Legislation to limit near-port anchoring is dead in the water after its sponsor opted to no longer pursue its passage this Session.

Rep. Chip LaMarca told Florida Politics he decided to halt consideration of the bill (HB 795) due to feedback he got from the state’s many water-faring residents.

He said the bill may return next year as local legislation from the Palm Beach County delegation “with more specific parameters to address port safety issues.”

“As a lifelong boater myself, as well as a local elected official in Broward, I am always looking to make this the best place for boaters,” said LaMarca, a Lighthouse Point Republican who in late 2023 was floated as the next Port Everglades Director.

“This bill was specifically written towards the safety of our Florida seaports. However, with the different makeup of each seaport layout, we were not able to effectively address the safety issue with this legislation as written. I would suggest that the Port of Palm Beach come back and work to address the safety issue without jeopardizing the safe boating public.”

HB 795 and its upper-chamber companion (SB 594) by Doral Republican Sen. Ana Maria Rodriguez would establish new regulations for no-anchoring and no-mooring zones near state seaports.

The types of vessels and how stringent anchoring restrictions could differ between the two bills. HB 795 would apply to uninsured boats anchored for more than 45 days in port-adjacent waters and encompass a surrounding area of up to 1,750 feet from the navigational harbor.

SB 594, meanwhile, would apply to all anchoring vessels within 2,500 feet of a seaport entrance, pier or wharf adjacent to a harbor channel or turning basin.

Under both bills, each seaport would have to hold two public hearings and apply to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission before establishing a no-mooring and no-anchoring zone.

Proponents of the legislation say more needs to be done to ensure safe, unimpeded operations in and around seaports while also protecting sensitive marine habitats. Its opponents argue the changes are unnecessary, conflict with federal laws like the Maritime Transportation Security Act of 2002 — which, among other things, established certain no anchoring zones and empowered the U.S. Coast Guard to create others around vessels and port facilities — and leave long-term boat dwellers with little elsewhere to live at sea.

Wally Moran, a longtime boater, sailing writer and President of the Cruisers’ Rights Network, said these and other boat-focused bills lawmakers are considering would create a confusing patchwork of maritime rules even the most experienced captains would have trouble following.

“(This) appears to be less about maritime safety and more about eliminating inconvenience for Palm Beach’s elite,” he wrote March 20, adding that alternative locations for boaters moored near harbors in Palm Beach County “don’t exist.”

“Municipalities to the north and south of Palm Beach will face an influx of vessels, exacerbating their own anchorage issues,” he warned. “There are no available anchorages within 50 miles of Palm Beach that can accommodate this influx.”

SB 594 and HB 795 each cleared the first of two committees to which they were assigned.

Florida Politics contacted Rodriguez for comment but received no response by press time.

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Higher education bills keep moving in the Legislature.

The Senate is advancing its own higher education bill (SB 1726). The legislation, sponsored by Republican Sen. Alexis Calatayud, has two new amendments.

One of them removes the requirement for an office of public policy at universities.

The other removes the requirement for the Institute for Freedom in the Americas to partner with the Adam Smith Center for Economic Freedom.

Presidential searches were a topic of discussion, with Republican Sen. Blaise Ingoglia noting a key difference from the House bill just passed, which Gov. Ron DeSantis vowed to veto last week.

The House resoundingly approved HB 1321, which would publicize all presidential candidates’ identities, stop the Governor from discussing openings and lobbying for connected candidates with leadership of state colleges and universities, and let university Boards pick their Presidents rather than the Board Of Governors (BOG).

Calatayud confirmed that the process on the Senate bill is “in the shade,” though the final three presidential candidates “are recommended for the public to see” in a manner consistent with current law. The House product offers full visibility on the field of candidates overall.

A university’s Board of Trustees, not the BOG, would make that final selection.

Ingoglia said the provision was unconstitutional, stripping powers from the BOG. Calatayud held to her belief the move is legal.

The legislation raises other constitutional questions, particularly with its proposed term limits for members of the BOG and university Boards of Trustees, and Florida residency requirements to be on the BOG.

Democratic Sen. Tracie Davis wondered why debates and speeches were to only be retained on video for one year, down by five years. Calatayud said the universities wanted that and other proposed revisions to public policy programming.

Davis also wondered why the bill restricts university polling operations from looking at candidates and races. Calatayud expressed fear that polls involving candidates and campaigns somehow “influence the public.”

The House version of the bill imposes no new restrictions on polling.

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Two recent top agency appointments by Gov. Ron DeSantis, both of whom have been grilled by legislators over a charity linked to First Lady Casey DeSantis’ Hope Florida initiative, appear unlikely to win confirmation this session from the Senate.

