January 2024
Federal Government Relations Update
Alternative Injury Benefit Plans in Florida?
Florida House Judiciary Chairman Tommy Gregory invited ARAWC to present An Alternative to Florida’s Workers’ Compensation to the House Judiciary Committee on January 8th. Expansion Committee leaders (Jennifer Hurless, PartnerSource, and Taylor Calvin, Sysco) met with Chairman Gregory in Miami in late September 2023 to discuss the need for an alternative system and request this hearing. Chairman Gregory was the author of the Tort Reform package that passed the Florida legislature last year and is actively looking for new business friendly policy areas to pursue. Gray Robinson followed up with Chairman Gregory throughout the fall on our behalf and our committee slot was secured in late December.
The formal presentation can be seen at https://thefloridachannel.org/videos/1-8-24-house-judiciary-committee/
The ARAWC presentation begins around 55 minutes into the roughly 1.5-hour committee hearing.
Jennifer Hurless presented the slide deck that was shown at the ARAWC Annual Conference in Dallas this past October. Jennifer Hurless was concise, hit all ARAWC talking points, and provided factual statements and data for the committee to consider. Although this item was last on the agenda, committee members stayed engaged and alert as the ARAWC presentation was made. Chairman Gregory was incredibly pleased with the presentation.
The Florida Chamber of Commerce, the Florida Association of the National Federation of Independent Businesses, and the Florida Trucking Association were all in attendance and wanted to know more about our alternative proposal.
To join the next meeting of ARAWC’s Florida Expansion Committee on Friday, February 2 and to hear updates from the team regarding future activities and meetings, please contact either Taylor Calvin at taylor.calvin@sysco.com or A.J. Donelson at adonelson@advocomgroup.com.