STATE LEGISLATIVE CHAIRMEN APPOINTED

Last week Senate President Ken Pruitt (R-Port St. Lucie) and House Speaker Marco Rubio (R-Miami) appointed their legislative chairmen for the next two years. Senate President Pruitt asked Sen. J.D. Alexander (R-Lake Wales) to serve as the Chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee and the General Government Appropriations Committee.

This move gives Sen. Alexander almost total power over agricultural issues because he will be in control of the purse strings and legislative bills for agriculture. Sen. Pruitt also named Sen. Burt Saunders (R-Naples) as Chairman of the Environmental Preservation and Conservation Committee.

In the House of Representatives, Speaker Rubio named Rep. Denise Grimsley (R-Sebring) Chairman of the Agribusiness Committee. Speaker Rubio appointed Rep. Trudi Williams (R-Fort Myers) Chairman of the Environmental Protection Committee. Rep. Will Kendrick (R-Carrabelle), who just switched from the Democratic Party to the Republican Party, was rewarded by being named Chairman of the Committee on Conservation & State Lands.