Columbia County Legislative Delegation: Tuesday, 9:30 am, FGC Wilson Rivers Library, Simulcast Live by the FGC Media Team
October 26, 2025 11:45 am | 4 min read
January's Legislative Delegation meeting played to a
packed house. College President Larry Barrett is moving
Tuesday's meeting to the conference room at the library.
COLUMBIA COUNTY, FL – Tuesday, at 9:30 am, it is Columbia County Legislative Delegation time. While the County’s delegation is small, one senator and one representative, Columbia County is lucky to have a "tight" delegation that works as a legislative team.
At last year’s delegation meeting, which saw the
public and officials packed into the Florida Gateway
College Board Room like sardines, Senator Bradley
explained the delegation’s working relationship: “I also
have the – the real pleasure of working with
Representative Brannon. Not every Delegation, I can
assure you, through the state of Florida, has such a
great working relationship."
Florida’s County Legislative Delegations:
Where Did
They Come From? What Are They?
Senator Jennifer Bradley during a ight moment during the
January 2025 Delegation meeting. Representative Chuck
Brannan looks on.
County legislative delegations are not required by law to hold meetings before every legislative session. In Florida, these delegation meetings began as an informal tradition in the mid-20th century and were formalized around the 1980s, beginning with Osceola County’s passage of an ordinance requiring quarterly meetings with state legislators.
Florida’s County Delegation meetings evolved from post-1968 reapportionment reforms triggered by the U.S. Supreme Court's Reynolds v. Sims decision, which ensured equitable representation and encouraged local advocacy. This shifted focus from malapportioned districts to collaborative efforts between state legislators, county commissions, and local officials on issues like infrastructure, education funding, and transportation.
By the 1990s, counties like Miami-Dade (1992) and others adopted similar practices.
Legislative Delegation meetings are a tradition that remains vital in Florida’s decentralized governance.
At the beginning of last year’s Delegation meeting, Senator Bradley emphasized the importance of the Legislative Delegation meeting and active engagement from local communities:
“We certainly have a dialogue all year, but this is really the start of this legislative session’s dialogue. We hear from everybody today; we hope to continue to hear from you during session as issues come up. If bills come up that are of concern or that you care about, please reach out to our office. If you hear of a bill moving that you're very upset about or you very much want to pass, please reach out to our office. We care about that. These delegation meetings are not just something that are perfunctory, that we have to do every year.”
Senator Bradley continued, “We get bill ideas from these sessions that we have throughout the district.”
This Year’s Delegation Meeting: moving to a larger room
This year’s Delegation is moving to a larger room on
the Florida Gateway College campus: the large meeting
room at the Wilson River’s Library and Media Center.
College President Larry Barrett made the arrangements this year and told the Observer that the College will be broadcasting the meeting live. Dr. Barrett explained that the College’s media team will be behind the cameras and running the audio feeds, and the public can expect a top-notch broadcast.
Florida Gateway College live streams can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/@FGCollege/streams
Make Your Voice Heard
Legislative delegation meetings are a great way to make your voice heard.
If you attend or watch the meeting, you will see your Constitutional Officers (Clerk of Court, Property Appraiser, Tax Collector, Sheriff), the State Attorney, the Public Defender, County Commissioners, the School Superintendent, and other officials whom you may never see. You will see them joke and be serious. Some you will see with their hands out, looking for money.
Local businesses, nonprofits, and community groups may also address the delegation.
At the local level in Columbia County, the County Commission never asked the public what was important for the County Commission to present to the delegation. Columbia County’s legendary Columbia County 5, one of the quintessential good ole’ boy counties in Florida, never disappoints.
Florida NOW points out that this is a prime time for individual constituents to: share local priorities and concerns, ask questions directly of your representatives, offer testimony on bills or issues, and build relationships with your delegation.”
County 5 Chairman Tim Murphy presents at the last
Legislative Delegation meeting. He gets another bite of
the apple this Tuesday morning.
How does the public prepare, and what are the rules?
If you haven’t already been placed on the agenda, fill out a speaker card at the meeting – you will be called.
Columbia County usually has most of its politicians coming to the podium to address the delegation. They are on the agenda.
Most of them are respectful of the time they take. The Columbia County Legislative Delegation does not set time limits on the politicians, and most of them are respectful of the time, though some have notoriously not been.
How much time the politicians take determines how much time is left for the citizens, the ones who pay the bills.
Historically, the Columbia County Delegation meetings have allowed citizens to speak for three minutes, sometimes a little more. Senator Bradley and Representative Brannan don’t like to cut folks off, so try and respect a three-minute limit.
If you have prepared a written copy of your presentation, make sure to provide it to the delegation’s legislative aids.
Epilogue
Florida Legislative Delegation meetings are important and pretty cool.
You will get to see your local elected officials and others up close and personal.
If you can’t attend, make sure to watch the show on the College channel.