Scott Powers, Author at Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Scott PowersMay 23, 2018

An apparent glitch in how the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles tracks and responds to drivers’ insurance coverage once resulted in the suspension of the driver’s license of the state’s current top insurance regulator, Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis. Through his staff, Patronis said he was unaware there had been any problems […]

Scott PowersMay 23, 2018

In his two tenures as a progressive bulldog in the U.S. House of Representatives Alan Grayson made a few high-profile friends and now he’s featuring them in a new TV commercial, the first in the Democratic primary battle for Florida’s 9th Congressional District. The new ad “Progressive Warrior,” which begins airing Wednesday in the Orlando […]

Scott PowersMay 23, 2018

Florida’s Republican U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio is amping up his outrage over President Donald Trump‘s desire to prop up the Chinese telecommunications giant ZTE which also is suspected of running espionage in America. Rubio railed against the administration’s intentions to lift sanctions against ZTE during a FOX News interview Tuesday night and then unleashed a […]

Scott PowersMay 22, 2018

Orlando’s U.S. Rep. Val Demings has joined a Republican and another Democrat in introducing a bill aimed at strengthening the United States’ defense against Russian interference in American elections. The bill, co-sponsored by U.S. Reps. Ted Lieu, a California Democrat, and Elise Stefanik, a Republican from New York, would strengthen federal cybersecurity, support intelligence gathering, […]

Scott PowersMay 22, 2018

Florida’s Democratic U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson on Tuesday blasted “the government of my state, the state of Florida,” for not expanding Medicaid, during a speech on the Senate floor. Nelson did not name names beyond that, but his reference to the government could be directed at his opponent in this year’s U.S. Senate election, Gov. […]

Scott PowersMay 22, 2018

A bipartisan group from Florida’s congressional delegation, along with the chairman of the House Transportation Committee, are offering a counterpunch to the jab thrown in Washington D.C. by opponents of the Brightline private passenger railroad in Florida. In a letter Monday, U.S. Rep. Bill Shuster, the Pennsylvania Republican chairing the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, and […]

Scott PowersMay 22, 2018

A Brevard County taxpayer is challenging U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson‘s appraisal of land he owns there, alleging it has been undervalued for years, costing the county “hundreds of thousands of dollars, if not millions” in under-taxation. It’s not a new issue, and Nelson, in a brief conversation on Friday, dismissed the complaint as something that […]

Scott PowersMay 22, 2018

Contending that there are statutory problems with the federally authorized bonds All Aboard Florida intends to use to finance its Orlando Brightline train expansion, U.S. Reps. Brian Mast, Bill Posey, Ron DeSantis and Matt Gaetz are urging the federal government to suspend the authorization. At issue is $1.15 billion worth of private activity bonds that […]

Scott PowersMay 21, 2018

Republican Florida House candidate Mikaela Nix of Orlando announced she expects to be qualified by petition for the ballot in the contest for House District 47. Nix, a lawyer, turned in more than 1,300 petition signatures, in about two months of campaigning. She needs 1,220 to get certified for her to make the ballot. She […]

Scott PowersMay 21, 2018

Orlando, skipped over in a federal grant program providing anti-terrorism money to big-city police the past three years, is back in the program, Democratic U.S. Rep. Val Demings announced Monday. Demings, of Orlando, and others from Central Florida have been fighting for several years to convince the U.S. Department of Homeland Security that rules it […]

Scott Powers

Jimmy Patronis, Florida’s insurance overseer, once sanctioned in apparent insurance glitch

Alan Grayson up with TV ad featuring Martin Sheen, Michael Moore

Marco Rubio rails against administration’s ZTE deal

Val Demings introduces anti-Russian interference bill

Bill Nelson blasts government of Florida for not expanding Medicaid

Florida’s congressional Brightline supporters come to train’s defense

Bill Nelson’s Brevard County property valuation challenged

Brian Mast, Bill Posey, others urge feds to suspend bonds for Brightline

Mikaela Nix files petitions for ballot in HD 47 race

Val Demings: Orlando is back in federal anti-terrorism grant program