Dear Senators,
The detailed schedule is set for 26 joint public hearings this summer hosted by the Senate Committee on Reapportionment and the House Redistricting Committee. May we please ask you to forward this schedule, particularly as it relates to hearings in your part of the state, to your email list. Our objective is to encourage as much public participation and involvement as possible. Senators are welcome to attend hearings in or near your districts, even if you do not serve on the Reapportionment Committee. All Senators who attend will sit at the head table to hear public testimony.
Each Senator serving on the Committee on Reapportionment is assigned to one or more hearing groups (see attached schedule). Please plan to attend each public hearing for which you are in the hearing group. If you are unable to attend, contact the Chairman and request to be excused, just as you would with a committee meeting. ViceChair Margolis and I are listed for each of the hearings. If unable to attend, we will delegate our duties to another Senator. We will alternate between Senate and House chairs for the public hearings.
Senators must make your own travel, lodging, and eating arrangements. You will submit requests to incur travel expenses and reimbursement forms to the Senate President, just as you do for other official travel. Approved travel expenses for those Senators assigned to the hearing group will be paid from the general Senate budget. Travel expenses for Senators not in the hearing group will be paid from your district funds.
Our sole purpose at these hearings is listening to public testimony. By agreement between the House and Senate, Senators and Representatives will not be recognized for comments or discussion or even for questions.Either Chairman Weatherford or I will open each hearing with a very brief statement of procedures followed by a brief video presentation on redistricting and reapportionment. Other than that, President Haridopolos and Speaker Cannon have directed us to use 100 percent of the time in each hearing to listen and learn directly from citizens as to how they want the laws and standards governing redistricting to be implemented and how they think districts in their areas can work best for all voters and constituents. Following the joint hearings, there will be meetings of the Senate and House committees with ample time available for Senators and Representatives to reflect on what we have learned and pose questions or offer viewpoints or proposals. Meetings will convene promptly at the scheduled start time and will adjourn upon thecompletion of business or the scheduled end time, whichever occurs first. The joint hearings will be governed by Senate rules in that there is no provision for extending the time of any hearing. We will carefully budget time to hear as much public testimony as possible, and citizens are welcome to supplement the record with written materials.
All testimony provided in these hearings, both oral and written, will be part of the public record of the Senate and House committees, and available for your review on the Senate Redistricting webpage.
If you have questions about the schedule or logistics, please contact John Guthrie or Jay Ferrin at (850) 487-5855file://localhost/tel/%2528850%2529%20487-5855> .
Respectfully,
Don Gaetz