State Rep. Roach provides legislative update
State Rep. Spencer Roach got a hands-on lesson about how state government works during his first year in office. He says he also got a lot done for the people in Lee County and North Fort Myers.
Roach spoke with local business leaders last week during the monthly North Fort Myers Chamber of Commerce Business Leaders’ Luncheon at the Smoke n Pit.
Roach, who returned home following the end of the 60-day general session, said being a first-year legislator was quite an experience, in that his life changed a lot, adding, tongue in cheek, as did how people approached him.
“You suddenly have a title, two offices, a staff, a little taste of power and a lot more friends,” Roach said. “I get to Tallahassee and my jokes are funnier, I’m the smartest guy in the room and people walk up to me and say my hair looks great today.”
Roach said there were 3,571 bills filed. Of those, 196 passed through both houses for the governor’s signature (one has already been vetoed).
Among the bills Roach worked on was one that would encourage students to enter the trades by offering a way for them to earn a diploma. an apprenticeship and certification.
Roach did something similar for veterans leaving the service so they can obtain a homebuilder certification and so have a job following their enlistment. Both bills helped fill the need for skilled labor, he said.
Roach also sponsored a bill to allow graduating seniors to wear their military uniform at their graduation, and another, with State Sen. Lizbeth Benacquisto, for a pilot program designed to address the teacher shortage by offering four full scholarships to aspiring teachers in Lee County, provided they teach in Lee County for two years.
Roach, who is pro-life, also sponsored two bills, one a fetal heartbeat bill that went nowhere, the second, a parental consent bill, that would require pregnant minors to get consent from a parent or legal guardian before they could obtain an abortion. That died in the Senate.
Among the controversial bills passed were ones that criminalized sanctuary cities (of which there are none in the state), and the expansion of the school safety act, which would allow non-instructional personnel to get licensed to carry a handgun in schools.
“We are not requiring any teachers to carry a handgun. It’s permissive and up to the school district to allow it,” Roach said, adding that the Lee County School District is against such a measure. “It’s a tool the school districts can use. If they want it, they can.”
Of the state’s 67 counties, 30 have signed on in one form or another, Roach said.
Roach said the most important thing he learned in his first year in office was when House Speaker Jose Oliva brought the 27 new Republican Houses members in for orientation and onto the House floor. He said he felt a sense of reverence as he sat at his desk for the first time. He also took note of what Oliva told him.
“He said for us to look at the two buttons on your desk, and be aware that every time you push those buttons, you’re affecting the lives of 21 million Floridians,” Roach said. “If that ever becomes easy for you, then it’s time to go home.”