Raymond Wesley Rodrigues (born April 17, 1970) is the 12th chancellor of the State University System of Florida since 2023. Previously, he served four terms in the Florida House of Representatives, representing southern and coastal Lee County from 2012 to 2020 and one term in the Florida Senate from 2020 to 2022. His campaign website describes him as conservative.
History Rodrigues was born in Pensacola and attended Berry College in Rome, Georgia, where he received a scholarship from the WinShape Foundation and graduated in 1992. Following graduation, he moved to Estero, where he became an active member of the community, eventually working as the Budget Manager for the College of Arts and Sciences at Florida Gulf Coast University and getting his MPA there in 2017.
Rodrigues has been active in the Lee County Republican Party since 1995, serving in various capacities including vice-chairman from 2010 to 2012. When the Florida House of Representatives districts were redrawn in 2012, Rodrigues ran for the newly created 76th District. He faced off against former state representative Michael J. Grant and Chauncey Solinger in the Republican General Primary. Rodrigues won with nearly 50% of the vote to Grant's 28% and Solinger's 22%. Rodrigues was unopposed in the general election.
Florida House of Representatives
First term
2013 session During his first session in 2013, Rodrigues sponsored legislation to strengthen Florida's government in sunshine laws that guaranteed the public's right to speak at official government meetings, which passed the legislature nearly unanimously. The bill was signed into law by the Governor.
Additionally, during that 2013 Session, he authored legislation that would allow overseas military absentee voters to have their ballots fully counted as long as they are postmarked by Election Day and received within ten days of Election Day. Previously, ballots received within ten days of Election Day were only counted for federal offices. He noted, "Our military voters overseas are sacrificing for us to have the opportunity to hold elections. I think the right thing to do is to guarantee their full participation; I wanted to see their entire ballot counted." The bill was amended onto the Election Reform bill that passed both the House and Senate and was signed into law by the Governor.
Finally in 2013 Rodrigues also worked with fellow state representative Cary Pigman to Prime Co-sponsor the “Infants Born Alive Act” legislation which provides that an infant born alive during or immediately after an attempted abortion is entitled to the same rights as any other child born during a natural birth. The bill also requires that the same degree of professional care be used to preserve the life and health of these born alive infants. Furthermore, an infant born alive is required to be immediately transferred and admitted into a hospital. The bill passed both the House and Senate and was signed into law by the Governor.
2014 session As Southwest Florida continued to grow in 2014, Rodrigues sponsored a bill to incorporate the Village of Estero as Lee County's first new city in 15 years, which provided local control and direct representation for its residents. The bill passed both the House and Senate and was signed into law by the Governor. The referendum went on to pass with 87% voting in favor.
During the 2014 re-election campaign for his sophomore term, Ray Rodrigues was unopposed in the Republican Primary. He was challenged by Democratic candidate Charles Messina in the general election. Rodrigues won reelection by defeating Messina 68% to 32%.
Second term
2015 session In 2015 Rodrigues sponsored “the anti-speed trap bill”, a bill that prohibited traffic enforcement agencies from establishing traffic citation quotas and required counties and municipalities to report the total revenue received from traffic citations that exceed 33% of total expenses. The traffic enforcement bill was crafted to prevent law enforcement agencies to rely on traffic citations collected at speed traps to fund their budgets. The bill passed both the House and Senate and was signed into law by the Governor.
That same year Rodrigues sponsored the Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) Act, which provides individuals with disabilities tax free saving plans to be used for costs associated with their disability and education and job training. The ABLE act also increased the amount that can be earned and saved without losing eligibility for state benefits. Rodrigues, who has a son with special needs, added a personal sentiment to this bill stating that with the creation of ABLE, “I know that my son will have the opportunity to pursue his potential and to do his very best with the full knowledge that if he’s successful that’s great, and if he’s not successful at achieving independence, he won’t be punished for trying.” The bill passed both the House and Senate and was signed into law by the Governor.
In 2015 and 2016, Rodrigues drafted legislation that placed a moratorium on fracking in the state of Florida until the Department of Environmental Protection completed a study on the effect of high pressure well stimulations on Florida's geology and hydrology. If the peer-reviewed study concluded that fracking could be done safely in Florida, then the bills also strengthened the regulatory framework on fracking; requiring the Department of Environmental Protection to issue a separate permit before any high-pressure well stimulation could be performed, requiring the public disclosure of all chemicals used in the fracking process and increasing the number of inspections throughout the fracking process. The bill passed in the House during both Sessions but died in the Senate each year.
