Pending Parasail Senate Bill Update
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Many may be wondering about the status of the pending Florida Parasail Senate Bill from Senator Jones’s office. If you recall, Major Jack Daugherty of the Florida Fish and Wildlife (FWC) asked us to engage. Engaged we have become.
First, a conference call was made several weeks ago with Florida Fish and Wildlife and the Senator’s office. We, (Larry Meddock, Matt Dvorak, Chris & Lee Abbott, Mike Hickman, and Tim Smith), reviewed the entire bill. We were able to make suggestions on each of the issues that had a potential negative impact on parasailing in the State of Florida.
These issues include, but are not limited to, the emergency quick release, the chair or gondola, mph vs. knots, distance from shoreline as it would effect inland water operations, line lengths, altitude and weather monitoring.
Each of these issues was addressed and we are pleased to say that all suggestions were received well by both FWC and the Senator’s office. This does not mean that all were changed, as we must remember that this is the Senator’s Bill, not ours. If the Senator refuses to modify his language, he stands to have the Bill fail on the floor or never even make it to the floor. It is imperative that FWC remain comfortable with the language as they are the ones that would have to enforce the Bill.
FWC called the WSIA on three of the issues and even sent Capt. Richard Moore to Sammy Duvall’s to get a better understanding of some of the concerns. That meeting was last week and went very well. It is our understanding that all modified language has been submitted to the Senator’s office and has been altered as per our original suggestions.
We now must wait and see. We will go to Tallahassee if necessary to either support the Bill as it has been rewritten or fight it if the changes were not made. We have engaged in the process. In fact, we were able to be part of it on the front end. This is a very good thing that shows us that FWC and the WSIA have a good working relationship.
Larry Meddock
Executive Director
WSIA
info@wsia.net
www.WSIA.net
407-251-9039
Originally posted 2-22-11
