The Florida Legislature: Where shopping is a pleasure

Grocery giant Publix has become the biggest corporate contributor in Florida politics. Plus: Top stories, notable quotes, and bills on the move from week four of the Florida Legislature's 2024 session

Photo credit: Josh Hallett

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Publix Super Markets is now the largest corporate donor in Florida politics, according to a review of state campaign-finance data.

Records show the Lakeland-based grocery giant has showered roughly $2.4 million on state-level politicians, political committees and political parties since the end of last year’s legislative session, which concluded in May. That’s about $400,000 more than U.S. Sugar Corp., the No. 2 corporate donor over the same span.

Publix made nearly $3.2 million in Florida campaign contributions for all of 2023. That also led all corporate donors — if you exclude marijuana producer Trulieve, which is financing a proposed constitutional amendment to legalize recreational marijuana.  

What makes Publix stand out even more is the size of the gifts it has given directly to individual lawmakers.

For instance, in the months leading up to the start of the 2024 legislative session, records show Publix gave $200,000 to a political committee controlled by incoming House Speaker Danny Perez (R-Miami) and $100,000 to a committee run by incoming Senate President Ben Albritton (R-Wauchula). The company also gave $100,000 to a committee controlled by Sen. Jim Boyd (R-Bradenton) and $50,000 to a committee run by Rep. Sam Garrison (R-Fleming Island), who are expected to become the Legislature’s presiding officers after the 2026 elections.

The company’s campaign spending has also surged in recent years: The $3.2 million it spent in 2023 was a company record — and more than double the amount it spent just two years earlier.

Publix, which is one of the largest employers in Florida, said it wants to be involved with state policymaking decisions.

“The issues addressed by our elected officials…are simply too important for us to remain on the sidelines,” said Maria Brous, a spokesperson for the company.

And what are the issues that the company cares about? Brous declined to specify.  

But lobbying records in the state House show that Publix is involved with a host of issues — including labor and employment; the state lottery; retail crime; and local government regulation.

And while it’s not clear what specifically the company wants, Florida’s Republican-controlled Legislature is advancing bills in all of those areas that would seem to align with Publix’s interests. Among them: House Bill 433, which would make it harder for workers to secure better benefits from their employers; House Bill 5003, which would force the Florida Lottery to pay higher commissions to retailers that sell its tickets; House Bill 549, which would incarcerate more shoplifters for longer periods of time; and House Bill 1641, which would stop cities and counties from regulating plastic shopping bags and other single-use plastic containers.

The next 10

Here are the next 10* largest corporate donors in Florida politics since the conclusion of last year’s legislative session, which ended May 5. It’s a window into who really drives the Big Business lobbying agenda in Tallahassee:

• U.S. Sugar ($2 million)

• TECO ($1.7 million)

• Duke Energy ($1.7 million)

• Florida Power & Light ($1.6 million)

• HCA Healthcare ($1.4 million)

• Charter Communications ($1.2 million)

• Comcast/Universal Studios ($1.1 million)

• Florida Crystals ($1.1 million)

• Seminole Tribe/Seminole Gaming ($1.1 million)

• Florida Blue ($950,000)

*The fine print:

First, this analysis excludes donations by lobbying front groups like Associated Industries of Florida and the Florida Chamber of Commerce, which represent big businesses, and the Florida Justice Association, which represents plaintiff’s attorneys. All three would be on the list otherwise.

Second, it also ignores contributions in support of specific constitutional amendment campaigns, which is why you don’t see Trulieve, which is financing the marijuana amendment, or Planned Parenthood, a major funder of a proposed amendment to protect abortion access.

Third, it obviously doesn’t include donations to dark-money nonprofits that engage in political activities. Dark-money donations can dwarf public campaign contributions at some companies.

And finally, these numbers reflect donations through the end of 2023, the most recent period for which comprehensive filings are available. The totals don’t include any additional donations made during the first eight days of January, before this year’s session began.

Quotes from the Capitol

“This is not a tax. It is slavery.”

— Rep. Ryan Chamberlin (R-Belleview), while presenting a bill to study whether to eliminate property taxes and raise sales taxes even higher instead.

Editor’s note: In Florida, someone who refuses to pay their property taxes — and continues refusing to pay for the next two years, while ignoring repeated warnings and notifications, including a notice served by the local sheriff’s office — can have their property publicly auctioned off. This is not equivalent to the kidnapping, enslavement, and global human trafficking of millions of people.

“I had a meeting with some of the reinsurers last fall from all over the country and the world, and I naively said — they were very excited about our bills that we passed — and I said, ‘Oh that’s great. Are the rates going to come down?’ And one of them looked at me and said, ‘You know you live on a peninsula? And you know you’re going to have hurricanes and other weather events?’ And I heard him loud and clear.”

— Senate President Kathleen Passidomo (R-Naples), after a reporter asked her what the Florida Senate is doing this session to bring down property insurance rates for Floridians.  

“Sixteen- and 17-year-olds are very connected to each other. If they’re working some place and they’re not happy, they’ll ghost us at lunch time.”

— Rep. Linda Chaney (R-St. Pete Beach), while presenting a bill that would weaken the state’s child-labor laws.

