The Executive Branch

The Executive Branch 11 An Introduction 19 Office of the Governor 34 Governor Rick Scott 37 Lieutenant Governor 40 Attorney General 42 Department of Legal Affairs 44 Chief Financial Officer 45 Department of Financial Services 52 Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services 54 Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services 56 Past Governors of Florida 92 Inaugurations 99 The Governor’s Mansion 106 Subsequent Political Careers of Governors 109 Cabinet Milestones 111 Former Cabinet Offices 115 Protocol 119 Major State Agencies 10 The Executive Branch: An Introduction Photo by Eric Tournay The Governor and Cabinet left to right: Attorney General Pamela J. Bondi, Commissioner of Agriculture Adam H. Putnam, Governor Richard L. Scott, and Chief Financial Officer Jeffrey Atwater. “The powers of the state government shall be divided into legislative, executive, and judicial branches. No person belonging to one branch shall exercise any powers appertaining to either of the other branches un- less expressly provided herein.” Florida Constitution, Article II, Section 3 11 Table of Contents Article IV, Section 1 of the State Consti- tution vests the “supreme executive power” in the Governor. But the Governor shares his executive responsibility with other officers, elective and appointive. Of these, first are the members of what the Constitution designates as the “Cabinet.” The Cabinet formerly consisted of six officers elected statewide for terms of four years with the possibility of re-election for one successive term. The Cabinet officers were, in the order listed in the 1968 Consti- tution: the Secretary of State, the Attorney General, the Comptroller, the Treasurer, the Florida State Archives Commissioner of Agriculture, and the Com- Governor Bob Graham and his six-person Cabinet: Doyle Conner (Commissioner missioner of Education. of Agriculture), Jim Smith (Attorney General), Ralph Turlington (Commissioner In 1998 the Constitutional Revision of Education), Governor Graham, Gerald Lewis (Comptroller) George Firestone (Secretary of State), and Bill Gunter (Treasurer). Commission proposed, and the voters ap- proved, an amendment that reduced the Cabi- Collegial Form net to three members: an Attorney General, a Chief Financial Officer (combining the offices of Treasurer This collegial form of state government, in and Comptroller) and a Commissioner of Agricul- which the Governor shares responsibility with the ture. This restructured Cabinet took effect on January Cabinet for administration through boards, is be- 7, 2003, following the general election in November lieved to be unique to Florida. 2002. The Commissioner of Education is now cho- In the State’s institutional programs prior to the sen by a Governor appointed State Board of Educa- 1950s, each institution was responsible directly to tion. The office of Secretary of State is appointed by the Governor, Cabinet, and Legislature. Needs of an the Governor. institution often were met in proportion to the influ- Each of the Cabinet officers heads a department ence of its legislators. But since then they have been of the state government. Additionally, each serves consolidated and administered as groups meeting with the Governor on a number of boards which ad- broad needs in areas such as corrections, education, minister other departments. On most of these boards, and mental health. This trend was required to meet a Cabinet officer’s vote is equal to that of the Gov- rapidly growing needs and efficiency of administra- ernor. tion. The Cabinet members are given the indepen- Once, in the 1930s, the Governor and Cabinet dent responsibility to manage the offices entrusted to spent an hour or more arguing over whether to au- them as divisions of the state’s executive functions, thorize the purchase of a mule for the farm at the and the Legislature can give additional responsibility State mental hospital. An incident of that nature no as well. longer occurs because the growth of the State and its This means that the Governor may not always institutions requires most decisions to be made by administer these jointly shared laws as he would like administrators subject to department approval. to do. Sometimes in Florida this spreading of responsibility has led to friction, and several Governors un- Changing Management successfully advocated the abolition of the Cabinet. But since 1885 Florida’s Constitutions have reflected Four factors have changed the management of the people’s fear that one person could exercise too Florida’s government since the days of the mule pur- much authority. chase. 