Reps. Ben Albritton (R) and Evan Jenne (D)
Does that letter after their name really mean much when it comes to Liberty?
Here are two Florida State Legislators that can truly be called Representatives. Webster defines a representative as:
2a : standing or acting for another especially through delegated authority b : of, based on, or constituting a government in which the many are represented by persons chosen from among them usually by election
3: serving as a typical or characteristic example <a representative moviegoer>
4: of or relating to representation or representationalism
The second one fits the bill for these two.
First up, Rep. Ben Albritton: He had the huge task of sponsoring the Dept. of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles bill. It's unusual a freshman legislator gets this task, as it often goes to a committee chair. It was placed into capable hands, though. Bills such as these are called Omnibus bills since they try to cover everything related to the agency in one bill. The initial version of this one was over 60 sections in length, and around 92 pages. While this is a drop in the bucket to 2,500 page bills out of Congress, it's still a lot of reading- more on that later with Rep. Jenne.
I was fortunate to find the same electronic authentication language here as had been amended into last year's Senate bill 1150 late in the session. This is bad stuff for liberty and privacy, as it opens the door for Radio Frequency ID (RFID) chips on licenses. RFID has a history of being hacked or cloned without the holder's knowledge, with negative results for the card holder. A second section would have assured RFID by offering an "enhanced" driver license for border crossings by land or sea.
My friend Catherine and I met with Rep. Albritton and gave him a crash course on RFID and how easy it is to be hacked or cloned. He is very personable. It turns out he knows someone I went through the FHP Academy with, so we got along very well. He pledged to us he would meet with us before the bill made a final committee stop. We were able to effectively communicate, and before the final committee stop for the bill, I learned Rep. Albritton had pulled ALL of the RFID enabling language out of the bill. We were expecting a compromise in the language, so it was a very pleasant surprise. Bills like this one are targets for everything legislators want to get passed, since they are "moving" and will likely pass. It would have been easy for Rep. Albritton to blow us off, but he did not and instead evaluated our information, what could happen, and then applied what he had learned.
Rep. Jenne is another exceptional legislator. I first met him when I was meeting with legislators about REAL ID. Like Rep. Albritton, he is personable and his concern and interest in what I was saying were genuine. I've had the chance to speak to him a few times since then, but his true caliber as a Representative came out at the prior committee stop for the above bill. He came loaded for bear- he said he had read the bill, all 90+ pages, and he had a bunch of questions. His questions included RFID chips. He publicly told Rep. Albritton that he trusted him when Rep. Albritton said he would find common ground on these issues.
Today at the final hearing, I watched as Rep. Jenne repeated this process on another bill. It's my understanding most legislators rely on staff summaries. Realistically, not every bill, even the few that come to a committee, can be read. That does not appear to be the case with Rep. Jenne. He asked so many questions this morning the Committee Chair was ready to cut him off.
I've used this site and my other one to make public the hypocrisy of certain other legislators, be it in their operation of motor vehicles with State Legislator tags at excessive speeds, or campaigning on one thing and then doing the opposite. It's great to write about two that are actually representing the citizens of Florida.
About Paul Henry
Paul has a law enforcement background, having served as a Florida Deputy Sheriff and State Trooper for over 25 years until he retired. He worked many levels and positions within the FHP, from road patrol trooper to lieutenant in criminal investigations, where he investigated numerous criminal cases. After retirement, Paul wished to pursue his automotive hobby and be left alone, but saw an increasing amount of waste in government as well as the government's increasing involvement in our private lives and liberty, so he became politically active. Paul is the founder of the non-partisan citizen's group Floridians Against REAL ID, and authored two bills for the 2012 Florida legislative session: REAL ID partial repeal and Motorist Rights (red light cameras). Paul is the 2013 Legislative Action Committee Chair for The Tea Party Network, a network for constitutional and Tea Party groups to do more than just complain about issues. Paul works as the Deputy Director for Legislative Affairs with the Florida Campaign for Liberty and lives in the Tallahassee, Florida area.
