Just curious, has FSMS done anything regarding deregulation ? (didn't see anything much that jumped out at me on their website) How about NSPS ?
Now, that is an intresting question. I have often wondered if any of the alphabet soup organisations were doing anything....
FSMS has been in email contact with members and providing updates. Basically organizing writing campaigns and re ensuring us that our lobbyist is hard at work on it. But you can tell this blindsided them also. Below is one of the emails sent out:
This morning the House Business and Consumer Affairs Committee took up a proposed committee bill (PCB BCAS-11-01) deregulating many professions and businesses, including surveying and mapping. Our DOACS BPSM Liaison and Past President, Ray Niles, spoke on behalf of our profession.
The committee members listened to three hours of testimony and ultimately passed the bill with republicans voting in support and democrats voting in opposition. It appeared the vote was 10-5, but the official vote sheet has not been released. The bill will now be reported out of this committee and will be given a bill number and provided with additional committee references for the bill to be heard in. We were pleased that Rep. Dana Young (R-Tampa) and Rep. Jimmy Patronis (R-Panama City) voiced their concerns with deregulating surveying and mapping in Florida.
There is currently no companion senate measure. Without a senate companion measure filed this bill has a long way to go. It will need to pass all committees of reference in the House, be passed by the full House of Representative and then head to the senate to be referred to and heard in Senate committees prior to the full Senate taking action; having no senate companion to this legislation works in our favor.
Members have raised a question about the source of this proposed bill. In discussions with our Lobbyists and others in the legislative arena, the source is unknown with the exception of reference to the Speaker of the House.
It is more important than ever for every surveyor and mapper to write or call your Senators and Representatives about the devastating harm deregulation of the profession will cause to the public.
As soon as a new bill number and references are available, the information will be disseminated to you. If you have questions, you can contact Legal Chair, Lanier Mathews, at 850.519.7466 or
HAHAHA! "Alphabet Soup"!!! 😀
FSMS latest email today
Legislative Update
March 21st
-Dan Ferrans, President
As we stand together looking at the most serious threat to our profession that any of us can remember or even imagine, I want all of you to know that the full force and resources of your Society, Lobbyists, Legal Council, Committees, Loyal Members, Staff and supporters are focused on this threat. However, this is bigger than just us, our Society and our members. Below you will find a Legislative Update on HB 5005 from one of our Lobbyists, David Daniel, with new committee assignments and also additional talking points. I encourage you to forward our Legislative Alerts, Instructions, Talking Points and this message to every Surveyor and Mapper that you can. We are working on a mailout to every licensed Surveyor and Mapper and licensed Surveying and Mapping firm, advising them of the situation and asking them to join the fight. It's all hands on deck. Here are some guidelines I need for you to consider.
1. Read the Email bulletins and do what is asked.
2. When composing and sending communication to the Legislators keep the language respectful, short and to the point. Reference HB 5005 and be clear about your concern and objection to Surveyors and Mappers being left in this Bill. Pick some, not all, of the talking points that we include today. A two page e-mail will be too much as they are very busy. I have found that the phrase "I need your help" to be useful.
3. Pay close attention to the list of Committee Members below and check if you are in their District. That makes you a constituent and that has the greatest effect.
4. Ask everyone that you work with, your family, friends and business contacts if they know, or are friends with, any of the Committee Members. Provide them with your letter and the list of contacts and ask them to kindly help.
5. E-mails are good; phone calls also work very well. Please do both!
6. If our Legislative team informs us we need a presence at a meeting, and I ask you to come to Tallahassee, please do it. No excuses.
7. Keep in mind that anything that comes from a Surveyor and Mapper may be viewed as self serving by some Legislators. That's why it is important for the Legislators to also hear from Professionals and Businesses who use and rely on our services, i.e. Lenders, Attorneys, Engineers, Architects, Tile Companies, etc., who would be harmed and hindered by said bill. Please contact them and forward our list and give them a copy of your letter. Our strongest voice against this bill may need to come from outside our profession.
A major concern of ours is mis-information. We are fighting it constantly and it is a huge distraction from our true focus. If you receive information that did not come from the Administrative Office please do not forward it to anyone until you know it is accurate. Send it to the Legislative Committee
[email protected] for our review and verification. It's just too easy with e-mail to send mis-information and we must control and reduce it.
I know there is a lot here to review and absorb. I know this whole affair is a distraction to your business and is the last thing you need right now. I get it, but we have individuals putting their business at risk to fight this battle. If you think things are bad now, imagine what will happen if we loose this battle. Surveying and Mapping is a challenging Profession, but more harm will be done to us by those who choose to look on and do nothing.
