- December 4, 2025
State Sen. Tom Leek (with microphone) and Rep. Sam Greco answer questions at the Palm Coast-Flagler Regional Chamber of Commerce Legislative Update Breakfast on Aug. 7 at the Hammock Dunes Club. Photo by Brent Woronoff
State Sen. Tom Leek speaks at the Palm Coast-Flagler Regional Chamber of Commerce Legislative Update Breakfast on Aug. 7 at the Hammock Dunes Club. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Staate Rep. Sam Greco speaks at the Palm Coast-Flagler Regional Chamber of Commerce Legislative Update Breakfast at the Hammock Dunes Club. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Flagler County Commission Chair Andy Dance provides an update of county projects at the Palm Coast-Flagler Regional Chamber of Commerce Legislative Update Breakfast on Aug. 7 at the Hammock Dunes Club. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Palm Coast Vice Mayor Theresa Pontieri gives a city update at the Palm Coast-Flagler Regional Chamber of Commerce Legislative Update Breakfast on Aug. 7 at the Hammock Dunes Club. Photo by Brent Woronoff
John Phillips, president of the Palm Coast-Flagler Regional Chamber of Commerce served as the master of ceremonies at the Legislative Update Breakfast on Aug. 7 at the Hammock Dunes Club. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Bunnell Mayor Catherine Robinson provided an update on city projects at the Palm Coast-Flagler Regional Chamber of Commerce Legislative Update Breakfast at the Hammock Dunes Club. Photo by Brent Woronoff
State Rep. San Greco speaks at the Palm Coast-Flagler Regional Chamber of Commerce Legislative Update Breakfast on Aug. 7 at the Hammock Dunes Club. Photo by Brent Woronoff
The State Legislature’s overtime session to pass a budget was “not a good look,” State Sen. Tom Leek told a group of Flagler County business people and public officials on Thursday morning, Aug. 7.
“It was a 105-day session. Typically it is a 60-day session,” he said. “If you were watching, you saw, what I think was a tremendously bad look for the legislature. A tremendously bad look for the Republicans in charge because what you saw play out in public was some infighting.”
Disagreements are common said Leek, “But it is uncommon to stand up for a press conference and start calling people names and that's kind of what we saw this year.”
Leek, and State Rep. Sam Greco spoke about the recent legislative session and issues affecting Flagler County at the Palm Coast-Flagler Regional Chamber of Commerce Legislative Update Breakfast at the Hammock Dunes Club.
Leek, a Republican who represents District 7 encompassing Flagler, St. Johns, Putnam and northern Volusia counties, said that while Florida Republicans have over a million more registered voters than Democrats, the number of voters registered with no party affiliation is rising.
“I think one of the reasons that you're seeing that is because some of us don't know how to behave. I hope it doesn't continue into this session,” he said warning that Democrats had similar infighting before they lost control of both the Florida House and Senate in the 1990s.
“I don’t think we’re on verge of that happening now because of Republicans’ registration advantage. But that type of arrogance was on display this past year," he said. "Our goal is good legislation. Good legislation requires a give-and-take. It requires a conversation with everybody in the room, regardless of party.”
Leek said he was proud of first-year District 19 Rep. Greco, who stood up to the House Speaker and other leaders by refusing to support unwinding tort reform that was enacted in 2023 to eliminate frivolous lawsuits.
“You guys should applaud Rep. Greco because he stood up to the forces trying to unwind tort reform that would be so detrimental to business within our community,” Leek said.
Leek said the likelihood that tort reform will be reworked in the next session is “next to nil.”
Greco said in a very streamlined and efficient budget this year, he and Leek, who are both in their first year of their respective terms, were able to help deliver $35 million overall in funds to Flagler County.
“I'm certainly very proud of the $5 million we were able to bring to Palm Coast for their water infrastructure, and I know that is a continuing need that I'm very interested in continuing to work with you on as well as funding for the Palm Coast YMCA, which is a long-standing project objective that will be fantastic for this community,” Greco said.
If it's infrastructure I can stand up all day long. This is good for Flagler.
— State Sen. TOM LEEK
Leek said he will always fight to fund local infrastructure, but he has a little harder time standing up for funds for a new library.
“If it’s infrastructure I can stand up all day long. This is good for Flagler,” he said.
Leek advised local officials not to swim against the stream when they compile their legislative priorities, but to find priorities that fit the theme of what’s happening that year in the legislature.
Greco said the legislature was able to get some pro-business bills passed including eliminating the business rent tax as part of House Bill 7031, which goes into effect on Oct. 1.
“We were one of 50 states that charged business rent tax, so eliminating that is a great benefit to Florida small businesses,” he said.
When asked about what priorities they have for ensuring that law enforcement has the resources it needs, Greco pointed to a bill that provides criminal penalties for the fraudulent use of gift cards.
“It's a problem that was causing $220 million of economic loss around the country in 2023,” Greco said. “The laws just didn't have the right tools to attack the problem. So, I worked with police and prosecutors, our attorney general's office, to see what the tools are that are needed to go after this problem to make sure that if you buy a gift card, you can be sure that the value is actually on there, and it's not going to be diverted off into the criminal's bank account, and that if individuals are targeting folks, particularly senior citizens, we are able to prosecute those people. So we worked with the stakeholders to make that happen. We have a great sheriff in Flagler County in Sheriff (Rick) Staly, and he’s been a great resource when these issues have come up.”
With the nature of terms limits, every year, Sen. Leek and I will be in a better and better position to advocate for this district. We look forward to doing that together.”
— State Rep. SAM GRECO
Staly, who was in attendance told Leek and Greco that the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office has zero vacancies in law enforcement and detention positions.
“We have 12 new deputies that (have been) already hired and we have a waiting list, and we couldn’t have that without your support. So, thank you,” he said.
Bill Verhagen, president of the board of directors of Flagler Habitat for Humanity asked about the possibility of property tax exemptions — like those that have been passed for veterans and law enforcement — for Habitat for Humanity homeowners who are paying more in escrow payments for tax and insurance than their mortgage payments.
Leek called it an affordability issue that will continue to be an issue in Florida for decades to come, he said, because demand for homes outpaces supply.
“We’ve got 23 million people now. I think Florida is always going to struggle with availability as long as we have this many people moving to the state of Florida. If you kneecap supply you’re going to see home prices skyrocket,” he said. “We’re going to have to address property taxes. We’ve got to work on property insurance. We need more supply. I think we're up to about 13 new property insurance carriers. That will continue to drive down premiums.”
“With the nature of terms limits,” Greco said, “every year, Sen. Leak and I will be in a better and better position to advocate for this district. We look forward to doing that together.”
