Galvano to be named Senate chief
TALLAHASSEE — Sen. Bill Galvano, a lawyer from Bradenton, will be designated today by Senate Republicans as the next president of the Florida Senate.
The Republican lawmaker will lead the 40-member Senate for two years after the November 2018 general elections, assuming the Republicans hold their majority, now at a 24-16 margin, in the chamber.
Over the course of his 13-year legislative career in the House and Senate, Galvano, 51, handled complex issues, including the investigation of a House speaker, a gambling agreement with the Seminole Tribe and, most recently, a major higher-education initiative.
“It’s not accidental that I entrusted one of my top legislative priorities to him,” said Senate President Joe Negron, R-Stuart, referring to Galvano’s handling of the Senate’s higher-education legislation.
“He approaches legislative issues like you prepare for a trial,” said Negron, who has been Galvano’s Tallahassee roommate for about nine years.
Negron said Galvano is strong in building relationships in Tallahassee, which is important in passing legislation as well as rising in legislative leadership.
Earlier in his legislative career, Galvano focused on health care, chairing a House committee. He later became the chamber’s Rules Committee chairman and then led a special committee investigating the conduct of House Speaker Ray Sansom, who resigned.
In his last year in the House, Galvano was a key architect of a major gambling agreement with the Seminole Tribe in 2010.
After brief hiatus from the Legislature, Galvano won election to the Senate, where President Don Gaetz, R-Niceville, tapped him to oversee the $20-billion-plus public school budget. It was Galvano’s first foray as a budget leader.
During Negron’s presidency, Galvano has led the chamber’s higher-education budget panel and is the sponsor of a Senate bill (SB 4) this year that seeks to expand and make permanent changes to Florida’s Bright Futures merit scholarship program.
“It’s made my career more interesting to be able to focus on these areas,” Galvano said. “And I think it will help give me some depth going forward.”
Asked about his legislative priorities as the next Senate leader, Galvano said he is looking to the Senate membership to develop ideas reflecting the scope and diversity of the nation’s third-largest state.
“I want to make sure my message is one of recognizing that everyone can contribute to the process, the empowerment of the members,” Galvano said about his agenda. “And most of all, to be a facilitator of their ideas and their opportunities.”
Galvano said he knows the state will face budget challenges in the next few years, including dealing with the aftermath of Hurricane Irma. He also said he wants to help the state’s citrus industry, which lost crops in the hurricane and has a long-term challenge from citrus greening disease.
Galvano said he would also like to encourage more international trade and continue efforts to diversify the state’s economy, with the aim of creating more homegrown businesses, rather than trying to attract businesses from outside the state.