Florida Senate 2011 Committee Membership Announced; Senators Garrett Richter, Chris Smith to Chair, Vice-Chair Banking and Insurance

Nov 23, 2010

Florida Senate President Mike Haridopolos announced the 2011 Senate Committee membership in a letter to Senators today, November 23, 2010.  

The 2011 Senate Banking and Insurance Committee, the membership of which is listed below, will be chaired by Senator Garrett Richter, with Senator Chris Smith serving as Vice-Chair.  

Note:  An “R” designates “Republican;” “D” denotes “Democrat”

Banking and Insurance   
R: 8   DEM: 3
—————————————————-
Garrett Richter     R     Chair
Chris Smith     D     Vice Chair
JD Alexander     R
Mike Bennett     R
Ellyn Bogdanoff     R
Mike Fasano     R
D. Hays     R
Joe Negron     R
Steve Oelrich     R
Gwen Margolis     D
Eleanor Sobel     D

 

Senate President Haridopolos’ letter and the 2011 Senate Committee roster are reprinted below:
                    
Fellow Members:

As I have mentioned many times these past few weeks, it is my vision to have the Florida Senate be a member driven body.  To that end I asked Senator Dennis Jones and Senator Nan Rich to ask each of you to share with me your committee choices in priority order (top ten).  I have strived to give members their top choices.  As you already know every Democrat will be the Vice Chair of their number one choice with the exception of one Democrat who will get his second and third choices because his top choice conflicted with that of one of his fellow members and two Democrats who will Chair standing committees.

We are all elected representatives of the citizens of this great state so I believe we should all have the opportunity to serve on committees that interest each of us and best serve the voters.  It is clear that the selections are a reflection of what your constituents are interested in and as well as what each of you individually can bring in the way of insight, experience and in many cases real world expertise.  Individual members, I believe, are the best judges of where their time and energies should be directed.  I personally never liked getting assigned to a committee I had little interest in.

Because I am attempting to best respond to the will of the members, committees will range in size from 5 members to 23 members.  Appropriation committees, which will be announced the week of December 6th, will range from 5 to 15 members.  Due to my desire to provide the oversight, accountability and advice and consent the Senate is obliged to give the executive branch as well as our obligation to hold ourselves accountable to the public, any member who indicated any interest in serving on Governmental Oversight and Accountability (I included eight freshman here too) and Ethics and Election will be appointed to those two committees (unless a conflict in that time slot existed).

In order to give members assignments in each meeting group, I did populate some of the committees with members who did not ask to be on a certain committee and if a time conflict existed I attempted to give the member their higher priority choice.  When the assignment process is complete I hope to have filled the committee slots at a 90% rate of what was requested by the members.  After reviewing your committee appointments please let me know if you have second thoughts and/or wish to be dropped from a certain committee(s).  I don’t expect to make any additions however, so please keep that in mind.

It is my hope that you find this new approach to committee appointments both fair and refreshing.  This is my attempt to give each of you a tangible sign that I want us all to get along and work together to address the needs and concerns facing our citizens and our state.

Mike
 
==========================
GROUP I
==========================
Agriculture   R: 4   D: 3
—————————————————-
Gary Siplin     D     Chair
Larcenia Bullard     D     Vice Chair
JD Alexander     R
Rene Garcia     R
D. Hays     R
David Simmons     R
Bill Montford     D

Communications, Energy, and Public Utilities   R: 9   D: 4
—————————————————-
Lizbeth Benacquisto     R     Chair
Chris Smith     D     Vice Chair
Thad Altman     R
Ellyn Bogdanoff     R
Miguel Diaz de la Portilla     R
Greg Evers     R
Mike Fasano     R
Anitere Flores     R
Evelyn Lynn     R
Joe Negron     R
Arthenia Joyner     D
Gwen Margolis     D
Maria Sachs     D

Community Affairs   R: 7   D: 2
—————————————————-
Mike Bennett     R     Chair
Jim Norman     R     Vice Chair
Paula Dockery     R
Garrett Richter     R
Ronda Storms     R
John Thrasher     R
Stephen Wise     R
Tony Hill     D
Jeremy Ring     D

Environmental Preservation and Conservation   R: 5   D: 2
—————————————————-
Charlie Dean     R     Chair
Steve Oelrich     R     Vice Chair
Nancy Detert     R
Dennis Jones     R
Jack Latvala     R
Nan Rich     D
Eleanor Sobel     D

==========================
GROUP II
==========================
Banking and Insurance   R: 8   D: 3
—————————————————-
Garrett Richter     R     Chair
Chris Smith     D     Vice Chair
JD Alexander     R
Mike Bennett     R
Ellyn Bogdanoff     R
Mike Fasano     R
D. Hays     R
Joe Negron     R
Steve Oelrich     R
Gwen Margolis     D
Eleanor Sobel     D

