State Rep. Daisy Morales Among Top Freshmen in Florida House, Cosponsoring 110 Bills
State Representative Daisy Morales in the Florida House of Representatives during the 2021 legislative session in Tallahassee. Photo courtesy of State Rep. Morales (Facebook).
ORLANDO, Fla. (FNN NEWS) – Freshman State Representative Daisy Morales (D-Orlando) has been busy becoming one of the most bipartisan lawmakers in her freshman class. As a lawmaker in the minority party, Rep. Morales connected with lawmakers on both sides of the aisle to find the bills that would best benefit District 48 constituents and the people of Florida.
Dodging Controversial Bills
While Rep. Morales cosponsored some 110 bills, some of the most controversial ones don’t have her name on them. For one, Governor Ron DeSantis was quick to sign HB 1, dubbed the “anti-rioting bill,” into law in April, which hardens legal consequences on rioting while removing power from local governments to control their law enforcement budgets, angering many activists and civil groups.
State Rep. Morales also voted no on the Transgender Sports bill (SB 1028), which would ban transgender girls from participating in girls’ sports.
Rep. Morales voted no on Social Media bill (SB 7072), which the Orlando Sentinel defined as “punishing social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter for trying to set and enforce standards for content on their sites.”
Even more recently, Rep. Morales voted no on the newly signed Vaccine Passports bill (SB 2006), which bans businesses, including cruise lines, from requiring people to show proof of COVID-19 vaccination. Governor DeSantis signed Elections bill (SB 90), an election overhaul bill, into law on May 6, 2021, sparking outrage–and lawsuits–from voter advocacy groups across the state. Morales voted that down as well.
“The legislation has a deliberate and disproportionate impact on elderly voters, voters with disabilities, students and communities of color. It’s a despicable attempt by a one party ruled legislature to choose who can vote in our state and who cannot. It’s undemocratic, unconstitutional, and un-American.”
League of Women Voters of Florida president Patricia Brigham
Cosponsored Bills on the Move
Of the 110 bills Rep. Morales cosponsored, over 50 of them have either passed the Florida House or the Florida Senate (ordered enrolled), or passed both (ordered engrossed, then enrolled) and are awaiting the governor’s signature. A few were still in committee by the end of the legislative session.
- HB 17 Podiatric Medicine (Ordered enrolled)
- CS/CS/HB 37 Abandoned Cemeteries (Ordered enrolled)
- CS/HB 157 First Aid Training in Public Schools (Ordered enrolled)
- CS/CS/HB 173 Individual Education Plan Requirements for Students with Disabilities (Ordered enrolled)
- CS/HB 183 Office of Minority Health and Health Equity (Ordered enrolled)
- HB 217 Conservation Area Designations (Ordered enrolled)
- HB 231 Services for Veterans and Their Families (Ordered enrolled)
- CS/HB 385 Alcoholic Beverage Licenses, Lake and Sumter Counties (Ordered enrolled)
- CS/CS/HB 401 Florida Building Code (Ordered engrossed, then enrolled)
- CS/CS/CS/HB 429 Purple Star Campuses (Ordered enrolled)
- HB 435 Veterans Employment and Training (Ordered enrolled)
- HB 467 Insurance Adjuster Examination Requirements (Ordered enrolled)
- HB 483 Electronic Legal Documents (Ordered enrolled)
- CS/CS/HB 597 Homestead Exemption for Seniors 65 and Older (Ordered enrolled)
- CS/HB 625 Attorney Compensation (Ordered engrossed, then enrolled)
- CS/HB 663 Cottage Food Operations (Ordered engrossed, then enrolled)
- CS/CS/CS/HB 805 Volunteer Ambulance Services (Ordered enrolled)
- CS/HB 905 Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (Ordered engrossed, then enrolled)
- CS/CS/HB 919 Preemption Over Restriction of Utility Services (Ordered enrolled)
- CS/HB 1041 Protection of Elderly Persons and Disabled Adults (Ordered enrolled)
- CS/HB 1051 Environmental Compliance Costs (Ordered enrolled)
- CS/CS/CS/HB 1103 Special District Accountability (Ordered enrolled)
- CS/CS/HB 1239 Broadband Internet Infrastructure (Chapter No. 2021-24) – signed into law by Governor DeSantis
- HB 1251 Water Street Tampa Improvement District, Hillsborough County (Ordered enrolled)
- CS/CS/HB 1289 Autonomous Vehicles (Ordered engrossed, then enrolled)
- CS/HB 1381 Maternal Health Outcomes (Ordered enrolled)
- CS/CS/CS/HB 1507 Workforce Related Programs and Services (Ordered enrolled)
- HB 1591 South Seminole and North Orange County Wastewater Transmission Authority (Ordered enrolled)
- HB 1647 City of Orlando, Orange County (Ordered enrolled)
- HB 3861 Central Florida Family Health Center COVID-19 Infusion Center (Now in Appropriations Committee)
- HB 5301 Judges (Ordered engrossed, then enrolled)
- HB 7001 OGSR/Nurse Licensure Compact (Ordered enrolled)
- HB 7051 Law Enforcement and Correctional Officer Practices (Ordered enrolled)
- HR 8037 Osteoporosis Awareness Month (Adopted by Publication)
Many of Rep. Morales’s cosponsored bills were tabled. While that label usually means no further action will be taken, that didn’t stop Governor DeSantis from signing some into law.
- CS/CS/HB 15 Taxation (Laid on Table, refer to CS/CS/SB 50) signed into law by Governor DeSantis
- HB 29 Dispensing Medicinal Drugs (Laid on Table, refer to CS/SB 262)
- CS/CS/HB 79 Purple Alert (Laid on Table, refer to CS/CS/SB 184)
- CS/CS/HB 117 Resource Information for Individuals with Disabilities (Laid on Table, refer to CS/CS/SB 714)
- CS/HB 249 Specialty License Plates (Laid on Table, refer to CS/CS/SB 676)
- CS/HB 281 Postsecondary Education (Laid on Table, refer to CS/CS/SB 52, 1st Eng.)
