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Tallahassee Trend
Legislative rookies: Promising new Florida House members
Nearly 17 months ago, 57 legislative novices arrived in Tallahassee eager to make their mark.
Rep. Jeff Clemens (D-Lake Worth), 42
 [Photo: Damon Higgins/The Palm Beach Post/ZUMAPRESS.com] |
Making his mark: Being in the minority party doesn't discourage the former Lake Worth mayor. "Our role is a little bit different," says Clemens. "We can't expect to pass bills left and right. We have to find more subtle ways to be effective. We're expected to be the vocal opposition against things we think will be damaging to the state. It's a role I take pretty seriously." A former reporter for newspapers in Virginia, Ohio, West Virginia and Naples, Clemens has a knack for asking tough questions and delivering verbal zingers that bruise his GOP counterparts. His oft-repeated line in 2011: "I walk in this building every day and ask my aide, ‘Who are we sticking it to today?' " Colleagues usually put him in a good debate position — either in an opening slot or doing "clean-up" at the tail end of a policy debate. His wonkish side landed him the position of deputy policy chief for the Democratic Caucus upon his arrival in Tallahassee. He files a "pet peeve bill of the year" each session. In 2011, he targeted drivers who refuse to yield the left lane. This year, he went after gas stations with a bill requiring them to post both cash and credit prices for gas. He also got a lot of attention, and some flak, for sponsoring the first-ever medical marijuana bill. His position as the ranking Democrat on the State Affairs Committee, meanwhile, has cast him as one of the chief defenders of state workers, and he led the charge against the pension-reform bills.
Notable: Clemens' next big battle is figuring out what to do in the aftermath of redistricting. "I'm probably the single most affected Democrat in the state of Florida by the redistricting plan. The city where I was mayor has been broken up into four different House districts. As you can imagine, this fragments my supporters and people I've represented in the Legislature and as mayor." On a more personal level, Clemens is the singer in a musical group called the Datura Street Band.
