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Governmental Affairs Committee Continues to
Drive Key Hospitality Issues Forward
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Throughout the month of July, our Central Florida Hotel & Lodging Association Governmental Affairs Committee had the opportunity to hear from multiple state officials, including State Senator Keith Truenow, District 13 and State Representative Rita Harris, District 44 on July 2, 2025 at the Courtyard Orlando Lake Buena Vista in the Marriott Village (thank you Dace Stewart).
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Additionally, on Wednesday, July 30, 2025, the Governmental Affairs Committee met with State Representative, District 40, LaVon Bracy Davis and candidate for the State House, District 40, RaShon Young at the Evermore Orlando Resort (thank you Fred Sawyers).
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Both meetings were a valuable opportunity to discuss key policy priorities and strengthen relationships with our elected officials. CFHLA extends our sincere appreciation to Senator Truenow, Representative Bracy Davis, Representative Harris and soon to be Representative RaShon Young for their leadership and continued support of Central Florida’s hospitality and tourism industry.
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Plus, we appreciate each of them for taking the time to answer our questions - ranging from protecting tourism funding (TDT), addressing commercial insurance reform, supporting workforce housing, investing in our local education and supporting workforce development, and creating fair and equitable regulations for vacation rentals.
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We look forward to working closely with each of them in the months ahead and throughout the upcoming 2026 Florida Legislative Session, as we advocate to ensure that Central Florida’s tourism economy continues to thrive.
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Register Today! Tee It Up for Tourism will be held
on September 25th
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On Thursday, September 25th from 4:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m., the CFHLA Political Action Committee (PAC) will be hosting our annual fundraiser at Eagle’s Edge at Omni ChampionsGate.
This important fundraising event, sponsored by American Resort Development Association (ARDA), GrayRobinson, P.A., SeaWorld Orlando, Universal Destinations and Experiences and Walt Disney World, will give you the opportunity for Team Building and Political Networking, all in one fun night! We will have dozens of elected officials from across the region and there will be something for everyone!
By supporting this event, you will help our CFHLA PAC protect the interests of the hospitality and tourism industry by educating and mobilizing our members to become more politically active and supporting pro-tourism and pro-hospitality candidates during the upcoming 2026 elections.
You are not going to want to miss this! Register Today, by CLICKING HERE.
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CFHLA PAC & PC Endorsed Candidates Wins Three Recent Special Elections
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On behalf of the Central Florida Hotel and Lodging Association PAC and PC, we would like to congratulate all three of our endorsed candidates who were recently elected in their special elections.
First, Debbie Mayfield was victorious in her special general election and will serve as the new State Senator for District 19. Next, LaVon Bracy Davis was victorious in her special primary election for the vacant Senate District 15 seat. Lastly, RaShon Young was victorious in his special primary election for the vacant House District 40 seat. We look forward to working with each of these pro-hospitality champions, as we ensure that our region remains the best place to work, play, live and visit.
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Reminder: 2025 City of Orlando Elections this Fall
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On November 4, 2025, the City of Orlando will be holding elections for the City Commission, Districts 1, 3 and 5.
Currently, the CFHLA PAC has endorsed Shan Rose for Orlando City Commissioner, District 5. The CFHLA PAC and PC will be announcing their endorsements for Districts 1 and 3 in early September.
As a reminder, the last day to request a Vote-By-Mail Ballot will be October 23rd and early voting will be held from October 27th - November 2nd.
If no candidate recieves more than 50%+1 vote, a run-off election will be held on December 9, 2025.
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Regional Tourist Development Tax Update
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The Tourist Development Tax (TDT) collections received by Orange County for May 2025 were $29,993,100. That is a 5.7% increase compared to May 2024.
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Osceola County collected $6.6M in TDT for the month of May 2025, up 1% compared to the prior year.
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Seminole County announced that the Tourist Development Tax (TDT) collection for the month of March 2025 was $712,311, which represented a 3.2% increase from March 2024.
For the FY 2024 - 2025, Seminole County has now collected $4,112,766 Million in TDT which is 27.1% ahead of pace from the FY 2023 - 2024.
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Upcoming CFHLA PAC/PC Meeting
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The next CFHLA PAC/PC Board of Directors Meeting will take place next week, Wednesday, September 3, 2025 from 8:15 a.m. - 9:15 a.m. at the CFHLA office.
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Upcoming Governmental Affairs Meeting
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The next CFHLA Governmental Affairs meeting will be held on Tuesday, September, 23 2025, from 12:00 PM - 1:30 PM at the Orlando World Center Marriott.
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CFHLA MEMBERS - Please consider making a small donation of $50 via the link below to the CFHLA PAC/PC. All contributions help CFHLA expand its efforts to support Hospitality-Friendly candidates who are running for local and state offices in the future. Throughout the 2024 Election Cycle, 27 of 31 or 87% of the PAC endorsed candidates were elected into office.
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About CFHLA
6675 Westwood Blvd #210, Orlando, FL 32821
The mission of the Central Florida Hotel and Lodging Association is to represent the Central Florida Hospitality Industry, by setting the standard of excellence through advocacy, collaboration, education, recognition, and service.
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