Tallahassee, Fl. (WTXL)—The 2013 legislative session starts March 5, and lawmakers have their work cut out for them with over 1200 proposed bills. One major issue they are looking into is pay raises for teachers and state workers.
“I think it is incumbent upon us as lawmakers to make sure that we can value their value and invest in them and make sure we give them a pay raise this year,” said District 8 Representative Alan Williams.
Gadsden County resident Essie Bethea is a substitute teacher. She says she thinks teachers deserve an even larger raise than what is proposed, “because they haven't had a raise in a long time."
Williams agrees, saying the raises will be a large priority of his.
In addition, Williams is the Senior Democratic Member on the Committee for Elections Bills. There are 14 proposed bills that address Elections in the state of Florida. The long voting lines in November 2012 gained national attention and were even mentioned by President Obama in his State of the Union Address.
“We are not proud that the President had to point out some of the discrepancies with elections here in the state of Florida,” Williams said, and he added that so far, both parties have worked together to fix the problem. “It’s a by-product of democrats and republicans working together, and that’s not something you normally see on major legislation such as that.”
If passed, the elections bills will take effect on January 1, 2014.
Overall, Williams says the tone of this legislative session will be different than the past.
“We have an opportunity to set the table and help craft some meaningful legislation,” Williams said.
