Legislative News to You

Legislative Committee Chairman - Casandra Brown

Florida Supreme Court Removes Tax Swap Proposal From Ballot
The Florida Supreme Court has ruled that a proposed "tax swap" constitutional amendment must be removed from the November ballot because of misleading language. Amendment 5 would have cut the property tax by an average of 25 percent—an estimated $9 billion in 2011—and would have directed the legislature to seek new ways to offset the revenue. The amendment suggested the possibility of raising the sales tax and eliminating existing sales tax exemptions, including advertising. Polling data indicated that the amendment was far from reaching the 60 percent approval rate it would have needed to pass. AAF Fourth District lobbyist Jack Hebert and the Florida advertising federations played an instrumental role in educating the public and lawmakers as to the potential harmful economic consequences had the amendment been approved.

CPSC Bill Signed Into Law
On August 31, President Bush signed the Consumer Products Safety Commission Reform Act into law. H.R. 4040 was ultimately approved without the requirement that onerous cautionary statements be included in many advertisements for children's products. The enacted law requires a cautionary statement in advertisements only when the ad provides a direct means to purchase the toy—such as Internet or catalog advertising. Opponents argued that the proposed commercial speech requirements would likely violate the First Amendment guarantees of commercial free speech and that warning language on packaging is appropriate and sufficient.

Senate Aging Committee Holds Medical Device DTC Advertising Hearing
At a Senate Special Committee on Aging hearing on direct-to-consumer advertising of medical devices, Sen. Herb Kohl, D-Wis., who chairs the committee, suggested the need for an advertising moratorium on new medical devices. The hearing was heavily stacked with surgeons and opponents of advertising. The panelists appeared primarily concerned that surgeons will be pressured by patients who have seen ads to perform unnecessary procedures to install stents and other devices. The only other senator to attend the hearing, Ken Salazar, D-Colo., asked witnesses whether the advertising should be banned. The First Amendment implications of such a proposal were only briefly mentioned in passing. Witnesses from the FDA and the medical device manufacturers association discussed the "underutilization" of many devices but did not discuss the role of advertising in educating patients and encouraging them to talk with their physicians. According to Chairman Kohl, no legislation has been introduced or is under consideration. The AAF will work to educate members of the committee about the impact advertising can have and the First Amendment implications of restricting advertising.

Identity Theft Bill Heads to President
The House and Senate have approved provisions of the Identity Theft Enforcement and Restitution Act as part of H.R. 5938. As passed, the bill will provide law enforcement agencies with new resources for investigating and prosecuting online crime, including cyber extortion, use of malicious spyware, key logging and identity theft. Moreover, the bill allows identity theft victims to seek restitution. Rather than target new technologies, the legislation appropriately provides improved law enforcement tools for targeting criminals and fighting crime. The bill now heads to the White House for the president's signature.