Senate President Kathleen Passidomo cheekily referred to it as “the most popular bill of Session.” Now the measure, which will honor beloved tropical troubadour Jimmy Buffett, is ready for the Governor’s signature.
Lawmakers approved legislation (HB 91) to rename all 340 miles of State Road A1A as “Jimmy Buffett Highway” from its tip in Fernandina Beach to Mile Marker 0 in Key West. The change affects signs in 13 counties, including Flagler County, where A1A signs have had something of an iconic look and presence along the only extended stretch of ocean highway in the state unobstructed condos, hotels, shops and other coastal walls between eyes and sea.
It won’t be cheap: a legislative analysis puts the cost to the Department of Transportation at $1,800 for each pair of signs at any given location ($900 for each sign in each direction). “Therefore, the bill has an estimated negative fiscal impact of $1,800 to the State Transportation Trust Fund. However, this cost can be absorbed within existing DOT resources,” the analysis states. The department is directed to install the signs by August 30.
There’s a caveat. “Markers may not be erected until the appropriate city or county commission passes a resolution in support of the particular designation.,” the analysis states. “Additionally, if the designated facility is located in multiple cities or counties, each affected local government must pass a resolution in support of the designation before DOT can install the markers.” It is possible that some local elected officials in Flagler County may be reluctant to replace the A1A signs.
But it isn’t yet clear if the Buffet designation would be in addition to, or as an entire replacement of, the existing signs. A Transportation Department spokesperson said that had yet to be investigated, as the bill’s passage was so new. In some, if not most, locations, memorial names are added to numeric highway designations, which still stay on the books.
In Tallahassee, it didn’t matter whether the lawmakers’ fins leaned left or right; every vote in the Capitol was for the change. Buffet was also honored with a specialty “Margaritaville” license plate added to the state’s inventory, with proceeds going to a Buffett charity, Singing for Change.
Senate Democratic Leader Lauren Book, the measure’s sponsor in the upper chamber, said it’s a fitting tribute to the self-proclaimed Parrothead who is now “off searching for his lost shaker of salt.”
The chamber voted 40-0 for the measure.
Ahead of the vote, Book recognized radio personality Savannah Jane Buffett, Buffett’s eldest daughter, who appeared in the Senate chamber gallery with her husband and Judith Smith, who runs the Singing for Change Foundation that Jimmy Buffett created in 1995.
The road choice is especially suiting, Book added, considering Buffett’s fifth studio album was named “A1A.”
“Jimmy was an icon to so many,” said Book, whose father, lobbyist Ron Book, was a longtime friend of the singer-songwriter. “My dad wasn’t there when I was born because he was with Jimmy Buffett. It’s family lore at this point.”
Book noted that the bill directs the Florida Department of Transportation to place the first marker along the to-be-renamed highway by Aug. 30, the first Friday before Labor Day. That action is a nod to Buffett’s classic song, “Come Monday,” which references a Labor Day Weekend show.
“As Jimmy once said, ‘It’s a sweet life living by the salty sea,’ and we could not think of a better way to honor him than by memorializing him along Florida’s coastal highway,” she said.
As had happened last month, when the House voted unanimously for the legislation by Republican Reps. Chuck Clemons of Newberry and Jim Mooney of Islamorada, several Senate members Tuesday offered punny comments on the Buffett bill.
Zephyrhills Republican Sen. Danny Burgess called it “fin-tastic.”
Sen. Gayle Harrell, a Stuart Republican, invited celebrants to join her at a nearby Margaritaville restaurant for a “wonderful day in the sun with fun.”
Buffett first became a star in the 1970s with songs that blended country, folk and rock. Though he was not born in Florida, he became ubiquitous with the Key West lifestyle.
Buffett also became deeply involved with environmental causes in his adopted home state and campaigned for Democratic candidates.
After his death at 76 in early September following a four-year battle with skin cancer, Gov. Ron DeSantis ordered flags in Tallahassee and Key West to be flown at half-staff.
–FlaglerLive and Florida Politics
