• Senate President Kathleen Passidomo announced the composition of Senate Committees ahead of the 2023 Legislative Session
• Passidomo created two new education Committees — the Committee on Pre-K-12 Education and the Committee on Postsecondary Education — in order to more directly examine education policy
• Senators Corey Simon and Danny Burgess will serve as Chair and Vice Chair of the Committee on Pre-K-12 Education, respectively, while Sen. Erin Grall will lead the Committee on Postsecondary Education as Chair, with Sen. Linda Stewart as Vice Chair.

Incoming Senate Leader Kathleen Passidomo published her selected composition of Senate Committees ahead of the 2023 Legislative Session, also announcing the formation of two new education Committees.

The new committees — the Committee on Pre-K-12 Education and the Committee on Postsecondary Education — were created to allow lawmakers to craft policy relating to education with more specificity, according to Passidomo.

“As we saw in our travels around the state this summer, the pandemic highlighted issues related to education like never before. From increasing school choice options to setting standards for curriculum, parents are demanding more involvement in elementary and high school education. Meanwhile, higher education institutions are adapting to the demands of a post-pandemic workforce. I see tremendous room for innovation in this area of public policy and believe the Senate will benefit greatly from separate policy committees for Pre-K-12 and Postsecondary Education.”

The Committee on Pre-K-12 Education will be headed by DeSantis-backed freshman Sen. Corey Simon, with Sen. Danny Burgess serving as Vice Chair.

Burgess, the Republican state Senator representing Zephyrhills, filed the first bill of the upcoming Legislative Session last week, that if passed, would require social media safety education in classrooms across the state.

The remainder of the Committee is comprised of Sen. Bryan Avila, Sen. Lori Berman, Sen. Alexis Calatayud, Sen. Jay Collins, Sen. Erin Grall, Sen. Travis Hutson, Sen. Shevrin Jones, Sen. Rosalind Osgood, Sen. Keith Perry, and Sen. Clay Yarborough.

Sen. Erin Grall will lead the Committee on Postsecondary Education as Chair, with Sen. Linda Stewart as Vice Chair.

Sen. Lauren Book, Sen. Jay Collins, Sen. Ileana Garcia, Sen. Gayle Harrell, Sen. Shevrin Jones, Sen. Keith Perry, Sen. Corey Simon, and Sen. Clay Yarborough make up the remainder of the Committee.

“As many Senators are aware, I have decided to create both a Committee on Pre-K-12 Education and a Committee on Postsecondary Education,” said Passidomo. “Serving as Chair of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Pre-K-12 Education, I saw the benefit of bifurcating the responsibilities for Pre-K-12 and Postsecondary. In my view, the merits of this approach will be even more impactful by bifurcating the policy committee, rather than the appropriations committee.”

Passidomo additionally created a Select Committee on Resiliency following the landfall of Hurricanes Ian and Nicole, chaired by Sen. Ben Albritton.

The Committee will examine, alter, and propose new laws relating to storm resiliency and response in Florida, including funding, renovation to infrastructure, and disaster management.

“The wide-ranging impacts of Hurricanes Ian and Nicole clearly fall under the jurisdiction of a number of standing committees. While we will address some of these issues during the upcoming special session, my expectation is the select committee will continue to review recovery efforts and overall resiliency planning for our state,” said Passidomo.