to 3 bills per session, but each Senate member has no limit on the number of bills he/she can introduce! Every bill must have a companion bill from the other side. Every bill must go through committees and get approvals along the way. Eventually, when the House Bill and Senate Bill are approved, the bill lands on the governor's desk where he has the option to sign or veto the bill. If the bill is not approved in any of the committees, it is dead. This year there were about 2000 bills that were introduced and a little less than 300 will be signed into law.
So, if you have an idea for a bill, contact your State representatives AFTER the session ends; and let them know what you're thinking.
BTW, the bill I wanted to introduce which would state that NO bills would be passed in that session is already dead because there are PRE-filed bills waiting next year's Legislature!
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