Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

William PatrickApril 2, 2017

Enterprise Florida Inc. could survive 2017 after all. Established in 1996, the taxpayer-funded organization has awarded nearly $2 billion in economic incentives to private businesses to create jobs and boost the state economy. Its record is mixed, and its reputation has been scarred by exorbitant executive pay, high-profile taxpayer losses and a failure to match private […]

Mitch PerryApril 1, 2017

House members now say the possibility of a fracking ban is dead for the 2017 Legislative Session. Sen. Dana Young thinks it’s premature to administer last rites, at least just yet. “You never say never, but now we’re saying it looks like that will be next year,” Rep. Mike Miller, an Orlando Republican, told the Naples Daily […]

Joe HendersonMarch 30, 2017

While the business of governing requires tough choices and choosing between priorities that can be conflicting, sometimes it’s best to do what the people want. After all, it’s their money that is being spent. So, listen up, Tallahassee. On the subject of state Medicaid funding, the people — your bosses — appear to have spoken […]

Staff ReportsMarch 30, 2017

House Speaker Richard Corcoran and members of the Florida House met with reporters Thursday to discuss this week’s floor action. Among others, state Rep. Jennifer Sullivan took questions on a judicial term limits measure passed this week and Appropriations chair Carlos Trujillo discussed the House budget now being printed. Corcoran himself touched off a bit of a […]

Peter SchorschMarch 30, 2017

The House of Representatives’ new lobbying registration regime has ensnared Susan Glickman, Florida director for the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy. House Speaker Richard Corcoran now requires lobbyists to disclose every bill, amendment, and individual appropriation they are trying to influence. Go to the House website, and you’ll see Glickman is registered for four House bills. But […]

Gary FineoutMarch 30, 2017

Calling it an “emergency,” Florida may agree to spend up to $200 million to shift students from chronically failing schools to charter schools run by private organizations. The idea crafted by House Speaker Richard Corcoran and other top Republicans in the Florida House is this: Offer up money to help build “Schools of Hope” in […]

Jim RosicaMarch 29, 2017

A coalition of progressive interests, including the League of Women Voters of Florida, on Wednesday chided the Constitution Revision Commission (CRC) for leaving the public in the dust—and in the dark. A CRC spokeswoman, however, later said its “No. 1 priority is to ensure that the public is actively involved and engaged.” Pamela Goodman, the League’s […]

Peter SchorschMarch 29, 2017

Sen. Jack Latvala has backed Gov. Rick Scott in his defense of Enterprise Florida—but that wasn’t always the case. The Clearwater Republican, who now chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee, had some choice words for the public-private economic development organization back in 2015. That’s when he was chair of the Senate’s Transportation, Tourism and Economic Development […]

Joe HendersonMarch 28, 2017

On the old TV show Dallas, family patriarch Jock Ewing once memorably screamed at his son Bobby: “So I gave you power, huh? Well, let me tell you something, boy. If I did give you power, you got nothing! Nobody gives you power. Real power is something you take!” The 2017 version of that story […]

Staff ReportsMarch 28, 2017

State Rep. Cary Pigman, who last week was charged with drunk driving, has stepped down as chair of the House Health Quality Subcommittee. House Speaker Richard Corcoran announced the move Tuesday. He appointed Jeanette Nunez, the House Speaker pro tempore, as acting chair of the the subcommittee. Pigman, an Avon Park Republican first elected in 2012, is an […]

Tag: Richard Corcoran
Image via Fresh Take Florida.

House speaker’s ‘corporate welfare’ crackdown runs into Senate roadblock

Dana Young, environmentalists still hold hope for fracking ban in 2017

Joe Henderson: Psst … Tallahassee, you might want to actually listen to the people on this one

Richard Corcoran and other @MyFLHouse leaders meet the press

Can Susan Glickman ever shoot straight?

Florida may shift students away from failing schools

Progressive groups slam constitutional rewrite panel’s ‘lack of transparency’

Was Jack Latvala against Enterprise Florida before he was for it?

Joe Henderson: Richard Corcoran’s moves show that real power is taken, every bit of it

Charged with DUI, Cary Pigman resigns subcommittee chairmanship