Renzo Downey
House Speaker Chris Sprowls on Friday issued committee and subcommittee assignments for the 2021 Session.
Sprowls’ announcement to members provided the full committee assignment lists for 36 committees and subcommittees. He will assign the vice chair and members for the Redistricting Committee and subcommittees, responsible for redrawing district boundaries after the results of the 2020 census, as the committee’s tasks approach.
Overall, the number of committees and subcommittees is down from 42 total last term.
“To the extent possible, we attempted to accommodate your preference requests,” Sprowls wrote in a memo sent to members.
After Democrats make their ranking leader recommendations, that information will go live on the House website.
The Speaker announced his leadership team last month, which included 11 committee chairs.
Rep. Tom Leek will lead both the Redistricting Committee and the Pandemics and Public Emergencies Committee, a new panel to explore topics relate to COVID-19, but also emergency management more broadly. Speaker Pro Tempore Bryan Avila will also be the “COVID-19 Czar” and oversee health and safety protocols.
“In addition to overseeing Florida’s response to the COVID‐19 pandemic, the committee will consider policies intended to prepare for and mitigate future risks confronting the state,” according to House documents.
Later Friday, the Speaker’s Office also plans to release the House COVID‐19 protocols for the January and February committee weeks.
Earlier this month, Senate President Wilton Simpson released his chamber’s committee assignments and plans to circulate committee calendars so that no more than three committees meet at once. Reducing the number of committees meeting simultaneously would allow the Senate to use its largest committee rooms and to promote social distancing.
And while the Senate only has 40 lawmakers, the House has three times as many. As many as six committees could met at once under the House committee groupings.
Unlike Simpson, Sprowls did not put Democrats in top leadership positions. Again, Friday’s announcement saw no Democrats earn leadership roles with all vice chairmanships going to Republicans.
Rep. Michael Grant will be the Majority Leader, as previously confirmed. Rep. Chuck Clemons will be his deputy and Majority Whip.
Sprowls has also selected five supplemental whips with Rep. Mike Beltran as Commerce Whip, Rep. Alex Andrade as Education and Employment Whip, Rep. Tyler Sirois as Health and Human Services Whip, Rep. Tommy Gregory as Judiciary Whip and Rep. Toby Overdorf as State Affairs Whip.
Find the committee assignments and more details below:
One comment
Dorothea Killian
December 20, 2020 at 2:45 pm
Hi Renzo,
I’m a certified appraiser of personal property, vintage items of worth etc, and I looked into how Florida can have billions of dollars available in the budget. Florida is leading the world in expensive Life Without Parole (LWOP) inmates. More than NY State, California, and tough-on-crime Texas… combined together. More than anywhere. Let’s address a small item within the Felony Murder Rule in Florida’s Criminal Statutes. Look into 782.04(4) as it affects how you’d be charged and sentenced for being at, but not involved in, a shootout where one of the participants dies. We have 10,000 LWOP inmates, up from 7,000 just a few short years ago. We sentence peripherally-involved Floridians for the death even if they are not the shooter. There is a phrase “without design” that qualifies you, and then read the words “other than” that excludes you from being charged less than your entire life until you die in prison. If this is changed to “including” …then judges, juries, prosecutors, defense lawyers, would all have some swing so as not to keep feeding the LWOP system with new younger blood. As the old LWOP inmates die off from old age, at having cost a conservative $1,000,000+ per inmate, (10,000 X $1,000,000 = $10,000,000,000+ (yes ten billion Florida dollars for just the LWOP currently in DOC) then through attrition the number would go down, reducing future expenditures. Saving billions in a few years. Everyone who is serving Life Without Parole isn’t guilty of murder. It is documented – merely peripherals. One small change to 782.04(4) brings billions in money that can be allocated to other causes and it is painless to do. Begin sentencing Floridians according to their individual level of culpability. It’s fair even when there’s a death. While keeping the perpetrators in LWOP to keep Floridians feeling safe. I think this is a good idea. One tiny change to the Felony Murder Rule. Think about it. Dorothea in Venice FL.
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