Miami Herald: Complaint against Florida House speaker dismissed
Sep 25, 2009
The Miami Herald published this article on September 25, 2009
State House Rules Committee Chairman Bill Galvano Thursday dismissed a complaint filed by Rep. J.C. Planas, R-Miami, earlier this month alleging that House Speaker Larry Cretul broke House rules by reshuffling committees without a vote of the full chamber.
Cretul, an Ocala Republican, restructured committees and assignments in August, eliminating some committees that lawmakers sit on, leaving Planas without two coveted slots.
Galvano, R-Bradenton, sent Planas a letter concluding that there is no merit to the complaint because House members have long delegated great authority to the speaker to make decisions including “exclusive power to appoint the chair and all members of each standing council and committee.”
Planas called Galvano’s ruling “very scary.”
“They are changing things as they go along,” he said.
“I think this opens up a really dangerous Pandora’s box. For a speaker to say, I don’t want to fill three committees — well, what’s to stop him from not filling 30 committees?”
SHANNON COLAVECCHIO