Jim Rosica, Author at Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Jim RosicaOctober 18, 2017

Tobacco companies are hoping next year’s try at a bond cap repeal doesn’t go up in smoke. Legislation that would do away with the limit on the amount of money tobacco companies have to put up as appellate bonds has again been filed, this time for the 2018 Legislative Session. The one-line bill (SB 124) simply repeals the section […]

Jim RosicaOctober 17, 2017

State Sen. Tom Lee, who also sits on the Constitution Revision Commission (CRC), has been gauging support for a constitutional amendment to end greyhound racing, sources told Florida Politics on Tuesday. Lee, a Thonotosassa Republican running for state chief financial officer in 2018, has called some of the state’s dog track owners to “take their […]

Jim RosicaOctober 17, 2017

Attorney General Pam Bondi on Tuesday said she was unsure whether the country needs a ‘drug czar.’ “I don’t know,” she told reporters after a Florida Cabinet meeting. “I’m in D.C. a lot. I can tell you the DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration) is doing great, all the executive offices are doing great …. “Everybody works […]

Jim RosicaOctober 16, 2017

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Call it the House of Representatives’ Greatest Hits – so far. House Speaker Richard Corcoran took to YouTube Monday to highlight his chamber’s work in last week’s first legislative committee week. An enthusiastic Corcoran, sporting a blue blazer-no tie look, sat in front of a bookcase stuffed with Florida Statute books, a miniature Liberty Bell, […]

Jim RosicaOctober 12, 2017

The House’s ethics panel Thursday voted to subpoena a television production firm for details on exactly how it spent millions of taxpayer dollars on a fishing show and a cooking show with celebrity chef Emeril Lagasse. The Public Integrity and Ethics Committee unanimously approved the move to compel information from Tallahassee-based MAT Media and its owner, Pat Roberts. […]

Jim RosicaOctober 12, 2017

The House’s ethics panel on Thursday set a Dec. 4 hearing on a charge that Democratic Miami-Dade Rep. Daisy Baez doesn’t live in the district she was elected to represent. The Public Integrity and Ethics Committee will conduct an evidentiary hearing “somewhat like a court trial,” said chair Larry Metz, a Yalaha Republican. “You’re trying to […]

Jim RosicaOctober 11, 2017

State regulators have rejected a California bank’s proposal to operate in Florida as a financial middleman for medical marijuana-related transactions. The Office of Financial Regulation turned down a request from PayQwick for a declaratory statement so it could operate here. Christian Bax, director of the Department of Health’s Office of Medical Marijuana Use, gave a presentation Wednesday […]

Jim RosicaOctober 11, 2017

Lawmakers asked lots of questions but didn’t get the answers they wanted Wednesday as a Senate panel tried to get a handle on the state’s new $85 million jobs fund. The Senate Transportation, Tourism and Economic Development Appropriations Subcommittee heard from Department of Economic Opportunity (DEO) head Cissy Proctor on the Florida Job Growth Grant Fund. […]

Jim RosicaOctober 11, 2017

House Democratic Leader Janet Cruz of Tampa is traveling to Puerto Rico Wednesday “to deliver 30,000 pounds of much-needed relief supplies, including food, water, and medical necessities,” her spokesman said. Cruz is working with “Major League Baseball, the Tampa Bay Rays, and the Moffitt Cancer Center,” according to Anders Croy, communications director for the House Democratic Office. […]

Jim RosicaOctober 11, 2017

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) is asking for an additional $29.3 million in the 2018-19 state budget to build a local office in Pensacola. An FDLE representative told a meeting of the Florida Cabinet Aides on Wednesday that the budget request was being moved from the Department of Management Services (DMS), the state’s real estate […]

Jim Rosica
Golf ball and golf club in bag on green grass

Tobacco bond cap repeal teed up again in Legislature

Tom Lee may file constitutional amendment to ban dog racing

Pam Bondi: ‘I don’t know’ if we even need a ‘drug czar’

Richard Corcoran says ‘enough is enough’ in new video

House panel OKs subpoenas for Emeril Lagasse show

House ethics panel sets trial in Daisy Baez residency case

Regulators shoot down medical marijuana payment proposal

Senators sound skeptical of new state jobs fund

Janet Cruz heads to Puerto Rico on aid trip

FDLE seeking $29M for new Pensacola regional office