With the effort to introduce mega-casinos to South Florida dead in the Florida Legislature, the state lawmakers' focus shifted to the state's budget and reapportionment and, it seems, a no-harm-no-foul session for Immokalee. 

The defeat of the mega-casinos for Miami is good news for the Immokalee Seminole Casino - and other Seminole casinos - and a handful of bills that might have affected the Immokalee Community Redevelopment District and the Immokalee Enterprise Zone appear dead. 

And it now appears the reapportionment process will return U.S. Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, R-Miami, to Immokalee as its lawmaker in Washington. (More on that in a later post.)

The Immokalee CRA made its annual visit with Florida Legislators February 7-8 and the state's lawmakers understand and appreciate the dramatic efforts the community in making to fulfill its destiny as "Florida in the 21st Century." 

While four minor bills were filed in the 2012 session that might have limited the effectiveness of the state's Enterpise Zones, including Immokalee's, none of those bills have moved at all through the legislative process and appear at this point to be dead issues. They were, as a matter of record, mainly intended for enterprise zones in major urban areas but might have been a problem for the Immokalee zone. 

House Bill 547, filed by Rep. Erik Fresen, R-Miami, was intended to drastically curtail activities of two community redevelopment agencies in Dade County. Fresen assure the Immokalee delegation his bill would have no affect on the Immokalee CRA but the issue - though minor - became moot Feb. 7th when the bill failed to pass muster and died in the House's Finance & Tax Committee. 

One House bill that is making big news is a bill sponsored by State Rep. Matt Hudson, Immokalee's lawmaker in Tallahassee. That bill, HB 1263, is making its way through the committee process and appears headed for the House floor. That bill, if adopted by the Legislature and signed by Gov. Rick Scott would essentially shift all public health responsibilities from the Florida Department of Health to each of the 67 counties. Gov. Scott has indicated he is not necessarily supportive of the legislation. 

The Immokalee CRA will continue to monitor events and legislation through the remainder of the 2012 Legislative Session, which is scheduled to end in March.