Senator Loranne Ausley, Florida Legislature

 

Senator Loranne Ausley

Representing District 3, Florida Legislature

Contact Information:
https://www.flsenate.gov/Senators/s03

https://www.ausleyforsenate.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/loranne-ausley-0bb8571b/

Transcript

This is a transcript from The Floridaville podcast.  This transcript was created using artificial intelligence so it may not be an accurate account of what was recorded.

Rosanna Catalano  00:08

This is The Floridaville get to know the people behind the Florida names. You know, I'm your host Rosanna Catalano. On this episode we get to know Senator Loranne Ausley. A state legislator newly elected to district three. She has spent her career advocating on behalf of people in the Big Bend area. And we're recording remotely. today. I'm in my home in Tallahassee and Senator Ausley is speaking to us from her home. Also in Tallahassee, welcome to the show.

 

Senator Loranne Ausley  00:34

Thanks. It's great to be here.

 

Rosanna Catalano  00:36

Well, you represent district three in the Florida Senate, can you share with us what cities you represent?

 

Senator Loranne Ausley  00:43

And I don't think I could give you a list of cities because it's 11 counties, but it ranges so so Tallahassee, Quincy Havana, all the way to Port St. Joe. And we want Hitchcock and Gulf county wants town, Bristol, alligator point, St. George Island. And you get the picture. And then all the on the east side Monticello, Madison, Perry, white springs, Jasper Jennings in Hamilton County. So I actually took a tour on my bicycle, and I got to see it all. And it's an unbelievably beautiful district.

 

Rosanna Catalano  01:14

It is, and it's very large geographically. So we have new leadership in the House and Senate for this year, what committees will you be serving on for the 2021 session? And tell us what types of issues will you deal with in each of these committees.

 

Senator Loranne Ausley  01:28

So I'm pretty excited about my committee assignments, I got six assignments. So two policy committees agriculture, and energy and environment. So Ag and environment are two separate policy committees. And then two budget committees. So the budget appropriations on agriculture and environment. So that's one subcommittee. And then the other the other is the the Budget Subcommittee on transportation, tourism and economic development. And then jaaxy, which is a joint administrative procedures Council Committee. And then the final one is the Select Committee on pandemic preparedness and response. So it's a full range of issues that I went, you know, when I talked to school kids that I kind of tell them, your your committees are kind of like classes, you know, like, yeah, you study up on the issues, and instead of a test, we have a vote. So it's kind of important to be to be prepared. So I'm excited about being able to study up and really play a role in a number of different areas that are really important to this Senate District three.

 

Rosanna Catalano  02:35

Yeah, that's,

 

Senator Loranne Ausley  02:36

that's quite a lot of committees you're on, you know, the agriculture issues are really important to the rural parts of this district. You know, Energy and Environment issues are important, because I mean, there's eight first magnitude springs, and Senate District three, like 23, rivers, maybe 16, state parks, over 100 miles of coastline. So climate change, and those sorts of issues are going to be real important. You know, I'm excited to be over tourism and economic development, because there's a lot of Hurricane Michael, relief that's still needed on the western part of the district. And that all that comes to the Department of Economic Opportunity, as well as rural broadband that's going to

 

03:17

that's a big

 

Chef Joseph Longo  03:18

focus of mine. And I think we'll, we'll touch on everything in that panel in the Select Committee on the pandemic, my plate is definitely full. That's a lot.

 

Rosanna Catalano  03:27

So for our listeners unfamiliar with your story, can you take us back back to the beginning and tell us where you grew up and what your family was like?

 

Senator Loranne Ausley  03:36

And it's like, so yeah, so um, I'm been in Tallahassee all my life and as, as my father and his six generations here in Tallahassee, I, you know, went to Leon High School, and really, you know, lived here when it was a kind of a sleepy little town and some might still say that it is but I am excited about the the interesting and diverse growth that I've seen in my community. I, you know, grew up with a brother and sister here and my parents were very involved in the community. Still our My dad is an attorney and still practicing in his 80s. And it's just been a community leader. His father was the mayor and actually served in the Florida Senate. So kind of exciting to, to carry on that legacy.

 

Rosanna Catalano  04:26

That's incredible. Now, you graduated from Randolph Macon Womens College with a Bachelor of Arts degree and then you went to law school, Washington and Lee. So you talked about your father and your grandfather? Was your decision to go to law school impacted by your family, specifically your dad?

