Drew Wilson
Rep. Tommy Gregory is a pro-business all-star, according to the Florida Chamber of Commerce.
Gregory was selected for the Florida Chamber’s 2023 Most Valuable Legislator award “for his leadership in rebalancing Florida’s civil justice system and strengthening Florida’s competitiveness through historic lawsuit abuse reform.”
As chair of the House Judiciary Committee, the Lakewood Ranch Republican played a key role in getting the torts package (HB 837) across the finish line earlier this year. Multiple business groups, including the Chamber, listed the bill as their No. 1 priority for the 2023 Legislative Session.
“The Florida Chamber could not have asked for a better partner or more tenacious champion for Floridians to work shoulder-to-shoulder with Florida’s united business community to accomplish the strongest lawsuit abuse reform package in Florida’s history,” said Florida Chamber President & CEO Mark Wilson.
“Thanks, in large part, to Rep. Gregory’s leadership, Florida will begin to reverse the damage done by personal injury billboard trial lawyers, redirecting the billions of dollars spent annually on frivolous litigation and will pull Florida up from its bottom-five legal climate to one of the top 12 legal climates in the nation.”
The Chamber also lauded the third-term lawmaker for working to make the torts bill stronger by adding more provisions favored by the Chamber and other business groups. The Chamber said his contributions to the torts bill and other legislation going after so-called “billboard lawyers” will put a dent in the “torts tax” — the Chamber estimates that trial lawyers’ litigiousness imposes an additional $5,000 per year in costs for everyday Floridians by way of higher premiums and prices.
The Chamber said Gregory’s “exemplary leadership has made Florida the envy of the nation in 2023 as other state’s grapple with lawsuit abuse. With more to do, we know he will ‘keep attacking.’”
