{"id":12193,"date":"2016-06-07T11:54:51","date_gmt":"2016-06-07T18:54:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/somimag.com\/?p=12193"},"modified":"2016-06-07T12:19:45","modified_gmt":"2016-06-07T19:19:45","slug":"legislative-round-up-highlights-healthy-senate-relations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/somimag.com\/legislative-round-up-highlights-healthy-senate-relations\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018LEGISLATIVE ROUND-UP\u2019 HIGHLIGHTS HEALTHY SENATE RELATIONS"},"content":{"rendered":"<\/a>

By BILL KRESS<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

During a joint meeting of ChamberSOUTH and the Coral Gables Chamber of Commerce members, two state lawmakers and a local lobbyist provided an overview of the 2016 Legislative Session, while underscoring a smooth state of affairs in the Senate Chamber.<\/p>\n

State Senators Dwight M. Bullard and Miguel Diaz de la Portilla teamed up with Fausto Gomez of Gomez Barker & Assocs. to talk about state legislative activities and actions impacting Miami-Dade County. They shared their insights during the Chambers\u2019 annual Florida Legislative Round-Up, May 24.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are grateful Sens. Bullard and Diaz de la Portilla so enthusiastically agreed to make this joint presentation for our members,\u201d said Mary Scott Russell, President of ChamberSOUTH.<\/p>\n

Coral Gables Chamber President Mark Trowbridge added, \u201cThe refreshing rapport they exhibited toward one another gave us a great sense of confidence in their leadership and abilities in representing the needs of the local business community.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sen. Bullard opened his remarks by stating that the mutual respect he and Sen. Diaz de la Portilla share is truly reflective of the overall amicable working environment that exists throughout the entire Florida State Senate, particularly this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe 2016 session was nowhere near as tumultuous as the previous year, when we were tackling issues related to Medicaid and Medicaid expansion,\u201d Bullard noted.\u00a0 \u201cInstead, this year we were a little more deliberate in what we wanted to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Diaz de la Portilla agreed it was a very \u201charmonious\u201d session, and added, \u201cThose of us representing Miami-Dade County work very well together \u2013 we all agree on 99 percent of the issues.\u201d<\/p>\nFlorida State Senator Dwight Bullard speaks at Legislative Round-Up.\n

Each Senator then discussed issues of policy they advanced during the 2016 session. Bullard touched on:<\/p>\n