In closing, keep your spirits high and your anxiety in check. We are on this and with everyone's help we will prevail.
Legislature Considers Deregulating Surveying and Mapping as a Profession
HB 5005 by Rep. Bovo (R-Hialeah)
This week the House Business and Consumer Affairs Subcommittee passed legislation deregulating surveying and mapping in Florida. This language is part of a large deregulation package which includes many other professions and businesses. This is a serious attack on our profession and we need your active involvement and communication with legislators expressing your opposition to the deregulation of surveying and mapping to assist our legislative strategy to have us removed from this bill.
Time is Critical - Contact Legislators Today
The bill is now scheduled to be heard by the House Economic Affairs Committee and then the Appropriations Committee before heading to the House floor for final passage. State representatives need to hear from you NOW that you oppose deregulating surveying and mapping and ask them to remove this from this deregulation bill.
To engage in the fight, we need you to do two things immediately today.
1) Please take a moment to email or call each of the legislators listed below individually and respectfully let them know that you oppose deregulating surveying and mapping in Florida and request that the deregulation of surveying and mapping be taken out of HB 5005. To assist you in communicating with these state representatives and keep you on the right message that works, click here for a talk sheet in pdf format. In addition, our Legal Council has prepared Legal Talking Points, click here for the pdf. To download both documents in word format, go to the Members' Only section of www.fsms.org.
Dorothy Hukill
New Smyrna Beach
(850) 488-6653
Doug Holder
Sarasota
(850) 488-1171
Frank Artiles
Miami
(850) 488-9550
Esteban Bovo
Hialeah
(850) 487-2197
Jim Boyd
Bradenton
(850) 488-4086
Chris Dorworth
Heathrow
(850) 488-5843
Brad Drake
DeFuniak Springs
(850) 488-4726
Peter Nehr
Tarpon Springs
(850) 488-5580
Bryan Nelson
Apopka
(850) 488-2023
Jeanette Nunez
Miami
(850) 488-7897
Ken Roberson
Port Charlotte
(850) 488-0060
Ritch Workman
Melbourne
(850) 488-9720
Geraldine Thompson
Orlando
(850) 488-0760
Joseph Abruzzo
Wellington
(850) 488-4791
[email protected]
Evan Jenne
Fort Lauderdale
(850) 488-0245
[email protected]
Steve Perman
Boca Raton
(850) 488-5588
[email protected]
Irv Slosberg
Boca Raton
(850) 488-1302
[email protected]
Jim Waldman
Coconut Creek
(850) 488-3164
[email protected]
Denise Grimsley
Sebring
(850) 488-3457
[email protected]
Bill Proctor
Saint Augustine
(850) 488-2977
[email protected]
Steve Precourt
Orlando
(850) 488-0256
[email protected]
Robert Schenck
Spring Hill
(850) 488-6641
[email protected]
William Snyder
Stuart
(850) 488-8832
[email protected]
Will Weatherford
Wesley Chapel
(850) 488-5744
[email protected]
Gary Aubuchon
Cape Coral
(850) 488-7433
[email protected]
John Legg
Port Richey
(850) 488-5522
[email protected]
Seth McKeel
Lakeland
(850) 488-9890
[email protected]
2. Please reach out to both your local state representatives and state senator and let them know that you oppose the deregulation of surveying and mapping that is being considered in HB 5005 and would request that they oppose the deregulation of surveying and mapping. If you don't know who your state representative is please contact FSMS for assistance.
Be On The Alert
The next scheduled meeting of the House Economic Affairs Committee is this Thursday from 8-11. The notice deadline for this meeting is 4:30 pm tomorrow. Although we think HB5005 will be on the meeting agenda, we will not know for sure until the official meeting notice is posted late tomorrow afternoon. As soon as we get the official meeting notice, we will pass on the information in an Email Bulletin.
That is my biggest beef with this whole thing. Supposedly, this sub-committee has been working on this for several months. The other included professions seem to have know about their inclusion for some time and we just found about it a week ago.
Where was the state society while all of this was gooing on? Why weren't the members made aware of this sooner? And what are they doing to keep the non-FSMS members informed? Probably nothing.
Just another example of how useless the state society really is. All they want to do is sell CEU courses and run golf tournaments.
It may be a failure of the FSMS leadership/legislative committee. But sometimes these things get slipped in at the last minute by a politician who hopes no one will notice until it's too late.