“We now for the first time have standards in our rules,” said Florida House Speaker Will Weatherford after the rule change was passed unanimously in both chambers. “It’s a great day for us.”
If such a rule sounds like a no-brainer, guess again.
Last year, Sen. Jack Latvala, R-Clearwater, found out the hard way that such a rule actually wasn’t on the books.
His discovery came when he began pushing Senate President Don Gaetz and House Speaker Will Weatherford to investigate questions regarding the residency status of certain Democratic lawmakers — Sen. Maria Sachs, Delray Beach; House Minority Leader Perry Thurston of Fort Lauderdale; Rep. Joe Gibbons, Hallandale Beach; Rep. Jared Moskowitz, Coral Springs; Rep. Ricardo Rangel, Kissimmee; and Rep. Alan Williams, Tallahassee.
Latvala swears this isn’t a political crusade. Still, Sachs did defeat one of Latvala’s allies in the Senate in the 2012 election who would have boosted his chances of becoming Senate president in 2016.
