State: Latvala will lead panel on redistricting

TALLAHASSEE -- Sen. Jack Latvala of Palm Harbor was named Wednesday to head a powerful Senate committee on congressional redistricting as part of the reshuffling of legislative assignments triggered by two senators' resignations.

Redistricting is the once-a-decade process of redrawing congressional and legislative district boundaries to reflect changes in the census. Florida's surging population growth in the past decade has given the state two additional congressional seats.

The announcement by Senate President John McKay, R-Bradenton, makes Latvala an important player in redrawing congressional district boundaries at a time when House Speaker Tom Feeney, R-Oviedo, harbors congressional aspirations of his own. Even before Latvala's appointment was public, Latvala was getting phone calls from members of the state congressional delegation, eager to make certain they will retain safe districts.

Latvala's eight years as a senator are scheduled to expire in 2002 because of term limits, and there has been speculation he might want to run for Congress.

But he said emphatically he has no desire to do that, and as a result, can be more "objective" at tackling a mission that has been partisan and driven by political ambition in the past.

"I'm looking forward to trying to do a good job of drawing reasonable-looking districts that keep as many local government boundaries intact as possible," Latvala said.

The lawmakers who chaired congressional reapportionment committees a decade ago went on to Congress: Karen Thurman of Dunnellon and Peter Deutsch of Fort Lauderdale.

The makeup of Florida's congressional delegation will change significantly in 2002, especially as it affects southwest Florida. Republicans Porter Goss of Sanibel and Dan Miller of Bradenton plan to retire, and the state's population growth entitles it to two more seats, for a total of 25. One of those new seats is expected to be in Central Florida and the other in southeast Florida.

At least four state legislators are said to be interested in running for Congress: Sen. Ginny Brown-Waite of Brooksville, Sen. Burt Saunders of Naples, Feeney and Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart of Miami, who chairs the congressional redistricting panel in the House.

Latvala, 49, gave up control of the Banking and Insurance Committee for a share of reapportionment. He replaces Sen. Lisa Carlton of Sarasota, the new chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, who in turn replaced Sen. Jim Horne, Gov. Jeb Bush's choice to be interim secretary of education.

Latvala's old Banking and Insurance Committee is now headed by Sen. Bill Posey, R-Rockledge.

In other changes announced by McKay, Sen. Ken Pruitt, R-Port St. Lucie, is chairman of the Finance and Taxation Committee; Sen. Victor Crist, R-Tampa, is the new chairman of the Criminal Justice Committee; Sen. Debby Sanderson, R-Fort Lauderdale, now heads the Ethics and Elections Committee and Sen. J. Alex Villalobos, R-Miami, now heads the Education Committee.

Pruitt said he enthusiastically shares McKay's support for an overhaul of the state's tax structure. "Floridians have to realize that over the next 20 years, we can't bury our heads in the sand and think everything's going to be OK," Pruitt said.

McKay said the changes were needed because Horne, R-Orange Park, was appointed as secretary of the new Board of Education by Bush, who also named Sen. Charlie Bronson of Brevard County as state agriculture commissioner.

Given the slow rate of population growth in Pinellas compared with the rest of the state, it would be difficult to justify anchoring either of the two new congressional seats in the Tampa Bay area. But Pinellas County Republican Party chairman Paul Bedinghaus speculated that Latvala might try to preserve Pinellas' existing state legislative seats.

There has been talk the county might lose a state House and Senate seat because of the county's slow growth.

- Times staff writer Alicia Caldwell contributed to this report.

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