Becker & Poliakoff

State Legislative Lobbying

With one of the largest economies in the country, Florida is home to an extraordinarily active state legislature that routinely passes laws with significant and far-reaching impact in Florida and beyond. These laws are implemented by the state’s vast array of regulatory agencies, many of which are trendsetters that impact the national policy agenda.

DGR Pledge SignerOur lobbying team in Tallahassee is on the forefront of these legislative and regulatory developments. We combine our substantive knowledge of complicated policy areas with our deep understanding of Florida’s political landscape to provide strategic lobbying services to companies and organizations before the Florida Legislature, the Governor’s Office, and regulatory agencies. We are also uniquely positioned to provide clients with advice regarding the legal implications of legislative and regulatory proposals.

Our Tallahassee team advances its clients’ policy interests before the Florida Legislature by utilizing its close working relationships with members of the  Legislature and their staff, testifying regularly before legislative policy and fiscal committees, drafting legislation and legislative amendments, preparing position letters, working with other companies and organizations to build coalitions around key policy issues, and navigating clients through Florida’s complex legislative process on a broad range of policy areas.

Services Provided

  • Secure state government appropriations
  • Draft, track, analyze, thousands of pieces of legislation and advise clients on how to react
  • Devise legislative strategies to defeat, pass, or amend legislation
  • Build coalitions and organize grass roots campaigns
  • Prepare testimony, coordinate site visits, and meet with the House and Senate Leaders, key Legislators and Committee Chairs

Notable Client Accomplishments

Public

  • For the City of Hollywood (a client for 28 years), Becker has proudly represented Hollywood as its State Government lobbyist.  Every year, we fight at the state and local levels to preserve Hollywood’s vital economic engine, its beaches. We are proud that tens of millions of dollars has been secured to protect and fund these efforts from the State and County.  We continue to work on the sand by-pass project at Port Everglades and have secured over $14 million for the city thus far. The Team fully funded the Fred Lippman Senior Center for $228,000, the SE Focal Point Senior Center $141,550 and the SHIP funding for affordable housing at $1.48 million.  We have continued to protect the City against a Claims Bill that has now been agreed to at $100,000.  We have helped save the City hundreds of millions of dollars by changing State law on the Ocean Outfall and allowing Hollywood flexibility in meeting the 60% re-use requirement.
  • For Miami-Dade County, secured $5 million for the Ludlam Trail Corridor Acquisition.
  • For the City of Pompano Beach, secured $287,500 for the Drinking Water Plant Filter Rehabilitation project and  assisted the city score a major legislative win in secure passage of the “White-Miskell Act,” which protects tourists and recreational consumers by reforming the parasailing industry in the wake of multiple deaths stemming from neglect by unregulated commercial operations there.
  • For the Solid Waste Authority of Palm Beach County (a client for 10+ years), we led the lobbying effort that resulted in Florida’s Governor Rick Scott signing HB 531 into law. The bill put Palm Beach County on par with every other county in the state by allowing haulers to depreciate their equipment over seven years, rather than the previous five. This will make bids on hauling contracts more competitive by making them more
  • For the City of Miami, our team successfully worked on securing a $1.2 million dollar appropriation for a Citywide Stormwater Master Plan which will assist in mitigating flooding throughout the city. Our team also worked closely with the Florida Department of Transportation as well as Governor Scott’s office in order to extend the state’s contribution to the New Starts Program for local transportation projects. This was our first year representing the City of Miami.
  • For the City of Lauderdale Lakes, our team secured funding in the amount of $1,000,000 for Canal System Conveyance, and Water Quality,  $484,000 for Street Roadway Improvement to NW 21st Street, and $1,000,000 for NW 31st Ave Corridor Improvement.
  • For the City of Cape Coral, successful in obtaining appropriations in the amounts of $1,292,250 for its reservoir and pipeline project, $176,250 for a police department public safety mobile command center vehicle, $790,135 for the Reclaimed Water Transmission Main Caloosahatchee River Crossing Project, $125,000 for the Sirenia Vista Park Utilities Expansion Project, a $100,000 Cultural Facilities Grant, $740,341 in State Housing Initiatives Partnership Program (“SHIP”) funds for affordable housing, and $3,850,000 for Burnt Store Road Widening. We successfully lobbied for inclusion of language in the local government pension bills (SB 246 and HB 7181) which specifically addressed the City’s maximum benefit pension plan which is expected to save the city over $120,000,000. Additionally in 2018, the team secured $176,250 for the Cape Coral Police Department Public Safety Mobile Command Center and $1,115,000 for the Cape Coral Reservoir and Pipeline Project. The money will fund engineering, design and permitting for the phase 1 portion of the project which would entail a pipeline from the existing reservoir in lower Charlotte County (Southwest Aggregates Mine) to the City of Cape Coral Gator Slough, the city’s northernmost feeder canal.
  • For the City of Opa-Locka, our team successfully advocated for $700,000 for Burlington Canal Dredging and Side Sloe Restoration, $400,000 for NW 127th Street and Cairo Lane Water Project,
  • In only two Legislative Sessions the Becker team secured over $650,000 for the Town of Lake Park, a town of only 8,500. In 2017, $600,000 was secured for the very important Lake Shore Drive Drainage Improvement Project. $600,000 will be used to raise the roadway and install drainage basins along Lakeshore Drive with flapper values on the outflow drainage to the Lake Worth Lagoon which will enhance drainage. Additionally, the Becker secured a much need $56,000 grant for work on the Lake Park Historic Town Hall.

