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

Ryan RayJune 25, 2015

As local governments in Jacksonville, Broward County and Miami-Dade move to relax their rules governing the use and possession of marijuana – amid an ongoing parallel process in which the Department of Health is now accepting licenses to produce low-THC Charlotte’s Web under a 2013 state law – it’s fair to say that business is, […]

Ryan RayJune 24, 2015

Sen. Durell Peaden, a beloved and bemusing former lawmaker from the Panhandle known for his passion and savvy on health care issues, passed away Wednesday morning. He was 69. Peadon, known to intimates as “Doc,” had undergone double bypass surgery earlier this month and was in stable condition, resting in Pennsylvania afterward. He is survived by his wife, Nancy, […]

Ryan RayJune 23, 2015

Tallahassee attorney and political newcomer Mary Thomas is “considering” a run in Congressional District 2 in the eastern Panhandle. Thomas was seen working the tables, looking very much like a candidate, all the while sounding very conservative at Tuesday night’s Leon County Republican Party’s Lincoln Day Dinner. “I think we’ve found a candidate that can beat Gwen […]

Ryan RayJune 23, 2015

Gov. Rick Scott denied giving consideration to his friends — or retaliating against his enemies — as he threw out more than $460 million allocated by lawmakers in this year’s budget. “Absolutely not,” Scott told reporters Tuesday morning after the day’s Cabinet meeting concluded. But a close look at what was axed and what was […]

Ryan RayJune 23, 2015

Gov. Rick Scott vetoed more than $461 million in state spending Tuesday morning, or about 6 percent of all appropriations in the 2015-2016 budget, in his second-greatest spilling of red ink over line items since his first General Appropriations Act in office when he nixed about $615 million from 2011’s $70 million budget. Not on the […]

Ryan RayJune 22, 2015

As ever in the term limits era, the makeup of the Republican House majority is set to shift in terms of personnel, if not necessarily in degree of dominance. As the very House-inflected Rep. Matt Gaetz seeks to take over his father Sen. Don Gaetz‘s spot in the Legislature’s upper chamber, a Walton County commissioner has […]

Ryan RayJune 19, 2015

Just hours before a Friday evening vote on the state budget which will, with any luck, put to bed the specter of a government shutdown and/or constitutional crisis, Gov. Rick Scott announced that he will be taking his message of cutting taxes on the road. The “KEEP FLORIDA WORKING” Tax Cut Victory Tour, as his office called […]

Ryan RayJune 17, 2015

In an upbeat conference call that included statewide education officials, including Department of Education Secretary Pam Stewart, and Wendy Spencer of the federal Corporation for National and Community Service said Wednesday that Florida will be the recipient of $15.4 million for AmericCorps-led education projects. The officials said that figure will be matched by local money bringing the […]

Ryan RayJune 17, 2015

After several weeks of deliberation, Edward James III has made it official — the Sarasota-born Democrat told FloridaPolitics.com he filed 2016 campaign paperwork on Tuesday to run in House District 72. James said he was spurred to run by what he called the “cold-heartedness” of the GOP-led House, which abruptly adjourned and left town early last month in […]

Ryan RayJune 16, 2015

After working alongside members of the House in a coordinated “No Tax is Safe” tax-cutting crusade, Gov. Rick Scott today signed into law HB33A, a tax package that reduces rates on the Communications Services Tax, reduces various licensure fees and creates a “supercharged” ten-day back-to-school sales tax holiday, to use Rep. Matt Gaetz‘s jaunty phrase. […]

Ryan Ray
One of several proposed designs for Florida's new Margaritaville license plates. Image via the office of Rep. Linda Chaney.

Recent moves in Jacksonville, South Florida herald “exciting times” for medical pot advocates

Remembering Sen. Durell Peaden, 69

Republican Mary Thomas considering challenge to Gwen Graham in CD-2

Rick Scott’s veto list puts friends, foes in sharp relief

State law enforcement radio money spared Gov. Rick Scott’s veto ax

Amid legislative turnover, new House candidates reach for safe GOP seats

Rick Scott set to kick off “tax cut victory tour”

Florida receives $15 million in AmeriCorps education projects aid

Democrat Edward James files for 2016 House run in Sarasota’s HD 72

Rick Scott signs $400 milion tax cut package into law