Yesterday on Pensacola Speaks, I talked with State Rep. Clay Ingram about the growing friction between the Florida House and Senate. Everyone, Rep. Ingram included, believed that this session would be a calm one.
“My assumption was that this would be a pretty tame session with water policy being a big issue,” said Ingram.
He said it was the LIP funding that created the initial friction. “The House came out with a budget position, or an initial funding amount which included LIP funding from the Federal Government being included as if we were going to receive funds from the Feds or that was going to be there,” he said. “Then the Senate comes out with a budget which is about two billion dollars less because they do not include LIP funds. That created enough friction, just that issue alone, to make everything controversial.”
There is natural friction between the two legislative bodies. The House members face election every two years and are constantly running for office–which makes them acutely aware of how their voters think. The Senators have four-year terms and can be more deliberative.
Ingram said, “We call them the ‘dinosaurs’ in the Senate, or the place where good ideas go to die….I tend to want to stick to our guns on House positions because we are just closer to the people. You spend more time campaigning, going to events, talking to people, going door-to-door to see how your constituents feel.”
Listen to the entire interview:
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