Cannon Names First Chairs: Grimsley to Appropriations, Aubuchon to Rules

Incoming House Speaker Dean Cannon, R-Winter Park, announced his first two committee chairs on Wednesday: Rep. Denise Grimsely, R-Lake Placid, will take over appropriations and Rep. Gary Aubuchon, R-Cape Coral, will take over rules.

Appropriations and rules are two areas that require an early start, said Cannon. We must develop strategies and options now to prepare for the fiscal year 2011-12 state budget.Similarly, we must identify updates and improvements to the House rules now to prepare for their adoption during the November organization session.

I have chosen Representatives Grimsley and Aubuchon for these roles because of their exceptional talents, their unequaled work ethics, and their track records of taking on difficult challenges without seeking credit or political gain, added Cannon.Representatives Grimsley and Aubuchon are well-known among our colleagues for their ability to master complex public policy, for their skill in navigating major bills through the legislative process, and for their willingness to work in an open and bipartisan manner. They have earned these leadership positions because they have spent their legislative careers doing exceptional work and exemplifying servant-leadership.

I have asked Representative Grimsley to conduct a thorough review of the state budget to ensure that we are directing our limited resources to our most critical needs, continued Cannon. I have also asked her to continue the steps taken by the House to improve the clarity of the budget process.

I am grateful for this responsibility and the confidence that Speaker-designate Cannon has shown in me, said Grimsley, who had headed up health-care appropriations, and will be the first woman to chair the full appropriations committee. The conventional wisdom is that our states fiscal outlook will not brighten in the near future. I will gladly meet that challenge in the same way I dealt with the health care budget the last two years -- by empowering my colleagues to participate in the process of balancing our budget and meeting Floridas needs.

Cannon said he and the new rules chair were on the same page.

Representative Aubuchon and I have discussed and he shares my expectation that the Florida House will conduct itself at all times in an open, orderly, and professional manner, said Cannon.

I take this position with the utmost seriousness because it is an opportunity to serve the other 119 representatives of the Florida House, said Aubuchon, who had been in charge of the roads, bridges and ports policy committee. Through the rules, our members and ultimately the voices of their constituents are all given equal treatment. I truly appreciate the duty assigned to me by Speaker-designate Cannon.