 

Senator Loranne Ausley  04:46

I think, certainly, you know, he the family practice and, you know, he practiced with his father and I guess I always envisioned that I would do that. And my, you know, my career sort of took a different turn that was in the in the Late 80s 90s. And it was still sort of there weren't a lot of women lawyers at any

 

05:05

law firm.

 

Senator Loranne Ausley  05:06

thing about having a law degree, opened a lot of doors for me, even if I wasn't practicing law, I guess I knew that was the case.

 

Rosanna Catalano  05:15

So I always love to hear how successful people get their start. So can you share with us some of the positions you held early in your career?

 

Senator Loranne Ausley  05:23

Yeah, so right out of college, I, I actually worked for Bob, Bob Graham was the governor of Florida. And I went to work on his he was running for the United States Senate. And so I went to work on that campaign. And it was, it was a great experience. You know, it was a statewide campaign, I was just out of college. But I got to spend my time driving around the state of Florida, and, and helping people, you know, get organized for this campaign. And he was the governor. So it was kind of cool. And I went with him to Washington and worked in a senate office before going to law school, then I, you know, spent a couple years practicing law in a large firm in Miami. But I sort of got the government and politics bug and ended up going to work in the Clinton administration in Washington and had, I think, two of the coolest jobs anyone could ever have in government. I started at the Department of Commerce, the US Department of Commerce in the Travel and Tourism Administration. And we put on a White House Conference on tourism, we had individual White House conferences in every single state. So I had the opportunity to travel around the country. And, you know, went to Alaska and Hawaii and then talked about the importance of tourism. And it all culminated in a in a big conference, and President Clinton and Vice President Gore and all the Cabinet Secretaries came and I was the executive director of that conference. And it was really cool. And I moved from there to go work with Andrew Cuomo, who is now the governor of New York. He was the Secretary of the Department housing, urban development, Andrew was the assistant secretary over the community development. So we worked on empowerment zones, bringing businesses into inner cities, and then the hard to believe. But it's not that hard to believe today that there was a rash of church burnings across the country racially motivated church burnings. And HUD was given the responsibility for managing a loan guarantee program for rebuilding places of worship. So Andrew, put me in, you know, at the time secretary, Assistant Secretary Cuomo put me in charge of this program that was bringing together pastors and volunteers from around the country to help get places of worship rebuilt. And it was a really amazing experience.

 

Rosanna Catalano  07:41

What an incredible career you've had. And I know that you worked with lieutenant governor buddy McKay as well, I think you were chief of staff. So you have really had a very interesting career in government. So you became an elected official in 2000. When you ran for state representative, what inspired you to make that first run?

 

Senator Loranne Ausley  08:04

I really had just come off the gubernatorial campaign, Buddy, McCay, lieutenant governor had run against Jeb Bush, and a number of us, you know, young democrats here. And Leon County, was looking around the room trying to figure out what was you know, what is what is the next generation of leaders look like? And we literally, were recruiting folks for the seat, and someone looked across the table and said, you know, why don't you think about running? And I always thought it would be behind this, you know, started working for candidates and I worked with agency heads and sort of was the behind the scenes person. And I never, I think this is something common to many women. We don't think about doing it ourselves. So I kind of thought about that for a bit and realize that it was an open seat. Marjorie Turnbull had decided not to seek reelection. And so I thought, well, you know, what, if I am going to regret it, if I don't take this jump, and so I did, I jumped in with both feet. I, you know, went to remember talking to my parents, and my dad had run for actually the State Senate, and a very close and contested race in 1974, when I was 11 years old, and which may be, you know, why I'm here today. But I remember him trying to talk me out of it, because it was a crowded field. And he, you know, why do you want to do this, but here I am today, you know, 20 years later. It's just, it's just been an honor of a lifetime to have served in the house and I'm just excited about the opportunities in the Senate.

 

Rosanna Catalano  09:32

That's an incredible story. And I think you're right about women needing a little bit more of a nudge to get into public office and seek it. So let's take a quick commercial break and we come back we'll learn more about your leadership work and your hobbies.

 

Rosanna Catalano  09:49

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Rosanna Catalano  10:47

Welcome back. Our guest today is senator Loranne Ausley, a Florida legislator representing several counties in 11, I believe in the panhandle of Florida, including where I live in Leon County. She's my legislator. So you served in our state legislature from 2000 to 2008. What did you focus on after leaving public office?

