House Speaker Daniel Perez, R-Miami, offered remarks Tuesday to help start the 2025 legislative session. Here are his remarks as prepared for delivery:
“Members, although we have taken some unexpected detours along the way, we are finally here. Over the next 60 days, we will execute our constitutional duties, and the choices we make together will shape the future of our state for years or perhaps decades to come.
“When I spoke to you from this rostrum in November at organization session, I said I would be foregoing the traditional presiding officer game of defining the work of session around a set of my own personal priorities; that this process needed to be less about ‘me’ and more about ‘we.’
“In nearly every interaction I’ve had with the press or any appearance I’ve made before a group since that date, I’ve been asked the same question: what are my priorities this session?
“Members, if you look online, you will see there is no House Bill 1 filed. Nor is there a House Bill 3 or 5 or 7 or 9. I will not find meaning for my speakership in personal priorities. The mission of my speakership is to have this House be the most engaged, vibrant and dynamic legislative chamber in the country.
“We are living in an age of disruption. Historical coalitions have been reshuffled. The old conventional wisdom is dead. But in this time of chaos, we can find real opportunity. We must rise to meet this moment.
“So here is my ask of you this session: Let’s focus on what matters. Let’s set aside or minimize the inconsequential in favor of the meaningful. Let’s pass actual reforms rather than symbolic gestures; let’s repeal government programs instead of reshuffling them. Let’s swing for the fences and not just try to get on base.
“Fear is the enemy of change. We can’t be afraid of change. We can’t be afraid to break the status quo.
“And as great a place as Florida is to live, work, raise a family and send our kids to school, we can always do better. We can be better.
“To the subcommittee chairs, I encourage you to bring the messy, controversial ideas before your committees, and let’s have the big debates. But that will only work, members, if you are willing to come to committee prepared to ask or answer hard questions; to have better information and stronger arguments than what you will find in lobbyist talking points.
“Our committee process should be a crucible — where the give and take between members produces better legislation. No one has a monopoly on good ideas, and when a bill reaches the floor of this House, it should be the best version of itself — poked, prodded, tested and shaped by your input and engagement.
“We are the House of Representatives. We are the voice of the people. We must speak for them on the issues that matter."Florida House Speaker Daniel Perez, R-Miami
“We are the House of Representatives. We are the voice of the people. We must speak for them on the issues that matter. Property insurance matters to the people of Florida. A couple of years ago, the insurance industry came to the Legislature and said without sweeping reforms companies could not compete in Florida. We have since learned of reports — in existence at that time but not disclosed to the Legislature — that may suggest some insurance companies were using accounting tricks to hide substantial profits while telling us they were in a crisis. I have asked the Insurance & Banking Subcommittee to conduct hearings, and they will have access to the full range of tools — including issuing subpoenas, putting witnesses under oath and hiring outside experts.
“But insurance is only one of the policy questions Floridians care about. Many of you have filed bills for session tackling housing and health care; public education and public safety.
“This is the work that we must do. I would encourage all of you to not just focus on your bills, but look at what your colleagues are doing, lean in and offer to help. Because that’s how I am going to be spending my time over the next 60 days. How do we make good bills great? How do we get great bills across the finish line and turned into laws?
“Together, we can produce policy that will matter to the real lives of the people of Florida.
“We are the House of Representatives. We are the tellers of truth. We have an obligation to make sure that government works for the people and isn’t the playground for a group of insiders. Many of you have filed bills this session that tackle the lapses and failures of government at all levels. We are the public’s watchdogs. We must never hesitate to curb the excesses of government, eliminate programs that cause more harm than good and hold officials accountable for abusing their power. Members, do not be afraid to shake the tree of government and pull out the weeds of waste, fraud or abuse.
“We are the House of Representatives. We are the guardians of the taxpayer. We have rightly pushed back on local governments for allowing the growth in property taxes to drive spending. But if we are honest, we have done the same thing. We spend every new dime of recurring revenue while congratulating ourselves for giving easy-to-fund, non-recurring sales tax holidays. We can do better. I am challenging our budget subcommittee chairs to dive into the budget and find real savings in recurring revenue. Members, this money doesn’t belong to us; it belongs to the people of Florida.
“There is no HB 1 because the task before us is so much bigger than any one bill or issue. It is the work we do together over the next 60 days that will matter.
“Members,
— Where we find deception, let us bring truth.
— Where we find waste, let us bring reform.
— Where there is injustice, let us bring accountability.
— ‘Where there is despair, let us bring hope.’
“Alone, of course, none of us can do any of that. Alone we are just random bricks scattered across the ground. But when we are united — when we are bound together; when we lean on each other — we are the unbreakable wall; we are the immovable foundation.
“When we stand together, we are the Florida House of Representatives and all things are possible.
“Members, we have much to accomplish in the next 60 days. Let’s get started.”
