Elevator pitch

Phil AmmannOctober 30, 2016

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The longtime Hillary Clinton aide at the center of a renewed FBI email investigation testified under oath four months ago she never deleted old emails, while promising in 2013 not to take sensitive files when she left the State Department. FBI Director James Comey notified Congress on Friday, less than two weeks before the election, […]

Phil AmmannOctober 28, 2016

On this day ten years ago, FloridaPolitics.com’s A.G. Gancarski reviewed a book called “Absentee and Early Voting: Trends, Promises and Perils.” In it was a forecast that expansion of absentee and early voting was inevitable; that prediction has come to pass a decade later, as the 2016 election shows a heavy early voting concentration. And Duval […]

Phil AmmannOctober 26, 2016

George Soros is supporting the effort to mobilize Puerto Rican voters in Orlando and Central Florida, reaching out to the highly valued electorate in the country’s biggest battleground state. Matt Dixon of POLITICO Florida reports the billionaire Democrat mega-donor is funding “United for Progress,” the committee launched in September by Marcos Vilar, a Miami political […]

Phil AmmannOctober 23, 2016

When Hurricane Matthew battered the East Coast, it killed dozens and caused catastrophic flooding in Florida and North Carolina, with losses estimated in the billions. This followed Hurricane Hermine, which tore through the Florida Panhandle and caused devastating floods in Louisiana. Meanwhile, West Virginia recently saw flash floods that tragically took 23 lives. These extreme […]

Phil AmmannOctober 21, 2016

Former President Bill Clinton is heading back to Jacksonville yet again Friday, one of several stops on a weekend swing bus tour throughout Florida. Clinton is slated to spend at least part of the afternoon at the Jacksonville Public Library downtown, where he will offer a speech on behalf of his wife, who appears headed […]

Phil AmmannOctober 19, 2016

In making its case to end third-party nonprofit drug abuse treatment and counseling for soon-to-be-released prisoners, the Florida Department of Corrections relied on false cost analysis and misleading statements. Daniel Ducassi of POLITICO Florida reports on newly released documents showing plans to cut nearly 700 so-called “transition” beds for prisoners in community-based facilities leading up to their […]

Phil AmmannOctober 13, 2016

GEO Group, the Boca Raton-based private prison corporation, recently hired three lobbying firms in Washington D.C. POLITICO Influence reports that this month, GEO brought on David Olander of Capitol Counsel for real estate investment trust tax issues; David Stewart and Ryan Robichaux of Bradley Arant Boult Cummings — former aides to Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions — to […]

Phil AmmannOctober 11, 2016

As solar energy expands across Florida, firefighters say uniform rules on the installation and maintenance of solar panels are necessary to keep first responders safe in case of emergencies at places producing solar energy. That’s why the Florida Professional Firefighters are the latest group supporting the constitutional amendment to promote solar energy production throughout the […]

Phil AmmannOctober 11, 2016

Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry campaigned on a platform of public safety. And in Hurricane Matthew, Curry finally got his “public safety moment.” With Curry as Mayor, the Jacksonville murder rate hasn’t decreased; with 90 murders through nine months and 10 days, that hard statistic looks poised to equal the 113 murders it had in 2015. That […]

Phil AmmannOctober 11, 2016

With a tip of the hat to LobbyTools, here are the latest movements — both on and off — of the legislative merry-go-round. Off: Mary Kassabaum is no longer legislative assistant for Trilby Republican state Sen. Wilton Simpson. Off: Caroline Crow is no longer district secretary for Rockledge Republican state Sen. Thad Altman. On: Matthew Hunter is returning as legislative assistant for Fort […]

Phil Ammann

Found emails? Hillary Clinton aide didn’t delete old messages

Jacksonville Bold for 10.28.16 — Blu-Val?

George Soros spending big to mobilize Central Florida Puerto Rican vote

Patrick Murphy & Dennis Ross: Disaster programs need to be proactive

Jacksonville Bold for 10.21.16 – Let the Big Dog eat

DOC used faulty cost analysis, misstatements in plan to cut nonprofit prisoner drug treatment facilities

Private prison firm GEO Group hires more lobbyists for D.C.

Florida firefighters say solar Amendment 1 ‘protects first responders’

Jacksonville Bold 10.11.16 — Public safety moment

Latest on the legislative staffing merry-go-round