florida senate committee assignments

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Passidomo releases Florida Senate committee assignments for upcoming session

Florida News

By Michael Costeines

Published Sep. 11, 2023, 4:28 p.m. ET | Updated Sep. 11, 2023

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Florida Senate President Kathleen Passidomo, R-Naples, has announced committee assignments for the upcoming 2024 legislative session.

The scheduled dates for the session are Jan. 9, 2024 to March. 8, 2024.

Passidomo appointed the following chairs to each committee – read the full list for all members and committees here .

• Agriculture: Sen. Jay Collins, R-Tampa
• Appropriations: Doug Broxson, R-Pensacola
• Appropriations on Agriculture, Environment, and General Government : Jason Brodeur, R-Lake Mary
• Appropriations on Criminal Law and Civil Justice: Jennifer Bradley, R-Fleming Island
• Appropriations on Education: Keith Perry, R-Gainesville
• Appropriations on Heath and Human Services: Gayle Harrell, R-Stuart
• Appropriations on Transportation, Tourism, and Economic Development: Ed Hooper, R-Palm Harbor
• Banking and Insurance: Jim Boyd, R-Bradenton
• Children , Families , and Elder Affairs: Ileana Garcia , R-Miami
• Commerce and Tourism: Jay Trumbull, R-Panama City
• Community Affairs: Alexis Calatayud, R-Miami
• Criminal Justice: Jonathan Martin, R-Fort Myers
• Education Postsecondary : Erin Grall, R-Fort Pierce
• Education Pre-K-12 : Corey Simon, R-Tallahassee
• Environment and Natural Resources: Ann Maria Rodriguez, R-Doral
• Ethics and Elections : Danny Burgess, R-Zephyrhills
• Finance and Tax: Blaise Ingoglia, R-Spring Hill
• Fiscal Policy: Travis Hutson, R-Palm Coast
• Governmental Oversight and Accountability: Bryan Avila, R-Hialeah Gardens
• Health Policy: Colleen Burton, R-Lakeland
• Judiciary: Clay Yarborough, R Jacksonville
• Military and Veterans , Space , and Domestic Security: Tom Wright, R-Port Orange
• Regulated Industries: Joe Gruters, R-Sarasota
• Rules : Debbie Mayfield, R-Melbourne
• Select Committee on Resiliency: Ben Albritton, R-Bartow
• Transportation: Nick DiCeglie, R-St. Petersburg
• Joint Administrative Procedures Committee: Blaise Ingoglia, R-Spring Hill*
• Joint Committee on Public Counsel Oversight: Joe Gruters, R-Sarasota*
• Joint Legislative Auditing Committee : Jason Pizzo, D-Hollywood*
• Joint Legislative Budget Commission: Doug Broxson, R-Pensacola*
• Joint Select Committee on Collective Bargaining: Brian Avila, R-Hialeah Gardens*

*Alternating Chair

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Florida senate committee assignments announced.

Simpson announced committee leadership on Wednesday, including for the newly created Select Committee on Pandemic Preparedness and Response.

New Florida Senate President Wilton Simpson , R-Spring Hill, announced committee assignments on Thursday.

Simpson announced the committee assignments in a memo sent out to senators.

“Over the last several weeks, I have enjoyed meeting with each of you to discuss the ways you feel you can best contribute to the Senate,” Simpson wrote. “I have worked to incorporate the interests stated on your subject matter preference forms, as well as your comments from our personal conversations. Many senators have a subject matter expertise gained by either professional excellence or prior legislative service. This experience is a tremendous benefit to the Senate. As you know, I also believe one of the benefits of a citizen legislature is the new approaches and differing points of view offered by individuals who have limited or no prior experience with a particular subject matter. I worked to balance these ideas in finalizing committee assignments. As we head toward the new year, I encourage all senators to utilize our outstanding professional staff in order to ensure you are up to speed in your assigned areas.”

Simpson announced committee leadership on Wednesday , including for the newly created Select Committee on Pandemic Preparedness and Response .

A list of the assignments of every senator can be found here .

