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"We have a good strong industry, I mean, you know, we're close to $200-million a year to the state of Florida, a couple million homes,” Bessette said."
The jaded part of me wonders whether this is actually a shakedown by Florida of a bunch of admittedly (see above) lucrative businesses, and that some in the legislature are trying to see whether they can shake the trees and have dollar bills instead of iguanas fall out. Typically lobbying activities involve large amounts of cash.
As a comparison, rats and rodents in general do a lot of harm in agricultural states, but some people keep them as pets. But unlike the reptile pet industry in Florida, the rat pet industry is small and not very affluent and no one seems to be trying to stop people from keeping rats as pets. A rat industry shakedown might net pennies, but a reptile business shakedown could translate into very large bribes as the businesses deal with the legislators.
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