Photo courtesy Florida Senate Majority Office: State Sen. Joe Gruters on the Senate floor after being sworn into office last week.

Political discussions about business incentives and tourism marketing dominated discourse in Tallahassee over much of the last two years. Now, Sarasota’s newest state senator will play an outsized role on those issues.

State Sen. Joe Gruters, R-Sarasota, will serve as chairman of the Florida Senate Commerce and Tourism Committee for the 2019 legislative session. That comes after two years as a state representative fighting leadership in his own party about the topics.

“As the biggest advocate in the House for Enterprise Florida and Visit Florida, I can’t tell you how excited I am to chair this committee,” Gruters said.

Gruters, an ally of outgoing Gov. Rick Scott and the chairman of the Republican Party of Sarasota for the past decade, long stressed job creation as a campaign message. With his new chairmanship, he hopes to make Florida the top state to do business in the nation.

As to how, he’s open to the use of business incentives. “I believe in using every tool in the toolbox,” he said.

But that approach may not find any more traction in the state House under new Speaker Jose Oliva than it did under former Speaker Richard Corcoran.

On the tourism front, Gruters welcomed new Visit Florida numbers on Monday that showed the state remains on track to set a record for number of visitors again this year. Some 95.8 million tourists came to the Sunshine State in the first nine months of 2018.

More will continue to flock to local shores so long as the state supports cultural destinations, something the Sarasota area coincidentally boasts en masse. “Think of how much the economy depends on tourism in Sarasota,” Gruters said. “We have so many cultural gems, and it’s awesome to be able to be their champion in Tallahassee.”

President Bill Galvano, R-Bradenton, tapped Gruters for the role, so the two share a commitment to the region’s major attractions.

And Gruters said the Sarasota area has a growing number of assets on the way, including a new Mote Aquarium, planned improvements to Marie Selby Botanical Gardens and a massive redevelopment of Sarasota’s Bayfront.

“I will be the proudest advocate, along with all my fellow members from the Sarasota delegation,” he said. “We will go up there and do the best job we can.”

Photo courtesy Florida Senate Majority Office: State Sen. Joe Gruters on the Senate floor after being sworn into office last week.