Representative Tom Feeney - Biography
Representative Tom Feeney is proud to represent the 24th District of Florida, which covers portions of Brevard, Orange, Seminole, and Volusia counties. Feeney, elected in 2002, was previously Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives and was Governor Jeb Bush's running mate in his first race for governor in 1994.
Representative Feeney graduated in 1980 from Penn State University with a B.A. in Political Science and obtained his law degree from the University of Pittsburgh in 1983. Feeney made Central Florida home 23 years ago and in 1990, was elected to the Florida House of Representatives, where he served two terms before being chosen as Governor Bush's running mate.
As a young legislator, one of Feeney's primary goals was to expand choice and opportunities in kindergarten through 12th grade education. He quickly became one of Florida's leading advocates for educational choice. In August of 1992, the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) voted him National Outstanding Legislative Member of the Year for his work on education reform.
In a special election in 1996, Feeney was returned to the Florida House of Representatives where he continued his activism on education and became one of the state's leading legislators on tort reform and welfare reform. His ideas on welfare reform have dramatically altered Florida's welfare system, resulting in over 500,000 Floridians leaving the state's welfare rolls and joining the workforce. Education reforms include increased spending on public education (52.5% of Florida's current budget) and a successful "A+ Education Plan."
On November 21, 2000, Tom Feeney was sworn in as Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives and in 2001 was ranked among the most effective legislators of the year by the Miami Herald. Tom Slade, past Chairman of the Republican Party of Florida said "Feeney is the most philosophically disciplined and principled member of state government that I've ever known."
In Congress, Feeney serves on the powerful Financial Services and Judiciary committees as well as the Science committee which oversees NASA, and serves as an Assistant Whip. In his first term in Congress, Feeney brought commonsense principles from his service in Florida to the U.S. House of Representatives. His six principles: less government, lower taxes, personal responsibility, individual freedom, stronger families, and national defense gained popularity on Capitol Hill and became the guiding principles for the Republican Study Committee (RSC), the largest organization in the House of Representatives.
In his first term, Feeney successfully passed an amendment to the PROTECT Act to ensure tough sentences for child predators. Additionally, he led a reform of the tax code to allow Florida taxpayers to deduct the amount of sales tax they pay. To help restrain irresponsible spending, Representative Feeney co-founded the Washington Waste Watchers, a working group formed to combat waste, fraud, and abuse in federal government.
In his second term, Rep. Feeney introduced the COMPETE Act, legislation to restore America's lead in world capital markets and reduce the burdens of Sarbanes-Oxley on small businesses. In response to Florida’s homeowners’ insurance crisis, Feeney also introduced Catastrophe Savings Accounts which will empower homeowners to put away money tax-free to save and prepare for a disaster.
Feeney's most proud accomplishment of his second term was securing a Veterans Administration hospital for Central Florida, an area long underserved.
Rep. Feeney is a committed champion for NASA, fighting to protect Kennedy Space Center, space exploration and NASA funding. He fought to secure funding for the Crew Exploration Vehicle and Crew Launch Vehicle. In May, Rep. Feeney was appointed to the GOP's top spot on the Space and Aeronautics Subcommittee. He will use his new position to ensure that America's space and aviation endeavors must remain second-to-none in order to protect our national security and to sustain economic growth.
Representative Tom Feeney is consistently named a "Taxpayer Superhero" and "Taxpayers' Friend" by the Citizens Against Government Waste and the National Taxpayers Union respectively. For his stance on immigration and commitment to securing America's border, Feeney has been named to the U.S. Border Security Hall of Fame.
Tom is married to the former Ellen Stewart and they are the proud parents of two sons, Tommy and Sean Patrick. The Feeney family calls Oviedo, Florida home.
Rep. Tom Feeney's Awards and Recognitions
