Bill Posey looks back at accomplishments and sudden close to years of service

U.S. Rep. Bill Posey spent decades urging greater transparency and accountability in government. Heading into 2024, he felt optimistic he could serve one last term with President-elect Donald Trump back in the White House.

Instead, the Rockledge Republican said health concerns made a re-election run this year impractical. Faced with eye problems reminiscent of issues that cost the Congressman’s father his sight, Posey said he made a decision to retire shortly before a qualifying deadline and made a call to former Florida Senate President Mike Haridopolos.

“I said if, if you’re interested in stepping up for this job, I need to know, because I might not be able to go on,” Posey said. “It’s a real short window here whether I just want to open up a free-for-all or what.”

Posey worried a frantic Republican Primary would give a chance for Joe Babits or John Hearton, underfunded challengers he calls “charlatans,” to win the seat. Posey instead wanted Haridopolos, a former Senate President, to succeed him instead.

The rest became the biggest story out of Florida’s qualifying week this year, with Haridopolos filing just before the deadline to enter the race and Posey announcing his retirement, a move that upset some candidates who long planned to run after Posey’s retirement. But Haridopolos indeed easily won a Primary and General Election, and will take office in January.

That provided a dramatic end cap to eight terms of service in the House for Posey. The time in Washington followed 16 years of service in the Florida Legislature, split evenly between the House and Senate.

Looking back on his time in office, though, the accomplishments Posey feels the greatest about didn’t make a lot of headlines. First on his list of congressional achievements was a rules change requiring legislation be published 72 hours before a vote on the House floor.

That’s a change he pushed from the moment he arrived in the House, but leadership for both parties opposed it. Posey, though, seized on public frustration after the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, passed in his first term.

A Democratic majority under President Barack Obama negotiated details largely internally and swapped in final legislation late in the process. Then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s infamous utterance that “we have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it” became a political bludgeon Republicans used to win a majority back in 2010, and Posey secured the three-day rule on all bills.

“It was a cultural change in Washington,” Posey recalled.

He also represented the Space Coast over a tumultuous period for manned space flight. Under Obama, NASA retired the use of the Space Shuttle and the agency largely moved away from public expenditures and sending people into orbit. The Democratic President indeed would refuse to sign a reauthorization bill for NASA for seven years of his presidency, bringing a period of uncertainty to the Gulf Coast.

NASA for years served as a central part of life on Florida’s Gulf Coast. Posey himself worked as an inspector for McDonnell Douglas, a subcontractor for NASA’s Apollo program that put men on the moon. NASA played a key role in his career path, but also for many of his constituents. Posey has worked across the aisle on many issues involving modernizing the space program but felt antipathy from Obama’s White House.

“I don’t want to sound partisan, but the Republican administrations have looked more favorably upon space,” he said.

That’s quite a statement from a Congressman whose district serves as home to Kennedy Space Center, named after Democratic President John F. Kennedy. But Posey suggests that Kennedy, who opposed communism and favored tax cuts, wouldn’t be allowed in the modern Democratic Party today. The Republican lawmaker says Kennedy’s “we choose to go to the moon” speech at Rice University, one whose excerpts still greet visitors every day at Cape Canaveral, reflects values thoroughly embraced today in the GOP.

Posey saw former Vice President Mike Pence, Trump’s running mate in 2016, as a strong advocate for space. It was Pence who visited Florida in 2018 and announced plans for the Space Force. While Pence won’t be part of Trump’s new administration, Posey feels confident that having a President who lives on Florida’s Atlantic Coast will mean good things for the space industry over the next four years.

But Posey said he has appreciated a shift overall toward the private sector in terms of space investment and suggests it could mean a greater boon for the region in the long run. The Congressman learned through the years that when fighting for appropriations for NASA and other space efforts, he often needed to find ways the program created jobs throughout the country. Private businesses can spend more efficiently.

“You see (Blue Horizon founder Jeff) Bezos built his rocket factory just outside the gate at Kennedy Space Center,” Posey said. “He doesn’t have to make sure $50 million a year goes to every member’s district. There’s nothing parochial about commercial. They go where it makes sense.”

Posey said much of the privatization of space flight feels long overdue, a product of “gate-keeping” by NASA as much as anything. He sees NASA playing a critical role in the future of space, but also one cooperating with other entities inside and outside government.

Reflecting on his own career, Posey touts many accomplishments starting from his time in Tallahassee, some of which gained national attention.

During his last House term, the American Legislative Exchange Council named him as national Legislator of the Year. That was for drafting legislation on Activity-Based Total Accountability (ABTA), principles which Posey eventually outlined in a 42-page book. In short, Posey called ABTA a way of holding the government accountable for what it accomplishes, not simply what it spends.

The principles helped Posey in convincing Florida to widening State Road 524 and eliminating toll booths, which allowed a free flow of traffic on launch days.

He also discussed fights large and small. Posey successfully pushed for Florida’s Medicaid program to cover treatment for a young boy with adrenoleukodystrophy.

He also helped a mother whose ex-husband kidnapped three children and took them to Lebanon but received little help from the State Department of FBI.

“We got them home in 72 hours. We just filed an amendment to cut off all funding 11 until kids are returned,” Posey said. “It got beat on the partisan vote, but we made it clear we were coming back and we would defend every penny going to Lebanon. Within 72 hours, the kids are on the way home in the Satellite Beach area.”

Posey was also the Senate sponsor in passing the Dale Earnhardt law in Florida, which shielded autopsy records from public disclosure. The measure passed after the death of the racing legend at the Daytona 500 when media outlets sought copies of the medical documents. Posey also spearheaded an election reform bill after the 2000 Presidential Election, earning near-unanimous approval in the Legislature of counting and recounting regulations in Florida that have since been cited as a national model.

There were disappointments along the way. Posey remains frustrated that Florida has never adopted a requirement he nearly got passed for anyone on Citizens Property Insurance to have storm shutters on homes, something he still believes would benefit consumers by allowing lower premiums and ensuring lower payouts.