Thank You, Jim King, For Being A Force for Children
Children in Florida lost a great friend over the weekend with the passing of Senator Jim King. A Republican from Jacksonville who served terms in both the Florida House and the Florida Senate, including two years as President in the senior chamber, King possessed the special quality to assess each issue on its merits and then voted his conscience.
King was the "go to guy", whether to pass or defeat measures. He would tell it like it is in his easy-going and charming style. He was a master of parliamentary procedure and maneuvering.
King was a consensus builder and a realist. He was also courageous. Children's Campaign, Inc. admired his independent streak and learned from it.
Whether it was passing ground-breaking legislation for gender specific services for girls, creating trust funds to ensure the health of children, protecting or cleaning up Florida's waterways for future generations, improving the fairness of the state's school funding formula, or blocking misguided efforts to increase the number of children detained in the juvenile justice system, Senator King took the reins when others wouldn't or when they faltered.
Thank you, Senator Jim King. You are and will always be in our hearts.
Children's Campaign, Inc.
Read a wonderful article in the St. Petersburg Times that memorializes Senator King, “The voice of the Florida Senate is gone…”