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Politics

Ross Spano to Combat Human Trafficking and Business Taxes, Fight for Better Teacher Training

January 20, 2013 - 6:00pm

Rep. Ross Spano, R-Dover
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Date of Birth: July 16, 1966
Birthplace: Tampa
Residence:Dover
Education:Florida State University College of Law, Juris Doctor, with honors, 1998
Occupation: Attorney
Previous Public Office: None
Family: Wife, four children
Did you know?Was once the lead singer in a rock band; continues to sing -- his "passion" -- with his wife in the church choir.
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Ross Spano is a newcomer to politics, but thats not stopping him from hitting the ground running on a number of his legislative priorities. These include legal relief for the victims of human trafficking, tax relief for small businesses, and stronger collegiate training for the state's teachers.

Asked what motivated him to enter public service, the Dover Republican cites his father, a lay political junkie, as an inspiration.

And so ever since I was a young guy, maybe by my early 20s, there was something about the political process that was interesting to me and which engaged me, Spano, an attorney who majored in history during his undergraduate years, tells Sunshine State News. Im a student of history; Ive always been fascinated by the political framework of cultures and the impact that those frameworks have had on the people of every society.

Spano says hes excited to have received every committee assignment he requested from House Speaker Will Weatherford: the Judiciary Committee and the subcommittees on Civil Justice, Choice and Innovation, Health Quality, and Higher Education and Workforce.

Asked what he believed the priorities will be in the upcoming session, Spano echoes several of his colleagues by referring to the need to provide more vocational training for students who are not college-bound.

We have about 50 percent of our kids in high school who never go to college, he explains. Theres a growing concern in my community [District 59, East Hillsborough County] that were not meeting the needs of those kids by preparing them for the job force.

Without providing details, he says the K-12 Subcommittee would soon be coming out with a bill that addresses that issue.

For his own part, Im sponsoring a bill that will help our universities to prepare teachers to be more effective in the classroom, Spano tells the News, again without providing specifics The legislation would put in place a system for the development of teacher preparation programs so were assuring that our university programs are continuing to produce the most highly educated and best-skilled teachers in the whole country.

Another bill hell be proposing augments what is already shaping up to be another priority this legislative session, particularly in the House: human trafficking, particularly of children. Spano will be introducing legislation that would allow judges to vacate (i.e., nullify) certain criminal convictions if the offender can prove that they committed them under duress.

Victims of human trafficking are many times forced into prostitution, drug use, and other types of criminal activity, and not of their own choosing, often through physical and other threats, he says. Even after these victims are freed from that scenario, Im concerned that they continue to be victims down the road when they have to admit those convictions on job and college applications, which I think significantly restricts their ability to move on and away from that past victimization.

Another law Spano plans to introduce would raise the corporate tax exemption from $50,000 to $75,000.

My district is made up largely of thriving small business, mom-and pop shops; we dont have a lot of large industries in our area, he explains. This added exemption would free up capital for those small businesses to expand and hire more employees.

Finally, Spano the lawyer will be introducing two housekeeping measures: one would streamline the wage-garnishment process (making things easier for clerks of court and the other parties involved) and make state probate and trust laws more efficient (for example, by not allowing people to will gifts to themselves).

Those bills are not too sexy, I admit, he tells the News. But I think theyre needed.

Reach Eric Giunta at egiunta@sunshinestatenews.com or at (954) 235-9116.

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