FYBA CALL TO ACTION: CS/HB5005 Goes Before the FL House Appropriations Committee This Wednesday Your help is needed TODAY! Tomorrow, March 30, the Florida House Appropriations Committee will be considering a provision of CS/HB 5005 that would deregulate the brokerage industry by ending the FL Yacht & Ship Brokers Act (SS 326). We urge you to write and/or call all Committee members today and voice your support for the FL Yacht & Ship Brokers Act and Florida’s highly professional yacht brokerage industry.

Tell them that The Florida Yacht & Ship Brokers Act:

• Protects buyers, sellers and brokers by insuring that all Yacht Brokers operating in the state are licensed and bonded while conducting business according to the highest ethical and professional standards.

• Attracts potential boat and yacht buyers from across the country and around the world who know their funds-on-deposit will be held in a licensed and bonded escrow account, and that felons are barred from holding escrow accounts.

• Has consistently run annual surpluses, thereby costing the state and taxpayers nothing to operate. In fact, The Act generated $326,945 in excess revenue in the 2009-2010 period. In addition, explain to them that The Florida Yacht & Ship Brokers Act supports an industry that last year represented 20 percent of all yachts sold around the world, resulting in more than 202,000 jobs, $16.8 billion in total marine product sales and millions of dollars in tax revenue for the state.

Deregulating Florida’s yacht brokers, as outlined in CS/HB 5005, would leave consumers wary about doing business in a state where their boat purchases, finances and general well-being are at risk. For your convenience, we have provided below a complete list of e-mail addresses for each of the Appropriations Committee’s 24 members. For more information about each member, please click the link below: http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/Sections/Committees/committeesdetail.aspx?SessionId=66&CommitteeId=2584

As we saw last year with our successful effort to pass the Florida Boat Sales Tax Cap, your calls and letters do make a difference. Once again, we’re calling on brokers across the state to act now by contacting Committee members with an urgent plea.

We have the Committee’s ear and, thanks to our lobbying efforts, our concerns are being heard. But, we still have a long way to go! FYBA thanks you in advance for your efforts to protect the professional standards of Florida’s yacht brokerage industry. E-mail addresses for each of the 24 members of Appropriations Committee are listed below. Please send your e-mail to one member of your choice.

We also urge you to bcc as many additional members as you like: E-mail Addresses: Denise.Grimsley@myfloridahouse.gov Paige.Kreegel@myfloridahouse.gov Charles.Chestnut@myfloridahouse.gov Leonard.Bembry@myfloridahouse.gov Marti.Coley@myfloridahouse.gov Joseph.Gibbons@myfloridahouse.gov Richard.Glorioso@myfloridahouse.gov Ed.Hooper@myfloridahouse.gov Mike.Horner@myfloridahouse.gov Matt.Hudson@myfloridahouse.gov Dorthy.Hukill@myfloridahouse.gov Mia.Jones@myfloridahouse.gov Martin.Kiar@myfloridahouse.gov John.Legg@myfloridahouse.gov Carlos.Lopez-Cantera@myfloridahouse.gov Seth.McKell@myfloridahouse.gov Marlene.OToole@myfloridahouse.gov William.Proctor@myfloridahouse.gov Darryl.Rouson@myfloridahouse.gov Franklin.Sands@myfloridahouse.gov Ron.Saunders@myfloridahouse.gov Robert.Schenck@myfloridahouse.gov William.Synder@myfloridahouse.gov Trudi.Williams@myfloridahouse.gov