AANR
-
FLORIDA
REGION
GOVERNMENT
AFFAIRS REPORT
SECOND QUARTER - 2007
During
the second quarter of 2007, a number of things happened at FANR.
As of the June General Membership Meeting held at Paradise Lakes,
the name FANR no longer exists, with the formal name of the Florida
organization now being AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR NUDE RECREATION - FLORIDA
REGION or AANR- FLORIDA REGION.
One
of the more important duties of both AANR and AANR-FLORIDA REGION, are
their yearly trips to
Tallahassee
, and
Washington
,
D.C.
to spend time with the Senators and Representatives, as well as their key
staff people. During these visits, face to face, personal meetings between
the elected officials and representatives take place, and the elected and
staff people get to see a real live nudist.
I have had the privilege of being on two of the
Washington
trips and one of the
Tallahassee
trips. I am always impressed
with the acceptance of nudism by the elected and staff officials, and this
year left with the impression that nudism seems to be becoming more and
more accepted as a “mainstream” activity.
During
the past year both AANR and AANR-FLORIDA REGION have joined a number of
state and federal organizations dealing with outdoor recreation.
I feel that our membership in the American Outdoor Recreation
Association and other organizations gives us an opportunity to actually
become the “credible voice of nudism” for our members allowing face to
face meetings with the other Recreation members.
On
the legislative front for
Florida
, we had a very good year. Some
bills were introduced, and with the able help of our AANR-FLORIDA REGION
lobbyist, Bob Levy, none of the contemplated legislation became a
fact.
There
were a lot of people talking and writing to their legislators about a
number of bills that could negatively effect nudism as we now know it, but
none of these bills made it past the committee level.
Many thanks go to Bob Levy and the concerned people that contacted
their legislators.
As
a side note, the Florida Legislators spent much of their time in both the
regular session and special sessions on both Property Insurance Rates, as
well as property tax reduction. There
will be a special election on a constitutionally adopted Amendment as it
deals with the Save our Homes tax exemptions and property tax assessments.
Get familiar with the issues, and make sure you not only cast a
vote, but cast a knowledgeable vote.
The
Florida Legislators are not in session right now, but I feel sure they are
thinking of a number of issues that we will have to address during the
next session. The Government
Affairs Teams from both AANR and AANR – FLORIDA REGION will endeavor to
keep you advised and will be requesting that you contact your elected
representatives. Remember,
democracy takes an effort on all our parts to be successful.
On
a sadder note, the AANR-FLORIDA REGION board accepted the resignation of
Debra Kay Hedding as our Government Affairs Team leader.
Debra Kay was having both some personal and family health problems
that would not allow her the time to be active in the Government Affairs
Area. Job well done Debra
Kay…thank you.
Hugh
Williams
AANR –
Florida
Region Government Affairs Team
Regional Chair -
Florida
