Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Guest AuthorSeptember 7, 2014

Tourists visit Florida for its sunny beaches, shining amusement parks and natural landscapes. In fact, the Sunshine State welcomes nearly 100 million of them each year. They come to stay, play, and pay…taxes. Nearly 74 percent of Florida’s general revenue comes from sales and use taxes, and a large part of that $19.4 billion is […]

Dominic CalabroAugust 25, 2014

Florida’s primary election is today. This year’s election cycle features a highly contested governor’s race, and the political adversaries hoping to battle it out on the November ticket are only warming up during the primary races. Everybody knows about Election Day in the United States. On the first Tuesday in November, American citizens around the […]

Dominic CalabroAugust 20, 2014

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the great German theologian who paid the ultimate price for standing up to Hitler, once said: “The test of the morality of a society is what it does for its children.” By that metric, Florida is doing better – but not well enough. In the most recent legislative session, business leaders, policymakers and […]

Dominic CalabroJuly 29, 2014

Florida schools will be back in session very soon, and the new school year brings plenty of changes. Students, teachers and parents will face new learning standards and a new assessment to test student achievement, but one thing will stay the same: the need for paper and pencils, clothes to wear, and maybe even a […]

Dominic CalabroJune 24, 2014

It’s been said that a team is only as strong as its leader. This adage rings especially true as Florida seeks to find its first head of the soon-to-be-created Agency for State Technology. Strong leadership often makes the difference between success and failure, and the state is all too familiar with failure in the arena […]

Bruce RitchieJune 4, 2014

When he signed the 2014-15 state budget on Monday, Gov. Rick Scott decided not to veto $88.5 million in local water projects. The governor had vetoed more than $50 million in water projects during his previous three budget signings. Some supporters of environmental programs say the water projects need to go through a better review. […]

Peter SchorschMay 26, 2014

“What else could a turkey buy?” If you are talking about a whole one for Thanksgiving, you could get 35 cans of cranberry sauce instead, or maybe even four pies. But if you’re talking Florida’s state budget and the annual Florida TaxWatch Turkey Watch list, them turkeys can buy a lot more. In the just-released […]

Dominic CalabroMay 21, 2014

My college-age children often ask me, “How did you make it through school without the Internet?” Reflecting back to simpler times before laptops, smartphones and “the cloud” reminds me just how integral these technologies are to modern society. None of these technologies could operate without a key service we all rely on — from students […]

Guest AuthorApril 10, 2014

Do you still manage your finances the same way you did in 1984? The state of Florida does. In fact, the state’s accounting program is so old that new graduates aren’t prepared to work in it, because they stopped teaching it in schools decades ago. The Florida Accounting Information Resource (FLAIR) is the state’s accounting […]

Mark FerruloJanuary 27, 2014

The sequel to Gov. Rick Scott’s 2012 election-year voter purge is coming soon to a county near you and like many sequels, it’s a rehashed version of the original with some new bells and whistles. Scott’s latest voter purge features a flawed script, politically motivated actors, and in the starring role, an ill-conceived, taxpayer funded […]

Tag: Florida TaxWatch

Jerry D. Parrish: More tourists mean lower taxes for Florida’s residents

Dominic Calabro: Today’s primaries are just as important as the general elections

Dominic Calabro and David Lawrence Jr.: Investments in early learning save taxpayer dollars, produce results

Dominic M. Calabro: Floridians benefit from back-to-school sales tax holiday

Dominic Calabro: Vital new tech agency needs strong leadership to succeed

Bruce Ritchie: When is a water project justified – or just legislative pork?

Peter Schorsch: Watchdog groups identifies $120 million in legislative turkeys

Dominic Calabro: Letting the FCC regulate the Internet is a bad idea

Pat Neal: Florida’s financial management is in trouble

Mark Ferrulo: Scott’s voter-purge sequel as misguided as original attempt