Trudi Williams

Trudi Williams is a Fort Myers, Florida Republican politician who serves as the District 75 Representative in the House of Representatives of the U.S. state of Florida. She was first elected to the Florida House in 2004, and was then re-elected to three successive terms. In 2009, she chaired the Agriculture & Natural Resources Policy Committee.

Representative Williams was born in Ottawa on October 22, 1953 and came to Florida in 1968. She earned her Associate of Arts degree from Saint Johns River Community College in 1978. She went on to receive her Bachelor of Science degree in engineering from Florida International University in 1981 and worked as an engineer for Howell Davis and Associates from 1981 to 1989. She left Howell Davis to become Chief Executive Officer for her own engineering consulting firm.

Real estate and development interests give generously to Representative Williams. According to the Florida Dept. of State, Division of Elections, Representative Williams collected $101,385. for her campaign account between April 1, 2007 and October 30, 2008. Of those contributions, one hundred sixty-six were in the amount of $500. coming from donors such as lobbyists, attorneys, land developers, insurers, and political action committees, including the Realtors Political Action Committee (RPAC), headquartered in Orlando, as well as the Realtors Political Activity Committee, also headquartered in Orlando. http://election.dos.state.fl.us/cgi-bin/TreSel.exe

Since taking office in 2005, Representative Williams has been forthright about her desire to reduce federal involvement in regulating the development of Florida's wetlands. Similarly, she has worked to curtail the authority of state regulators in the same matters. Williams is also in favor of reducing the power of local government to establish impact fees related to development.

In February 2009, as chair of the House Agriculture and Natural Resources Policy Committee, Representative Williams initiated a legislative effort to deregulate land development. Her proposals to make permits easier to get, and to require officials to issue permits in less time than allowed under existing law, have drawn support from Associated Industries of Florida, the Florida Home Builders Association, and the Florida Association of Community Developers. Williams has said that the slow pace of development related permits, such as large water withdrawals or wetlands development, is harmful to the state's economy. http://tampabay.com/news/politics/legislature/article976378.ece