Florida to abolish position of Lieutenant Governor. Thoughts?

[Cubus]

Florida currently doesn’t have a lieutenant governor. And the Republican-controlled Legislature, inspired by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, appears serious about keeping it that way.

A proposal to eliminate the post — which is now vacant due to former Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nuñez resigning to become president of Florida International University — is poised for consideration by the Florida House. Lawmakers advanced the legislation (HJR 1325) through its final House committee Thursday, while senators are moving similar legislation through their chamber.

Florida did not have a lieutenant governor for a nearly hundred-year stretch in its history. The post was eliminated as part of the 1885 Constitution, but it was reinstated in the 1968 Constitution. This came after Gov. Daniel McCarty died in office in 1953, after which the state Senate president became acting governor until elections were held more than a year later.

State Sen. Randy Fine, who is sponsoring the proposed amendment in that chamber, (SJR 1756), argued the post is unnecessary because the lieutenant governor has no set duties under state law. Florida’s law of succession says the state’s attorney general — a post currently held by DeSantis’ former chief of staff James Uthmeier — would become governor if the lieutenant governor post is vacant.

“The job of the lieutenant governor today … is literally to not die, that is the extent of the job,” Fine said.

The proposed constitutional amendment, which would go before voters in the 2026 election, would also create a new Cabinet position called the “Commissioner of Government Efficiency,” a title nicked from the ongoing effort in the federal government sparked by Musk.

Source: https://www.politico.com/news/2025/03/20/florida-doge-legislature-lieutenant-governor-desantis-00240564

[BCA6010]

They should just do what Texas does and make almost everyone (except the governor) a partime politician who barely gets paid/costs anything, but the positions are in place for when SHTF.

That said, every state is a bit different, but the Lieutenant Governor is generally not very important beyond whatever gets delegated to them by the governor directly. Unless the governor is exceptionally busy or incapacitated for some reason, this isn't typically necessary.

A commissioner of efficiency is something that should be put under very heavy scrutiny, for a lot of reasons. The first one is because just like DOGE, it's a role that shouldn't have to exist if oversight was actually doing their damn job in the first place - or was ever doing their job to begin with. Additionally, DOGE has a finite end due to being part of a radical course correction, after which it ceases to exist.. so all this proposal is actually doing is adding another layer of permanent oversight to do a job that is supposed to be getting done already. Like DOGE, this barely even serves a point if prosecutions and budget adjustments don't actually happen. Furthermore... If this job needs to exist, why not just add it to the responsibilities of the lieutenant governor instead? In other words, they're riding on the popularity of what DOGE is doing to do something fundamentally different, and that's exactly the kind of thing voters should be wary of.

[DrPepper12]

All for it. VP too. Stupid positions in these times

[OlderAndWiser]

Gov. Lawton Chiles died in office (in his second term) on December 12, 1998 and Lt. Gov Buddy McKay served as governor for the remaining 24 days of Chiles' term.

[Dargil]

Florida is very successful at what it is doing. Have no idea what Elon Musk has to do with any of this. But I will say that Florida is my next residential state. I think Ron DeSantis will run for Senator of Florida during the next election.

[Cubus]

You think Moody will retire?

[Dargil]

As I read it, Moody is up for re election at the same time that Ron Desantis's term as Governor Anne's. I think he will run against her if she runs again in 2027.

[exitseven]

The position of Lt. Governor is mostly to have somebody who will replace the governor if he or she dies in office. There could be a system in place to do the same thing and save the taxpayers the extra salary.