Michael Moline, Author at Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Michael MolineApril 18, 2017

The House voted unanimously Tuesday to apologize to survivors of four African-American men who were brutalized in 1949 following a false accusation of rape. The House also approved an apology to the survivors of abuse at the Dozier and Okeechobee schools for boys, and approved plans for memorials to children who died on the Dozier […]

Michael MolineApril 17, 2017

The Senate sponsor of legislation crimping local restrictions on Airbnb and other home vacation rentals abruptly cried uncle Monday — confusing a committee room full of lobbyists, plus a few committee members. Sen. Greg Steube acquiesced in a late amendment by Sen. Jeff Brandes that essentially gutted his bill. CS/SB 188, as amended, passed on […]

Michael MolineApril 17, 2017

Gov. Rick Scott endorsed a key element of Senate President Joe Negron’s Lake Okeechobee plan Monday — storing and treating water south of the lake — and called upon the House and Senate to invest $200 million in repairs to the Herbert Hoover dike. Scott said during a news conference that the state can afford […]

Michael MolineApril 16, 2017

Representative Scott Plakon may have succeeded where a devotee of Southern Heritage failed in blocking the replacement of Confederate Gen. Edmund Kirby Smith as one of Florida’s two representatives in the National Statuary Hall collection. Seber Newsome III of Save Southern Heritage appeared before the Senate Appropriations Committee last week to oppose sending Smith packing. It was a lost […]

Michael MolineApril 14, 2017

House and Senate budget negotiators who’ll begin conference negotiations next week will have to account for more than 1,700 additional students, state economists concluded Friday. That may not sound like a lot in the context of the more than 2.8 million kids enrolled in the PreK-12 system. Still, it adds up to nearly $12.3 million […]

Michael MolineApril 13, 2017

The Senate met the two-thirds requirement Thursday to send Gov. Rick Scott a bill creating a public-records exemption for information that could identify murder witnesses. The vote was 34-3 to accept CS/CS/HB 111, the House version of legislation sponsored in the Senate by Ocoee Democrat Randolph Bracy. Exemptions to Florida’s stringent public-records laws require two-thirds votes in […]

Michael MolineApril 13, 2017

A bill clarifying that homeowners need not wait to be attacked inside their dwellings before resorting to defensive force passed the Senate Thursday. CS/CS/SB 1052 would reconcile conflicting statutes involving self-defense, correcting drafting errors muddying the legal situation made in 2014 legislation, bill sponsor David Simmons said. “Senators, this protects all of us in our own home. It’s […]

Michael MolineApril 13, 2017

The Senate’s workers’ compensation bill moved out of the Appropriations Committee Thursday after picking up an amendment declaring two forms of cancer occupational hazards for Florida’s 40,000 firefighters. The amendment — sponsored by Appropriations Chairman Jack Latvala and vice chairwoman Anitere Flores, and not by bill sponsor Rob Bradley — names multiple myeloma and non-Hodgkin’s […]

Michael MolineApril 12, 2017

The Trump administration’s pledge of $1.5 million to pay hospitals for charity care came as the Senate — which was counting on the money — debated its budget plan for 2017-18. Appropriations Chairman Jack Latvala announced the development Wednesday on the Senate floor, saying Gov. Rick Scott had delivered the news during a telephone call. “Thank […]

Michael MolineApril 12, 2017

The Trump administration is coming through with $1.5 million in new health care money for Florida, Gov. Rick Scott announced Wednesday as the House and Senate debated their rival spending plans for 2017-18. The money will finance Florida’s Low Income Pool, which reimburses hospitals that provide charity care. The infusion would “truly improve the quality […]

Michael Moline

House votes apology to Groveland Four family members, Dozier survivors

Bill sponsor bows out of fight over short-term vacation rentals

Rick Scott endorses water storage south of Lake Okeechobee, but not buying land

Looks like that Confederate general will remain in Statuary Hall collection

State economists expect an additional 1,700 PreK-12 students next year

Public-records exemption for murder witnesses heading to the governor

Senate votes to clear up ‘mistakes’ in self-defense law for homeowners

Senate workers’ compensation bill acquires firefighter cancer amendment

Trump administration comes to the rescue as Senate approves its budget

Rick Scott, feds agree to $1.5B commitment for low income pool in Florida