Steve Crisafulli (born July 26, 1971) is an American

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

who served as

Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives The speaker is the Speaker (politics), presiding member of the Florida House of Representatives. The Speaker and his staff provide direction and coordination to employees throughout the House and serve the members in carrying out their constitut ...

from 2014 to 2016. He represented the 51st District, which is located in northern

Brevard County Brevard County ( ) is a county in the U.S. state of Florida. It is on the Atlantic coast of eastern Central Florida. As of the 2020 census, the population was 606,612, making it the 10th-most populated county in Florida. The official county se ...

, including

Cape Canaveral Cape Canaveral () is a cape (geography), cape in Brevard County, Florida, in the United States, near the center of the state's Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast. Officially Cape Kennedy from 1963 to 1973, it lies east of Merritt Island, separated ...

Cocoa Cocoa may refer to: Chocolate * Chocolate * ''Theobroma cacao'', the cocoa tree * Cocoa bean, seed of ''Theobroma cacao'' * Chocolate liquor, or cocoa liquor, pure, liquid chocolate extracted from the cocoa bean, including both cocoa butter and ...

Cocoa Beach Cocoa Beach is a city in Brevard County, Florida, United States. The population was 11,354 at the 2020 United States census, up from 11,231 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Palm Bay–Melbourne–Titusville, Florida Metropolitan Stati ...

, and Rockledge, from 2008 to 2016.

History

Crisafulli was born in Rockledge in 1971, into a political family, as his cousin, Doyle E. Carlton, served as

Governor of Florida The governor of Florida is the head of government of the U.S. state of Florida. The Governor (United States), governor is the head of the Government of Florida#Executive branch, executive branch of the government of Florida and is the comman ...

from 1929 to 1933, and his grandfather, Vassar B. Carlton, served as a Justice of the

Florida Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Florida is the state supreme court, highest court in the U.S. state of Florida. It consists of seven justices—one of whom serves as Chief Justice. Six members are chosen from six districts around the state to foster geog ...

from 1969 to 1974. He attended

Brevard Community College Brevard may refer to: People * Aleshia Brevard (1937–2017), American author and actress * Caroline Mays Brevard (1860–1920), American historian * John Brevard, American artist * Joseph Brevard (1760–1821), American soldier and politicia ...

, from which he received his

associate degree An associate degree or associate's degree is an undergraduate degree awarded after a course of post-secondary study lasting two to three years. It is a level of academic qualification above a high school diploma and below a bachelor's degree ...

, and the

University of Central Florida The University of Central Florida (UCF) is a public university, public research university with its main campus in unincorporated area, unincorporated Orange County, Florida, United States. It is part of the State University System of Florida. ...

, where he received his

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

. Following graduation, Crisafulli worked in his family's

agribusiness Agribusiness is the industry, enterprises, and the field of study of value chains in agriculture and in the bio-economy, in which case it is also called bio-business or bio-enterprise. The primary goal of agribusiness is to maximize profit ...

. He was deeply involved in the Brevard county agricultural community, serving as a Director of the Brevard County Farm Bureau from 1996 to 2004, and again from 2006 to the present. He also served as the President of the Farm Bureau from 2003 to 2005. In 1998, he was elected to the

Soil and Water Conservation District, where he served until 2002.

Florida House of Representatives

Crisafulli's career in the Florida House began in 2008, when he defeated Democratic incumbent Tony Sasso 52%–48% in Florida's 32nd House of Representatives district. Crisafulli ran unopposed in 2010 and 2012 and defeated Democrat Joe Murray with 67% of the vote to earn his final term in 2014. When state legislative districts were redrawn in 2012, Crisafulli was moved into the 51st District, which dropped his previous district's reach into Orange County in exchange for more portions of northern

. Following the 2012 elections, the House Republican Conference selected Crisafulli to serve as Speaker-Designate. He became House Speaker in November 2014 and termed out in November 2016. Prior to becoming House Speaker, Crisafulli served in numerous other leadership positions, including: * House Majority Leader (2013–2014) * State Affairs Committee, Chair (2013) * Agriculture & Natural Resources Subcommittee, Chair (2010–2012) During his service in the Florida House, Crisafulli was an advocate for agriculture. As Speaker, he passed legislation to modernize Florida's water laws and he spearheaded opposition to

Medicaid expansion Under the public healthcare policy of the United States, some people have incomes too high to qualify in their state of residence for Medicaid, the public health insurance plan for those with limited resources, but too low to qualify for the pr ...

under the

Affordable Care Act The Affordable Care Act (ACA), formally known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) and informally as Obamacare, is a landmark U.S. federal statute enacted by the 111th United States Congress and signed into law by Presid ...

References

External links

Florida House of Representatives - Steve Crisafulli
, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Crisafulli, Steve 1971 births Eastern Florida State College people Living people Republican Party members of the Florida House of Representatives People from Rockledge, Florida University of Central Florida alumni 21st-century members of the Florida Legislature