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Highlands Today

Grimsley, Troutman, Alexander To Chair Committees

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News Service Florida

Published: December 9, 2008

All three legislators representing Highlands County have been named to high positions in the Florida Legislature:

Sen. J.D. Alexander, R-Lake Wales, was appointed last week to what is one of the most powerful positions in the state, chairman of the Senate budget committee.

With the state more than $2 billion in the hole, and worse expected next year, Senate Ways and Means Policy and Steering Committee may be the toughest job in the upper house.

The steering committee will function like the House Appropriations Council in previous years, overseeing all of the budget committees in the Senate.

Rep. Denise Grimsley, R-Lake Placid, was appointed Tuesday by Speaker Ray Sansom to chair the council chair on Government Accountability.

Rep. Baxter Troutman, R-Winter Haven, who represents much of Avon Park, will chair the council on General Government Policy.

This year, Sansom split the Appropriations Council into two, with education, health and human services being the largest parts of the budget. Under each of those councils remain budget committees. He also split the policy and appropriations functions of the uber-committees known as councils, reasoning that in such a tough budget year it was better to let budget committee members focus on the budget.

Education and health care take up by far the largest portions of the budget, and Sansom reasoned that giving a full council charge over each would allow lawmakers to focus more on the two critical areas.

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