Ditchmen • NUCA of Florida February 2019 | Page 17

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DESANTIS PICKS
THIBAULT TO DRIVE
TRANSPORTATION AGENCY LOCAL MINIMUM WAGE
LAWSUIT LOSES TRACTION
AT SUPREME COURT LEVEL
Gov. Ron DeSantis named Kevin Thibault as
Florida’s transportation secretary on Friday.
Thibault, who spent more than 16 years during
two stints at the state agency, is a regional senior
vice president for the engineering company
TranSystems Corp. During his tenure at the
Department of Transportation, Thibault served
as the assistant secretary for engineering and
operations and as interim executive director of
Florida’s Turnpike Enterprise. “One of the most
pressing issues facing our state is the need to
relieve congestion and continue modernizing
our transportation system,” DeSantis said in a
release announcing Thibault’s appointment.
“As he returns to FDOT, I know Secretary
Thibault will work hard to achieve the mission
of providing a safe transportation system that
ensures the mobility of people and goods,
enhances economic prosperity and preserves
the quality of Florida’s beautiful environment.”
Thibault’s name was forwarded to DeSantis by
the Florida Transportation Commission. Other
finalists for the job were Richard Biter, a former
Department of Transportation assistant secretary
for intermodal systems development who in 2016
was in the running to lead Enterprise Florida, and
Phillip Gainer, who’s served as a Department of
Transportation district secretary for the past three
years. The commission had interviewed five
people for the job last week. Michael Dew stepped
down from the $151,000-a-year secretary position
in November and joined DeSantis’ transition team.
Dew was appointed to the post by former Gov.
Rick Scott last June. Recently, Governor DeSantis appointed former
appellate judges Barbara Lagoa and Robert Luck
and former U.S. Department of Education General
Counsel Carlos Muniz following the retirements
in January of longtime justices Barbara Pariente,
R. Fred Lewis and Peggy Quince. The three
former justices, who left the court because of a
mandatory retirement age, had frequently joined
Justice Jorge Labarga to form a majority that
thwarted the Republican-led Legislature and
former Gov. Rick Scott. On February 4, the new,
more conservative justices refused to consider
an appeal in a Miami Beach minimum-wage
lawsuit that a former liberal-leaning majority of
the court had scheduled to hear next month. This
decision to refuse to hear the appeal is a “win”
for the construction and business community as
we strongly believe only the state should set the
minimum wage, which is tied to the Consumer
Price Index in Florida, thus allowing for growth.
Interestingly, for the past several years, NUCA of
Florida has joined with other business groups to
thwart legislative attempts to allow local wage
ordinances. We believe minimum wage levels
should be preempted to the state, not 67 counties
and more than 467 municipalities.
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