Speaker opens House session with pledge to get things 'done right'

By STEVE BOUSQUET
Published March 8, 2005

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TALLAHASSEE -- Florida House Speaker Allan Bense urged his members to work hard but not rush to see how many bills they can pass.

Bense convened the 2005 House session Tuesday by briskly ticking off priorities: to pay for growth; raising teacher salaries; and limiting the impact of the class size amendment.

"I'm not in a frenzy to see how many bills we can get passed," Bense said. "Whatever we do, I want it to be done right."

Bense, a 53-year-old Panama City businessman, looked out on a chamber filled with flower arrangements on members' desks. The House gave a long ovation to first-term Rep. David Coley, R-Marianna, Bense's former legislative aide, who is visibly weakened by a fight against cancer of the liver and spine.

Otherwise, the atmosphere in the House was noticeably more upbeat than in the previous two sessions, under the direction of former Speaker Johnnie Byrd of Plant City.

The low-key Bense drew a round of applause with a promise that sounded like a reference to Byrd, who feuded almost constantly with his Senate counterpart over the past two years. "I'm not going to be calling press conferences, bashing the Senate or the Senate president," Bense said.