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Proposed State Song Clears House, Senate Committees

Tribune photo by COLIN HACKLEY

The House Tourism and Trade Committee passed a bill to make “Florida – Where The Sawgrass Meets The Sky” the new state song after Rosemary Collins, a chorus teacher at Safety Harbor Middle School, sang it Thursday morning.

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By RUSSELL RAY | The Tampa Tribune

Published: March 13, 2008

TALLAHASSEE - After winning unanimous approval from a House committee this morning, legislation establishing a new state song moved to a Senate committee, where the bill received a much colder reception.

The bill making "Florida – Where the Sawgrass Meets the Sky" the new state song narrowly passed the Senate Governmental Operations Committee in a 3-to-2 vote. Sen. Jim King, R-Jacksonville, and Sen. Bill Posey, R-Rockledge, opposed the bill but voted for the measure, saying the issue deserves more discussion by lawmakers.

"I knew I was the tiebreaking vote," King said. "I am empathetically inclined to stay with the old song."

Jan Hinton, who wrote the new song, said she wasn't discouraged by the narrow vote.

"As long as it's alive, there's hope," Hinton said.

The current state song, "Swanee River," has been Florida's official state song since legislators adopted it with a resolution in 1935. It's one of the most recognizable tunes in the world, but it hearkens to the state's plantation era, includes the word "darkeys" in the chorus and was rejected for Gov. Charlie Crist's inauguration ceremony.

Governmental operations chairman Al Lawson, D-Tallahassee, said the original version of the state song "is very offensive to a lot of people."

Lawson suggested an amendment to change the lyrics of "Swanee River."

The bill's author, Sen. Tony Hill, D-Jacksonville, said Crist "felt the song was dated and did not reflect present-day Florida." Hill added that his bill does not actually replace "Swanee River."

"Swanee River is not in the statute," he said. "We're just adding to the statute, designating 'Where the Sawgrass Meets the Sky' as the new state song."

Reporter Russell Ray can be reached at rray@tampatrib.com.

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