The Florida Legislature is hitting the road this summer to hold public meetings on redistricting as state legislators prepare to redraw the lines in their own districts -- and map out two new congressional seats for the Sunshine State.
The Legislature Thursday unveiled its schedule for the joint redistricting committees, which will take legislators to 26 stops across the Sunshine State over the course of more than two months. The meetings are scheduled in five sections, hitting the Panhandle in June, the First Coast and North Florida in the middle of July, Central Florida at the end of July, South Florida in the middle of August, and Tampa Bay and the Southwestern part of the state at the end of August and start of September.
The hearings will start off in the Capitol in Tallahassee on Monday, June 20, before heading out to the Panhandle the next day with meetings scheduled in Pensacola and Fort Walton Beach. The first round of public meetings will end on Wednesday, June 22, with a session in Panama City.
The next round will start in Jacksonville on Monday, July 11. The following day the legislators will hold meetings in St. Augustine in the morning and Daytona Beach at night. On Wednesday, July 13, meetings will be in The Villages in the morning and Gainesville that night.
The third round of meetings kicks off in Lakeland on Monday, July 25. On Tuesday, July 26, legislators will meet in Wauchula in the morning before hitting Wesley Chapel that evening -- home of incoming House Speaker Will Weatherford, who is the point man in the House on redistricting. The next day, the legislators head to Orlando before closing the round with a meeting in Melbourne on Thursday, July 28.
The legislators head to South Florida starting on Monday, Aug. 15, with a meeting in Stuart. The next day they will conduct meetings in Delray Beach in the morning and Fort Lauderdale that evening. They will also have two meetings on Wednesday, Aug. 17, with meetings in Miami and South Miami. They close the week with a meeting in Key West on Thursday, Aug. 18.
The last round begins in Tampa on Monday, Aug. 29, before legislators head to Largo and Sarasota the next day. On Wednesday, Aug. 31, they will meet in Naples in the morning and Lehigh Acres that night, before holding the last meeting in Clewiston on Thursday, Sept. 1.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or at (850) 727-0859.
