On Tuesday, the bicameral Florida Legislature officially swore in its Republican leadership and 26 new members into office.
Senate President Ben Albritton, a 57-year-old citrus farmer representing Wauchula, and House Speaker Daniel Perez, a 37-year-old lawyer representing Miami, began their roles during their respective post-election organization sessions, where they thanked their families, colleagues and constituents and outlined their goals for the future.
Republicans hold a super-majority in both chambers. The major theme of the morning was honoring the people of Florida.
Senator Albritton called for a “rural renaissance in Florida” in his speech and issued a warning to insurance companies in the wake of recent hurricanes devastating rural and coastal communities.
“Floridians have been paying faithfully their insurance premiums for years, sometimes decades, and now they expect their insurance company to keep up its end of the bargain. I want to make sure that impacted Floridians and insurance companies hear me loudly and clearly: We are watching,” he said. “I’m not going to sit idly by if legitimate claims get denied while rates continue to rise, period.”
Likewise, Perez began his speech with a bold answer to reporters asking what his priorities are for the upcoming legislative session, garnering a standing ovation.
“It’s what’s expected: I mention two or three issues … I make a speech, I announce a priority, I give a fancy name, I promise to spend a bunch of money, and then I pat myself on the back when the bill passes, claiming that my speakership was a grand success. Except when the dust settles, the new law doesn’t actually make a difference,” Perez said. “My priority for the 2025 and 2026 sessions is to serve the people of Florida … I’m more interested in talking about the small business owner in Jacksonville, the abuela in Miami-Dade, the single mother in Orlando, the entrepreneur in Tampa.”
It appears that one of the ways Perez plans to drive more action toward individuals rather than corporate interests ahead of the start of the legislative session in March is through improved facilitation of House communications and processes.
For example, a Nov. 13 memorandum detailed HR 10 (Rules of the Florida House of Representatives).
Perez said, “We will be discontinuing the House’s traditional, complicated system of multiple drafting submission and bill filing deadlines. The House will now have a single bill drafting submission deadline (Friday, Jan. 24, 2025) and a single bill filing deadline (Friday, Feb. 28, 2025) for all seven member bill slots. Please note that the bill filing deadline will now be 5 p.m. the Friday before the start of regular session and NOT the first day of session.”
In a Nov. 15 memo released to the members of the Florida House of Representatives, Perez updated the methods of bil analysis to improve “readability, usefulness and interactivity.” The House’s website was also updated to improve constituent access to the members with social media and newsletter features, and a shorter domain URL (FLHouse.gov). These website changes will be implemented in the coming months.
Perez also plans to crack down on overspending through the restructuring of the Budget Committee, formerly known as the Appropriations Committee. In a WUSF report, Jim Saunders and Jim Turner cite a memo sent to House members mentioning “member projects.” Member projects are formally known as appropriation projects which are “any appropriation or proviso to a specifically named local government, private entity, or privately operated program, or an appropriation or proviso which is written in such a manner as to exclusively describe a particular local government, private entity, or privately operated program.”
Saunders and Turner reported that Perez said in the memo, “Member projects in the House budget have grown from $174 million in 2019 to $1.3 billion in 2024, which is a 645% increase. As elected officials, we should not be asking, ‘How much of the public’s money can we spend?’ As a House, we should do what Florida’s working families do every day: budget their money responsibly.”
As Senator Albritton appoints leaders and sets schedules for committee meetings, 24 bills have already been filed for the 2025 legislative session. The bulk of them deal with the relief of certain individuals by select departments such as the Department of Children and Families, the Lee County Sheriff’s Office and the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. Others pertain to the designation of religious colleges or the updated legal definitions of school buses and certain criminal offenses.
December’s Committee Week begins on Dec. 9.