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Florida's new Senate president creates a resiliency committee and touts education efforts

Preparing for the 2023 legislative session, Senate President Kathleen Passidomo on Monday announced the creation of a new Select Committee on Resiliency and other committee assignments. The resiliency committee will be chaired by Sen. Ben Albritton, a Wauchula Republican who is also the Senate majority leader.

“The wide-ranging impacts of Hurricanes Ian and Nicole clearly fall under the jurisdiction of a number of standing committees,” Passidomo, R-Naples, said in a press release. “While we will address some of these issues during the upcoming special session, my expectation is the select committee will continue to review recovery efforts and overall resiliency planning for our state.”

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House Speaker Paul Renner, R-Palm Coast, has created his own select committee to focus on the state’s responses to Hurricane Ian and Hurricane Nicole. Lawmakers will travel to Tallahassee next week for a special session on property-tax relief for people affected by Hurricane Ian.

The special session, which is also expected to address property-insurance issues, will take place during the first of seven committee weeks leading up to the March 7 kick-off of the 2023 regular session.

Passidomo’s press release Monday also highlighted the chamber’s upcoming efforts to tackle education issues. Passidomo named Sen. Erin Grall, R-Vero Beach, as chairwoman of a new Senate Education Postsecondary Committee and Sen. Corey Simon, R-Tallahassee, as chairman of the Senate Education Pre-K -12 Committee. Both education committee chairs were elected to the Senate last month.

“From increasing school choice options to setting standards for curriculum, parents are demanding more involvement in elementary and high school education,” Passidomo said in the release. “Meanwhile, higher education institutions are adapting to the demands of a post-pandemic workforce.”

While Republicans have eclipsed Democrats in the Florida Legislature for years, the GOP secured supermajorities in both chambers following the 2022 elections.

Passidomo, parting from recent tradition, did not appoint any Democrats as Senate committee chairs for the upcoming session. Passidomo earlier named Sen. Doug Broxson, R-Gulf Breeze, as chairman of the Appropriations Committee.

Monday’s assignments also identified other budget committee chairs as Sen. Jason Brodeur, R-Sanford, Agriculture, Environment, and General Government; Sen. Ed Hooper, R-Clearwater, Transportation, Tourism, and Economic Development; Sen. Jennifer Bradley, R-Fleming Island, Criminal and Civil Justice; Sen. Keith Perry, R-Gainesville, Education; and Sen. Gayle Harrell, R-Stuart, Health and Human Services.

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News Obituaries | Bob Graham dies at 87; former Florida senator…

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News Obituaries | Bob Graham dies at 87; former Florida senator was early critic of Iraq war

Graham, who also served two terms as florida's governor, chaired the senate intelligence committee after the 9/11 attacks.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Former U.S. Sen. and two-term Florida Gov. Bob Graham, who gained national prominence as chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee in the aftermath of the 2001 terrorist attacks and as an early critic of the Iraq war, has died. He was 87.

Graham’s family announced the death Tuesday in a statement posted on X by his daughter Gwen Graham.

“We are deeply saddened to report the passing of a visionary leader, dedicated public servant, and even more importantly, a loving husband, father, grandfather, and great-grandfather,” the family said.

Graham, who served three terms in the Senate, made an unsuccessful bid for the 2004 Democratic presidential nomination, emphasizing his opposition to the Iraq invasion.

But his bid was delayed by heart surgery in January 2003, and he was never able to gain enough traction with voters to catch up, bowing out that October. He didn’t seek reelection in 2004 and was replaced by Republican Mel Martinez.

Graham was a man of many quirks. He perfected the “workdays” political gimmick of spending a day doing various jobs from horse stall mucker to FBI agent and kept a meticulous diary, noting almost everyone he spoke with, everything he ate, the TV shows he watched and even his golf scores.

Graham said the notebooks were a working tool for him and he was reluctant to describe his emotions or personal feelings in them.

“I review them for calls to be made, memos to be dictated, meetings I want to follow up on and things people promise to do,” he said.