Representation Defined a/k/a A Few Good Men
Reps. Ben Albritton (R) and Evan Jenne (D)
Does that letter after their name really mean much when it comes to Liberty?
Here are two Florida State Legislators that can truly be called Representatives. Webster defines a representative as:
The second one fits the bill for these two.
First up, Rep. Ben Albritton: He had the huge task of sponsoring the Dept. of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles bill. It's unusual a freshman legislator gets this task, as it often goes to a committee chair. It was placed into capable hands, though. Bills such as these are called Omnibus bills since they try to cover everything related to the agency in one bill. The initial version of this one was over 60 sections in length, and around 92 pages. While this is a drop in the bucket to 2,500 page bills out of Congress, it's still a lot of reading- more on that later with Rep. Jenne.
I was fortunate to find the same electronic authentication language here as had been amended into last year's Senate bill 1150 late in the session. This is bad stuff for liberty and privacy, as it opens the door for Radio Frequency ID (RFID) chips on licenses. RFID has a history of being hacked or cloned without the holder's knowledge, with negative results for the card holder. A second section would have assured RFID by offering an "enhanced" driver license for border crossings by land or sea.
My friend Catherine and I met with Rep. Albritton and gave him a crash course on RFID and how easy it is to be hacked or cloned. He is very personable. It turns out he knows someone I went through the FHP Academy with, so we got along very well. He pledged to us he would meet with us before the bill made a final committee stop. We were able to effectively communicate, and before the final committee stop for the bill, I learned Rep. Albritton had pulled ALL of the RFID enabling language out of the bill. We were expecting a compromise in the language, so it was a very pleasant surprise. Bills like this one are targets for everything legislators want to get passed, since they are "moving" and will likely pass. It would have been easy for Rep. Albritton to blow us off, but he did not and instead evaluated our information, what could happen, and then applied what he had learned.
Rep. Jenne is another exceptional legislator. I first met him when I was meeting with legislators about REAL ID. Like Rep. Albritton, he is personable and his concern and interest in what I was saying were genuine. I've had the chance to speak to him a few times since then, but his true caliber as a Representative came out at the prior committee stop for the above bill. He came loaded for bear- he said he had read the bill, all 90+ pages, and he had a bunch of questions. His questions included RFID chips. He publicly told Rep. Albritton that he trusted him when Rep. Albritton said he would find common ground on these issues.
Today at the final hearing, I watched as Rep. Jenne repeated this process on another bill. It's my understanding most legislators rely on staff summaries. Realistically, not every bill, even the few that come to a committee, can be read. That does not appear to be the case with Rep. Jenne. He asked so many questions this morning the Committee Chair was ready to cut him off.
I've used this site and my other one to make public the hypocrisy of certain other legislators, be it in their operation of motor vehicles with State Legislator tags at excessive speeds, or campaigning on one thing and then doing the opposite. It's great to write about two that are actually representing the citizens of Florida.
About Paul Henry
Paul has a law enforcement background, having served as a Florida Deputy Sheriff and State Trooper for over 25 years until he retired. He worked many levels and positions within the FHP, from road patrol trooper to lieutenant in criminal investigations, where he investigated numerous criminal cases. After retirement, Paul wished to pursue his automotive hobby and be left alone, but saw an increasing amount of waste in government as well as the government's increasing involvement in our private lives and liberty, so he became politically active. Paul is the founder of the non-partisan citizen's group Floridians Against REAL ID, and authored two bills for the 2012 Florida legislative session: REAL ID partial repeal and Motorist Rights (red light cameras). Paul is the 2013 Legislative Action Committee Chair for The Tea Party Network, a network for constitutional and Tea Party groups to do more than just complain about issues. Paul works as the Deputy Director for Legislative Affairs with the Florida Campaign for Liberty and lives in the Tallahassee, Florida area.