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Bill Count Soars In Republican Legislature

Shrinking government remains a constant theme in the Republican-led Florida Legislature, but lawmakers are on a record-breaking streak when it comes to filing legislation.

The House and Senate bill rooms are bursting at the seams with 2,905 bills as the 2017 session gets underway.  That beats a 2004 record of 2,691.

Much of that has to do with House Speaker Richard Corcoran’s new rule requiring his members to file individual spending projects as separate bills. House members have filed 2.58 billion dollars-worth.

According to Lobby Tools Legislative IQ, the most filed by a single member is 46, followed closely by Republican Halsey Beshears of Monticello, with 42 projects.

The deadline for filing individual bills has already run, but committee bills will continue to roll in.

A Miami native, former WFSU reporter Jim Ash is an award-winning journalist with more than 20 years of experience, most of it in print. He has been a member of the Florida Capital Press Corps since 1992.