12 Table of Contents ernment, the old chain of command no longer exists. Said Governor Collins: In earlier years, rank-and-file State employees looked to their department and agency heads for leadership and direction, and these heads had a continuing direct relationship with the Governor in developing policy and in its execution. The Governor himself could initiate programs and actions, and those helping him could coalesce into a clear-cut chain of responsibility. Now all governments are so much larger and more complex, with employees organized as they are that the earlier pattern is distorted. Decision-mak- ing seems to be greatly diffused, at times incoher- ent, and obfuscated.1 People generally associate the Executive Branch with the Governor and Cabinet, however, there are advisory bodies, as disparate as the Committee on Lay Midwifery to the Barrio Latino Commission, all with a piece of government in their hands.2 Florida State Archives The Governor makes appointments to approxi- Governor LeRoy Collins surrounded by his family at the Governor’s Mansion, Tallahassee, 1960. mately 850 boards. The boards include professional and occupational boards that have statewide respon- First, the phenomenal growth of the State means sibilities, but the Governor also must concern him- the Governor and Cabinet cannot concern themselves self with the local and regional appointment of hos- as closely with the day-to-day management. pital boards, housing authorities, judicial nominating Second, the burgeoning of the government committees, fire control districts, and boards of trust- means the Governor is involved with an increasing ees for community colleges.3 number of citizen groups all over the state, forcing Also, he shares the sovereignty of the State him to delegate responsibilities to subordinates. through his power of appointment of special officers Third, the Legislature, through its oversight and to boards, commissions, water management districts, standing committees, devotes more attention to the and other agencies and organizations, to which the execution of its laws. Governor makes nearly 6,000 appointments over Fourth, while the career service and employees’ each four-year term. unions mean the quadrennial “suitcase parade” no Measuring the Governor’s dominion another longer occurs with the changes of elective officers, way, in 2010 there were more than 900 state employ- these protections also give some independence of ees paid more than Governor Crist.4 (Governor Scott employees from supervisors and management poli- takes only a penny in salary.) A Governor must de- cies of the Governor and Cabinet. rive reward from the chance to leave the State a bet- ter place than when he took office. Old Chain of Command No Longer Exists Stated another way, the diffusion of responsibility means that perhaps the chief contribution to life In the opinion of Governor LeRoy Collins, in Florida by its Governors is the values and stan- whose residence in Tallahassee and public service, dards they reflect, and their moral suasion. The peo- including two terms as chief executive that gave him ple have shown, by their votes and otherwise, that the opportunity to observe Florida’s changing gov- they appreciate a Governor with whom they may not 13 Table of Contents always agree but nevertheless believe he is doing “Would you like to address me too?” interrupt- what he thinks is right. They are usually willing to ed Governor Askew. give him the benefit of the doubt. “I was including you in the Cabinet, Governor,” replied the Attorney General. Legislative Independence “But I’m not a member of the Cabinet,” said Askew.5 While it is commonly said that State govern- Since the Governor shares so much of the tra- ment is made up of three independent branches—the ditional executive responsibility with members of an Executive, Legislative, and Judicial—the separation independent Cabinet, it is not surprising that political between the Governor and the Legislature is not as scientists regard Florida’s system of government as sharp as that statement of independence might con- different than virtually all other states. vey. Actually, it is a limited partnership. Despite the revision of the Constitution in 1968, Because newsmen, by way of headline short- the Executive Reorganization Act in 1969 that in- hand, often speak of the Cabinet having taken some creased the responsibility of the Governor, and the action, there has been a tendency to regard the Gov- 1998 amendment to the Constitution that reduced ernor as being among the members of the Cabinet. the Cabinet to three members, the State’s Executive He is not, except that he serves as chairman of the branch retains its designation as a Cabinet govern- various boards on which he sits with members of the ment. Cabinet. A longtime observer, Dr. Daisy Parker Flory, professor of government at Florida State University, found that the vital characteristics of the Cabinet sys-

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