Easter Weekend is brought to you by these lobbyists and political associations

Peter Cottontail is expected to deliver a bumper crop for retailers this Easter, with shoppers projected to spend a record $24.9 billion nationwide as the holiday arrives April 5, according to the Florida Retail Federation and the National Retail Federation.

That would top the previous high-water mark of $24 billion set in 2023 and put a little extra in plenty of Easter baskets well beyond the chocolate-and-marshmallow variety.

According to the NRF survey, 80% of consumers plan to celebrate Easter in some fashion this year, with 92% purchasing candy, 90% buying food for the holiday, 64% picking up gifts, 53% springing for decorations and 51% spending on clothing.

Even with economic uncertainty lingering in the background, families are still willing to open their wallets for a holiday built around sweets, brunch and pastel-colored excess.

More than half of shoppers — 55%, according to the NRF survey — plan to do at least some of their Easter buying at discount stores. That’s welcome news for Target and Walmart, where the shelves are already filling up with plastic eggs, chocolate bunnies and that inexplicable plastic grass everyone throws away exactly 14 seconds after opening the basket.

And with checkout lines stretching longer than an outdoor Easter sunrise service once the pastor finds his rhythm, neither retailer has time to keep tabs on what’s moving through the Capitol. That’s why they have people for that.

Target’s Tallahassee team includes in-house advocates Molly Cagle and Jessica Kraynak, alongside Carlecia Collins, Joseph Salzverg and Jason Unger of GrayRobinson. Walmart, meanwhile, is represented by Mike Corcoran, Matt Blair, Jacqueline Corcoran, Jeff Hawes, Will Rodriguez, Carlos San Jose and Andrea Tovar of Corcoran Partners, as well as in-house lobbyist Bethany McAlister.

Of course, Easter moves around the calendar like the Black Fortress in Krull, never seeming to land in quite the same place twice. Thanks to the celestial Rube Goldberg machine that pegs it to the first Sunday after the Paschal full moon, the holiday arrives this year on April 5.

If ecclesiastical ersatz astronomy isn’t exactly on your agenda this week, that’s what calendar apps are for.

Google, of course, powers one of the most widely used calendar platforms in the world, helping millions keep track of birthdays, brunch reservations and the occasional movable feast.

Its Tallahassee roster includes in-house advocates Amanda Ball, Taylor Ferguson and Leah Popoff, along with Claudia Davant of Adams St. Advocates, Chris Moya of Jones Walker, Cissy Proctor of LSN Partners, and Bill Rubin and Heather Turnbull of Rubin Turnbull & Associates.

Of course, not everyone leaves their Easter plans to Google. Plenty will turn instead to Apple, whose famously bitten logo feels especially on-theme for a holiday centered on redemption from mankind’s first ill-advised crunch.

In Florida, Apple leans on the reigning champs in Florida Politics’ lobby firm rankings, with The Southern Group once again finishing atop the list after hauling in a decidedly Cupertino-sized $44.24 million last year. The roster includes Oscar Anderson, Brian Bautista, Rachel Cone, Chris Dudley, Paul Mitchell, Erin Rock, Monte Stevens, Sheela VanHoose, Nelson Diaz, Mercer Fearington, David Hagan, Nicole Kelly, Karis Lockhart and Clark Smith, alongside in-house advocates Ryan Mahoney and Caleb Williamson.

Of course, apples themselves have their own strange history. Before modern cultivation, they were often far closer to the French idea of “pomme de terre” — literally “apple of the earth” — with a taste profile said to land somewhere between loam and Scotts Turf Builder.

Thankfully, the University of Florida’s agricultural researchers have done rather better by the fruit in the centuries since. UF’s sprawling academic and research footprint keeps plenty of advocates busy, including former Rep. Chuck Clemons, who now leads the university’s governmental affairs operation after terming out of the House.

The university’s broader orbit also keeps several firms in the mix. Capital City Consulting represents both the University of Florida Foundation and the University of Florida Student Government Association, led by co-founders Nick Iarossi and Ron LaFace, alongside Megan Fay, Scott Ross and Chris Schoonover. Ballard Partners also has a role through the UF Foundation and UF Health, including Monica Rodriguez.

