Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

News Service Of FloridaApril 5, 2018

Florida Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam sent a letter Thursday to U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer that backed President Donald Trump’s push for a “more equitable North American Free Trade Agreement” with Canada and Mexico. “As you are aware, producers of perishable and seasonal agricultural products in Florida and other regions have been decimated by unfair […]

News Service Of FloridaMarch 16, 2018

Gov. Rick Scott will release the state’s 2017 tourism numbers on Friday, Visit Florida President and CEO Ken Lawson told members of Enterprise Florida on Thursday. Scott was set to announce the numbers Feb. 15. But he put the announcement on hold because of the Feb. 14 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School […]

A.G. GancarskiFebruary 6, 2018

Gov. Rick Scott visited Jacksonville’s FDOT office on the Westside Tuesday, with a “major announcement” via the state’s $85 million “job growth” fund. The fund, a compromise solution to Enterprise Florida’s previous practice of directing money to businesses (many of them businesses that had donated to Scott’s “Let’s Get to Work” political committee), includes money for […]

News Service Of FloridaJanuary 11, 2018

A technical-college training program has become the first recipient of money from the state’s $85 million “job growth” fund, which was created last year as a compromise after a legislative battle about economic-development incentives. Manatee Technical College was awarded $201,500 to help pay for workforce training programs in manufacturing, according to an announcement Wednesday by […]

Jim RosicaDecember 26, 2017

Spoiler alert: If you’re a regular of this site, and reading this story, you can guess what the #1 pick is. Otherwise, 2017 still offered a bounty of material to Tallahassee’s reporting ranks. We still chuckle at the uninitiated who ask, “What do you write about when the Legislature isn’t in session?” Without further ado, […]

Scott PowersDecember 27, 2017

Enterprise Florida Business Development Director Cori Henderson was selected Wednesday to oversee which Florida Gulf Coast will get some of the hundreds of millions of dollars BP PLC has agreed to pay for damages from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Henderson, who’s also a former legislative aide to state Sen. Tom Lee among others, […]

News Service Of FloridaDecember 1, 2017

Gov. Rick Scott has yet to dip into the $85 million lawmakers set aside this year to attract new businesses to Florida, but he’s already seeking to replenish the pool of money. Scott told the Enterprise Florida Board of Directors, meeting this week in Jacksonville, of the need to ensure lawmakers maintain the new “Florida […]

A.G. GancarskiNovember 30, 2017

As Florida Gov. Rick Scott begins to make the inevitable pivot to a Senate candidate, his remarks from Thursday’s Enterprise Florida board meeting in Jacksonville were worth noting. Scott crystallized the case for his economic strategy, one that has allowed him to frame a narrative of having brought the state back from recession. “We’ve got to […]

Jim RosicaNovember 17, 2017

Chris Hart IV, who last was with Florida TaxWatch, will be the next CEO of the statewide Florida Court Clerks & Comptrollers association, according to a Friday press release. He starts Dec. 4. Hart “will provide strong leadership to our association,” said Marcia M. Johnson, Franklin County Clerk and Comptroller and 2017-18 Board President, in a statement. […]

Peter SchorschMarch 30, 2017

In a sense, Jacksonville is the cradle of Republicanism. The city has a politically active Republican mayor. The City Council: majority Republican. Republican Governor. Republican Legislature. What could go wrong? How about the imminent end of the economic boom? Look at what’s happening to CSX. Hunter Harrison, 72, was brought in to run the operation, […]