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SENATE BILLS ARE FILED – NOW THE REAL WORK BEGINS!
By
Jan Bergemann
Published
February 8, 2013
The
Senate Bills are filed [S580
+ S
596], but now the real work starts. As Eric phrased it:
We got you to the Red Zone, now it’s up to you to score the
touch downs! Let’s not forget, each successful committee
hearing is like scoring a touch down, but we only get the trophy
if the Governor signs the bill into law!
And
that’s still many yards to go!
The
HOUSE companion bill will be published in the very near future.
The legislators involved are working on the last few
“touch-ups.”
Our
website: http://www.hoareformbill.net/index.html
will provide you with all the tools needed to help, once it goes
into the committee stages. You will find all e-mail addresses
for all the committee members where the bill will be heard two
or three days after the alert was posted on the website. There
is as well a one-click-reaches-all-committee-members tool on the
Webpages. Make a note: The message to the committee members
should be short and sweet – something like: Please
vote Yes on bill No. ???! Just give a few short reasons why
– and that’s it. Most legislative aids just count the YES or
No votes.
But
before we get to the committee stages, there is one important
thing you all should do: Contact your local senator (wait for
your House Reps until we have the House bill numbers) and ask
your local senator to please co-sponsor S 596.
The provisions contained in S 596 are the result of many
lengthy discussions. The provisions in the bills are not
reinventing the wheel. The language used in these bills is
long established in other statutes -- and works just fine.
Florida
’s reputation as the No. 1
goal for sun-hungry retirees and snowbirds has seriously
suffered. This bill will help to convince these possible
homeowners and condo owners that
Florida
is still the
Sunshine
State
– and no longer the state topping the nation-wide charts in
all bad categories – from homeowner abuses, scams,
embezzlement and foreclosures.
It
is now up to you to make this very important HOA/Condo Reform
bill a success. Apathy doesn’t count – and will not help the
cause. If you all want to see HOA/Condo Reforms passed, then
please help by contacting the legislators.
We
will have in the near future some town hall meetings in
different areas of
Florida
. Fill the halls, bring your neighbors – and show your
support.
Make
no mistake, even if the provisions in the bill are just reforms
dictated by common sense, you will see certain “folks”
opposing the bill. You will hear: No more regulation! Guess
what? It’s plainly consumer protection created to enforce
existing laws. The best laws are absolutely useless with out
enforcement. Let’s be very straight forward: Most of the folks
objecting to these bills are just afraid that they have only
limited possibilities to use HOAs as their cash cows if these
laws are enacted!
Never forget: Numbers are our best weapons. Let’s use it!
Visit
our website http://www.hoareformbill.net/index.html
frequently and react to the alerts asking you to get
your keyboards going and send e-mails to our legislators:
PLEASE VOTE YES
ON BILLS S580 and S 596!
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