2005 Legislative Session

Tuesday, March 8, 2005 brought many new faces to Tallahassee

It is estimated that in the elections of 2006 and 2008, nearly 70 current members of the 120-member Florida House and ten members of the 40-member Senate will be term limited out of their seats. While term limits may have seemed like a way to ensure that the days of 20-year tenures in the House and Senate would cease to exist, they have caused, what some believe, is an interesting power shift in the legislative process.

Years ago, members of the Florida House and Senate would be elected to their respective chambers, serve their first few terms on committees that were not as powerful as those that controlled the state budget or legislative calendar, and then work their way up into leadership positions. Many times, this ascension to leadership could take ten to 15 years. Now, however, the pressure on new lawmakers to compete for leadership positions within their first term in office has created a new dynamic in political horse trading. While loyalty by the party faithful has paid off well, a limit of eight years in office has created a practice of seeking commitments for House Speaker or Senate President from fellow legislators before they are even elected.

Now, however, the “tenured members” in the legislative process don’t hold public office. In fact, many never will. Those who have become the concentration of power are committee staff directors, staff analysts, or similar positions in the House and Senate. These individuals have a knowledge base that may sometimes surpass those who they are hired to serve.

Most Republican members serving in the Florida House don’t remember what it was like be the minority party and sit in the back rows of the chamber. For nearly 120 years, Democrats controlled the Florida House. In 1996, voters swung Republicans into a majority party that has grown to 84 of 120 members.

When Republicans gained control of the Senate in the 1994 election after splitting the chamber 20 Republicans to 20 Democrats in 1992, party lines were not so evident with regard to votes on policies or issues. In what has been historically termed the “upper chamber” the current political division between 26 Republicans and 14 Democrats does not appear to be as wide as the House.