- CS/HB 329 Alcoholic Beverage Licenses (Laid on Table, refer to CS/SB 148) signed into law by Governor DeSantis
- CS/CS/HB 383 Involuntary Examinations of Minors (Laid on Table, Refer to CS/SB 590, 1st Eng.)
- CS/HB 427 Independent Living Services (Laid on Table, refer to SB 794)
- CS/HB 491 Florida Real Estate Appraisal Board (Laid on Table, refer to SB 346)
- CS/HB 669 Largemouth Bass (Laid on Table, Refer to CS/CS/SB 1018)
- CS/CS/CS/HB 727 Wildlife Corridors (Laid on Table, Refer to CS/CS/SB 976)
- CS/CS/HB 783 Racketeering of Aquatic and Wild Animal Life (Laid on Table, Refer to CS/SB 776, 1st Eng.)
- CS/CS/HB 791 Workforce and Postsecondary Education (Laid on Table, refer to CS/CS/SB 366, 1st Eng.)
- CS/HB 903 Clerks of the Circuit Court (Laid on Table, Refer to CS/CS/SB 838)
- CS/HB 991 Petroleum Fuel Measuring Devices (Laid on Table, refer to CS/CS/SB 430)
- CS/HB 1013 Urban Agriculture (Laid on Table, refer to CS/SB 628, 1st Eng.)
- HB 1287 Child Care Facility Transportation (Laid on Table, refer to SB 252)
- CS/CS/HB 1307 Telephone Solicitation (Laid on Table, refer to CS/SB 1120, 1st Eng.)
- CS/HB 1399 Pub. Rec./Aquaculture Records (Laid on Table, refer to SB 1634)
- CS/HB 1579 Health Care Practitioner Discipline (Laid on Table, Refer to CS/SB 1934)
- CS/CS/HB 1601 Farming Operations (Laid on Table, refer to CS/CS/CS/SB 88) – signed into law by Governor DeSantis
- HB 5701 Trust Funds/Re-creation/Triumph Gulf Coast Trust Fund/DEO (Laid on Table, refer to SB 7054) – signed into law by Governor DeSantis
- CS/HB 7019 Statewide Flooding and Sea Level Rise Resilience (Laid on Table, refer to CS/CS/SB 1954) – signed into law by Governor DeSantis
- HB 7021 Resilient Florida Trust Fund/DEP (Laid on Table, refer to SB 2514) – signed into law by Governor DeSantis
According to Florida Politics, “If a House member gets a couple of bills passed in a single Legislative Session, that’s considered a win.”
What Makes an Effective Lawmaker
Rep. Morales shared with FNN News that as part of her indoctrination she was told Democrat freshman lawmakers should expect to not get any bills passed in their first term. She chose to change that.
The Washington Post listed five habits of highly effective lawmakers in their 2015 book, Legislative Effectiveness in the United States Congress: The Lawmakers. The Washington Post studied lawmaking in the House of Representatives over the last 40 years and scored the effectiveness of every member, based on how far representatives’ proposals move through the lawmaking process and on the importance of those proposals.
The habits mirror what’s necessary for success at the state level.
- Habit 1: Develop a legislative agenda rooted in personal background, previous experiences and policy expertise.
- Habit 2: Develop a legislative agenda tightly focused on district needs.
- Habit 3: Be entrepreneurial with positions of institutional power.
- Habit 4: Be open to compromise, even with those who are not natural allies.
- Habit 5: Cultivate a broad set of allies, even beyond the House.
One such example of habits #4 and #5 was the passing of the Traffic and Pedestrian Safety bill (HB 1113), for which Rep. Morales was the only cosponsor with Rep. Randy Fine (Palm Bay), an outspoken conservative. HB 1113 passed the Florida House and ended up dying in the Senate Appropriations Committee on April 30.
Rep. Morales sponsored 16 bills, including seven original bills, eight appropriation bills, and a House Resolution (for World Vitiligo Day). One sponsored bill, the Barber Services bill (HB 855) is headed to the governor’s desk, the Educational Opportunities for Disabled Veterans bill (CS/CS/HB 1347) passed the Florida House and headed to the Senate (where it died in Appropriations Committee), and the language from her Commercial Telephone Solicitation bill (HB 857) was used for the Senate version, Telephone Solicitation (CS/SB 1120), which is now headed to the governor’s desk. Additionally, her House Resolution to recgonize World Vitiligo Day was adopted by publication.
In total, Rep. Morales has her name on 126 bills, and didn’t shy away from bipartisan support and collaboration. She chose to buck against the freshman warning, ultimately emerging a winner as a freshman lawmaker from the 2021 Legislative Session.
And she’s not alone. Fellow freshman State Rep. Allison Tant (D-Tallahassee) sponsored and co-sponsored approximately 150 bills.
Being an effective lawmaker entails not only strong conviction, but a strong negotiation and networking. While throwing rocks and being the loudest in the room are effective in defining one’s ideological position and becoming a public icon, making actual laws requires the quieter skills in addition to the more visible ones, and State Rep. Morales has chosen to focus on the latter. “Being on the front lines all the time isn’t the only way to be a successful lawmaker,” said Rep. Morales. “Bipartisanship is one of the best strategies in getting things done.”
State Rep. Morales and Florida lawmakers return to Tallahassee next week for a special session on Florida gaming legislation. Morales will serve as a member on the House’s Select Subcommittee on the Seminole Gaming Compact.