Issues of Interest

LANDLINE PHONES The Florida Public Service Commission released a report showing that in 2015, 51 percent of Floridians were living in wireless-only homes.  Cell phones and internet connections are increasingly replacing traditional landlines. While residential landline use declined about 15 percent in 2016, business service is decreasing at a slower rate, by roughly 4 percent.

FLORIDA AIR TRAVEL Only California sees more passengers traveling through their airports, according to the Federal Aviation Authority. Florida surpassed Texas in 2016, with over 81 million people flying in and out of its 59 airports. Texas had 79.87 million flyers in its 56 airports while California had a whopping 105.7 million passengers that same year.

FLORIDA HIGHWAY PATROL Major Mark Welch of Troop H in Tallahassee turned in his resignation letter following a Tampa Bay Times report that said he sent an email telling troopers under his command that “the patrol wants to see two citations each hour.” FHP is reminding supervisors that quotas are not allowed.

FLORIDA FIREFIGHTERS LEND A HAND The Florida Forest Service has deployed over 300 firefighters to the western United States to help fight raging fires in Arizona, California, Utah and Montana. Meanwhile, they have battled more than 2,500 wildfires in Florida this year.

MEDICAID MANAGED CARE DATA The Agency for Healthcare Administration (AHCA) has been improperly gathering social security numbers of Medicaid recipients according to a July report by the Auditor General’s Office. AHCA intends to correct these errors by updating its procedures to include an annual review of all forms in its database that require social security number collection.

BRITISH FOOTBALL CLUB SPONSORSHIP London-based Fulham Football Club lost its main sponsorship by VISIT Florida, who elected to not renew the contract for the current season. Owner Shadid Khan, who also owns the Jacksonville Jaguars, secured a replacement, announcing grosvenorcasinos.com is the new sponsor.

LATIN AMERICAN SUMMIT Governor Scott will host the 2017 Latin American Summit on October 2nd in Miami to discuss the important relationship Florida shares with the region. The Latin American Summit brings together world leaders to improve current partnerships and build new relationships that will better serve the interests of Florida families, generate economic prosperity and enhance democracy and human rights throughout Latin America. Some of the speakers include members of Florida’s congressional delegation and several U.S. business leaders responsible for the Latin American markets.  For more information about the summit, go here.

GAMING INITIATIVE PETITION Voters in Charge, a group leading the campaign to support a constitutional amendment that would limit expansion of gaming, has collected and submitted to date more than 172,700 signatures for approval. They will need to gather and verify 766,200 signatures by February 1, 2018 in order for the measure to appear on the November, 2018 ballot.  The Florida Supreme Court approved the amendment language last October. To see the exact language of the amendment, go here.

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