2016 session In 2016 Rodrigues sponsored House Joint Resolution 193 which placed an amendment to the Florida Constitution on the 2016 General Primary Ballot to remove tax barriers from businesses when they install solar panels or other renewable energy devices on their properties. The amendment prevented local governments from assesses a tangible personal property tax on the solar or renewable energy equipment and it prevented local government from increasing the taxable value of the property because of the addition of solar or renewable energy equipment. The House Joint Resolution passed both the House and Senate unanimously. The Constitutional Amendment then passed with 73% of the voters approving it.
During the 2016 Session, Rodrigues also passed legislation to repeal a statutory monopoly given to an AdvoServ facility housing 30 percent of all state residents who are in group homes because of developmental and intellectual disabilities and challenging behavior. The facility had multiple allegations of abuse on its residents brought against them, including the death of Paige Elizabeth Lunsford, a 14 year old non-verbal autistic child due to dehydration while restrained to her bed. Rodrigues sponsored the legislation that repealed the statutory monopoly protecting the facility. The bill passed both the House and Senate and was signed into law by the Governor.
During the 2016 re-election campaign for his junior term, Ray Rodrigues was again unopposed in the Republican Primary. He was again challenged by Democratic candidate Charles Messina in the general election. Rodrigues won reelection by defeating Messina 73.71% to 26.29%.
Third term
2017 session After being re-elected in 2016 Rodrigues was appointed by Speaker Richard Corcoran to be the House Majority Leader.
As Majority Leader Rodrigues sponsored two implementation bills for Constitutional amendments approved in 2016. First, in 2017 Rodrigues sponsored the legislation implementing the solar and renewable energy constitutional amendment that passed the previous August. The legislation removed tax barriers placed on solar consumers in order to promote the use of solar energy and grow clean energy jobs in the state of Florida while enacting important consume protections. The bill passed both the House and Senate and was signed into law by the Governor.
Next, in 2017 Rodrigues also authored the implementation legislation for Medical Marijuana. During 2017 Special Session A, the bill passed both the House and Senate and was signed into law by the Governor. As part of the Implementing Bill this legislation provided an exemption from taxation on sales, use, and other transactions for marijuana and marijuana delivery devices used for medical purposes. The Implementing Bill also prohibited the smoking of medical marijuana. This prohibition of smoking led to a lawsuit filed in July 2017 by John Morgan, the author of the medical marijuana constitutional amendment.
In May 2018 Morgan prevailed in his lawsuit as Circuit Judge Karen Grievers found the ban on smoking medical marijuana to be unconstitutional.
2018 session In 2018, Rodrigues sponsored legislation that would prohibit the government from suing individuals merely for filing a public records requests. Many believe these lawsuits are filed as a means of discouraging individuals from following through on their request.
In filing the bill, Rodrigues recognized Florida was joining a number of cities, school boards and other government agencies across the nation who are suing people seeking documents — forcing them to decide whether it's worth fighting for their request in court — at their own expense. The bill passed the House unanimously but failed to pass in the Senate.
In 2018 Rodrigues was also the Prime Co-Sponsor on a House Resolution that requested the U.S. Congress to maintain the ban on offshore drilling in the federal waters of the Gulf of Mexico. The Resolution passed both the House and the Senate and was sent to the U.S. Congress in Washington D.C.
In 2018 Rodrigues sponsored the House companion to the “Excellence in Higher Education Act”. The legislation restored the Bright Futures Florida Academic Scholars award to 100% of tuition and fees. It also restored the Medallion Scholarship to 75% of tuition and fees. The “Excellence in Higher Education Act” also included the “Campus Free Expression Act” which protects freedom of speech on Florida university and college campuses. The bill passed both the House and Senate and was signed into law by the Governor.
In 2018 Rodrigues learned from a constituent about a major loophole in state statutes protecting students from predatory teachers. Only students under 18 were protected by the existing statutes. It was legal for sexual relations between teachers and students 18 and over. Since students in special education are often enrolled in the district until they turn 21, these students had no protection after turning 18.
Furthermore, it was learned that teachers under investigation for misconduct would often resign from the district. The resignation would end the school district's investigation. Once the investigation was ended, there would be nothing to report to the Florida Department of Education, allowing the predatory teacher to maintain their teaching certificate and move on to another school district with nothing in their file to warn the next school district.
The Rodrigues Student Safety bill:
Made it a second degree felony for teacher or other school employees to engage in sexual relationships with students regardless of the student's age Prohibits schools and their employees from entering confidentiality agreements to provide job references in exchange for termination/resignation Mandates reporting of an educator's alleged misconduct to the parents of the student Requires the district to report certain complaints to the Department of Education even if the teacher is no longer employed by the district.
This bill was amended onto House Bill 495 which passed both the House and Senate and was signed into law by the Governor.