 

Senator Loranne Ausley  11:08

So I, I also ran statewide for Chief Financial Officer in 2010. And that experience was another great experience, you know, we I think we we often gain so much from what seemed to be losses at the time, and it was clearly it was a loss. But it was a, you know, I got to see the state of Florida, every single corner of the state of Florida, much like I had done in a very different capacity for Bob Graham of many years earlier, but as a candidate, and met people in large cities and small, but I also realized after losing that race, that there was not a or not a lot of resources or structural structure for candidates. You know, I kind of fell out I'm running for statewide office, people are going to swoop in. And that was not the case. So I spent some time researching and seeing what was happening in other states, and came across a model in Colorado called Project New America, which was a research and messaging hub that really helped to transform the West, I mean, that the western states had gone from red to blue. Pretty recently, some of it had been credited to the fact that they had gotten together and really tried to formulate messaging and policy that met people where they were so I've worked on a similar program here in Florida, trying to figure out what is it what how do we speak to Floridians in a way that we can connect with them speak to their values, and not you know, as Democrats, we want to spout out the three f five point plan and, you know, get all the facts and voters are don't want to hear the facts. They want to hear what's in our hearts. And so I spent some time thinking about that, and helping others try to formulate, you know, try to articulate what we believe in a way that we can connect with people and ask so spent some time doing some some research and then working with candidates and working with folks, it was a great experience. I also spent a lot of time continuing my work here in the community. around the whole child Leon and I was the chair of the Florida Healthy Kids Corporation. So continue to a lot in my volunteer work as well.

 

Rosanna Catalano  13:25

You have done a lot. So you may not remember but the first time I interviewed you was back in 2000, when you had just become a Florida legislator, the Tallahassee women lawyers wanted an article on you, and your success, and I volunteered to write it, you were so gracious to have me in your legislative office. And I was excited to learn, you know, I did my research all about your accomplishments. And then I was blown away that on top of all your professional success, you were an accomplished athlete. Can you tell us about that? As I'm still amazed?

 

14:01

Yeah, you

 

Senator Loranne Ausley  14:02

know, and it's, it's, um, it's not something I didn't like, grow up, you know, being a runner or anything, but I'm a triathlete. And I have been for over 20 years now. And marathon runner and it's just, it's something that is really, like it is my outlet to be able to swim, bike and run. And it's enough of a variety that it's I think it I stay healthy because of you know, don't run two days and you know, but it's and I've got a great group of people that I do it with, and I travel to do races and it's just something that's kept me going, I think so you

 

Rosanna Catalano  14:41

have completed the Iron Man. Three times,

 

14:45

I think

 

Rosanna Catalano  14:45

three times Yes, three times. So for those of us like myself that only run when being chased by monsters. What do you have to do to finish an Iron Man

 

Senator Loranne Ausley  14:55

so that our man is a 2.4 mile swim Sometimes, I mean, my first one was in the Gulf of Mexico, others had been in rivers, actually. And one was in the Chesapeake Bay. So three different open water swims, and 112 mile bike ride, and then followed by a full marathon. So 26.2 mile run all together in one day.

 

Rosanna Catalano  15:19

So these take hours to complete.

 

Senator Loranne Ausley  15:23

Yeah, it's, you know, 12 and a half hours is my best time. And that was, that's actually pretty good time. And I'll never get there again. But 14, 15,17 hours, it's it, you know, it's a it's definitely a grueling day. And there's a, there's a fourth discipline, which is nutrition, you have to make sure that you're eating that your body can ingest the types of things that can you can continue going, but that that can fuel fuel you for 12 to 16 hours.

 

Rosanna Catalano  15:51

So you talked about that this was a way for you, too. I guess, an outlet for you this athleticism, what do you what also do you get from pushing your body to the max like that, because an Iron Man is an incredible physical fitness event?

