Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Rosanne DunkelbergerFebruary 27, 2017

People don’t come to Florida’s Capitol without an agenda, and when they want to share it with the world, you can bet they’ll plan a news conference/media availability to share it via the Fourth Estate. Wednesday was particularly rich with such events; I was assigned to go to ‘em all. As a babe in these […]

Drew WilsonFebruary 22, 2017

Florida’s top lawmakers and Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam are struggling with low name identification among likely Republican voters, but that isn’t the case for Attorney General Pam Bondi according to a new poll from statewide business advocate Associated Industries of Florida. The AIF poll of likely Republican voters obtained by FloridaPolitics.com found that 54 percent […]

Staff ReportsFebruary 8, 2017

Gov. Rick Scott has now sicced the Department of Economic Opportunity, headed by executive director Cissy Proctor, on the Florida House to take down its critique of economic incentives. A news release, issued late Tuesday, continues the cold war of words between the governor, an ardent supporter of incentives, and House Speaker Richard Corcoran, who has […]

Michael MolineFebruary 7, 2017

Gov. Rick Scott accused House leaders Tuesday of political posturing on Florida’s economic- and tourism-development programs. “It’s pretty clear. If you don’t care about people’s jobs, you must be caring about something else,” Scott told reporters following a Cabinet meeting. “What else can it be? How can anybody say, ‘We don’t want to help a poor family […]

Michael MolineJanuary 24, 2017

A joint House-Senate panel pulled the Department of Environmental Protection’s request for another $13 million to litigate the state’s “water wars” and sent the request to a House committee for scrutiny. Rep. Carlos Trujillo announced that the matter had been withdrawn from the agenda during a Joint Legislative Budget Commission meeting Tuesday evening. He co-chairs the […]

Staff ReportsJanuary 23, 2017

Rick Scott drew positive reviews from Floridians on the job he is doing as governor, with a plurality agreeing that the state is headed in the right direction, in a survey released Monday by Scott’s Let’s Get to Work Committee. In the survey of 1,000 likely Florida voters conducted in December, 47 percent thought Florida […]

Michael MolineJanuary 12, 2017

Senate Appropriations Chairman Jack Latvala sent a message Thursday to the House leadership: Don’t expect to force the Senate to abide by your strict new budget rules. “We have our own rules in the Senate. We are going to abide by our own rules,” Latvala told reporters following a committee meeting. “I think it would […]

Peter SchorschJanuary 6, 2017

Is Ken Lawson the right man to right the state’s beleaguered tourism agency? The smart money in Tallahassee now is betting on Gov. Rick Scott to move Lawson, his secretary of Business and Professional Regulation, to head VISIT FLORIDA, the state’s “official tourism marketing corporation.” As you’ll recall, Scott called on former CEO Will Seccombe […]

Michael MolineDecember 15, 2016

Visit Florida, beleaguered over its $1 million promotional contract with the rapper Pitbull, found a defender Thursday in Senate budget chairman Jack Latvala. In light of a soft construction sector, “what’s kept the whole outlook from softening up has been our strong tourism economy,” Latvala told reporters after the Appropriations Committee heard about the financial demands […]

Jim RosicaDecember 2, 2016

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“University” for House members starts next week, but don’t worry about drop/add period or credit loads. The Florida House of Representatives on Friday released a calendar for next Tuesday and Wednesday’s “Legislator University,” Speaker Richard Corcoran’s initiative to train new lawmakers on the fine points of policymaking. “We want to give you the maximum freedom […]

Tag: House Speaker Richard Corcoran

Eight-hour shoes and a whirlwind of press conferences

Pam Bondi still a rock star with Florida’s GOP voters, new AIF poll shows

DEO “Cissysplains” economic incentives to Richard Corcoran

Rick Scott accuses House leadership of playing politics on economic development

Panel strips meeting agenda of DEP bid for money to wage ‘water war’

Survey by Rick Scott committee gives governor good marks

Jack Latvala to House: The Senate makes its own rules

Could Ken Lawson next be tapped to head VISIT FLORIDA?

Jack Latvala defends Visit Florida amid Pitbull contract controversy

It’s back to school for Florida House members