JAPEC COMMUNITY LIFE MAGAZINE
Bruce Antone Florida House OF REPRESENTATIVE district 46
Florida State Representative Bruce Antone is a native of Mobile, Alabama and a longtime resident of Orlando, Florida. Representative Antone received his Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from the historic Tuskegee University and was inducted into Eta Kappa Nu, an Electrical Engineering Honor Fraternity. He completed one year of Graduate Studies in Electrical Engineering at Tuskegee University and served as the Assistant Track Coach for the men’s and women’s track teams while in Graduate School
Representative Antone began his professional career at IBM - (International Business Machines) in 1983 in Orlando, Florida. He was an Account Systems Engineer, a Regional Application Development Specialist and Marketing Representative during his career with IBM. While employed with IBM, he completed IBM’s Systems Engineering and Marketing School in Dallas, Texas, and earned several One Hundred Percent and Branch Manager Awards for outstanding achievement.
Representative Antone began his political and legislative career in 1992. He was employed by the Florida Legislature and served as the Chief Legislative Aide to State Senator Buddy Dyer for a total of eight years (1992-1999 and 2001-2002.
In 2002, Representative Antone was elected to the Florida House of Representative and served from 2002-2006. During this time, he held several leadership positions. He was Vice-Chair of the House Criminal Justice Subcommittee, one of four Democratic Floor Whips and Vice-Chair of the Florida Conference of Black State Legislators. He served as a member of the Agriculture, Education Appropriations, Criminal Justice Subcommittee and the Business Regulation and Telecommunications committees.
From 2006-2012, Representative Antone served as the Director of Community and Governmental Relations for a non-profit organization in Central Florida, which is dedicated to providing twenty-four hour a day residential care to children that are considered foster children and wards of the State of Florida.
In 2012, Representative Antone was re-elected to the Florida House of Representatives. He sits on several committees: he is currently the Ranking Democratic member on the General Government Appropriations Subcommittee, and a member of the Transportation and Economic Development Appropriations Subcommittee, Tourism and Economic Development Committee, Education Committee and K-12 Education Committee. Recently, he was elected as the 2016-2017 Vice Chairman of the Florida Conference of Black State Legislators and the 2016-2017 Chair-Elect of the Central Florida Caucus of Black Elected Officials.
Representative Antone’s public service and community involvement is extensive. He was a founding and longtime member of the African American Council of Christian Clergy (Ministerial Alliance). He is a former member of: the Orange County Planning and Zoning Commission, the Orange Blossom Trail Development Board, former member of the NAACP and SCLC and supporter and member of many civic and local organizations that advocate for those individuals and communities that have no voice.