Don Gaetz wins Round 1 vs. Utilities

I'm your huckleberry

In a surprising turn of events in Tallahassee, State Senator Don Gaetz’s bill on public utilities passed the Regulated Industries Committee by a 5-2 vote, shocking utility companies and legislative insiders alike.

“It was not expected,” Gaetz told me in a phone conversation this morning. “A lot of jaws dropped.”

This victory is particularly noteworthy because Gaetz managed to overcome opposition from powerful figures within his own party, including the Republican leader and the next CFO, both of whom sit on the committee and voted against the measure.

His Strategy

In a legislature dominated by Republican supermajorities in both chambers, Gaetz employed an unconventional strategy by reaching across the aisle. “We have such a supermajority in the Senate and in the House that you don’t even talk to Democrats. You don’t have to talk to Democrats. You don’t have to pass ‘em in the hallway,” Gaetz explained.

“I knew I had to cobble together votes. So I went to the Democratic leader and got his two votes on the committee, and then I cobbled together three more votes.”

Despite this initial success, Gaetz remains realistic about the bill’s future prospects. “If you’re a betting person, you should bet that I won’t even get on the calendar for the next committee, or if I get calendared, I will get beat,” he admitted. “But at least we scored something, which was in absolute contravention of all the smart money.”

SB 1180

The senator filed SB 1180, which would prohibit the creation of lewd imagery or depictions involving a child and the creation of nude photos involving identifiable persons. The bill is a reaction to how a male Pensacola high school student used an artificial intelligence app last fall to create fake nude images of several female students. The male student wasn’t arrested because he didn’t distribute the photos. SB 1180 would close that loophole.

The legislation continues to gain momentum. Local families affected by similar issues in Pensacola, including attorney Autumn Blackledge and her daughter, as well as potentially Eric and Carrie Stevenson’s daughter Lucy Adams, are planning to testify in support of the legislation.

“None of these things are easy,” Gaetz noted, highlighting the complexity of moving legislation forward even when the issues seem straightforward.

The conversation ended with a brief update on my third book, which is progressing well. I promised the Senator he’d have a draft soon, mentioning that “even got a conservative in there” this time around.

Stay tuned for further developments on these crucial legislative matters as they progress .

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Don Gaetz wins Round 1 vs. Utilities

His Strategy

SB 1180

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