Thursday, March 31, 2011

Meeting Tonight

Tomorrow is the start of a new month! But today is the last Thursday of this month, which means it meetin' time! We will be meeting at our usual spot, the South Mandarin Library, at 7 pm. We don't have a lot planned for tonight, except to get out of the rain and show 'n' tell about some recent cake adventures! Nicholas Lodge, a Chocolate Festival, and a Wedding Cake Competition to name a few!

Plus, we'll have treats to share!

Also, if you have anything to contribute to the Hero Bakers, cards, toys, goody bags, please bring it so Judy can distribute them to the children at Normandy Community Center!

Hope everyone can make it tonight!

Saturday, March 19, 2011

Just had to share my newest email from Barbara Schmal. Check it out!

Barbara said:

The cottage food bill# is HB 5007 if you would like to follow it on the House of Representative website.  It is going through other committees.  Here is the website.
 
Teddy Creamer emailed me how the bill will be moving in the next week or so. See below.  I notice the bill has an effective date of July 1, 2011 if passed.
 
Barbara, the PCB now has a bill number.  It is HB 5007.  This bill will have a couple more committee hearings and then go to the floor.  The House and Senate will then decide if they want to take the bill to conference and then for final vote by both Chambers.  I will keep you posted.

Wow! It looks like if the bill gets passed, we may be able to sell baked goods from home this summer! I'll be keeping you all posted!

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

News From The House

I have more exciting news to bring you from yesterday's House of Representatives meeting!

The Committee and Subcommittee have adopted the amendment!

This is a great first step in a long process, but we are on our way!  Hopefully it will keep being approved and the law will be changed to legalize the sale of baked goods from our houses!
Representative Bovo has added that a food safety training class be taken as well. 

The bill will have to be read again with the amendments added, approved, then it will make it's way to the senate! This is why we need to email our senator(s) and let them know that this is important and necessary! Check out my previous post to find out how to contact your senator. 

Please get involved! I will add more updates when they are available!


Monday, March 14, 2011

Want To Be A Part Of History?

Some more exciting news arrived in my email on Saturday! I received an email from Barbara Schmal, saying this:

"I am pleased to tell you that the Florida House of Representatives have created the Florida Cottage Food Act as a bill.  This bill will be heard on Tuesday and then it goes to the next committee, than the senate and finally the Governor.  I attached the actual bill for you to read.  The actual bill is on page 15 item 415.  I reviewed a copy of this bill last week but was not able to say anything.  Today Teddi Creamer called me to tell me the location of the bill and said it is now public.  You can follow the action being taken on this bill on the house of representatives website.  http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/default.aspx.

Go to Committees than to Business and Consumer Affairs, on the right hand side go to proposed committee bills (PBC) there you will find the bill that I attached.  On this page is where you can watch as the bill progresses. 
 
We all need to email the State Senate to let them know how important it is that they pass this bill, once they pass it than it will go to the governor. 
 
Thank you to everyone that has helped and supported me to get this action going.  I am so happy I emailed the Speaker of the House because he was the one to help us make this happen. 
 
Hang in there everyone, Florida will soon be the next state with The Cottage Food Act."

Once again, we are moving in the right direction! Here is a link to the section of the bill that contains the information for the Cottage Food Act. 

I also received another email from Barbara today, stating that it would great if we all could get involved again and email our senators, the next step to getting the bill passed! If you would like to find your senator, just visit this site to get started. Then enter your address or zip code to pull up the name of your senator and get emailing! The House of Representatives will be reviewing the bill TOMORROW!!!

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Happy Birthday, Mrs. President!

So, I was just browsing the FL ICES website and noticed under the "Birthdays Today" section, there was a picture of our dear President, Jane! 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JANE! 
Hope you are enjoying your day!


Also, this morning I registered for my hands-on classes and demonstrations for the ICES Convention and some of the classes were already sold out! So, if you are planning on signing up, do it soon!