Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Joe HendersonApril 24, 2017

It’s a good thing the Florida House of Representatives wasn’t in session when Columbus wanted to sail the ocean blue. Lawmakers would have passed a bill prohibiting the trip because science hadn’t yet proven that the earth was round. Oh, there were those crackpots who said it was, but the representatives of the day would […]

Scott PowersApril 21, 2017

Friends of the court are beginning to crowd into the Florida Supreme Court case pitting Orlando’s State Attorney Aramis Ayala and Gov. Rick Scott, with families of homicide victims siding with Scott, and the ACLU and House Minority Leader Janet Cruz siding with Ayala on Friday. Several filings Friday are loading the case with friends. Also Friday, a group […]

Scott PowersApril 20, 2017

A bipartisan bill banning the use of steroids on greyhound racing dogs was approved Thursday by the Florida House of Representatives. House Bill 743, cosponsored by Democratic state Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith of Orlando and Republican state Rep. Alex Miller of Sarasota, was approved in the house by a vote of 84 to 32, despite strong […]

Jim RosicaApril 18, 2017

Gov. Rick Scott went once more unto the breach Tuesday, pressing his case for full funding of the state’s VISIT FLORIDA tourism marketing agency. The Republican governor—surrounded by VISIT FLORIDA’s CEO Ken Lawson, board chairman William Talbert, and others—spoke with reporters outside his Capitol office. The GOP-majority House of Representatives, which at first wanted to eliminate […]

Jim RosicaApril 17, 2017

A bill that would do away with a cap on how many trauma centers can open in Florida cleared its latest committee Monday. The bill (HB 1077), sponsored by GOP state Rep. Jay Trumbull of Panama City, was OK’d on a 10-5 party-line vote in the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Health Care. He said the motivation for the bill […]

Joe HendersonApril 17, 2017

There were all kinds of messages being sent to Gov. Rick Scott late last week at the Florida House of Representatives. The one from Democrat Bill Nelson, a three-term U.S. senator, can be summed up in two words: game on. Republican House Speaker Richard Corcoran had his own two-word message for the governor. I think […]

Jim RosicaApril 12, 2017

Tallahassee Mayor and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum on Wednesday called proposed House funding for charter schools “a giveaway to (House Republicans’) friends and family.” But Gillum at first wouldn’t answer whether he would veto such funding if he were governor, saying instead he would put a “premium” on fully funding the state’s public school system. […]

Staff ReportsMarch 30, 2017

House Speaker Richard Corcoran and members of the Florida House met with reporters Thursday to discuss this week’s floor action. Among others, state Rep. Jennifer Sullivan took questions on a judicial term limits measure passed this week and Appropriations chair Carlos Trujillo discussed the House budget now being printed. Corcoran himself touched off a bit of a […]

Peter SchorschMarch 30, 2017

The House of Representatives’ new lobbying registration regime has ensnared Susan Glickman, Florida director for the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy. House Speaker Richard Corcoran now requires lobbyists to disclose every bill, amendment, and individual appropriation they are trying to influence. Go to the House website, and you’ll see Glickman is registered for four House bills. But […]

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 […]

Tag: Florida House of Representatives

Joe Henderson: House just made life a lot more difficult for public school boards, teachers

Families of homicide victims, ACLU, Janet Cruz join filers in Aramis Ayala case

Ban on steroids for greyhound racing dogs passes House

Rick Scott pushes ahead for VISIT FLORIDA funding

Bill to remove limit on number of trauma centers moves in House

Joe Henderson: Richard Corcoran’s invite to Bill Nelson a stick in Rick Scott’s eye, maybe more

Andrew Gillum, Shevrin Jones lambaste charter school funding plan

Richard Corcoran and other @MyFLHouse leaders meet the press

Can Susan Glickman ever shoot straight?

Alimony legislation dead for 2017, sponsor says