SEPTEMBER 2021 LEGISLATIVE UPDATE

AUDIOVISUAL REMOTE OATH IS HERE TO STAY!  HB 121 PASSES AND BECOMES LAW JANUARY 1, 2022!
THIS IS WHAT YOUR MEMBERSHIP IN FCRA HAS DONE FOR FLORIDA REPORTERS!

Dear FCRA Members: 

On behalf of two Boards of Directors, 2020-2021 and 2021-2022, I wanted to bring you up to date on all the GOOD – no, GREAT - news your Government Relations Committee, via our lobbying team of Corinne Mixon and Diana Ferguson of Rutledge Ecenia, have worked so hard to bring you.  I will try to summarize a year and a half of many volunteer hours and dedication below. 

2020 kicked off with a rough start that didn’t get much better as the year progressed, but your team immediately went to work contacting the Governor’s office, and alongside other groups, made contact at the Supreme Court level to craft emergency order language for remote administration of oaths via audiovisual means to keep Florida reporters working and the wheels of justice turning during the pandemic.   Florida, via FCRA’s intervention, was one of the first to get remote oath in place.

As 2020 rolled along and we became adjusted to remote interfacing, the conflict between OJCC Florida Admin Code R.60Q-6.114 and Florida Statute 117, Notaries Public, once again raised its head, perhaps amplified by the frustrations of the pandemic and a pervasive misunderstanding of the authority by which a reporter may administer the oath, and, again, the Government Relations Committee, via its chair, Tracy Finan, and co-chair, Christy Bradshaw, and lobbying team had telephonic and Zoom meetings with Larry Sellers of the Florida Bar COVID-19 Pandemic Task Force; Phil Augustine, Chair of the Florida Bar Work Comp Section; and OJCC Chief Judge David Langham to clarify the dilemma reporters faced with attorneys requesting telephonic oaths.  The result was an understanding and agreement with our position, and it was followed with a very favorable and educational blog by Judge Langham to the Bar, which was posted on their website and published in an article.  Links to these can be found on FCRA’s homepage.  Our sincere thanks to Judge Langham, Mr. Sellers, and Mr. Augustine for their genuine attention to our concerns. 

As we continued through the saga that was 2020, your team continued to address developing issues, dialoguing, and giving input to the Tech Committee of the Florida Bar chaired by Jay Kim regarding Florida Bar Best Practices for Remote Proceedings.  Much of our input was considered and adopted.   Diana Ferguson, as our bar liaison, has opened many doors of communication for FCRA. 

But perhaps our best news and biggest success was pursuing legislation to finally make audiovisual oath administration legal.  REMOTE OATH VIA AUDIOVISUAL MEANS WILL BECOME LAW JANUARY 1, 2022!

This was as a direct result of your lobbyists, Corinne Mixon and Diana Ferguson, finding lawmakers willing to accept FCRA’s suggested amendment, which mirrored the Supreme Court Administrative Order’s language regarding remote oaths.  Corinne is always energetically thinking outside the box and looking for ways to meet FCRA’s goals, and she scored big time for us here.    Our deepest gratitude and thanks to Senator Jennifer Bradley and Representative Sam Garrison for solving a more than 30-year dilemma!  To give it some perspective, 3,140 bills were submitted and only 275 passed this legislative session.  FCRA showed its appreciation with Legislator of the Year Awards to both the Senator and Representative along with a PAC donation at our annual convention this past June.  

We are currently strategizing a proactive plan to educate and encourage acceptance of certification equivalents to the RPR, such as the CVR which NVRA offers for voice writers and FCRA’s own FPR-C skills designation, to judicial circuits and the Bar to keep more verbatim reporters in seats as opposed to other methods.   Certification is extremely valuable to ensuring confidence in the quality of the record and the survival of our profession, but the reality is there needs to be more avenues to attain comparable certifications and education as to what exactly the designations mean.  For instance, a CRR was turned away from a trial in the past because the court required an RPR.   Communication is the key to meeting the good intentions of the circuit judges while keeping verbatim reporters in those seats.  

There was much more work that was accomplished over the past year and a half, such as the Governor’s Proclamation of Court Reporting and Captioning Week 2021, frequent monitoring of Supreme Court Administrative Orders and Bar proposed rules which affect reporters and contemplating more potential legislative advocacy – and assisting our FPR/Ethics Committee answer member questions relating to remote oaths (they were very busy!) 

For FCRA to continue to advocate for Florida reporters requires membership and funding.  Thank you to those who are members, and if you are not, please consider joining.   Please help us help you.  There is no other organization who is fighting for verbatim reporters in our home state like the Florida Court Reporters Association.  You can donate to the PAC via https://www.fcraonline.org/pac. There is also a video from your Government Relations Chair and lobbying team under the FCRA website’s “Resources” tab and then “PAC” within the dropdown menu. 

I offer you my humblest gratitude for allowing me to serve the reporters of our state, and I thank you for your contributions, and your collective suggestions, guidance, and wisdom.

Tracy Finan, RPR, FPR-C, CCR (GA)
2021-2022 President
GRC Chair 2020-present, Co-Chair 2019-2020