BAY COUNTY, Fla. (WMBB) – After four years of representing District 6 in Tallahassee, State Rep. Griff Griffitts announced he will not seek reelection.

Griff Griffitts to step down from legislature

“You put a lot of blood, sweat, and tears into the work you do. But after I got this position out here at the TDC about six weeks ago, I really started thinking, you know, can both jobs be done? And in reality, you can’t really do both jobs,” Griffitts said.

Griffitts was recently hired as the president and CEO of Visit Panama City Beach.

He replaced Dan Rowe, who resigned following the arrests of two of his employees on fraud charges.

TDC\CVB President Rowe announces resignation, board member Patronis to not seek reappointment

But it’s not Griffitts’ first time in a local leadership role. He previously served as a Bay County Commissioner, leading the community through Hurricane Michael recovery and the pandemic.

“I learned a lot locally. I learned a lot in Tallahassee. And bringing that to this position, I think, bodes very well for the community and me in the future,” Griffitts said.

As he steps down from the Florida legislature, he’s reflecting on what he accomplished during his tenure.

He highlighted his work on the rural renaissance bill and his sponsorship of a vacation rental bill, which aimed to establish a uniform registration system and limit local registration fees for short-term rentals.

Griff Griffitts’ TDC-CVB contract finalized, will continue legislative duties

But he said he’ll continue advocating for the tourism industry in his new role.

“With our beach renourishment funding, there’s state dollars at risk. And so, we will obviously always be paying attention to how those policy changes in Tallahassee could affect us. The Tourist Development Tax is always kind of at some level under attack from the legislature, whether a money grab or to shift the funding to pay for things that maybe aren’t really what the taxes are intended for. So, we’ll continue to watch those things very, very closely. And we’re only 2 hours away if need be. I can drive back over there and still talk to our friends and explain to them what they’re doing wrong,” Griffitts said.

Griffitts’ term is up in November.

He’ll be making a few more trips to Tallahassee until then for a special session to address the budget and for any other legislative duties.

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