The foundation’s roster also includes SBM Partners, with firm President Jeff Hartley and partner-owners Teye Carmichael and Lisa Hurley, as well as Metz Husband & Daughton, including Allison Liby-Schoonover, a past INFLUENCE Magazine Education Lobbyist of the Year honoree whose credentials are especially on-brand for one of the nation’s top public universities.

For those keeping score, yes, the state’s flagship university has five of Florida Politics’ Top 12 lobby firms on retainer.

According to NRF, 9 out of 10 shoppers plan to purchase candy on Easter. Obviously, candy is packed with sugar. Less obvious, U.S. Sugar probably has a hand in the healthy stuff you pile into your shopping cart — the company grows enough fruit and vegetables to feed millions of Americans each year.

They have dozens of lobbyists in their corner, including the team at TSG as well as Ballard Partners. And, for good measure, U.S. Sugar has deals in place with one of the best mid-majors in the biz: The Mayernick Group.

And while the holiday is no stranger to sweets, it also comes with a long tradition of sacramental pours and Sunday-evening nightcaps. For that, the Florida Independent Spirits Association can point celebrants in the right direction, with David Ramba and Ramba Consulting Group helping keep the state’s adult-beverage industry well represented in Tallahassee.

Of course, the Easter story doesn’t exactly unfold without the justice system playing a starring role. If only Alan Suskey and the team at Shumaker Advisors had a time machine, perhaps the skills they’ve honed representing the Florida Public Defender Association could have had the Son of God released on his own recognizance pending appeal.

But don’t go handing Suskey the keys to the DeLorean just yet — had that level of legal talent been available 2,000 years ago, mankind might still be waiting on its salvation.

The religious impact of resurrection doesn’t stop after the savior rolled a rock — it carries forward into the promise of return. That’s the very idea embedded in the word Advent, which points to expectation, arrival and what comes next.

America, of course, has its own rich tradition of groups convinced that arrival is imminent, stretching from the Great Disappointment of the Millerite era and its handful of direct-to-video sequels to last year’s TikTok-fueled rapture predictions that burned hot for 48 hours before quietly getting a revised release date.

Rather than simply waiting around for the Second Coming, the folks at one of Florida’s largest hospital networks have been a bit more productive. AdventHealth, which is affiliated with the Seventh-day Adventists, has grown into a key cog in the state’s health care system, doing the decidedly earthly work of stitching cuts, setting bones and getting Floridians back on their feet.

Keeping elected leaders in Tallahassee familiar with that work is a bipartisan-worthy bench of advocates, including Jon Johnson, Travis Blanton, Marnie George, Stefan Grow and Darrick McGhee Sr. of Johnson & Blanton, alongside Ron Pierce, Melody Arnold, Matthew Herndon and Natalie King of RSA Consulting Group.

Hopefully, your Easter weekend does not require a visit to one of AdventHealth’s facilities. More likely, it will involve a different sort of endurance test: traffic, TSA lines and the slow crawl back home after the baskets are emptied and the leftovers are packed.

While Sunday may be full of egg hunts and hearty meals, it’s sandwiched between lengthy travel days for many celebrants. Those within a couple of hours of their family’s gathering place will take a deep breath and grit their teeth as they pump their conveyance full of $4-a-gallon gas.

When you head to the pump, there’s a decent chance it’ll be a RaceTrac. The Atlanta-based company operates 581 gas stations nationwide, and nearly half of them are in the Sunshine State. With a vested interest in Florida, they’ve tasked Lori Killinger and Chris Lyon of Lewis Longman & Walker and Stephen Winn of Stephen R. Winn & Associates to keep an eye on things in the Legislature.

If the drive is a little long, it might be better to snag a last-minute plane ticket (good luck with that). And many of those who choose to take off rather than roll out will find themselves aboard an American Airlines or Delta flight.

American Airlines has Jeff Johnston, Amanda Stewart and Anita Berry of Johnston & Stewart Government Strategies in the jump seat, while Delta Air Lines’ Tallahassee flight crew includes the team at Capital City Consulting.

However you plan to celebrate, enjoy the time with family and take advantage of the chance to catch your breath before the final stretch of Session.

Happy Easter!