 

Senator Loranne Ausley  16:10

Yeah, you know, it's, it's a, it's definitely a outlet for me mentally, the training, I mean, at the training is, to me, as much of the of the journey as the actual, you know, the event, I remember, when training for my first I did a little speech, a normal speaking routine with a with a group at Hartford Elementary, and they sort of followed my career. And I remember, you know, saying, I have to be prepared, that I might not be able to finish, because so many things in a day like that are out of your control the weather, you might have a bike malfunction, and you have to be mentally prepared, that you're going to be okay, with all this year of training and the base of your whole life that you might not finish. And the kids couldn't understand that like, you can't, you're going to be a loser if you did that. And I have to know how to explain to them. This is something it's something way beyond the actual Iron Man, you know, it is it's getting there. And it's being healthy and, and having a good group of people to to love those hundreds of miles that have to be logged to get to get to to the starting line, much less to the finish line.

 

Rosanna Catalano  17:22

And a real appreciation for the journey. Yeah, yeah. You returned to the Florida Legislature in 2016, as a representative and was just elected to the Senate this year, what prompted you to return to the legislature.

 

Senator Loranne Ausley  17:38

So, my, my life's work and passion has been around our children. And and we, you know, we have so much research today that tells us how important the early years of life are yet we still, you know, spend such a fraction of our state and national resources on those early years of life. And so I spent time when I was at a legislature trying to get people to focus and care about these issues through some community efforts, and realized, it's much easier to push policy for me from inside and, and I felt like we needed to recruit a new generation of leaders. And it was easier to recruit, if I was willing to go back and do it myself. It's a lot easier to recruit from within than it is to say, Hey, I did that you should do it, too. So I, this came open again. And I decided that it was still had work to be done, came back as a freshman, and still in the minority. And it was it's funny, because it was like being a freshman all over again. And I talked earlier about when you talk to kids about the legislature being a little bit about like school with term limits it you know, we're freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and seniors. And it's really like that even if you've had eight years, you're still go back to the bottom of the totem pole.

 

Rosanna Catalano  19:01

So you've successfully run for various elected positions that we've talked about, and have been very involved behind the scenes and motivating and supporting others, to run for public office, especially women. Why do you think it's important for people to serve?

 

Senator Loranne Ausley  19:16

Well, you know, we have a citizen legislature in Florida. And we have that for a reason. We need to have people with all types of backgrounds and all life experiences, to be able to successfully govern a state of over 20 million people that has great challenges. And you know, if you have people that are teachers and lawyers and doctors and all walks of life, it's really really important. And people who love that who believe in public service and believe that's what we're doing this floor and people who truly love the state of Florida. And, and I think it's really important that we have all of those qualities to get us to get Florida to to To keep us where we are, and to make sure that we leave a better Florida for the next generation.

 

Rosanna Catalano  20:06

I know you work on a lot of boards. Can you tell us about some of your board work?

 

Senator Loranne Ausley  20:10

Yes. So I'm really excited about the work, the current work that I'm doing with the South City foundation. South City is a pretty challenged neighborhood with like a mile south of the Capitol with some pretty grim statistics. And we have become, we've been selected by purpose built communities, which is a Atlanta based nonprofit that focuses on place based revitalization. It is citizen led so we're working directly with the neighbors that live in south in this one census tract.

 

20:45

But we're we're

 

Senator Loranne Ausley  20:46

very strategically focused on three areas, mixed income housing, a cradle to career, a plus education pipeline, starting with infant infancy, all the way through through college and work, and then a health and wellness strategy. And then the, the key piece of this is a community quarterback organization that drives all of this the housing education and the health care piece. And so I represent Alexander and I share that community quarterback organization, and we're just, we're just a little bit over a year into the work, but it is it's so exciting. And it's really exciting during the times that we are currently living because purpose built has over there 20 years of work really focused on equity. And so all of this work is done through an equity lens. You know, where we are in our nation right now. It's just so important that we're that we are focused on that, you know, racial equity issues, but you know, in the housing perspective and the educational perspective and and a healthcare perspective.

 

Rosanna Catalano  21:53

So, you've been an outspoken advocate, not only for these issues that you're talking about, but also for children and your South City does focus on children and what inspired you to get involved in children's issues.

 

Senator Loranne Ausley  22:10

When I worked with Lawton Chiles and Buddy McKay, Lawton was the you know, the governor, Governor, when I worked was chief of staff to Buddy McKay's as Lieutenant Governor, Chiles was a real early adapter to this early learning issues. I don't think we even really had the brain research at that point that told us how critical those years were, but he just instinctively knew that investment in those years was critical. And, and so I kind of followed along and paid attention to those issues. As the years unfolded, the research became so clear. And we still, we still have a hard time convincing people that it's that investment in childcare and early learning is anything more than babysitting? I mean, I remember having conversations with legislators in you know, my early years of, you know, not that long ago, when they Why are we spending money that's just babysitting. And, and not having that recognition of how important those years are. And that investment in those early years, could pay off so much in the long run. So it really was long Charles and his wife, Rhea, that gave me that that foundation of how important it is.

