Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Peter SchorschApril 16, 2015

After years of legislative legwork and heated debate — occasionally before a national audience — Sen. Nancy Detert may land her Senate tenure’s Moby Dick at long last. Her proposal to establish state incentives for Florida-based film and entertainment projects is alive and moving through the process. Language similar to Detert’s SB 1046 has come close […]

Phil AmmannMarch 2, 2015

Whip out those checkbooks, Tallahassee lobbyists and PAC chairs, as the clock ticks down on pre-session legislative fundraisers. Florida law prohibits legislators from raising money during session, so the final hours before the 2015 Legislative Session – which starts Tuesday – means a last-minute whirl of fundraising receptions, many of which in the shadow of […]

Janelle Irwin TaylorFebruary 23, 2015

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In anticipation of the 2015 Legislative Session, FloridaPolitics.com is asking state lawmakers about their goals and priorities – and whether they support some controversial issues in the state. Here are the responses from Rep. Chris Latvala of Pinellas. In one word, how would you describe your expectations for the Session, i.e. “Excited.” “Optimistic.” What’s a local issue […]

Mitch PerryFebruary 20, 2015

Mike Fasano represented Pasco County in the Florida Legislature 19 years before being appointed tax collector in 2013 by Gov. Rick Scott. Having spent almost an equal amount of time between both chambers, he says there’s a vast gulf of difference between the two GOP-controlled bodies in Tallahassee as far as independence, philosophy, and temperament. “In […]

Phil AmmannFebruary 16, 2015

Whip out the checkbooks, Tallahassee lobbyists and PAC chairs, as a new week begins with a handful of legislators’ re-election fundraisers. State law prohibits legislators from raising money during session, so every week leading up to the 2015 Session will offer a number of fundraising receptions. Many of them are mere steps from the Florida Capitol. […]

Mitch PerryJanuary 22, 2015

Florida House Democrats Dwight Dudley and Michelle Rehwinkel Vasilinda have been battling for years to repeal the state’s nuclear cost recovery fees, to absolutely no success in Tallahassee. Or much GOP support. But that’s changing in 2015. In yet another indication of how Pinellas County Republican lawmakers got the message last fall from their constituents last year that […]

Ryan RayJanuary 22, 2015

It was a boozy afternoon in Wednesday’s House Business & Professions Subcommittee meeting, led by Apalachicola Republican state Rep. Halsey Beshears and a cavalcade of stakeholders offering public testimony about the current state of affairs within Florida’s alcohol rules and regulations regime. The two hottest issues were by far and away proposed changes regarding 64-ounce […]

Mitch PerryJanuary 8, 2015

Last fall in Largo they promised such legislation, and today in Tallahassee that same group of Pinellas County Republicans – state Senator Jack Latvala and Representatives Kathleen Peters, Chris Latvala and Chris Sprowls -followed through with an official bill that would establish tougher regulations for investor-owned electric utility companies in the state and more accountability for the […]

Mitch PerryJanuary 8, 2015

Last fall in Largo they promised such legislation, and today in Tallahassee that same group of Pinellas County Republicans – state Senator Jack Latvala and Representatives Kathleen Peters, Chris Latvala and Chris Sprowls -followed through with an official bill that would establish tougher regulations for investor-owned electric utility companies in the state and more accountability for the […]

James CallDecember 8, 2014

Two Tampa-area lawmakers want to repeal the Advanced Nuclear Cost Recovery Fee, an eight-year-old law that has cost consumers billions. The law was designed to encourage construction of new nuclear plants and to maintain older facilities but does not include a guarantee that a new plant will ever be built. “Floridians are tired of being […]

Tag: Chris Latvala
Renderings of the two to-be-produced Donald Trump bobbleheads. Image via National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum.

Entertainment incentives finally moving forward in Legislature

Get your checkbooks ready this week for pre-session political fundraisers

Previewing the 2015 Legislative Session with Rep. Chris Latvala

At Tampa Tiger Bay, Mike Fasano says GOP leadership’s rein too tight on state House

Get your checkbooks ready this week for several political fundraisers

Another Pinellas Republican files bill to repeal nuclear cost recovery fee

Lawmakers drink in grocery store spirits, growlers in legislative hearing

Pinellas Republicans vow to crack down on Duke & the PSC

Pinellas Republicans vow to crack down on Duke & the PSC

Amanda Murphy, Chris Latvala team up to repeal Nuclear Cost Recovery Fee