WHY I LOVE THE LEGISLATURE: Legislative staffers tell us what drew them to the statehouse.

• Author: McClureand, Megan
• Position: LEGISLATIVE STAFF WEEK / STAFF PROFILES

PORTIA PALMER

Clerk, Florida House

"I love that every week I find out a new responsibility of the office of clerk."

Public service runs in Portia Palmer's blood. The daughter of a physician who volunteered his services around the globe, she spent a year of high school in Tanzania while her father and uncle taught surgical techniques at the University of Dar es Salaam. Life overseas and dinners at the U.S. Embassy exposed her to State Department employees and diplomats, and the possibilities of government work.

After a few years in Florida working for the city of Miami and the state Republican Party, she took a job with the State Department and USAID as press director, followed by several years as an administrator at USAID for legislative and public affairs, working in development and humanitarian aid. She admires how everybody had the same mission and were pulling in the same direction. "A more passionate group of people I have not met," she says.

She frequently traveled overseas, often to conflict areas. This "adds a layer and challenge to the work--you don't always have connectivity, so you have to be creative," she says. "You're doing your work and surviving. I'm not a rugged type of person, but you get acclimated. ... It trains you in a certain type of way."

A new challenge--serving as clerk of the Florida House of Representatives--drew her back to the Sunshine State, however. "I love that every week I find out a new responsibility of the office of clerk. I love that it is consequential work and mostly behind the scenes. And then--my favorite responsibility--I'm the keeper of the reputation of the seal of the Florida House. That's very important. My second favorite thing is being the custodian of the bills. I personally sign every bill. I don't use an autopen because that helps me understand what's important to my clients [the representatives] and their constituents.

"My third favorite thing: maintaining the official record of the actions of the Florida House. That's a little piece of history. We have to make sure that there is a record and that it is accurate. So it's OK to be picky about where a comma goes, etc. I can get granular there! It has to be right, for the record."

Even with her impressive portfolio with the State Department and USAID, Palmer is awed by the significance of the Legislature's work. She has great appreciation for the work of "Team Clerk," as she refers to her office, and its dedication to the legislative...