Awake the State plans rallies for first day of legislative session

Awake the State will hold protests targeting Gov. Rick Scott and the GOP-led Legislature all over the state on the first day of Florida’s legislative session, Jan. 10.

According to the group’s announcement, it is “rallying in cities and towns throughout Florida on the opening day of the 2012 legislative session.”

“If you’ve had enough of Gov. Scott and the Legislature’s extreme attacks on our middle class, our public schools, health care, our land and water, voting rights, and our civil rights, it’s time to Awake The State,” the groups writes.

So far, the group has announced rallies in Miami, Tallahassee, Sarasota, Pinellas, Broward County, Tampa, Okaloosa, The Villages, Marion and Lakeland. Awake the State has also planned to hold a rally together with Occupy Palm Beach County.

Awake the State held a summit this past October to prepare for the upcoming legislative session, and put together “LegiCamp 2012, a program designed for participants to better understand issues and to organize projects around them,” according to the event website. The summit agenda included a “presentation on the legislative process and budget process.”

Progress Florida’s Mark Ferrulo explained that the focus of Awake the State will shift to the legislative session and campaigns people can put together to address “the onslaught of attacks” that have “undermined” the state’s middle class. He also said Scott’s economic plans would be a big focus the upcoming year.

Another group has also planned to rally and march in protest the first day of session. Local Occupy Wall Street-inspired groups came together in Orlando this month to to develop a list of priorities and possible bills to be delivered to House Speaker Dean Cannon, R-Winter Park, on the first day of the session. The event, called the People’s Convention of Florida, was the country’s first statewide conference of the Occupy movement.