Photo of Hayden R. Dempsey

Hayden R. Dempsey is the Chair of the Florida Government Law & Policy Practice. He lobbies on behalf of numerous private and public clients before both the Florida Legislature and state agencies and represents clients in Medicaid and health policy matters, procurement disputes, transportation and infrastructure issues, health care regulatory matters, and election matters. He also focuses on the lobbying of insurance and other regulatory issues before the Office of Insurance Regulation and the Florida Legislature.

Hayden has broad governmental experience, having served in four governors’ administrations. Hayden served as Special Counsel to Gov. Rick Scott, where he oversaw the Legislative Affairs Office and advised the Governor and his staff on legislative, policy, and budget issues. He also worked closely with the Governor’s agencies to assist in development and passage of their legislative priorities. Hayden previously served as Legislative Affairs Director, Deputy General Counsel, and Legislative Counsel for Gov. Jeb Bush. He started his professional career working for Gov. Bob Martinez and Gov. Lawton Chiles.

On Feb. 15, Gov. Ron DeSantis and House Speaker Chris Sprowls held a press conference to announce their support for legislation that would significantly increase data privacy and security regulation and create new rights for Florida consumers with respect to their personal information (PI).

House Bill 969 by Rep. Fiona McFarland (R-Sarasota) would apply to