As the State’s COVID cases topped more than 1.1 million on Dec. 14, leaders of both legislative houses have created Pandemic Preparedness and Response committees to examine pandemic-related issues and to explore how emergency management services should respond.
In a Dec. 2 memo to the State’s Senators, Senate President Wilton Simpson announced that he had established a Select Committee on Pandemic Preparedness and Response to review all facets of the state response to the ongoing pandemic.
“And (to) identify, as necessary, areas where there may be a specific role for the Legislature to make improvements to benefit our state moving forward,” he wrote in the memo.
Simpson appointed Senator Danny Burgess of Zephyrhills to chair the committee.
In November, House Speaker Chris Sprowls announced in a memo to members of the Florida House of Representatives that he had created a Pandemic and Public Emergencies Committee in the House.
“The Pandemics & Public Emergencies Committee has been created to explore not only some of the issues related to COVID-19 but also to look more broadly at emergency management and how we can prepare Florida today for future threats,” he wrote.
Sprowls later appointed State Rep. Tom Leek of Ormond Beach to head that new committee.
