Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Jim RosicaApril 3, 2017

Free stuff is good, right? Surprisingly, not everyone agrees when it comes to beer glasses. Bills are moving in the Legislature to allow beer distributors to give away glasses from brewers imprinted with product names and logos to bars and restaurants. Now, they have to be sold. The House bill (HB 853) was first OK’d […]

Michael MolineMarch 31, 2017

Sen. Anitere Flores has built a health care budget around $600 in federal money for indigent care that she concedes might never arrive. “If it doesn’t happen, look, we’ll have to reassess the situation,” Flores said this week during a hearing before the Subcommittee on Health and Human Services. “This is just the Senate’s version. […]

Michael MolineMarch 30, 2017

The House approved legislation Thursday that would require the decertification of any public employee union unless at least 50 percent of the eligible workers in a unit pay dues. HB 11 passed on a vote of 75-41, with many Democrats calling it union busting. “It amazes me that we constantly come up with bills that […]

Michael MolineMarch 30, 2017

The House gave final passage Thursday to a raft of government ethics reforms, including a proposed constitutional amendment to bar legislators and statewide elected officials from lobbying before any state government body or agency for six years. CS/HJR 7001, approved on 108-4 vote, would extend the existing two-year ban. “We’re not casting aspersions on any […]

Michael MolineMarch 30, 2017

A church atmosphere prevailed as some 300 people converged on the state Capitol Thursday to protest Gov. Rick Scott’s removal of Orlando prosecutor Aramis Ayala from the murder prosecution of Markeith Loyd. The protest, organized by Color of Change and Equal Justice USA, included denunciations of the Legislature for threatening to strike $1.3 million from […]

Jim RosicaMarch 30, 2017

Good news for opponents of this year’s alimony overhaul, and bad news for its supporters: The bills are dead for the year. Sen. Kathleen Passidomo, the Naples Republican who’s carrying the Senate version (SB 412), on Wednesday said the chair of its first committee of reference has refused to hear the bill. Rene Garcia chairs the Committee on […]

Michael MolineMarch 29, 2017

A proposal that could decertify public employee union chapters across Florida moved closer to a final House vote Wednesday, as its sponsor denied it was “union busting.” Sponsor Scott Plakon, a Republican business owner from Longwood, argued his bill was about transparency and democratic principles. “This empowers the majority who may not be paying dues,” […]

Michael MolineMarch 29, 2017

Two days after the Oakland Raiders won NFL approval to move to Las Vegas, the Florida House Wednesday set a final floor vote on a bill that would ban professional sports teams from building or refurbishing stadiums on public land. CS/HB 77, by Bryan Avila, says “a sports franchise may not construct, reconstruct, renovate, or […]

Michael MolineMarch 29, 2017

A proposed constitutional amendment to impose term limits on justices of the Florida Supreme Court and state appellate judges squeaked through the Florida House Wednesday after a majority defeated a series of unfriendly — even sarcastic — amendments. HJR 1, by Eustis Republican Jennifer Sullivan, won 73 “Yes” votes — one more than the three-fifths support […]

Jim RosicaMarch 29, 2017

A coalition of progressive interests, including the League of Women Voters of Florida, on Wednesday chided the Constitution Revision Commission (CRC) for leaving the public in the dust—and in the dark. A CRC spokeswoman, however, later said its “No. 1 priority is to ensure that the public is actively involved and engaged.” Pamela Goodman, the League’s […]

Tag: 2017 Legislative Session

Beer glass bills coming to a head

Anitere Flores bets on Washington intervention in Florida’s health care budget

Union-decertification bill clears House on a 75-41 vote

Florida House OKs six-year ban on lobbying by former elected officials

Hundreds rally at Capitol in support of embattled Aramis Ayala

Alimony legislation dead for 2017, sponsor says

Bill targeting public-employee unions advances toward final House floor vote

Ban on public support for profession sports facilities cleared for final House vote

Term limits for Supreme Court, appeals judges clear the House, if barely

Progressive groups slam constitutional rewrite panel’s ‘lack of transparency’