Graham was among the earliest opponents of the Iraq war, saying it diverted America’s focus on the battle against terrorism centered in Afghanistan. He was also critical of President George W. Bush for failing to have an occupation plan in Iraq after the U.S. military threw out Saddam Hussein in 2003.

Graham said Bush took the United States into the war by exaggerating claims of the danger presented by the Iraqi weapons of destruction that were never found. He said Bush distorted intelligence data and argued it was more serious than the sexual misconduct issues that led the House to impeach President Bill Clinton in the late 1990s. It led him to launch his short, abortive presidential bid.

“The quagmire in Iraq is a distraction that the Bush administration, and the Bush administration alone, has created,” Graham said in 2003.

During his 18 years in Washington, Graham worked well with colleagues from both parties, particularly Florida Republican Connie Mack during their dozen years together in the Senate.

As a politician, few were better. Florida voters hardly considered him the wealthy Harvard-educated attorney that he was.

Graham’s political career spanned five decades, beginning with his election to the Florida House of Representatives in 1966.

He won a state Senate seat in 1970 and then was elected governor in 1978. He was re-elected in 1982. Four years later, he won the first of three terms in the U.S. Senate when he ousted incumbent Republican Paula Hawkins.

Graham remained widely popular with Florida voters — winning reelection by wide margins in 1992 and 1998 when he carried 63 of 67 counties. In that latter election, he defeated Charlie Crist, who later served as a Republican governor from 2007 to 2011.

“He blew me out of the water, and I came to know even more so why during the course of the campaign,” Crist said Tuesday night. “I learned to respect him even more than I already had, and love him for the good, decent man that he was.”

Crist, who has since switched parties and most recently served as a U.S. representative, said Graham was an influence on him.

“I always felt that when he was governor, that he was trying to govern for the people of Florida — not in any way political or partisan — and I took that to heart and tried to, in some small way, emulate it,” Crist said.

House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi called Graham “a patriotic American” and thanked him for his “distinguished public service.” She highlighted his work on the inquiry into 9/11 and said he “bravely opposed entry into the war in Iraq.”

“He brought his love for his family and for his state of Florida to the Senate, where he served with immense dignity and courage,” she said in a statement Tuesday.

Even when in Washington, Graham never took his eye off the state and the leadership in Tallahassee.

When Gov. Jeb Bush and the Republican-controlled Legislature eliminated the Board of Regents in 2001, Graham saw it as a move to politicize the state university system. He led a successful petition drive the next year for a state constitutional amendment that created the Board of Governors to assume the regents’ role.

Daniel Robert Graham was born Nov. 9, 1936, in Coral Gables, where his father, Ernest “Cap” Graham, had moved from South Dakota and established a large dairy operation. Young Bob milked cows, built fences and scooped manure as a teenager. One of his half-brothers, Phillip Graham, was publisher of The Washington Post and Newsweek until he took his own life in 1963, just a year after Bob Graham’s graduation from Harvard Law.

Graham was president of the student body at Miami Senior High School and attended the University of Florida, graduating in 1959.

In 1966 he was elected to the Florida Legislature, where he focused largely on education and health care issues.

Graham got off to a shaky start as Florida’s chief executive, and was dubbed “Gov. Jello” for some early indecisiveness. He shook that label through his handling of several serious crises.

As governor he also signed numerous death warrants, founded the Save the Manatee Club with entertainer Jimmy Buffett and led efforts to establish several environmental programs.

Graham pushed through a bond program to buy beaches and barrier islands threatened by development and started the Save Our Everglades program to protect the state’s water supply, wetlands and endangered species.

“This has been a very important part of my development as a public official, my learning at a very human level what the people of Florida expect, what they want, what their aspirations are and then trying to interpret that and make it policy that will improve their lives” said Graham in 2004 as he completed his final job as a Christmas gift wrapper.

After leaving public life in 2005, Graham spent much of his time at a public policy center named after him at the University of Florida and pushing the Legislature to require more civics classes in the state’s public schools.

Graham was one of five members selected for an independent commission by President Barack Obama in June 2010 to investigate a massive BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico that threatened sea life and beaches along several southeastern Gulf states.

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