Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Scott PowersSeptember 19, 2017

State Sen. Jack Latvala called Tuesday for electric utilities in Florida to stop donating to political campaigns and instead spend the money on improving their power grid infrastructure. Latvala is a Republican gubernatorial candidate from Clearwater, has received electric company money in his political committee, Florida Leadership Committee, but not nearly as much as his […]

Jim RosicaSeptember 19, 2017

A Tallahassee judge has tossed out a lawsuit against Attorney General Pam Bondi that accused her of improperly coercing businesses to donate millions of dollars to unregistered charities. Those donations are part of settlements in consumer protection cases her office pursues under the “Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act.” Orlando entrepreneur John D. Smith, who was investigated on a […]

Michael MolineSeptember 19, 2017

Insurance claims from Hurricane Irma now have surpassed $2 billion, the Office of Insurance Regulation announced Tuesday. As of 4 p.m. Monday, 372,281 claims represented $2,168,674,31 in dollar losses. A little more than 6 percent of those claims have been closed already. Insurers rejected another 8,300. You can drill down into the data here. The […]

Drew WilsonSeptember 19, 2017

More than a third of Florida youths are overweight or obese according to a report released Tuesday by the Trust for America’s Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The report is based on data released through the Data Resource Center for Child and Adolescent Health (DRC) and published on stateofobesity.org. The 2017 numbers are […]

Mitch PerrySeptember 19, 2017

With so much of Florida’s economy tied to tourism, Rick Scott believes it is essential the state get back to normal as soon as possible following Hurricane Irma, making the state inviting for visitors to return. “One out of every six jobs in the state are tied to tourism. So we gotta make sure that we’re […]

Susan WashingtonSeptember 19, 2017

At the Organic Food and Farming Summit — this week in Gainesville, Florida — everything old is new again, and citrus growers attending the conference said they are turning to time-tested agricultural methods, which don’t use chemical fertilizer or chemical pesticides and relying on plant breeding to control the incurable disease that has devastated Florida’s […]

Scott PowersSeptember 19, 2017

Actor Mark Ruffalo is pushing progressives nationwide to help raise money for hurricane relief in Florida. One of the stars of “The Avengers,” “Spotlight,” and “Now You See Me,” who’s also a progressive political activist, is sending a message Tuesday to members of progressive groups throughout the country through the Progressive Change Campaign Committee raising […]

Associated PressSeptember 18, 2017

Dealing with wrecked belongings and reports of toxic muck, residents of a tiny town where Florida’s Everglades meet the Gulf of Mexico cleared their homes Monday in scorching 92 F (33 C) heat with no air conditioning and no electricity except from a few generators. The isolated Everglades City community of about 400 people suffered […]

Scott PowersSeptember 18, 2017

U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson outlined to the U.S. Senate Monday his and U.S. Marco Rubio‘s post-Hurricane Irma tours of Florida describing destruction, tragedy and challenges from the Keys to Jacksonville, and called attention to climate change as a factor. Nelson, a Democrat, on Monday also sent letters to the chief executives of 10 major U.S.-based […]

Associated PressSeptember 18, 2017

Florida’s agriculture commissioner said Monday that the path of Hurricane Irma “could not have been more lethal” to the state’s farmers and that the scope of damage to the state’s fruits and vegetables is unprecedented. Commissioner Adam Putnam, along with U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, flew over hundreds of miles of Florida farmland to view […]

Headlines

Jack Latvala swears off electric cash, urges utilities to stop political donations

Court throws out charities lawsuit against Pam Bondi

Irma-related claims now over $2 billion

Study shows more than a third of Florida youth are overweight

One week after Irma, Rick Scott says ‘we’ve got to get tourists back’

At Organic Food & Farming Summit, everything old is new again

Mark Ruffalo urging progressives to help with Hurricane relief

SW Florida residents clear sodden homes in scorching heat

Bill Nelson relates his and Marco Rubio’s Irma trek, cites climate change

Official: ‘Lethal’ Irma a ‘major calamity’ for Florida crops