House members are going after bands of rogue pizza pitchmen that they say are targeting tourists in Central Florida by posing as pizza purveyors to gain entree into hotels.

The criminals hand out flyers with phony phone numbers and rape or steal from the unsuspecting tourists once they arrive at their hotel rooms to make their “deliveries,” Central Florida Hotel and Lodging Association President Richard Maladecki told the House Domestic Security and Public Safety Committee this morning.

The proposal (PCB PSDS 10-03) would enhance penalties already on the books restricting people from putting flyers on cars in hotel or motel parking lots.

It would give law enforcement the ability to seize the cars, weapons or computers of repeat offenders who distribute the “handbills” without written permission of the owner.

And it would allow law enforcement officers to arrest potential offenders without probable cause.

The unions are up in arms over the measure because they fear it’s a way for hoteliers to keep workers from unionizing.

“There’s something else going on here other than pizza flyers. That has us very concerned,” Florida AFL-CIO spokesman Rich Templin told the committee.

And an Orlando pizzeria owner told the committee the proposal is a way for the large pizza chains to shut out small business owners like himself.

“I think that what this boils down to is that you want people to have permission to come into your facility.
At the end of the day these are private properties,” said Rep. Julio Robaina, R-Miami. “Would you not agree that it would be a good idea that before you walk into any private property you would have some consent before you pass out flyers?”

The measure would enhance penalties for a new law approved by lawmakers now requiring that people handing out flyers on private property get permission from the owners.

The committee approved the bill, which has several more stops before getting to the House floor.

Free speech advocates are up in arms about a House bill that would harshly penalize individuals handing out flyers on property owned by hoteliers.

The bill (PCB PSDS 10-03) would allow the seizure of cars, computers or items in cars if a person has been caught more than three times handing out fliers, such as those organizing unions.

The bill would also permit those handing out the fliers to be arrested without probable cause unless they have the written permission of the company that owns the property.

The proposal is slated to be heard in the House Public Safety and Domestic Security Policy Committee tomorrow morning at 8 a.m.

Wexler

U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler, D-Boca Raton, plans to attend the Aug. 20 event at 1 p.m. at the South County Civic Center west of Delray Beach. The event is sponsored by the Florida Alliance for Retired Americans, which is affiliated with the AFL-CIO and supports the Democratic bill.

Other local members of Congress were invited but it wasn’t immediately clear today whether any others would attend.

Opponents of the legislation plan to show up as well.

“We’ll be there with signs but, more importantly, we’ll be there with questions,” said Everett Wilkinson, the state coordinator for the Tea Party Patriots group.

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Palm Beach-Treasure Coast AFL-CIO President Pat Emmert says that, after interviewing candidates this week, the local union is recommending that the state AFL-CIO back Delray Beach Commissioner Mack Bernard in the special District 84 state House election to replace former Rep. Priscilla Taylor, who was appointed by Gov. Charlie Crist to the Palm Beach County commission.

Bernard

Bernard, Riviera Beach Councilman Cedrick Thomas and former state Rep. James Henry “Hank” Harper Jr. — all Democrats — have opened campaigns for the minority-dominated, overwhelmingly Democratic seat.

The Democratic primary is Aug. 25. A general election, if needed, has been set for Sept. 22, but so far no Republicans have entered the race. The candidate qualifying deadline is noon Tuesday.

From left: U.S. Rep. Ron Klein, D-Boca Raton; state House Majority Leader Adam Hasner, R-Boca Raton

After not initially signing on and setting off a flurry of speculation on the left and right, U.S. Rep. Ron Klein, D-Boca Raton, has decided to be a cosponsor of the labor-backed Employee Free Choice Act. He cosponsored the legislation in the last Congress.

The legislation would allow unions to bypass secret-ballot elections and organize by collecting authorization cards from a majority of employees. Supporters say the measure allows labor to counter intimidation by employers. Foes say it will allow labor organizers to coerce and pressure workers to support unionization.

In Florida, state House Majority Leader — and potential Klein challenger — Adam Hasner, R-Boca Raton, is leading the drive for a state constitutional amendment guaranteeing the right of Floridians to cast secret ballots in all elections, including votes on whether to unionize.

As Congress gears up for a debate over the labor-backed Employee Free Choice Act, unions are touting a a new Gallup poll that finds 53 percent of Americans favor a law “that would make it easier for labor unions to organize workers.”

Beyond that fuzzy concept, however, it appears voters in Florida are uncomfortable with a key aspect of the proposed legislation.

The bill would make it easier for unions to form by allowing them to bypass current requirements that employee votes on whether to unionize be conducted by secret ballot. Instead, a union could form if a majority of workers sign authorization forms.

A new Florida poll commissioned by foes of the congressional bill finds that 86 percent of the state’s voters favor a proposed state constitutional amendment guaranteeing the right to cast a secret ballot in all elections, including employee votes on whether to unionize.

To read the polling memo, click here.

House Majority Leader Adam Hasner, R-Boca Raton, is heading efforts to get the constitutional question on the Florida ballot in 2010. If Congress passes the Employee Free Choice Act and Florida voters approve the secret-ballot amendment, courts would likely decide which measure would take precedence in Florida.

It depends on what the meaning of “received” is.

Find out how the recent one-vote Palm Beach mayor’s race could end up setting statewide precedent. Plus: Is the vaunted Greater Boca Raton Chamber of Commerce losing its mojo? What’s U.S. Rep. Ron Klein’s explanation for not cosponsoring Big Labor’s top congressional priority? Will Art Argenio and Joe Negron — the Frazier and Ali of Treasure Coast Republican politics — beat each other up again?

Read about it here.

On today’s Palm Beach Post letters page, state House Majority Leader Adam Hasner, R-Boca Raton, rips the labor-backed Employee Free Choice Act while local AFL-CIO President Pat Emmert rips Hasner.

Hasner (left) and Klein

In what some Republicans would like to be a preview of a 2010 congressional race, state House Majority Leader Adam Hasner, R-Boca Raton, is calling out U.S. Rep. Ron Klein, D-Boca Raton, over the labor-backed Employee Free Choice Act.

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Liberal bloggers and the Republican Party of Florida are noting that the labor-backed Employee Free Choice Act introduced in Congress today no longer has U.S. Rep. Ron Klein, D-Boca Raton, as a cosponsor.

Klein will “review this year’s bill carefully before it reaches the House floor,” a spokeswoman said.

Klein is highlighted on the liberal “Down With Tyranny” blog as one of 29 House Dems who cosponsored the legislation last year but aren’t cosponsors this year. The state GOP, which calls the bill as an assault on ballot privacy, is pressing Klein to “come clean” on whether he supports or opposes the bill.

Read more, including a statement from Klein’s office, after the jump….

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