Friends:

The 2008 Legislative session will be one long remembered by all of us who work here. It was a year of the $5 billion dollar shortfall, unexplainable ayyacks on business, and election year posturing that made no sense what so ever. That loud sigh you heard all over the State was when the session ended on Friday afternoon. Everyone wanted this one over. Despite the unexplainable, FRF was successful in killing some bad bills and passing some good ones. This report is a review of the dedicated hard work of our lobbying team. Your Advocacy, Intervention, and Political Team (AIP) deserves kudos from all of us for the long hours and smart strategy that resulted in more wins than many of us thought possible under the circumstances. With Randy Miller at the helm, the oars were ably pulled by John Rogers, Sally House, Samantha Hunter, Sherry Whitney and Ashleigh Amburn.

In addition to our inside team of professionals, special thanks to several of our outside contract lobbyist who never gave up and delivered results, including Jon Johnson, Scott Dick, and Yolanda Jackson. Also, Randy Roberts (Publix), Paul Imbrone (Macy’s), Cindi Marsiglio (Wal-Mart) and Cole Peacock (Chico’s) gave Team Retail extra muscle when the chips were down. To all of you who made phone calls, sent emails and letters, or took the time to come to Tallahassee, we thank you.

Call us if we can clarify or expand on any of the information in this report.

Sincerely,
Richard A. McAllister
FRF President and CEO

Click to open PDF version of 2008 Legislative Wrap Up