State Rep. Alex Andrade was my guest on “Real News with Rick Outzen” this morning. We talked about having the one-two budget punch of Sen. Doug Broxson as chair of the Appropriations Committee and him chairing the House Subcommittee on Infrastructure and Tourism Appropriations.
“Having Senator Broxton as the chair of the overall Appropriations Committee on the Senate side meant that all the big ticket issues that we have to try and address and use our political capital and advocacy ability to get every year I’ve been in Tallahassee, he was pretty much able to handle it on his own, meaning I could take care of the things that were $5 million or less, knowing that a lot of the bigger ticket items he was able to handle,” Andrade said.
He talked about their trusting relationship and Broxson’s kindness. “I have a day job as a lawyer. I had a jury trial last summer in Santa Rosa County, and as I’m cross-examining a witness, the courtroom door opens land in walks Senator Broxton just to sit and watch me in my day job and just be a supportive mentor-father figure. I mean, I can’t say enough just about how incredible of a person he is.”
What does he consider his biggest accomplishments in the Florida House?
I’ve been able to take more money from Skanska than any plaintiff’s lawyer has been able to do so far. I took $6 million off the contract for the bridge last year that I didn’t think they were owed because they owe liquidated damages. And I was able to put $6 million towards critical infrastructure that wasn’t funded in last year’s budget for Escambia and Santa Rosa couunties.”
I was on base on December 6th during the NAS terrorist attack, and I was there to help families. I was able to get that commemoration day and recognized by Governor DeSantis.
I was there for every single phone call during Covid for people needing their unemployment assistance or having questions about their businesses.
I think the proudest moments I’ve had as a state representative aren’t those big bills or those big budget items. It’s just being able to pick up the phone, answer my cell phone every time people call me. And especially when that bridge was down, people stuck on Garcon Point where I’d get several phone calls a day from people just lighting me up about traffic on the bridge.
When it comes to constituent services, I’ve never checked someone’s party affiliation when they’ve called me for help. It’s something that I take an immense amount of pride in just being to help folks when they have questions or need assistance, and I’m just grateful we didn’t have a global pandemic or a terrorist attack or a piece of our critical infrastructure down in this last term.
