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Staff ReportsJanuary 1, 2019

Three bills that passed the 2018 Legislative Session and were signed by Gov. Rick Scott will take effect on the first day of the new year. Summaries below have been adapted from various staff analyses: — HB 85, on “Voter Registration List Maintenance.” The bill allows the Department of State to become a member of a nongovernmental […]

Staff ReportsDecember 28, 2018

Let’s not even pretend to avoid a spoiler: The post-Parkland legislation was the biggest legislative story of the last year. We’ll save that for the end, but in the meantime, here’s Florida Politics’ annual (and admittedly subjective) list of the top stories to come out of the 2018 Legislative Session. In somewhat chronological order: Sexual […]

Peter SchorschDecember 13, 2018

Sixty Days — A prime-time look at the 2018 Legislative Session The Last 24 Good Thursday evening. Sen. Bill Galvano is taking a pass on looking into the fate of the Broward Elections Supervisor, and a former House Speaker enters hospice. Sixty Days prays for him and his family. Here’s your nightly rundown. Senatorial stasis: […]

Peter SchorschDecember 12, 2018

Sixty Days — A prime-time look at the 2018 Legislative Session: The Last 24 Good Wednesday evening. The Senate’s Appropriations chairman was both optimistic and guarded about next year’s state spending plan, and Democrats in the House want to tear up the state’s election laws and start over. Not that it will get far, but […]

Peter SchorschDecember 11, 2018

Sixty Days — A prime-time look at the 2018 Legislative Session The Last 24 Good Tuesday evening. Lawmakers descended upon the Capitol for three days of training (including on ethics), orientation and how-do-you-do’s, while one of their own just got a big job promotion into the nascent administration of Gov.-elect Ron DeSantis. Ethics, shmethics: Sixty […]

Peter SchorschDecember 10, 2018

Sixty Days — A prime-time look at the 2018 Legislative Session: The Last 24 Good Monday evening. It’s looking more and more like the state’s governor-in-waiting has given his imprimatur for a Sarasota Senator to next lead the state’s GOP, and Senate Democrats are clamming up about combating sexual harassment in the Capitol. Sixty Days […]

Staff ReportsOctober 1, 2018

A new law goes into effect Monday to allow beer distributors to give away for free glasses printed with product names and logos—known as “branded glassware”—to bars and restaurants. Under previous law, glasses had to be sold. A version of the measure (HB 961) had been filed unsuccessfully last year, with this year’s finding traction […]

Staff ReportsAugust 5, 2018

The second biggest shopping holiday of the year is here. No, it’s not the U.S. Coast Guard’s birthday, not in Florida at least. It’s the “Back-to-School” sales tax holiday. According to the Florida Retail Federation, the weekend — scheduled yearly by Florida lawmakers — is second only to Black Friday when it comes to getting […]

Kate BradshawJune 12, 2018

Ranking for Tampa’s Republican state Senator on this list somewhat hinges on a key decision: whether or not Dana Young plans on running for Senate President for 2022-24. Citing time constraints stemming from more immediate commitments (i.e., the 2018 Legislative Session), she dropped that bid earlier this year. Young did, however, manage to get a […]

Drew WilsonJune 6, 2018

Americans for Prosperity-Florida on Wednesday released its scorecards grading Florida lawmakers on their votes during the 2018 Legislative Session. AFP-FL examined more than 6,000 individual votes on 66 different issues in crafting its “Economic Freedom Scorecard.” Each bill where AFP kept score relates to one of the tentpoles of the group’s “Five for Florida” plan, […]

Tag: 2018 Legislative Session

Tick tock: Laws that go into effect on Jan. 1

Florida Politics’ review of top legislative stories of 2018

Sixty Days for 12.13.18 — A prime-time look at the 2019 Legislative Session

Sixty Days for 12.12.18 — A prime-time look at the 2019 Legislative Session

Sixty Days for 12.11.18 — A prime-time look at the 2019 Legislative Session

Sixty Days for 12.10.18 — A prime-time look at the 2019 Legislative Session

Bottoms up: Beer glass bill goes into effect Monday

Retailers expect near record spending during back-to-school tax holiday

#17 on list of Tampa Bay’s Most Powerful Politicians — Dana Young

AFP Florida releases 2018 lawmaker scorecard