December/January Legislative Update

Legislative Update

Happy December! Senate President Albritton and Speaker Perez have been officially designated the newly elected members, have been sworn in, and legislative training meetings are underway. January will be the start of committee meetings and substantive legislation is currently being filed for consideration in the upcoming legislative session.

President Elect Trump has begun to work on his administration, which has led to a huge domino effect in Florida. 

Congressman Gaetz is leaving the US House of Representatives. Gaetz’s open seat is being sought by current Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis, Representative Dr. Joel Rudman, and others. With Congressman Waltz’s appointment, newly elected Senator Randy Fine is now running for his US House seat. Termed out Senator Debbie Mayfield, who had just been elected to the House, has announced her intention to run for the vacant Fine senate seat, which was her seat before she termed out. Her newly won and vacated House seat also calls for a special election. 

The most anticipated domino to watch is who will be appointed to Senator Marco Rubio’s Senate seat. Will Governor DeSantis appoint himself? If he does, many more dominoes are anticipated from that decision. 

During the Organizational session both leaders addressed their respective chambers. Both Leaders highlighted they would be watching closely how the insurance industry addressed their communities across the state’s hurricane claims. Our state took such a battering this hurricane season, and this year’s budget will also be looking at funding to assist hard hit communities. Clearly, this will be a dominant topic during the upcoming session. 

President Albritton mentioned “water quality” in his opening remarks. His focus will be on ensuring Floridians have a clean and abundantly available water supply. This will be one of his top priorities. 

Speaker Perez in his remarks to his chamber made a conscious decision to not outline his priorities for the upcoming session. It promises to be a busy time legislatively in the New Year!

Stay safe and healthy and enjoy this holiday season.

Best,
Alison Dudley Lobbyist, FRS
alisondudley@dudleyandassociates.com