 

Rosanna Catalano  23:19

What are you hoping to accomplish for the constituents in your district this year?

 

Senator Loranne Ausley  23:24

Well, it's tough time. You know, we're, everybody's working from home, we're still 10 months into a pandemic. And I think everything is going to look different on the other side of this. And and so my answer to that is different than it would have been two months ago, I'm, I'm excited to be able to work on the Select Committee on the pandemic, because I think it's it we need to address everything, you know, first the rollout of the vaccine, and ensure equity in that rollout that that, you know, communities that are most impacted by the pandemic and disease are not at the back of the line. And we need to focus on the broken unemployment system. And not just the technical piece of it. But the the fact that we are the lowest our unemployment benefits are the lowest in the nation. You know, we have we have this pandemic has uncovered thought lines that have existed in our safety net for for too long. And I think it's time that we really look at that really investing in a Early Learning System system childcare, so that parents can go to work and feel comfortable that their children are, are being educated and well taken care of. And, you know, the core of it all is, is broadband, being able to, you know, kids, being able to be educated from home, parents being able to work from home, being able to access health care from home and once the pandemic is over. high speed internet is still going to be important for every every kid and every family. So I think really focusing on restoring our communities and making sure sure that we're rebuilding in a way that that reflects what we've been through.

 

Rosanna Catalano  25:07

We'd like to end our show with a little bit of fun by asking all of our guests the same seven questions. What would people be surprised to know about you?

 

Senator Loranne Ausley  25:17

I love funnel cake.

 

25:22

Oh, I love funnel cake.

 

Rosanna Catalano  25:25

Girls, but I really think it's so good with that powdered sugar. Oh, stretchy. Oh, so when you have guests in town, where's your favorite place to take them? Well,

 

Senator Loranne Ausley  25:38

my first thing is I like to bring them here we entertain here a lot. And you know, on our back porch, but but you know, I love the St. Mark's the lighthouse. And I you know, I take them to the Capitol. It's kind of cool.

 

Rosanna Catalano  25:52

What is the name of a book you recently read that you could not put down or the name of a show you enjoyed binge watching?

 

Senator Loranne Ausley  25:59

Well, during COVID I don't know if I could count the number of shows that I've enjoyed binge watching, but I the Queen's gambit was was really good. And I have to say shits Creek is the best way. I'm just making my son start from the beginning and watching it ever and watching it from the beginning when you know the ending is amazing. And Ted last Oh, I don't know if you know Ted last Oh, it's it's on. I think it's on the apple channel. It's about it's really good. It's It's really good. So that those are the three that I can, but I could keep going.

 

Rosanna Catalano  26:36

I know I have seen those shows. I actually had another guest talk about the Queen's gambit. We love shits Creek, you David right. So, but I haven't seen Ted lasso. So I'm gonna have to check it out. So I'm on your close family and friends. What are you best known for?

 

26:55

entertaining people on the back deck? Or the front porch?

 

Rosanna Catalano  26:59

If you have a nickname Who gave it to you?

 

Senator Loranne Ausley  27:03

Um, I Aunt Lola. It was that's my nickname of all my nieces and nephews.

 

Rosanna Catalano  27:11

That's sweet. If you knew you could not fail. What would you attempt?

 

Senator Loranne Ausley  27:17

I think it would make sure that every kid has the right start in life.

 

Rosanna Catalano  27:26

I think so often people forget that. Not everyone starts on the same starting block right on the Monopoly board. Right? What are the top three things you love about living in Florida?

 

Senator Loranne Ausley  27:38

so hard to name three, but I love the quirkiness of our state. I love the beauty of our state from the you know, from our springs to our rivers to our to our coastlines. And I love our part of the state which has red clay hills and rolling hills. So I don't know if that's, that's the three thing type of things you're looking for. But

 

28:06

that's what I got.

 

Rosanna Catalano  28:08

Well, Senator, thank you so much for joining us today. It's been an absolute pleasure having you.

 

28:13

Thank you so much.

 

Rosanna Catalano  28:15

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