What a state representative actually does — and the 20 questions worth asking yours

The Florida House of Representatives has 120 members, each elected to a two-year term. The Constitution sets the annual regular session to begin in March unless lawmakers provide otherwise, and nearly everything a representative decides happens inside that session: the state budget, school funding formulas, insurance and tax policy, transportation spending, and bills that either expand or limit what local governments are allowed to do.

That budget is not an abstraction for East Polk. It reaches public schools, road work, emergency services, water systems, and the programs families rely on. A representative also chooses committee assignments, sponsors or co-sponsors bills, and votes on whether legislation advances. Those are the levers of the office — and voters are entitled to ask what was done with them.

No member of the House can pass or block a law alone. Power is exercised through votes, committee seats, coalitions, and public pressure — which makes the useful test concrete: which bills did you sponsor, how did you vote, which committees did you ask to join, who did you consult before filing, and do you answer voters directly.

Two years is a short term. Within one session a representative can either explain a consequential vote to the community that lives with it or avoid explaining it. District 48 voters get to decide which of those they will accept — and asking early helps you evaluate candidates before an election.

The campaign’s pocket guide collects twenty questions voters can put to any candidate or public official: Will you publish every meeting with lobbyists and major donors? What is the estimated effect on Polk County public schools, and how would the state replace revenue lost by local schools? Which local officials did you consult before filing? Will you hold regular open town halls throughout District 48? What measurable infrastructure results have you delivered for East Polk?

The goal is not to trap anyone. It is to make answers comparable — the same question to every candidate, in writing, so neighbors can line the responses up side by side. The guide lives in the virtual town hall section of this site and is free to save or print. Email it to a candidate’s office, or hand it to a neighbor at the door.

As a former Dundee Town Commissioner, Alethea has sat on the local side of state decisions, and she has committed to answering these questions herself: publish her positions, hold regular open town halls across District 48, explain her votes in plain language, and reply personally to constituents within 24 hours.

Ask her anything — including the questions she may not enjoy. Her contact information is on every page of this site, and the virtual town hall is open around the clock. Accountability is far easier to demand when the door stays open.