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Staff ReportsNovember 20, 2015

Senate Democratic Leader Arthenia Joyner of Tampa will be honored as the first member of Florida A&M University College of Law’s Hall of Fame, the school has announced. Joyner, who was in the original school’s last graduating class in 1968, will be honored with a portrait to be unveiled at the law school’s Orlando campus […]

Jim RosicaNovember 10, 2015

Despite questions on many parts of the map, the Florida Supreme Court Tuesday focused on South Florida during the final scheduled oral argument in an ongoing congressional redistricting challenge. That inflamed Democratic U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown, whose north-south district had been ordered changed by the court to an east-west configuration. That district didn’t get a mention. Brown, wearing […]

Jim RosicaNovember 10, 2015

The outside lawyer for the Florida House of Representatives argued in a legal brief against a set of suggested congressional district boundaries in part by saying there’s no legal requirement “to create the ‘best’ possible districts.” George Meros, a Tallahassee attorney who also represented then-Texas Gov. George W. Bush in the 2000 presidential recount, says the court […]

Drew WilsonNovember 3, 2015

A trio of bills that would help disabled Floridians find employment and manage their personal finances cleared their Senate committee stops Tuesday, all with unanimous votes. The bills – SB 376, SB 388 and SB 7010 – are collectively known as the “cradle to career pathway” in the upper chamber, an initiative aimed at improving […]

Jim RosicaOctober 29, 2015

A band of “concerned citizens” – including the Republican Party of Florida’s treasurer – is asking Senate President Andy Gardiner to save the decades-old mural that greets visitors to the chamber’s public gallery. Earlier this month, Senate spokeswoman Katie Betta said the mural will be removed from the wall because it’s showing signs of age, including fading and peeling. […]

Peter SchorschOctober 29, 2015

Did Don Gaetz really say what he said on Wednesday? Did he really apologize for not putting people under oath when his Senate – for the first time in memory – had to plead guilty to violating the Constitution? Did he really use a point of personal privilege to give a speech that should have […]

Gary FineoutOctober 29, 2015

Amid an ugly political brawl in which one senator publicly accused another of being a bully, the Florida Senate on Wednesday narrowly approved a new map for the state’s 40 senate districts. But some senators predicted shortly after the 22-18 vote that the proposal may not pass the Republican-controlled Florida House. That’s because the Senate […]

Peter SchorschOctober 22, 2015

I’ve never had the pleasure of visiting with Andy Gardiner at his home, but, based on his tenure as president of the Florida Senate, I have to wonder whether his house has working electricity, much less cable or Wi-Fi. That’s because Gardiner hates technology. To employ one of Daniel Ruth‘s gimmicks, Gardiner apparently represents the […]

Ryan RayOctober 19, 2015

The Florida House of Representatives briefly gaveled into Session Monday and Speaker Steve Crisafulli told his 120-member chamber to expect to take a back seat to the state Senate, who like the House returned to Tallahassee this week for the third time this year. “Since the subject of this session is the Senate map, we’ve established […]

Jim RosicaOctober 19, 2015

State Sen. Maria Sachs has filed an amendment to this year’s “campus carry” legislation that would allow each public college and university to decide whether to allow concealed weapons on campuses. Sachs, a Delray Beach Democrat, submitted the change Monday to the bill (SB 68). The legislation as currently written would delete the current blanket prohibition […]

Tag: Florida Senate

Arthenia Joyner to be first inductee of FAMU Law Hall of Fame

Corrine Brown lambastes state Supreme Court over congressional redistricting

House lawyer: Congressional districts don’t need to be perfect

Senate committee approves 3 “cradle to career” bills

Concern grows over removal of Senate mural

On Don Gaetz, Jack Latvala, and bullies

What’s next after Florida Senate narrowly approves new Senate map

Senate President Andy Gardiner hates technology

Speaker Steve Crisafulli says Senate will (mostly) take the lead in redistricting Session

Maria Sachs files amendment to campus carry bill