On Friday, Gov. Ron DeSantis announced the appointment of Doug Broxson to the Triumph Gulf Coast, Inc. Board of Directors.
Broxson is an insurance agent in the Gulf Breeze Area. Previously, he was elected to the Florida Senate, representing District 1 and the Florida House of Representatives, representing Districts 1 and 3. He currently serves on the Board of Governors of the State University System.
While in the Florida Senate, then-Senate President Kathleen Passidomo appointed Broxson to chair the powerful Appropriations Committee, so he is very familiar with many of the economic development projects in Northwest Florida.
His Role with Triumph
In 2017, the Florida Legislature passed the Triumph Gulf Coast funding bill that finally releases $300 million of the BP settlement funds to Northwest Florida, where the 2010 oil spill had the most impact. The money has been sitting in a bank account since last summer.
Senator Broxson made an amendment to the Senate bill that will prevent that from happening when the remaining nine installments are paid out over the next 15 years. His amendment said that the future payments must be deposited with Triumph Gulf Coast within 30 days of their receipt, avoiding future legislative battles.
I interviewed Broxson on WCOA’s “Pensacola Speaks” about the bill.
- “If we did not have that bill, we would be fighting this issue nine more times over the next 15 years,” he said. “I thought it was important, and our colleagues thought it was important, and we convinced the Senate and the House to concur with our amendment and they did.”
He added, “I’m very thankful and believe me. Long after I’m gone from here and no one can remember the oil spill, that amendment will be working to make sure that money goes into Triumph where it can be used for the people of the Panhandle.”