Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Mitch PerryDecember 12, 2014

For the first time in four years, non-charter public schools in Florida received a relatively substantial amount of funding from the Florida Legislature this year towards the maintenance of school buildings. In 2011 & 2012, all of the monies allocated by Tallahassee allocated to the Public Education Capital Outlay (PECO) trust fund went to charter […]

Guest AuthorDecember 11, 2014

Florida’s unemployment rate is at 6 percent. It is hard to imagine a more deliberate focus on job creation than the state witnessed in the past four years. But what happens when we broaden the goal of economic development beyond job creation? In fairness, there is an obligation to demonstrate first why job creation is […]

Adam WeinsteinDecember 11, 2014

Ban them all. We should never again allow a livelihood in media or government or think-tanking for any politician, any general, any pundit who ever argued that the United States of America needs to torture captives in order to keep its citizenry safe. Thanks to the Senate Intelligence Committee’s report on CIA torture released this […]

Martin DyckmanDecember 11, 2014

It did not come as news this week that the CIA had tortured terrorism suspects. Americans already knew that. So did our enemies. The U.S. Senate select committee’s controversial report accomplished much more, however, than to simply provide the brutal, degrading, horrifying details. Equally disturbing, if not more so, was the conclusion that agency officials […]

Bruce RitchieDecember 11, 2014

Jon Steverson, Gov. Rick Scott’s choice as Department of Environmental Protection secretary, has been an outspoken director of the Northwest Florida Water Management District during his brief tenure there. Whether he will impress environmentalists with his passion and results at DEP is uncertain. Scott named Steverson, 39, on Thursday to replace Herschel T. Vinyard Jr., […]

Guest AuthorDecember 11, 2014

Across the country, policymakers are grappling with the phenomenon of “disruption.” Disruption refers generally to the process whereby some new technology or innovation “disrupts” a long-standing industry and its attendant regulatory environment, threatening market incumbents. Today, we see disruption most overtly in two areas: education and transportation. In education, new organizational structures, new teaching methods, […]

Phil AmmannDecember 11, 2014

Palm Coast Republican Paul Renner announced that he raised $76,500 prior to November 30, outperforming his four opponents 215-to-1 in the race for House District 24. Renner, who lost an August GOP primary by only two votes in House District 15, took in a combined $76,500 through Nov. 30. His fundraising overshadowed the $315 raised by all the others […]

Phil AmmannDecember 11, 2014

As the political dominoes fall in Northeast Florida, the campaign cash begins piling up. St. Augustine Republican Sen. John Thrasher left the Legislature in November to become Florida State University president, leading to not one, but three special elections set for early 2015. Almost immediately, donors in both Tallahassee and Northwest Florida started writing checks, […]

Mitch PerryDecember 11, 2014

Today’s St. Petersburg City Council meeting will be like every other meeting on the second Thursday of the month after all. There will be some public commendations offered, and the public won’t be permitted to give comments. That’s because Mayor Rick Kriseman smartly opted yesterday afternoon to delay the vote on the deal to allow […]

Diane RobertsDecember 10, 2014

And now the backlash: “Jackie,” the young woman at the center of the notorious Rolling Stone piece on rape at the University of Virginia, can’t keep her story straight. Jameis Winston’s accuser is a gold-digger aiming to shake him down in a civil suit. Lena Dunham, whose memoir details a not-really-consensual encounter with a fellow […]

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Virginia Giuffre. Image via AP.

MaryEllen Elia & Judy Genshaft discuss priorities at Hillsborough Legislative Delegation meeting

Dale Brill: Florida economy on a roll that isn’t sustainable

Adam Weinstein: Don’t give a forum to defenders of torture

Martin Dyckman: Listen to Sen. John McCain, who speaks with great authority on torture

Bruce Ritchie: On Florida’s newly appointed Department of Environmental Protection director

Gregory Newburn: Like transportation and education, the criminal justice system is ripe for ‘disruption’

Paul Renner outraises all HD 24 opponents 215-to-1

As dominoes fall in NE Florida politics, campaign cash starts moving

Mitch Perry Report for 12.11.14 – Rick Kriseman makes the right call

Diane Roberts: We’re back to blaming the victims for rape