TALLAHASSEE - A "special" session of the Legislature can be a perilous time. Officially, our lawmakers are supposed to focus on the subject at hand. But behind the scenes, you never know what might pop up.
This week our Legislature has been in a special session about the highly public battle between doctors and lawyers. But offstage, an unrelated little drama played out.
It concerned Florida's car dealers.
Car dealers!
You might be surprised to learn that car dealerships are tightly controlled in Florida. There is not a free market. The state decides when a new dealer is to be allowed. Existing dealers can block new ones.
Why? The car dealers say that without such a law, manufacturers would have tyrannical control over dealers. A dealer who didn't play ball might find a new rival opening across the street.
Dealers also argue that if you could buy a Ford on every street corner, then all Fords would become more expensive. Every new dealer would have millions in new overhead that would be passed on to customers.
There is another side, of course. Carmakers and distributors say the market changes over time. They have studies that say that loosening things up a little helps customers.
In terms of politics and money, this is Goliath versus Goliath.
The name of just one dealer, AutoNation - sort of the Wal-Mart of car sellers - is on at least $134,500 in campaign contributions to Florida's lawmakers and political parties in recent years.
But heck, that's nothin'. On the other side, the names of just one distributor and its associated businesses, JM Family Enterprises/Southeast Toyota of Deerfield Beach, are on $748,000 in contributions.
The result over the years has been a carefully constructed stalemate. Even the smallest change in the law has required an army of negotiators and high-powered backroom deals.
This brings us to General Motors.
It is fair to say GM is not entirely happy with Florida. Nationwide, GM has 27 percent of the retail market. But in Florida, it has only 21 percent. In South Florida, that figure dips to 15 percent.
Is there something weird about Floridians, that we don't like GM cars as much? Or does Florida's law simply make it harder to respond to a changing market?
This past spring, GM got the idea of adding new models to some existing dealers - for example, Chevrolets in addition to Pontiacs. But that counts as a new dealership.
GM's efforts set off a shock wave among South Florida's dealers. They rallied and rang alarm bells in Tallahassee.
The result was House Bill 53, filed for this week's special session. The bill's sponsor was state Rep. Allan Bense, R-Panama City. Bense is no weak sister - he is going to succeed Johnnie Byrd as speaker of the House. The idea was to have the House pass the bill "outside the call" of the special session. That means passing a bill about an unrelated subject, which requires a two-thirds vote. Bense had the muscle to get enough votes.
House Bill 53 would push the law even further in the direction of existing dealers. The state would be required to consider a full, long list of hurdles to new dealers. Would there be "adverse impact" to existing dealers? Does the car model in question already have "adequate representation" in the market?
The carmakers and distributors were caught off guard. It is one thing to have 60 days of a regular annual session to defeat a bill. But in a five-day special session, anything can happen. The lobbyists included some of the most important in Tallahassee, such as Ken Plante, representing Southeast Toyota, and Wade Hopping, representing the national Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers.
Their efforts worked. Everybody stood down. Bense agreed not to push his bill. The carmakers said they hadn't done a great job of communicating with dealers. The dealers agreed to listen some more. A new round of peace talks starts Monday.
What a lot of action for no official "news" as a result! Now, multiply this one tug on the Legislature's sleeve by about 5,000 lobbyists, hundreds of interest groups and millions of dollars in campaign money, and you start to get a feel for what goes on up here. Sheesh.
