{"id":197055,"date":"2026-03-18T23:02:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-18T23:02:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/197055\/"},"modified":"2026-03-18T23:02:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-18T23:02:08","slug":"felicia-robinson-to-lead-florida-legislative-black-caucus-promises-community-driven-agenda","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/197055\/","title":{"rendered":"Felicia Robinson to lead Florida Legislative Black Caucus, promises community-driven agenda"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Rep. Felicia Robinson will lead the Florida Legislative Black Caucus (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.flblackcaucus.com\/\" data-wpel-link=\"external\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"external noopener noreferrer nofollow\">FLBC<\/a>) for the next two years after being elected Chair for the 2026-28 term.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The 27-member caucus selected Robinson, a Miami Gardens Democrat, to succeed outgoing Chair Darryl Rouson, a Democratic Senator from St. Petersburg.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Robinson previously served as the organization\u2019s Vice Chair. She ran for Chair unopposed.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">In a statement, Robinson said she is \u201cdeeply honored\u201d to lead the FLBC, which was established in the 1960s to unify Black lawmakers in advancing equity and representation in Florida.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cThis position is not just a privilege but a responsibility to advocate for our communities and address the challenges we face,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hklaw.com\/en\/\" data-wpel-link=\"external\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"external noopener noreferrer nofollow\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-653648\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Influence_FGAT_Banner_728x90.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"728\" height=\"90\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cTogether, we will work tirelessly to improve and sustain the quality of life for all Floridians. I am excited to collaborate with my colleagues and community leaders as we strive for progress, equity, and empowerment throughout our great state.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Robinson, who represents <a href=\"https:\/\/www.flhouse.gov\/Sections\/Representatives\/custom\/maps-and-offices.aspx?MemberId=4791&amp;LegislativeTermId=\" data-wpel-link=\"external\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"external noopener noreferrer nofollow\">House District 104<\/a>, has served in the Legislature since 2020 and built her career around education and local government service.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">A longtime Miami-Dade County Public Schools educator, she spent more than two decades as a math teacher, instructional coach and administrator before entering elected office. She previously served on the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.miamigardens-fl.gov\/269\/City-Council\" data-wpel-link=\"external\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"external noopener noreferrer nofollow\">Miami Gardens City Council<\/a> from 2010 to 2018, including as Vice Mayor.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">This past Session, Robinson passed <a href=\"https:\/\/www.flhouse.gov\/Sections\/Bills\/billsdetail.aspx?BillId=83344&amp;\" data-wpel-link=\"external\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"external noopener noreferrer nofollow\">legislation<\/a> requiring certain health care providers to include instruction on treating pain in patients with sickle cell disease as part of their mandatory continuing education on prescribing controlled substances.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Her elevation to Chair comes as the Caucus continues to focus on a broad policy agenda that includes expanding access to affordable health care, securing funding for K-12 and higher education, supporting economic development and pushing for criminal justice reforms.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.shutts.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external noreferrer nofollow\" data-wpel-link=\"external\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-740415 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/FLPolitics-May-2025-728x90-1-scaled-e1748483753690.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"728\" height=\"90\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The group has also been active on environmental issues, including alternative energy and sustainability efforts.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Robinson told Florida Politics that as Chair, she plans to emphasize direct community engagement and a less partisan approach to policymaking.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cI\u2019m just really honored and looking forward to us continuing the work that we do across Florida and in communities \u2014 ensuring that we\u2019re truly doing what people want us to do, trying to concentrate less on the political points and actually looking at what we can do to benefit Floridians,\u201d she said. \u201cSo, getting back to the basics and doing things that address affordability for real and how education works and operates in different communities.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">A key part of that effort, Robinson said, will be holding listening sessions across the state to better understand how recent policy changes \u2014 particularly in education \u2014 are affecting communities.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cOver the last several years, we have had a lot of changes to education,\u201d Robinson said. \u201cWhat are the impacts of the changes? Are they really beneficial, or are they not? That\u2019s something I\u2019m eager to hear from our constituents about.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Those conversations, she continued, will help guide the Caucus\u2019 legislative priorities.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Alongside Robinson, Caucus members elected a new Executive Board that includes Tamarac Sen. Rosalind Osgood as Vice Chair, Homestead Rep. Kevin Chambliss as Secretary, Gotha Rep. Leonard Spencer as Treasurer and Broward County Sen. Barbara Sharief as Parliamentarian.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Miami Rep. Ashley Gantt, Hollywood Rep. Marie Woodson and Ocoee Sen. LaVon Bracy Davis are the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.flblackcaucus.com\/black-caucus-membership\" data-wpel-link=\"external\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"external noopener noreferrer nofollow\">outgoing<\/a> Secretary, Treasurer and Parliamentarian, respectively.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">All FLBC members are Democrats.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Rep. Felicia Robinson will lead the Florida Legislative Black Caucus (FLBC) for the next two years after being&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":197056,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[19355,820,62998,91439,28,30,70054,29,60050,68684,2828],"class_list":["post-197055","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-barbara-sharief","tag-darryl-rouson","tag-felicia-robinson","tag-flbc","tag-florida","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-legislative-black-caucus","tag-florida-news","tag-kevin-chambliss","tag-leonard-spencer","tag-rosalind-osgood"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/197055","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=197055"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/197055\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/197056"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=197055"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=197055"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=197055"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}