Billtrack

In honor of the flagship show on Florida’s favorite television network, here’s a look at some of the bills on the move over the past week.

• House Bill 49: This bill would allow employers to use 16- and 17-year-old high school students for more than eight hours a day on a school night and more than 30 hours a week during a school week. Passed the House of Representatives by an 80-35 vote. (Vote sheet)

• House Bill 87: This bill would allow people to shoot black bears if they feel threatened. Passed the House Infrastructure Strategies Committee by a 16-9 vote. (Vote sheet)

• Senate Bill 280: This bill would establish statewide regulations for vacation rentals and homes rented through platforms like Airbnb, while making it harder for local communities to set more stringent regulations. Passed the Florida Senate by a 27-13 vote. (Vote sheet)

• House Bill 395: This bill would prevent local communities from removing publicly owned statues that honor people who fought to preserve slavery during the U.S. Civil War. Passed the House State Affairs Committee by a 14-6 vote. (Vote sheet)

• House Bill 471: This bill would give a nearly $200 million a year tax break to timeshare companies and timeshare owners. Passed the House Ways & Means Committee by an 18-4 vote. (Vote sheet)

• House Bill 609: This bill would make it impossible for local governments to raise local businesses taxes. Passed the House Ways & Means Committee by a 16-7 vote. (Vote sheet)

• House Bill 705: This bill would erase local “responsible wage” ordinances that require construction contractors building public construction projects to pay higher wages to their workers. Passed the House State Affairs Committee by a 14-6 vote. (Vote sheet)

• House Bill 1195: This bill would make it harder for local governments to raise local property taxes. Passed the House Local Administration, Federal Affairs & Special Districts Subcommittee by a 10-4 vote. (Vote sheet)

• House Bill 1223: This bill would lower the legal age to buy a gun from 21 to 18. Passed the House Criminal Justice Subcommittee by an 11-5 vote. (Vote sheet)

• House Bill 1227: This bill would restrict the ability of publicly owned electric companies to provide funding for public services like police and parks. Passed the House Local Administration, Federal Affairs & Special Districts Subcommittee by an 11-4 vote. (Vote sheet)

• House Bill 1291: This bill would expand the “Stop WOKE Act” (2022) and Senate Bill 266 (2023) and censor what professors and instructors could say about racism or sexism in educator-training programs. Passed the House Postsecondary Education and Workforce Subcommittee by a 12-6 vote. (Vote sheet)

• House Bill 1371: This bill would order a study to evaluate the impact of eliminating all property taxes in Florida in favor of a higher sales tax. Passed the House Ways & means Committee by a 15-6 vote. (Vote sheet)

• House Bill 1503: This bill would force some rental properties to pay higher property insurance rates. Passed the House Insurance & Banking Subcommittee by a 17-0 vote. (Vote sheet)

• Senate Bill 1530: This bill would forbid cities and counties from allowing homeless people to sleep on public property. Passed the Senate Community Affairs Committee by a 4-3 vote. (Vote sheet)

• Senate Bill 1596: This bill would allow businesses to work high school students for slightly longer hours when school is in session and significantly longer hours on weekends, over holidays, and during the summer. Passed the Senate Commerce and Tourism Committee by a 4-1 vote. (Vote sheet)

• House Bill 1639: This bill would require health insurers to charge higher prices for policies that cover gender-affirming care for transgender people and would require all Florida driver licenses to list a person’s sex assigned at birth, rather than their gender. Passed the House Insurance & Banking Subcommittee by a 12-6 vote. (Vote sheet)

• Senate Bill 1690: This bill would forbid 18-, 19- and 20-year-olds from working in adult entertainment clubs. Passed the Senate Criminal Justice Subcommittee by a 6-2 vote. (Vote sheet)

• Senate Bill 1760: This bill would force some owners of second homes to pay higher property insurance rates. Passed the Senate Banking and Insurance Committee by a 9-0 vote. (Vote sheet)

Reading list

• Florida Times-Union: Nate Monroe: State legislation would turn local ethics watchdogs into 'lap dogs'

• Miami Herald: Government watchdogs warn Florida legislation would have chilling effect in ethics cases

• Orlando Sentinel: Florida lawmakers propose guardianship reforms but bills languish

• Miami Herald: Casino showdown in Tallahassee averted after Miami billionaires come out in opposition

• WLRN: 'We are children': Push to weaken Florida's child labor laws draws ire from opponents

• WUSF: Local governments in Florida would have a harder time regulating plastic under proposed legislation

• Politico Pro: Duke Energy FL says it's requesting three-year $818M rate hike

• Tampa Bay Times: Tampa Electric will seek rate increases starting in 2025

• Tampa Bay Times: Florida’s CFO divested the state from BlackRock, but not his own accounts

• Tampa Bay Times: Florida group seeks to put Medicaid expansion on the 2026 ballot

• Orlando Sentinel: Migrant relocation flyers came from DeSantis administration contractor, records show

• Florida Times-Union: Nate Monroe: Zahn told confidant 'the mayor' supported $40 million payout in JEA sale

• Public Enemy Number 1: Florida is committing demographic and economic suicide by trading our youngs for other states' olds