Ryan Ray, Author at Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Ryan RayOctober 23, 2015

I am … 27. I live in … Jacksonville, Florida. I got into politics because … I wanted to change the campus culture at the University of North Florida, so I ran for student body president. One principle I always put above politics is … Dependability. I strive to be guy who comes through for his […]

Ryan RayOctober 22, 2015

State lawmakers are in Tallahassee for the fourth time this year to amend Senate maps found by courts to contain improper political bias. With little committee action on the calendar Thursday, several majority-party legislators got to work on their priorities ahead of the 2016 Legislative Session, which begins in January. Here’s a quick look at […]

Ryan RayOctober 22, 2015

Citing growing inequality between the “haves and have nots” and higher-than-average levels of poverty in Florida, a bipartisan pair of lawmakers is pursuing legislation to establish a Commission on Poverty within the state’s Department of Economic Opportunity. SB 556 and HB 371 would create a commission made of representatives from the executive branch, legislative appointees, and low-income Floridians […]

Ryan RayOctober 22, 2015

I am … 25 years young. I live in … Sarasota/Tallahassee. I got into politics because … My family exposed me to the power of community organizing as a child. My great-grandmother along with a group of other concerned citizens helped desegregate the public beaches in Sarasota in the 1950s by organizing caravans of people who went […]

Ryan RayOctober 21, 2015

A trio of Republican lawmakers – and one Democrat – are pursuing a measure in 2016 to boost the legal standing of firefighters who contract cancer while serving the public. Sen. Jack Latvala‘s SB 456 would create a presumption in statute that firefighters employed by the state or local governments who become ill with cancer did so in […]

Ryan RayOctober 21, 2015

Rep. Julio Gonzalez filed his first bill of the 2016 legislative year on Wednesday, and it was a doozy: a proposal to give immunity to certain businesses that don’t want to render certain services on grounds of “religious freedom,” including private child-placement agencies. Specifically, the bill amends the “Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1998” to read that […]

Ryan RayOctober 21, 2015

Harrison Grandwilliams didn’t take the most common path to becoming a young man of note in Broward politics, but in a way, that makes him classically Floridian. The chief legislative aide to Broward County Commissioner Beam Furr came to South Florida by way of Long Island, New York and New College of Florida, a small liberal arts […]

Ryan RayOctober 21, 2015

Jen Gaviria is a great example of the “small world” principle of politics in the nation’s 3rd-largest state. She got involved in The Process through the student government at Florida State University, just blocks away from the state Capitol where she now plies her trade. Though she now works on such big-time issues like jet fuel […]

Ryan RayOctober 20, 2015

A months-long process of the U.S. Department of Agriculture transferring 3,800 acres of land to Florida A&M University came to an end Tuesday, as the nation’s largest historically black college formally took over the Hernando County tract. For more than 80 years, the site was home to the USDA’s Subtropical Agricultural and Research Station until it was […]

Ryan RayOctober 20, 2015

A bill sponsored by Sen. Joe Negron to prevent state funding from flowing to organizations that boycott or have divested from Israel on human rights grounds passed unanimously through a Senate budget panel on general government Tuesday afternoon. The bill, SB 86, creates a state list of “scrutinized companies” that boycott Israel to be kept by the […]

Ryan Ray

Meet Christopher Warren, one of “30 under 30” rising stars of Florida politics

Legislative roundup: Slew of Republican bills introduced Thursday

Thad Altman, Alan Williams pushing for poverty commission within DEO

Meet Edward James, one of “30 Under 30” rising stars of Florida politics

Jack Latvala rolls out proposal to aid stricken firefighters

“Religious freedom” bill to prevent gay adoptions refiled for 2016

Meet Harrison Grandwilliams, one of the “30 Under 30” rising stars of Florida politics

Meet Jen Gaviria, one of the “30 Under 30” rising stars of Florida politics

Gwen Graham lauds USDA 3,800-acre land transfer to FAMU

Joe Negron bill to cut ties with anti-Israeli boycotters sails through committee stop