MDFAWL celebrates the Florida Legislature’s passage of a bill requiring county courthouses to have dedicated lactation spaces. Our state umbrella organization, the Florida Association for Women Lawyers (“FAWL”), has worked very hard over the years advocating for this measure during its Lobby Days.
The Lobby Days conference kicked off with a CLE presentation by Tara Taggart, Jeff Branch, and Lynn Tripton from Florida League of Cities and Sandi Poreda, President of Bulldog Strategy Group.
Next, the group attended a tour of the Florida Supreme Court and meeting with Chief Justice Carlos G. Muñiz.
Following a CLE luncheon at the Governor’s Club hosted by Tallahassee Women Lawyers (“TWL”), featuring guest speaker Florida First District Court of Appeal Judge Rachel E. Nordby, the group lobbied at the Capitol for FAWL’s Lactation Spaces in Courthouses bill. The House bill’s sponsor, State Representative and Miami attorney Ashley Viola Gantt, secured a unanimous passage of the bill on the House floor days later. The bill also passed the Senate unanimously. It is now headed to the Governor for signature.
We thank Representative Gantt and State Senator Lori Berman for spearheading this effort. MDFAWL Committee Chair Mary Ann Ruiz serves on FAWL’s Executive Board as Legislative Director and was the organizer for this year's Lobby Days. MDFAWL Director Jessica Saiontz serves as FAWL’s Public Relations Director and was also among the group of delegates supporting the lactation space lobbying effort. We are grateful for and proud of their dedication. For more details on this historic moment, read the Florida Bar News Release.
Congratulations to the Florida Association for Women Lawyers for another successful Lobby Days session!