Drew Wilson
The Florida Senate passed a bill to rename a section of State Road 408 in honor of Arnold Palmer Wednesday.
SB 480, sponsored by Altamonte Springs Republican Sen. David Simmons, earned unanimous approval in the floor vote, as well as its lone committee stop in the Senate Transportation Committee.
In addition to renaming the state highway in honor of the golf legend, the bill contains a $1,000 appropriation for the Department of Transportation to place markers designating the “Arnold Palmer Expressway.”
The bill’s House companion, HB 225 by Orlando Republican Rep. Mike Miller, has already worked its way through two committees with unanimous votes and currently waiting on approval from the House Government Accountability Committee.
Palmer spent much of his life living in Orlando and owned the Bay Hill Club and Lodge. In addition to his golf-related businesses, Palmer and his wife donated their money and namesakes to the Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children and the Winnie Palmer Hospital for Women and Babies.
Palmer died last year at the age of 87.
