Friends:

The 2007 Florida Legislative Session will begin March 6. As is the case during every Legislative Session, billions of dollars are at stake for our industry. Your Team Retail professional lobbyists and staff have been working steadfastly over the past 10 months preparing for these 60 days of annual regular session. This includes attending workshops, hearings and committee meetings, discussing issues with members, formulating strategies and talking with elected and government officials. In addition, FRF worked diligently to identify and support business-friendly candidates during the recent election cycle and promote the Team Retail brand. Bottom line – FRF is well-positioned to ensure that Florida’s retail interests are represented on the array of issues listed in this Legislative Outlook, and the multitude of others sure to come up during the process; however, you can make a valuable contribution to these efforts by signing up to participate in FRF’s Team Retail Action Network.

The Team Retail Action Network is FRF’s grassroots member network designed to help you be an active advocate at the state and federal levels and make a difference on critical issues that impact your business. At www.TeamRetail.org you’ll find information about legislative activities plus the advocacy tools needed to partner with us in affecting change and ensuring that Florida’s economic future and that of our industry remain strong. While a great group of professional FRF staff, contract and member lobbyists work on your behalf every day, what impresses legislators the most is hearing directly from their constituents and learning first hand about how issues affect you and your business. And the only way they know how an issue affects you is if you tell them. FRF and its Team Retail Action Network can help.

Regardless of your business type or size, you have a vested interest in making your voice heard. Please take a few minutes to read through these issues. Then, if you haven’t already done so, join the Team Retail Action Network at www.TeamRetail.org or call us, toll-free, at 1.888.FL.RETAIL (357.3824). If you’re already involved in the process, that’s great! However, we’d still like to have you participate in the Team Retail Action Network, as it unites our industry’s political activities under a cohesive brand, strengthening our voice and impact.

We’ve included a list of money-saving services and additional resources at the back of this booklet. As always, if you have any questions about these issues or other aspects of FRF, please contact me. We consider it a privilege to serve you. Working together, The Voice of Florida Retailing will be heard!

Sincerely,
Richard A. McAllister
FRF President and CEO

Click to open PDF version of Outlook