Galvano opens Florida’s legislative session quoting Lincoln and urging moderation

Florida Senate President Bill Galvano opened the 2019 legislative session this morning quoting Lincoln and Hemingway and urging his colleagues toward moderation.

“Let’s be president George Washington’s saucer: to cool, to vet, to understand,” the Bradenton Republican said. “I will not judge the success of this session by my personal agenda.”

But Galvano, in his first year as president, did not shed any light on what his agenda is over the next 60 days.

He’s said that he wants to let his fellow senators drive the issues, but he has said his priorities include infrastructure funding and expanding the Suncoast Parkway.

He instead chose to urge Senators to be aware of its impact on future decisions. It was a sharp contrast to his counterpart in the House, Speaker José Oliva, who is looking to push a strong conservative agenda of health care and school choice reform.

“I will do my best to support you in every way, but I ask that we collaborate, that we truly vet and debate the policies and issues that come before us,” he said. “When an idea is not right, when a bill is not ready, let’s have the courage to step back, regroup and rethink. Have the discipline when to know when to let go and walk away.”

The Bradenton Republican placed 4-inch-tall hourglasses on each senator’s desk to emphasize taking the session day by day.

“The best thing about the future is it comes one day at a time,” Galvano said, quoting Lincoln, whom he called his favorite president. “So I challenge you all, let’s make every single day of this session meaningful, purposeful, and have it lead to accomplishment.”