Private

  • For Bethune-Cookman University, Florida Memorial University and Edward Waters College, Florida’s three private Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), our team secured over $80 million in appropriations and corrected a funding process that changed from expenditure and reimbursement to upfront funding. Effective Access to Student Education (EASE), formerly known as Florida Resident Access Grant (FRAG), benefit state residents attending private colleges and universities in Florida. Our team has worked with a coalition of independent colleges and universities to increase the grant amount awarded annually.
  • For Bethune-Cookman University, our team passed historic legislation. Florida became the first state in the union to select an African American, Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune to represent the state in National Statuary Hall.  Each state has two prominent citizens representing them in National Statuary Hall in Washington D.C. This law replaces a statue of Confederate Gen. Edmund Kirby Smith with a statue of a civil-rights activist and educator Dr. Bethune, founder of Bethune-Cookman University.
  • For the Florida Association of Jewish Federations (a client for 25+ years), our successes for this non-profit, membership-based organization consisting of the state’s local Jewish Federations include hundreds of millions of dollars in governmental funding through appropriations and grants as well as numerous policy successes including establishing holocaust education in the public school curriculum, fostering business-to-business connections between Israel and Florida’s technology innovation communities and many others. The Becker lobbyists provide education and training about relevant legislation, advocacy and political insights to Federation members all over Florida.
  • For Pensacola Care Inc. (PCI) (Quest Management), the team successfully secured a statewide appropriations increase of $11.5 million for Intermediate Care Facilities for Individuals with Development Disabilities (ICFIDD). The ICF community that takes care of Florida’s most vulnerable was desperate for an update to their funding. This statewide success of $268 million resulted in over $1 million being directly appropriated to PCI, our client, to help fund nearly 317 beds and associated care fragile Floridians.
  • For American Clinical Solutions (ACS), the Becker team was successful in preventing language that jeopardizes patient safety from passing in the medical marijuana implementation legislation. ACS, the state’s only clinical lab that tests medical marijuana for the presence of fertilizers, pesticides, terpenes, mold, mildew and for potency was opposed to legislation that limited the medical marijuana testing business to environmental labs, which operate with much lower standards.

Notable Client Representations

Public

  • Broward County Public Schools
  • Miami-Dade County
  • Miami-Dade County Public Schools
  • Florida Polytechnic University
  • City of Cape Coral
  • City of Hollywood
  • City of Homestead
  • City of Miami
  • City of Miami Gardens
  • City of Miami Springs
  • City of Lauderdale Lakes
  • City of Lauderhill
  • City of Lauderhill Safe Neighborhood Districts
  • City of Opa-Locka
  • City of Pompano Beach
  • City of South Miami
  • City of West Park
  • Solid Waste Authority of Palm Beach County
  • Town of Lake Park
  • Town of Medley
  • Village of Virginia Gardens
  • Village of Pinecrest

Private

  • American Clinical Solutions
  • American Traffic Solutions
  • AT&T
  • Bethune-Cookman University
  • Broward Community and Family Health Center
  • Centene Corporation d/b/a Sunshine Health
  • ChildNet
  • CIOX Health, LLC
  • Coalition of Franchisee
  • Crohns & Colitis Foundation
  • Culpepper
  • Edward Waters College
  • FCCI Insurance Group
  • Florida Association of Jewish Federations
  • Florida Association of Local Housing Finance Authorities
  • Florida Community Financial Services Association, Inc.
  • Florida Delegation, Southeast US Japan
  • Florida Independent Spirits
  • Florida Memorial University
  • Florida Polytechnic University
  • Foundation for Sickle Cell Disease Research
  • Gulf Power
  • Hamilton Downs
  • Heart Gallery
  • JAFCO
  • Juda Eskew
  • Miami Children’s Initiative
  • Neighborworks Florida Collaborative
  • Pensacola Care Inc. (Quest Management)
  • Peoples Gas System
  • RAI
  • Safety Net Hospital Alliance FL
  • Seus Japan Association 
  • Society for Clinical and Medical Hair Removal
  • ShotSpotter (SST, Inc.)
  • Tampa Electric Company
  • TECO Energy
  • Univision Communications Inc.
  • Urban League of Broward County
  • Virgil Hawkins Florida Chapter National Bar Association
  • WestCare Foundation
  • Whiskey Creek
  • Ygrene Energy Fund