Elected leaders discuss policy, priorities at Legislative Preview
Three local elected officials talked about their 2024 priorities at the St. Petersburg Chamber of Commerce’s annual Legislative Preview event Nov. 2.
Rep. Lindsay Cross (D), Rep. Berny Jacques (R) and Sen. Darryl Rouson (D) attended the event, which combined a casual happy hour at The Birchwood with informative discussions. Rep. Kim Berfield (R) was scheduled to attend, but couldn’t make it due to scheduling conflicts.
The three lawmakers all took turns addressing the crowd and answering questions about their priorities and appropriations for the upcoming legislative session, scheduled to begin March 11, 2024
Cross said she will be focusing on legislation that directly relates to the committees she’s assigned to in higher education, environment, water quality, healthcare and constitutional rights. “I was very intentional about the committees I requested to be on,” she explained, “because I wanted to support the great work that we’re already doing here with our businesses, particularly our healthcare businesses, our arts community and our marine and technology centers.”
Cross applauded the University of South Florida’s St Petersburg campus and St. Petersburg College for working collaboratively with local hospitals to address worker shortages in the healthcare field, adding, “I wanted to make sure that we’re putting in place the policies and funding to support those institutions.”
Cross also noted the legislative support that led to Gov. Ron DeSantis signing into law a record-setting annual increase for USF in the state budget June 15. The budget includes $24.3 million toward the addition of a new Environmental and Oceanographic Sciences research and teaching facility, which is expected to open in 2026.
Jacques, who just completed his first term, said he plans to concentrate on public safety, quality education and policies that support a strong economy. The former prosecutor said he also plans to continue his work on HB 939, aiming to educate Floridians in the youth justice system’s residential commitment programs, which are designed to rehabilitate offenders. He believes early intervention is key to preventing kids from continuing to commit crimes as an adult.
“We’re seeing a spike [of violence] in some areas and some more brazen actions, and what we’re noticing is that the current system is not the best as far as accountability to deter any type of actions,” said Jacques. “We understand that the juvenile justice system is rehabilitative in its mission, but we also don’t want to fail these young people by letting them think that they can just keep doing brazen acts without any kind of consequences, then they end up in the adult system facing a mandatory life sentence. I’ve had to prosecute those types of cases and I’ve seen it.”
Rouson repeated a regular refrain of his, noting that he’s the only senator in the region with constituents on both sides of the bay. Rouson plans to continue his work in the areas of public safety, criminal justice reform, substance abuse and mental health opportunities, and the environment.
“I had 41 appropriations requests in the legislature [last year],” he said. “Thirty-four of them made it to the governor’s desk. He vetoed 15, which left me with 27 fully-funded projects, and those projects are doing some good work in our community.”
Rouson, who serves on the Appropriations Committee on Health and Human Services, said he wants to continue working on legislation like SB 1352, establishing a statewide registry for individuals diagnosed with sickle cell disease. The bill will also require the Agency for Health Care Administration to examine and publish reports on sickle cell medications, treatments and services available for Medicaid recipients. Rouson noted the goal is to prepare Florida Medicaid to cover future drugs that can help cure the disease.
