Florida House Messengers Page and Messenger Program Experience

Posted on April 1st, 2019 by Thomas E Kennedy

Florida House Messengers Page and Messenger Program Experience

Being a Florida House of Representatives Page or Messenger is a long-standing tradition in Florida. The program dates back to 1865. This past week my wife and I had the honor to accompany our daughter, a sophomore at Crystal River High School, to serve as one of the messengers for the 2019 Florida House Pages & Messengers Program. She was sponsored by our local Florida State Representative Dr. Ralph Massullo.

The program gives young people a front row seat into the state legislative process. Pages and Messengers have different responsibilities while working at our State’s Capital. Pages have the special opportunity to work on the floor of the Florida House of Representatives right alongside legislators, running errands for them. Messengers get the responsibility of delivering mail and packages throughout the Capitol and surrounding buildings. In addition to their individual duties have Pages and Messengers have the opportunity to meet lawmakers, lobbyists, state staff, and constituents working together in the legislative process. Sometimes they may have the opportunity to attend committee meetings and perhaps even catch a press conference. When not on duty Pages and Messengers may have the opportunity to tour the Capitol, Governor’s Mansion, the Florida Supreme Court, the Museum of Florida History, and the Historic Capitol. One of the best experiences for Pages and Messengers is participating in the mock committee meetings and general session in the House Chamber. Students have the opportunity to develop mock bills for consideration and to debate and vote on their and other students’ bills. This helps to put their newfound knowledge of Florida government and governing to use.

During this week Pages and Messengers got to meet with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody, Florida Commissioner of Agriculture Nikki Fried, Florida Speaker of the House Jose R. Oliva and many legislators from all around Florida.

We want to take this opportunity to thank Representative Dr. Massullo for his support of the Page and Messenger Program and for his passion for young people and civic programs like this. We also want to give a special thanks to State Representative Massullo’s outstanding Legislative Aides, Adele Hembree and Dorothy Dilworth, for all their hard work helping the Representative’s sponsored Pages and Messengers, and for all the work they do helping promote the Florida House of Representatives Pages & Messengers program.

These hands-on learning experiences are important opportunities that we should encourage and help our young people take advantage of. Next Fall consider applying to be a Florida House Page or Messenger. Each House Representative can typically sponsor one Page and one Messenger each session. Applications typically open up in late summer to early Fall. You can also get more information on the program and download an application at the HOUSE PAGE & MESSENGER PROGRAM webpage. In addition, the Florida Senate also has a Page program for high school and young college students.You can learn more by visiting: https://www.flsenate.gov/About/PageProgram