Not all of the GOP's incomers in the 2011 Legislature were rookies. Two veteran lawmakers who term-limited out of their House seats are back this session, and they're doing some heavy lifting.

Rep. Dennis Baxley chairs the Criminal Justice Subcommittee, where he is leading the Republican charge to reform Florida's sprawling criminal justice system.

"We want to go from being tough on crime, to being right on crime," said Baxley, whose committee bills are focusing on substance abuse, mental health and recidivism.

Venturing onto historically Democratic turf, this year's GOP agenda pushes diversion programs and additional access to drug courts, with an overriding goal of curbing incarceration.

"The longer the state has contact with them, the worse it gets," notes Baxley, R-Ocala.

As a law-and-order conservative who helped pass the "Stand and Defend" law (also known as the Castle Doctrine) in his previous stint at the Legislature, Baxley has the street cred to promote reforms without appearing "soft on crime." And he says he is "very impressed" in working with the directors Gov. Rick Scott has installed at the Department of Corrections and the Department of Juvenile Justice.

Armed with studies from Florida TaxWatch and the Pew Research Center, Baxley and his committee are approaching their work with an overriding goal to contain spending.

"It's expensive to imprison people. We're also looking for cost-efficient ways to address the human cost," he says.

Criminal justice is a new area for the legislative veteran known primarily for his work on education reform during the Jeb Bush era. And Baxley's versatility is coming in handy.

In addition to his subcommittee chairmanship, he is carrying the GOP election-reform package (House Bill 1355) and he was recently appointed to the 15-member House Reapportionment Subcommittee. As Baxley noted: "I've been through the process before."

The 58-year-old Baxley, who operates a funeral home business in Marion County, says "recycling" lawmakers can help the legislative environment.

"I believe in term limits. I also believe in putting institutional knowledge back to work," said Baxley, who left the House midway through his fourth and final term to run (unsuccessfully) in a special election for state Senate in 2007.

"The key to term limits is to end the power of incumbency, give other people a chance to run. But it's a two-edged sword: You get a lot of fresh talent and participation, but you lose a lot of institutional knowledge," he says.

"I try to withhold being Mr. Know It All, but when things come up in debate, I try to help," Baxley notes. "The younger members have been receptive and kind to me."

Rep. Gayle Harrell has had a similar experience in her return to the 2011 House, where she chairs the Health and Human Services Access Subcommittee.

"I was humbled and honored to be given a subcommittee chairmanship," says Harrell, R-Port St. Lucie.

Having longtime experience with health-care issues as the wife of a physician and owner of a mammogram center, Harrell also sits on the 22-member Health Informational Technology Policy Committee in Washington, D.C.

Harrell calls this year's health conversation "challenging and controversial," amid high-stakes efforts to reform Medicaid. And she's taken some heat for sidelining some proposed bills at her committee, notably one that would allow Florida's nurse practitioners to practice at their full scope, as they do in 48 other states.

HB 4103, by Rep. Daphne Campbell, D-Miami, has the nurses' enthusiastic support, said Susan Lynch, vice president for public relations at the nurse practitioners' PAC.