Mitch Perry
Tallahassee –
U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson was in the Capitol Wednesday. With the Senate (what else?) off for the week on “President’s Day holiday,” the only statewide elected Democrat was in town to congratulate the League of Women Voters on their Fair Districts court victory.
It was great to see the LWV folks in the Capitol, as well as the folks for occupational therapy and Latino activists, and I’m sure some other groups I missed along the way.
Nelson contended into a news conference that the GOP-led Legislature is out of touch with regular Floridians, citing their support for fracking and open carrying of guns, as well as opposition to Medicaid expansion.
All true, but the state continues to remain strongly in one-party control up here. Perhaps after the redistricting of some Senate seats there could be more Democrats up here next year, but well, let’s just wait and see about that.
In other statewide news regarding U.S. senators, apparently Carlos Beruff is getting into the GOP Senate race.
Carlos who?
He’s the Manatee County home builder who has been making serious for the past month about getting into the contest, and Zack Anderson in the Sarasota Herald-Tribune had the exclusive Thursday morning. Anderson reports that Beruff plans to make his grand announcement on Feb. 29.
Although David Jolly has been leading in some early polls, the race is wide open. Most Floridians still have a hard time distinguishing between any of the four declared candidates in the race, so why not make it five? We’d like to say something about Beruff’s viability, but really, other than he’s been linked to Rick Scott, there’s little to go on at this point, so let’s just welcome him to the race and see what happens, eh?
OK, it’s not even 3:30 a.m. and I’ve got a four-hour drive back to Tampa this morning, so signing off for now.
In other news …
The Pastors Protection Act being pushed by Florida Republicans is headed to the Senate floor after passage in the Rules Committee on Wednesday. The proposal is the legislative reaction by the GOP lawmakers to give legal protections for clergy members who don’t want to solemnize a same-sex ceremony.
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Although Ted Cruz won’t be in Clearwater for rally on his behalf this Saturday, Florida state Senator Alan Hays will be.
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The head of the U.S. Borders and Customs speaks at USF.
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Immigration activists descended on the State Capitol Wednesday, though in a little better mood after an influential state senator says he won’t be bringing up a couple of contentious immigration bills.
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Palm Harbor Republican Rep. Chris Sprowls’ health care bills that have the imprimatur of Gov. Scott’s approval made their way through the Health & Human Services Committee in the House.
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A needle-exchange pilot program for Miami-Dade County is moving its way through the Florida House, and may finally pass after several attempts in the past few years.
