Legislative Update - September 7, 2021

There are several changes in the House ...

House Speaker Chris Sprowls, who announced some shake-ups among committee chairs on Thursday, also made some switches to Vice Chairs and committee memberships on Friday.

On tap to be Vice Chair of the Pandemics & Public Emergencies Committee is Rep. Mike Caruso. He’ll be No. 2 to future House Speaker Danny Perez, who was named chair of that committee and the Public Integrity & Elections Committee on Thursday. Rep. David Smith will be the Vice Chair on the latter.

Five Appropriations subcommittees are getting new Vice Chairs. The new faces: Rep. Demi Busatta Cabrera for Agriculture & Natural Resources; Rep. Dana Trabulsy for Health Care; Rep. Pat Maney for Higher Ed; Rep. Jenna Persons-Mulicka for Infrastructure & Tourism; and Rep. Juan Fernandez-Barquin for Justice.

Under the Judiciary Committee umbrella, Rep. Mike Beltran will serve as the second in command for the Civil Justice & Property Rights Subcommittee. At the same time, Rep. Spencer Roach will be the new Vice Chair for the Criminal Justice & Public Safety Subcommittee.

Sprowls announced Thursday that Reps. Tyler Sirois and Cord Byrd would run the Congressional Redistricting and State Legislative Redistricting subs, respectively. On Friday, he named Reps. Kaylee Tuck and Will Robinson as the Vice Chairs.

Rep. Randy Fine will Vice Chair the overall Redistricting Committee under Chair Tom Leek.

There were only two changes under the Health & Human Services umbrella: Rep. Sam Garrison will be the GOP Whip, and Rep. John Snyder will VC the Professions & Public Health Subcommittee.

Meanwhile, Rep. Traci Koster is the new Vice Chair for the Early Learning & Elementary Education sub under Chair Vance Aloupis. Rep. Lauren Melo is the new Vice Chair of the Post-Secondary Education & Lifelong Learning sub under Chair Amber Mariano.

The new No. 2s in the State Affairs silo are Rep. Linda Chaney on the Environment, Agriculture & Flooding Subcommittee; Rep. Anthony Rodriguez on the Government Operations Subcommittee; and Rep. Joe Harding on the Local Administration & Veterans Affairs Subcommittee.

Finally, Rep. Fiona McFarland was named GOP Whip for the Commerce Committee, and Reps. Elizabeth Fetterhoff and Mike Giallombardo were named Vice Chairs for the Insurance & Banking and Regulatory Reform subcommittees, respectively.

Last Thursday, Sprowls announced that Rep. Erin Grall would chair the House Judiciary Committee Macclenny Republican Rep. Chuck Brannan as Criminal Justice & Property Subcommittee Chair. He also welcomed Rep. Chuck Clemons to the House leadership team as Deputy Majority Leader & Majority Whip.

Senate is open for business …

With committee meetings starting this month in advance of the 2022 legislative session, the Florida Senate is not planning to limit public access as the state continues battling the COVID-19 pandemic.

Senate President Wilton Simpson, R-Trilby, sent a memo Friday to senators acknowledging questions about COVID-19 protocols. “At this point, I anticipate the Senate will remain open to visitors during our interim committee weeks,” the memo said.

Senate Interim Committee Meeting Week …

The Senate will hold interim committee meetings during the week of September 20.  Here are a few of the committees we will be following for FNA:

• Monday – 3:45 – 5:45 pm – Reapportionment Committee
• Thursday – 11:30 am – 12:30 pm – Health Policy

All Senate Committees will complete their work by early afternoon on Thursday.  Agendas for each committee will be released a week prior to the meeting.  As soon as they are released, we will let you know what they will be discussing.

Simpson files for Agriculture Commissioner …

Senate President Wilton Simpson, a wealthy Republican from Trilby whose business holdings include a giant egg farm, filed paperwork Friday to run for state agriculture commissioner next year.

Simpson, who in May drew an endorsement from former President Donald Trump, is the most-prominent candidate to enter the race for the Cabinet seat that will be open because Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried, a Democrat, is running for governor.

Erin Isaac, a spokeswoman for Simpson’s campaign, said in a statement that the Senate leader remains focused on the 2022 legislative session, which will start in January.

“There will be plenty of time for campaigning after the important work ahead, because for too long, too many politicians have told us to vote for them and settle for less,” Isaac said in an email.

Simpson, who has served in the Senate since 2012, will end his term as president with the November 2022 elections. Though he opened his formal campaign account Friday for the agriculture commissioner’s race, he heads two political committees that had about $3.5 million on hand as of July 31.

Two other Republicans, Richard Earl Olle Jr. of Valrico and James Shaw of Vero Beach, and one Democrat, Ryan Morales of Clermont, have opened campaign accounts for the race but have raised little money.

Shaw put $20,000 into the contest when he filed in March and hasn’t reported any other individual contributions. Olle hasn’t reported receiving any money. Morales has put $2,030 of his own money into the campaign and drawn $92 from four contributors.

Simpson has long been rumored to be interested in running for agriculture commissioner, and Trump in May issued a statement from his Save America PAC giving Simpson his “complete and total endorsement!”

“Wilton has been a great supporter and worked hard to get many good conservatives elected in Florida,” Trump said. “He helped us grow our Republican majority in the Florida State Senate, and gave us a historic win in Florida in the 2020 Presidential Election.”

Simpson is one of the wealthiest members of the Legislature. He had a net worth of $31.5 million as of Dec. 31. Simpson’s holdings include Simpson Farms in Trilby and stakes in an asbestos removal company, an environmental safety company and the limited liability company Belly Wadding, which is tied to IHOP restaurants in Florida.

As Senate president, Simpson has been a key player on a wide range of issues. One of his priorities during the 2021 session, for example, was passing a bill that expanded Florida’s so-called “Right To Farm” law, which helps shield farmers from lawsuits.

But Simpson has drawn criticism from some Republicans, including Congressman Matt Gaetz, a Trump ally who has attacked Simpson over the implementation of a program to use the federal E-Verify system to check if workers are in the country legally.

“Florida deserves a commissioner of agriculture who doesn’t support illegal immigration. Regardless of political party,” Gaetz said online in January after Simpson’s name was raised as a potential candidate for the Cabinet post.