From Baltimore, Maryland to Tallahassee, Florida: meet Alan J. Wright. This soon-to-be Florida State University graduate was the Reading Clerk of the Florida House of Representatives during the 2021-2022 legislative session.
Currently a senior at Florida State University, Alan is finalizing his degree in Political Science and International Relations, with focuses in public administration and history.
Recognizing that most people are not familiar with the role of Reading Clerk, Alan explained that “essentially the reading clerk is the person who, before the debate, by order of the constitution and by procedural manners…[has] to read out the titles, names and sponsors of the bill in question. It is very much a ceremonial position, but it is also very important.”
Subsequently, he defined his days in legislative sessions as getting to spend an extended amount of time in the Florida House of Representatives chamber and getting the opportunity to meet and see how the Representatives practiced legislation on both sides of the aisle. He explains that “by the nature of the institution, they are very separated from the general populous of Florida whom they represent, so getting time to… interact with them makes me realize that at one point or another they were just like us, and it puts into perspective why they move the way they move and why the institution has a certain culture.” Wright feels enlightened to have had a first-hand experience of the legislative process and expressed the importance of lawmaking in ultimately determining the longevity of the state as well as the major impact that it can have on the lives of Floridians, present and future.
When I asked him what his most memorable moment was, he immediately distinguished the historic crafting and passage of House Bill 5 (HB5), Florida’s notorious abortion bill, which was a controversial topic of debate during this session. Alan stated, “It was very interesting to see such a monumental bill get passed after years and years of the majority party working on it, that is without a doubt my most memorable experience.” He felt honored to have had the opportunity to have been a part of it even by his small role of reading the vote count. But out of the entire session, he especially regards “getting to listen to House Speaker Sprowls and other senior representatives give their farewell speeches.” This was notably important given that some of these representatives have been in the legislature for many years and are now retiring.
Alan is currently working on finding his way through Florida politics, with the long-term goal of working as a legislative aide with hopes to one day run for a public office in local government. In his free time, Wright’s main interest “has always been history… I love studying history, learning about history and immersing myself in any kind of historical information I can get my hands on. I’ve been trying to focus on American History recently because of my job and what I’m trying to do with my career.” His other interests include geopolitics and international affairs; as well as emergency management, of which he has learned plenty living in Florida, as the state is constantly preparing for natural disasters.
For the future of the state, Wright wants “Florida to be an environmentally sustainable state, and want to see much more minority representation in the Florida government no matter what party that may be.” He went on to explain that for Florida and the country as a whole, he essentially wishes the same things and stated, “I want to see Americans coming together… people bridge those gaps and want to see people come together as one nation to address these issues.”
My final question to Alan was for him to expand on his hopes for the world, to which he responded by saying that he would like to see people compromise and find sustainable peace. He stressed the urgency of environmental issues as “the most pressing issue that we as a species are going to face, and I…want us to try to find a way to mitigate the long term consequences of climate change, I want us to come together as a single being to address these issues and to find solutions for these that are sustainable and that will ultimately benefit the majority of people.” He believes in more international solidarity and concurrency, sooner rather than later, and these will bring “unity, peace and freedom of choice. This is what we have to fight for.”
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