Commerce and Tourism   R: 5   D: 2
—————————————————-
Nancy Detert     R     Chair
Paula Dockery     R     Vice Chair
Anitere Flores     R
Don Gaetz     R
Evelyn Lynn     R
Bill Montford     D
Jeremy Ring     D

Regulated Industries   R: 7   D: 4
—————————————————-
Dennis Jones     R     Chair
Maria Sachs     D     Vice Chair
Thad Altman     R
Charlie Dean     R
Miguel Diaz de la Portilla     R
Jim Norman     R
John Thrasher     R
Stephen Wise     R
Tony Hill     D
Nan Rich     D
Gary Siplin     D

Transportation   R: 5   D: 2
—————————————————-
Jack Latvala     R     Chair
Greg Evers     R     Vice Chair
Lizbeth Benacquisto     R
Rene Garcia     R
Ronda Storms     R
Larcenia Bullard     D
Arthenia Joyner     D
 

==========================
GROUP III
==========================
Children, Families, and Elder Affairs   R: 3   D: 2
—————————————————-
Ronda Storms     R     Chair
Tony Hill     D     Vice Chair
Nancy Detert     R
D. Hays     R
Nan Rich     D

Criminal Justice   R: 3   D: 2
—————————————————-
Greg Evers     R     Chair
Charlie Dean     R     Vice Chair
Paula Dockery     R
Gwen Margolis     D
Chris Smith     D

Education Pre-K – 12   R: 3   D: 2
—————————————————-
Stephen Wise     R     Chair
Larcenia Bullard     D     Vice Chair
JD Alexander     R
Lizbeth Benacquisto     R
Bill Montford     D

Health Regulation   R: 10   D: 2
—————————————————-
Rene Garcia     R     Chair
Eleanor Sobel     D     Vice Chair
Thad Altman     R
Mike Bennett     R
Miguel Diaz de la Portilla     R
Mike Fasano     R
Don Gaetz     R
Andy Gardiner     R
Dennis Jones     R
Jack Latvala     R
Jim Norman     R
Jeremy Ring      D

Higher Education   R: 3   D: 2
—————————————————-
Steve Oelrich     R     Chair
Gary Siplin     D     Vice Chair
Evelyn Lynn     R
Joe Negron     R
Maria Sachs     D
 
Judiciary  
R: 5   D: 1
—————————————————-
Anitere Flores     R     Chair
Arthenia Joyner     D     Vice Chair
Ellyn Bogdanoff     R
Garrett Richter     R
David Simmons     R
John Thrasher     R

==========================
GROUP IV A
==========================
Governmental Oversight and Accountability   R: 9   D: 4
—————————————————-
Jeremy Ring     D     Chair
Gary Siplin     D     Vice Chair
Lizbeth Benacquisto     R
Ellyn Bogdanoff     R
Charlie Dean     R
Mike Fasano     R
Anitere Flores     R
Rene Garcia     R
Jack Latvala     R
Jim Norman     R
Stephen Wise     R
Gwen Margolis     D
Bill Montford     D

Military Affairs, Space, and Domestic Security   R: 4   D: 3
—————————————————-
Thad Altman     R     Chair
Tony Hill     D     Vice Chair
Mike Bennett     R
Dennis Jones     R
Ronda Storms     R
Larcenia Bullard     D
Maria Sachs      D

Subcommittee on Ethics and Elections   R: 10   D: 4
—————————————————-
Miguel Diaz de la Portilla     R     Chair
Nancy Detert     R      Vice Chair
JD Alexander     R
Paula Dockery     R
Greg Evers     R
Don Gaetz     R
Steve Oelrich     R
Garrett Richter     R
David Simmons     R
John Thrasher     R
Arthenia Joyner     D
Nan Rich     D
Chris Smith     D
Eleanor Sobel     D
 

==========================
GROUP IV B
==========================
Reapportionment   R: 16   D: 7
—————————————————-
Don Gaetz     R  Chair
Gwen Margolis     D     Vice Chair
Lizbeth Benacquisto     R
Charlie Dean     R
Nancy Detert     R
Miguel Diaz de la Portilla     R
Greg Evers     R
Mike Fasano     R
Anitere Flores     R
Rene Garcia     R
Andy Gardiner     R
D. Hays     R
Jack Latvala     R
Evelyn Lynn     R
Joe Negron     R
Ronda Storms     R
John Thrasher     R
Larcenia Bullard     D
Bill Montford     D
Nan Rich     D
Maria Sachs     D
Gary Siplin     D
Eleanor Sobel     D
 

==========================
GROUP VI A
==========================
Rules   R: 9   D: 4
—————————————————-
John Thrasher     R     Chair
JD Alexander     R     Vice Chair
Anitere Flores     R
Don Gaetz     R
Andy Gardiner     R
Dennis Jones     R
Joe Negron     R
Garrett Richter     R
Stephen Wise     R
Larcenia Bullard     D
Gwen Margolis     D
Gary Siplin     D
Chris Smith     D

 

 

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