Jacob Ogles
Sen. Kathleen Passidomo heads to Tallahassee following her re-election and ascension to Republican Leader of the chamber.
But even as she embarks on a particularly partisan role, the Naples Republican hopes for a year without major schisms: “This session will hopefully be one of collaboration and collegiality.”
The world outside of Tallahassee hopefully won’t take too much of a toll.
Passidomo hopes a tragedy like the Parkland shooting or natural disasters like Hurricane Michael don’t disrupt Session, but such events are out of lawmakers’ control.
Still, as leadership, she doesn’t plan so much to prepare her members for a rumble but rather to ensure they are prepared.
“Right now, I’m helping my members identify what’s really important and what’s doable,” she said.
“What I am very serious about is making sure when one of my caucus members gets a bill through committee, they can help their constituents understand. I can help my colleagues reach his or her constituents and say, ‘this is what we are doing and how we are making things happen.’ ”
On that front, fiscal conservatism and financial realities set in quickly. Lawmakers regardless of political persuasion must learn to be thrifty.
“We can’t mint money and we have to have a balanced budget,” she said.
Ideally, the economy goes gangbusters and Tallahassee sees a surge in available revenues. But even then, Passidomo says, resources will always be less than politicians desire.
Like Southwest Florida lawmakers of all political persuasions, Passidomo heads north this year with water quality concerns as a top priority. She’s happy Gov. Ron DeSantis also seems to notice water issues, and expects bipartisan agreement on addressing environmental needs.
“Last summer was a very difficult summer, first with blue-green algae and then with red tide, even though the two are not related,” Passidomo said.
While the former algae comes directly from pesticides and the actions of man, she said, the other is naturally occurring.
But she said finding ways to curb the conditions causing the problem will be a responsible solution for controlling both types of blooms.
Southwest Florida became hurt economically last year as tourists avoided beaches and waterfront restaurants. Constituents fell ill because of air quality issues. It’s a problem than transcends partisan ideologies, Passidomo said.
She feels lawmakers need to take immediate action to prevent a similar problem from occurring at those levels again. She’s pleased to see the Governor’s budget include measures to curb nutrients feeding harmful algae in the rivers and shores.
Of course, after DeSantis announced $2.5 billion in water spending over four years, Senate Democratic Leader Audrey Gibson raised concerns.
“His order calls for the securing of $2.5 billion over the next four years to invest in Everglades restoration and protecting our water resources, but there is no identification of where that money will come from,” Gibson said at the time.
Passidomo’s response? That’s a pretty good point.
“It’s a very good question. We’ll do our best to find (the funding),” Passidomo says. “That’s not a disagreement with policy. It’s a question of how we fund the important things we need to fund in this state.”
On that, she knows every member will fight for their own priorities. But she’s confident everybody now understands how environmental problems in one region impact all of Florida.
Passidomo knows some partisan skirmishes will likely break out this year. But she looks forward to working as a counterpart with Gibson.
“She cares about her community and she cares about the Senate,” Passidomo said of Gibson. “We may not agree on all things, but I bet on a majority (of things) we can.”
Tallahassee doesn’t operate with the vicious partisan rancor of Congress, Passidomo said. She wants to keep it that way.
“We are not Washington, where if one party says the sky is blue, the other denies it,” she says. “Most bills are passed in a bipartisan manner. Only a few hot-button issues will split us along party lines.”
And Passidomo feels little rush to push those buttons.
She knows the House wants to tackle matters like election reform. Passidomo will see what comes out of committee on that before weighing in.
For the moment, she said the desire of voters to pass so many constitutional amendments has kept the Senate busy. Much of the committee work in advance of session focused on implementing legislation.
There’s also plenty to do regarding appointments from DeSantis. Passidomo’s part of Florida has a particular interest in all the new members of the South Florida Water Management District.
For now, Passidomo feels anxious to get into policy discussions. Getting a budget in order will be the first priority, she says.
“We’re just making sure to have our budget in place,” she said. “We need to work with the Governor and House to make sure to come up with something responsible and responsive. That’s in the works right now.”
