As lawmakers kicked off the 2018 Legislative Session this week, the Florida Chamber of Commerce’s Bottom Line public affairs program sat down with Jim Saunders, Executive Editor of the News Service of Florida, for a reporters insider perspective on what to expect this session.
“Governor Scott has made it pretty clear that one of his priorities will be taxes. He wants the legislature to put a constitutional amendment on the ballot that would make it harder to raise taxes in the future,” Saunders said. “One of the other issues that will shadow the session is Hurricane Irma, the recovery from the Hurricane Irma and also trying to make preparations for future hurricanes. The recovery has a lot of different elements in that it affects the state budget. It has made a tight budget even tighter. Also, there are a number of policy changes they are talking about to deal with hurricanes.”