Advertisement

Column: Florida's peculiar Cabinet

 
Published Feb. 23, 2015

Although few Floridians are aware of it, the state has the most unusual executive branch in the United States. That became apparent recently when Gov. Rick Scott forced Gerald Bailey, longtime commissioner of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, to retire or be fired. But Scott did not have the constitutional authority to fire Bailey, who reported to the Cabinet, not to the governor.

So what is the Cabinet and why does Florida have one when no other state does?

The origins of the state Cabinet are rooted in the Constitution of 1885, which replaced the Reconstruction Constitution of 1868. Native white Floridians deeply resented the interference of the military governors in their personal, economic and political lives during Reconstruction (1868-77). In the post-Reconstruction period, common folk were equally dissatisfied with the Bourbon Governors, who came largely from the state's elite and who pursued their own interests.

By 1885, momentum for a new constitution could no longer be contained. For many who called for a constitutional convention, the "Carpetbag Constitution" of 1868 was a wrong to be righted. First, that meant eliminating the substantial appointment powers held by the governor, as well as the governor's ability to succeed himself.

The convention further undermined the power of the governor by creating six additional executive offices: secretary of state, treasurer, superintendent of public instruction, commissioner of agriculture, comptroller and attorney general. While the governor served as chief executive of the state, he could rarely act on his own. If this wasn't sufficiently debilitating, the governor's fellow Cabinet officers had no limits on their terms of office. Many served for 20 years or more, emboldening them to act independently of the governor.

For much of the 20th century, the Constitution of 1885 provided the framework for executive authority, with a Cabinet system that made the governor's office the weakest institutionally in the nation. Only one governor rose above the constitutional restraints of the office: LeRoy Collins. He served the last two years of Gov. Dan McCarty's term following his sudden death, then a full four-year term of his own. It was during this time that the federal courts ruled against the segregation policies of the South.

Collins guided Florida through this tumultuous era with extraordinary political skill and prevented Florida from descending into the racial chaos of its Southern neighbors — as the Cabinet members and legislators would have had him do by closing public schools rather than permit integration.

In 1968, Florida embraced a new Constitution that spoke to the needs of its burgeoning population along the Gold Coast and its emergence as one of the most dynamic states in the nation.

The 1968 Constitution kept the Cabinet system in place, but it recognized the importance of executive leadership for a modern state by allowing the governor to serve two terms, or eight years. Although on its surface this would seem like a minor change, it brought into office some of the strongest and most effective gubernatorial leaders in any state in the late 20th century — from Reubin Askew to Bob Graham, Lawton Chiles and Jeb Bush.

Spend your days with Hayes

Spend your days with Hayes

Subscribe to our free Stephinitely newsletter

Columnist Stephanie Hayes will share thoughts, feelings and funny business with you every Monday.

You’re all signed up!

Want more of our free, weekly newsletters in your inbox? Let’s get started.

Explore all your options

It was not just the constitutional changes that made this shift in leadership possible, it was the governor's ability to use his time in office to build a relationship with voters on issues that were cornerstones of his governorship, something that rarely happened when the governor was limited to a single term. Askew, who served eight years, went directly to voters to obtain support for a constitutional amendment requiring full financial disclosure by state officeholders and a corporate income tax and to block casino gambling. By securing voter support for his policies, he strengthened the power of the office and undermined that of the Cabinet.

The most recent transformation in the Cabinet system and in the relative authority of the governor took place in 1998, when Floridians, at the urging of Jeb Bush, voted to consolidate the Cabinet from seven executives to four — the governor, attorney general, chief financial officer (merging the treasurer/insurance commissioner and comptroller), and commissioner of agriculture.

As the state's population continued to expand, the governor became the face of government. No one asserted that better than Jeb Bush, who used television to communicate directly to Floridians about a variety of issues, including the hurricane disasters of the early 21st century, and interacted daily with Floridians through his Blackberry device.

In a state that continues to grow and diversify as much as Florida, and where few residents are familiar with its history, voters — no matter what the state Constitution decrees — look increasingly to the governor for leadership, not to the Cabinet. It is why Scott could force out Bailey as FDLE commissioner and few voters or legislators would take issue with it.

David R. Colburn is a historian at the University of Florida and author of "From Blue Dog Democrats to Red State Republicans" (2013). He wrote this exclusively for the Tampa Bay Times.