Rep. Jared Moskowitz, D-Coral Springs
Date of Birth: Dec. 18, 1980
Birthplace: Coral Springs
Residence: Coral Springs
Education:Shepard Broad Law Center, Juris Doctor
Occupation: Attorney
Previous Public Office:City Commission of Parkland, 2006-2012 (Vice Mayor, 2006-2008, 2010-2012)
Family: Wife
Did you know?Climbed Mount Kilimanjaro inSept. 2007, shortly after taking the Florida Bar examination; took him five days to scale the mountain, and two more to make it back down.
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He may be a freshman state legislator, but 2013 marks Jared Moskowitz's seventh year in public office, the crowning achievement (so far) of a young adulthood devoted to political activism.
Having previously served as an intern for then-Vice President Al Gore, and then as an assistant for Sen. Joe Liebermans presidential campaign, Moskowitz was elected to the City Commission of Parkland in 2006, at the ripe young age of 25 and while he was still just a second-year law student. He's served two terms as the city's vice mayor.
"Growing up in a family that was very involved in the fundraising aspect of electoral politics, public service is something that's always interested me, the northwest Broward County Democrat tells Sunshine State News. When the opportunity came, I knew I wanted to be involved, to be able to have a voice helping make decisions and shape policies at the local and higher levels.
Asked how effective he thinks he can be in a Republican-heavy Legislature, he touts his appreciation of the procedural dynamics and the need to compromise.
Let's be honest: Members of the minority party don't have a good record of passing bills, or even having them heard in committee, he admits. That's why you have no choice but to find ways to work across the aisle if you want to be effective and pass legislation.
He may be on the right track. HB 851 ("Animal Cruelty), which Moskowitz calls his signature legislation this year, already enjoys the prominent co-sponsorship of Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fort Walton Beach, who chairs the House Criminal Justice Subcommittee. The measure stiffens the penalties for those who engage in animal cruelty.
This will send the message that Florida is going to throw the book at people who abuse animals, Moskowitz says. The measure's Senate companion is being sponsored by Republicans Jeff Brandes of St. Petersburg and Andy Gardiner of Orlando.
HB 497, the Small Business Fairness Act, is one of a few bills introduced by Republican and Democratic legislators this session to tackle the issue of Internet sales taxation. Most Floridians don't realize the state charges such taxes, because the Florida statutes currently don't require out-of-state online businesses to collect them; Floridians who purchase goods from these retailers are supposed to calculate the 6 percent sales tax themselves and mail the amount to the Florida Department of Revenue.
The law is almost universally ignored, and unenforced.
This is money that the state used to collect, before the Internet [came into being], Moskowitz explains. It's money that we should be collecting, and without collecting it, we are putting our Florida-based businesses -- which generate jobs and which pay taxes -- at a significant disadvantage.
A third bill he will soon file is also likely to garner bipartisan support if taken up by the appropriate committees. He tells SSN it's a measure that would revise all state and local government statutes, rules, and codes to delete the words retarded and retardation, and replace them with more sensitive alternatives (like mentally handicapped).
It's unfortunate that at this moment of time, for example, when senators and representatives are given presentations from state agencies talking about programs that help the mentally handicapped, we're calling them 'retarded' in our literature, he says. Florida is behind on this.
Moskowitz is optimistic he will have at least some success bridging the House's long-standing partisan divide and get at least some of his legislation passed through; indeed, he insists he owes it to his constituents to do just that.
We [Democrats] can go there, we can pound the tables, we can yell and scream, and there's a purpose in that, but at the end of the day people didn't send us there just to say 'no,' he explains. They sent us there to figure out how to make progress for the state of Florida. And that's exactly what I'm trying to do.
Reach Eric Giunta at egiunta@sunshinestatenews.com or at (954) 235-9116.
