Florida House Speaker Re-Tools Committee Structure, Size

In advance of announcing the Florida House of Representatives 2009-2010 Committee assignments, House Speaker Larry Cretul issued a memorandum today, August 24, 2009, to House members explaining his approach to the structuring.  Speaker Cretul’s memorandum is reprinted below, along with its referenced list of committee and council “blocks.”

Council and Committee membership assignments will be forthcoming as soon as the information becomes available.

Should you have any questions or comments, please contact Colodny Fass.

 

MEMORANDUM

TO:  Members, Florida House of Representatives
FROM:  Larry Cretul, Speaker
DATE:  August 24, 2009
RE:  Councils and Committees

Thank you for your time and effort in responding to my request for your preferences on committee assignments. Based on your input and a thorough review of the organizational strengths and weaknesses of the past Session, I will be releasing the 2009-2010 council/committee reassignments this afternoon.

Prior to the release of the specific committee assignments this afternoon, I thought it important to explain the overall structure and approach.  My guiding principles have been threefold:  to improve efficiency, to maintain stability, and to build continuity with the future.   To improve efficiency, I have adjusted council groupings (“time blocks”), achieved better alignment between the House and the Senate by leaving vacant 4 committees and 1 council with identified workflow or structural issues, and attained functional councils and committees by removing the variations in size. To maintain stability, I have retained the core structural framework, given the highest possible accommodation to individual member preferences, and increased the distribution of leadership assignments. To build continuity with the future, I have expanded freshman member involvement at the council level, distributed freshman and sophomore members across a wider array of subject matter, and provided for wide participation on appropriations committees.

The size of House councils and committees will be as follows: the Appropriations Council, the Rules & Calendar Council, and the Policy Council are 18 members each; all other councils are 16 members each; and all committees are 14 members each. I believe this will give members a greater opportunity to play a meaningful role on the councils and committees on which they serve.

I am leaving some committees vacant to provide a broader perspective and better alignment with Senate structure. The remaining council or committee will do the work of prior councils or committees without the need for change in House rules. These are as follows:

• The same members will be appointed to both the Full Appropriations Council on Education & Economic Development and the Full Appropriations Council on General Government & Health Care, functionally merging them into one council.
• The State & Community Colleges & Workforce Appropriations Committee will be left vacant. I will refer higher education-related bills with a fiscal impact to the State Universities & Private Colleges Appropriations Committee.
• The Healthy Seniors Appropriations Committee and the Human Services Appropriations Committee will be left vacant. I will refer health care and human services bills with a fiscal impact to the Health Care Appropriations Committee.
• The State & Community Colleges & Workforce Policy Committee will be left vacant. I will refer higher education-related bills to the State Universities & Private Colleges Policy Committee.
• The committees to which no members are assigned will no longer meet and legislation will not be referred to them.

Attached you will find a general schedule showing the new council and committee time blocks that will be used to build the schedule for each committee week and Regular Session. The revised time blocks will facilitate scheduling, concentrate the primary workload in mid-week, provide enhanced fluidity in moving bills through the process, and allow members to be involved in both health care and education policy, as these two areas consume the major portion of our state’s budget.

I am proud of your hard work during the past year, and I expect these improvements to enable all of us to do an even better job this year. I look forward to seeing each of you when you return in October.  This coming session will be as challenging as the last, but I am confident that, with these changes and your dedication and hard work, we will be better prepared to address the challenges facing our great state.

 

Council and Committee Blocks

 

Block A

Florida Legislative Committee on Intergovernmental Relations
Joint Administrative Procedures Committee
Joint Committee on Public Counsel Oversight
Joint Legislative Auditing Committee
Joint Legislative Budget Commission
Joint Committee on Everglades Oversight
Joint Legislative Sunset Committee

Block B

CRIMINAL AND CIVIL JUSTICE POLICY COUNCIL
Civil Justice and Courts Committee
Public Safety and Domestic Security Policy Committee

HEALTH AND FAMILY SERVICES POLICY COUNCIL
Elder and Family Services Policy Committee
Health Care Regulation Policy Committee
Health Care Services Policy Committee

Block C

PreK-12 Appropriations Committee
State Universities and Private Colleges Appropriations Committee
Transportation and Economic Development Appropriations Committee
Criminal and Civil Justice Appropriations Committee
Government Operations Appropriations Committee
Health Care Appropriations Committee
Natural Resources Appropriations Committee

Block D

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND COMMUNITY AFFAIRS POLICY COUNCIL
Economic Development Policy Committee
Governmental Affairs Policy Committee
Military and Local Affairs Policy Committee
Roads, Bridges and Ports Policy Committee

EDUCATION POLICY COUNCIL
PreK-12 Policy Committee
State Universities and Private Colleges Policy Committee

Block E

GENERAL GOVERNMENT POLICY COUNCIL
Agriculture and Natural Resources Policy Committee
Energy and Utilities Policy Committee
Insurance, Business, and Financial Affairs Policy Committee

GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY ACT COUNCIL

FINANCE & TAX COUNCIL

Block F

FULL APPROPRIATIONS COUNCIL ON EDUCATION AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

FULL APPROPRIATIONS COUNCIL ON GENERAL GOVERNMENT AND HEALTH CARE
POLICY COUNCIL

 

 

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