Jonathan Martin wraps Session with 20 bills signed, no vetoes

Jonathan Martin at a June press conference. Image via Martin's Twitter.

Sen. Jonathan Martin walked into the Florida Senate as an ally of Gov. Ron DeSantis. With his first Legislative Session behind him, it’s as clear as ever the Fort Myers Republican’s priorities remain largely aligned with the Governor’s.

In his first Session as a Senator, he carried 20 Senate bills to passage by the full Legislature, all of which now bear DeSantis’ signature. DeSantis didn’t even veto a single line item championed by Martin in the state budget.

“I think I had a pretty successful Session,” Martin offered as a personal assessment.

The Fort Myers Republican passed his first bill before the Regular Session even began. In a February Special Session, Martin carried a bill (SB 4B) giving Attorney General Ashley Moody’s office the ability to handle most election fraud cases.

The freshman Senator ended up with that bill thanks to his background as a former prosecutor. While Martin practices civil law now, he previously worked in Florida’s 20th Judicial Circuit as an Assistant State Attorney in Lee, Glades and Hendry counties. His wife remains a prosecutor in Southwest Florida.

The criminal law background also led to Martin’s involvement in a number of justice matters. He carried bills increasing inmate trust fund spending on programming to cut back on recidivism. He handled legislation putting several private prisons under the auspices of the Department of Corrections. He carried legislation that will allow execution as a possible sentence for child rapists. And he helped craft legislation ultimately sponsored by Sen. Blaise Ingoglia, a fellow freshman Republican, involving first-degree murder cases.

But Martin also took office weeks after Hurricane Ian made landfall in his Lee County district. The powerful storm cut barrier islands from the mainland and killed 149 people, becoming one of the costliest hurricanes ever.

That meant much of his first Session was devoted to budget appropriations, securing needed funding for recovery and relief. The Legislature ultimately budgeted billions in direct spending connected to hurricane aftermath this year.

With Senate President Kathleen Passidomo, a Naples Republican whose own home was largely destroyed by the storm, presiding over the chamber, support was an easy sell. Martin said it’s not just the major projects he’s proud of, but some of the health and infrastructure initiatives that provide quick relief now but will hopefully make Southwest Florida more resilient before another storm.

“We’re talking about something as simple as getting the traffic lights running, and getting contacts back to the islands,” he said.

Support from the state already helped get kids back in schools after their classrooms were destroyed. Martin offers praise to the Governor for cutting red tape and allowing temporary bridges to open quickly after the hurricane made landfall. Overall, he said there’s been a huge psychological benefit and boost in morale.

Martin also helped secure $14 million for a new building at Florida SouthWestern State College, a school where he served on the board of trustees for years.

Of course, Martin arrived in the Senate as a presumed ally of the Governor, who endorsed Martin as news broke Sen. Ray Rodrigues would not seek re-election. Martin served as Chair of the Lee County Republican Party at the time, and had known DeSantis before the Governor ever ran statewide.

“I knew we had a lot of beliefs in common, and I knew we weren’t going to disagree on much,” Martin said.

He carried many DeSantis priorities through Session, including public records exemptions on the Governor’s travel.

There were some exceptions, of course. Martin was among a handful of Republicans who voted against a bill aimed at curbing lawsuit abuse, something he ascribes to his experiences representing poor families in struggles with insurance providers.

“My day job brings me in contact with a whole lot of people who don’t have the option to hire a lawyer to enforce an insurance contract,” Martin said. “They rely on prevailing fees and they rely on access to the courts.”

But that bill, a priority of Passidomo, passed and was signed by DeSantis.

Still, Martin feels largely in simpatico with the Governor. He also felt privileged in his first term that the Senate was led by Passidomo, who has long represented a portion of Lee County, making her someone he’s worked with politically for years.

How different has it been working on the government side? Is it wildly different than he expected? Martin quips no, it works exactly as he expected after watching the process for years. But he’s welcomed plenty of new connections to the process.

“I’m happy that — and I don’t want to say this is a surprise — there are so many good, hardworking people who care about the state working in The Process,” he said. “That’s refreshing. They aren’t highlighted in the media, where all you hear about is scandals, greed and corruption. You should hear about those things because we need to protect the public, but there are also a lot of good people up there.”