The Childhood Of The Florida Legislature

Have you noticed all the news stories lately about the so-called "Graying of America?" The term refers to the demographic trend in America whereby the elders are starting to outnumber the youngsters. One of my fellow columnists is even writing about it in this edition of Florida Business Insight.

Trust the Florida Legislature to buck the trend. Starting with the 2000 elections, Florida lawmakers and Cabinet officials will be limited to eight years in office. Once the eight years are up, they can always run for another seat, but term limits mean that even as America gets older the Florida Legislature will get younger. Oh, boy, will they have to grow up fast.

In November of 2000, 66 of the sitting 160 legislators will not be allowed to appear on the ballot for the seats they currently hold. That’s 41 percent of the total body, broken down as follows:

• 55 Representatives, or 46 percent
• 26 House Democrats, or 55 percent
• 29 House Republicans, or 40 percent
• 11 Senators, or 28 percent
• 3 Senate Democrats, or 20 percent
• 8 Senate Republicans, or 32 percent

That statistic also means that the other 94 current lawmakers have been in office for six years or less.

We’re already seeing the effects of term limits on leadership. Both Senate President Toni Jennings (R-Orlando) and Speaker of the House John Thrasher (R-Jacksonville) will be ineligible for re-election to seats they now hold. While Sen. Jennings has been in the Legislature for 22 years (four as a representative, 18 as a senator), Rep. Thrasher reached the speakership after only six years in office.

Consider some of the years of experience that will be lost. Overall, with 13 seats, Orange County will lose 72 years of legislative experience. Duval County will lose even more -- 79 years held by 11 lawmakers. And when you take a look at the committees, the effect is even more startling. For example, Senate Banking and Insurance will lose 120 years of collective legislative experience; Senate Rules 108 years. The House Education Appropriations Committees will lose 64 years of collective experience.

I certainly do not wish to imply that the fresh faces in the Legislature will not be able to govern and make good decisions. However, wisdom is not a personality trait we are born with. Rather, wisdom is acquired through many years of experience. The inexperienced legislator will have to be a quick study as the legislative process is rapid fire, with so many topics to address and so much to learn.

Because of term limits, the business community is going to have to work harder since there’s just going to be more work to do. It is not going to have the luxury of safe seats any more, where old friends of business never face a challenge "so we doesn’t really have to worry about them."

Every seat is going to be up for grabs every eight years. The entire business community is going to have to do more than just support candidates. It is going to have to make sure there are candidates we can support.

For the last five years AIF has been building the infrastructure to carry out that task. In the months ahead, you’ll be hearing more about our plans to use that infrastructure to combat the political Y2K bug: term limits.