Sen. Don Gaetz, Chair of the committee responsible for screening appointees, told the Florida Phoenix in a phone interview Monday that of the more than 200 gubernatorial appointees for the Senate to consider this session, roughly 150 are still awaiting action.

He said the committee lacks time to consider the appointment of Shevaun Harris as head of the Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) or Taylor Hatch as Secretary of the Department of Children and Families (DCF).

Under Florida law, if the full Senate fails to take action on a confirmation the Governor must reappoint them to that post within 30 days. The Senate would then consider the appointment during its next Session. Appointees who fail to win confirmation a second time must leave their positions.

“I know this: That because we won’t be able to get to her, her term of office will end and he’ll (DeSantis) have to reappoint her,” Gaetz said of Harris’ future as AHCA Secretary.

When asked whether he would vote to confirm Harris at AHCA, the largest of the state’s health care agencies, Gaetz said: “I’d have a hard time voting for Secretary Harris unless she came clean and had a very different story than what she’s telling the House.”

Gaetz also told the Florida Phoenix that he has “serious questions for both of them. They both know it.”

The process

Gaetz, himself a former Senate President, and committee Vice Chair Mack Bernard, a Democrat from West Palm Beach, issued a memo outlining how the Senate confirmation process would proceed under Senate President Ben Albritton for the next two years.

The memo explains that every gubernatorial appointee will be considered by their substantive committee as well as the Ethics and Elections Committee.

“A favorable vote of the Ethics and Elections Committee will be required in order for a nominee to be recommended for confirmation by the full Senate,” the memo says. “However, the President always has the prerogative to move any nomination to the full Senate.”

The committee didn’t begin considering gubernatorial appointments until its March 31 meeting, having spent its previously scheduled hearings discussing substantive legislation instead.

“Tuesday comes before Wednesday. Nominees come to us as they come to us,” Gaetz said, noting that he doesn’t get to “pick and choose” the names on the agenda.

Katherine Betta, a spokesperson for Albritton, said the Governor’s Office is aware of the situation.

“The President’s goal is to have a more thorough process for confirmations by broadening the opportunities for Senators to engage in the confirmation process. There is insufficient time remaining this session to move forward with confirmation proceedings for Secretary Harris and Secretary Hatch. The President has great respect for their dedicated and longstanding service to the state, specifically to the vulnerable populations they have both served and continue to serve over their respective careers in state government. The confirmation process provides the opportunity for reappoint and certainly if that occurs, there would be more time this fall during interim committee weeks and next session for consideration.”

Backstory

DeSantis put Harris in charge of AHCA in February after he tapped Jason Weida, who had been Secretary of that agency, as his Chief of Staff. Before that, Harris had run DCF, the agency that created the nonprofit Hope Florida Foundation to help Casey DeSantis’ Hope Florida. DeSantis then appointed Hatch, who had been Director of the Agency for Persons with Disabilities (APD) to serve as head of DCF.

The Hope Florida Foundation, a direct support organization, has been at the center of a growing controversy surrounding a $10 million “one time donation” health care giant Centene made to it. The money was part of a $67 million settlement the managed care plan signed with the state over Medicaid overpayments.

The foundation then gave $5 million grants to Secure Florida’s Future, a nonprofit tied to the Florida Chamber of Commerce, and Save our Society, another political committee. Within days, those groups made contributions to Keep Florida Clean, which opposed last year’s marijuana-legalization initiative. James Uthmeier, the Governor’s former Chief of Staff, now Florida Attorney General, controlled Keep Florida Clean.

House Health Care Budget Subcommittee Chair Alex Andrade told members of the Hope Florida Foundation during their board meeting last week that the contributions could jeopardize the foundation’s 501(c)(3) status and that the foundation should try to recoup the funds.

The Senate Committee on Children and Families voted up on Hatch on March 25, but she still needs the Ethics Committee’s nod.

The Senate Health Policy Committee approved Harris’ nomination as AHCA Secretary on April 1. At that same meeting, the committee approved DeSantis’ choices as heads of the boards of Chiropractic Medicine, Medicine, Optometry, and Physical Therapy Practice.

Likewise, the Ethics Committee will consider a spate of higher education appointees (some of whom are controversial) Tuesday that were considered by the Senate Appropriations Committee on Higher Education on April 15 and April 10, well after Harris and Hatch were initially considered by their substantive Senate committees.

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Christine Sexton and Jay Waagmeester reporting. Florida Phoenix is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Florida Phoenix maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Michael Moline for questions: [email protected].

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