VCC Approves Hire of Lobbyists & 2022 State of Florida Legislative Priority List

DeLand, FL – Volusia County Council members gave approval to two items on today’s (October 5) agenda pertaining to the coming Florida legislative session. Item 3, the renewal of contracts with The Southern Group of Florida, Inc., for state lobbyist services, and Becker & Poliakoff, P.A, d/b/a Becker, for federal lobbyist services was approved. Clarence Williams, a senior government relations consultant with Becker said that the bipartisan infrastructure bill is very important to Volusia County. "That is the bill that was passed by the Senate. It’s a little over half a trillion dollars. Your traditional infrastructure, roads, bridges. It also has about $65,000,000 for broadband, those types of things." John Booker, Government Affairs, County Manager’s Office told Council members about the 2022 State of Florida Legislative Priority List.  A point of contention over this past year, vacation rentals, is high on the list according to Booker. There’s also condominium reform. "The Florida Bar has looked at some potential reform measures. They have not created anything yet.  That obviously took all of our attention during that tragedy, given our coastline." You can find the 2022 legislative priorities summary at volusia.org.  The next Florida legislative session begins on January 11, 2022.