Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Jim RosicaAugust 11, 2016

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Lingering judicial vacancies aren’t causing a crisis in Florida’s federal courts — yet. That’s the upshot of a new study out Thursday from Integrity Florida, a government watchdog group. The state has four* unfilled U.S. district judgeships out of 37. That’s only an 11 percent vacancy here, which tracks with 10 percent of the nation’s 677 district […]

Diane RobertsFebruary 10, 2016

OCCUPIED TALLAHASSEE — They call us the Sunshine State, but Florida’s government prefers to operate in the shadows. Like vampire bats, cockroaches and mold spores. If you can’t see what the government is doing, you can’t fight it. That explains the 74 public records exemption bills before the Legislature this Session. Yes, 74 new attacks […]

Diane RobertsFebruary 9, 2016

OCCUPIED TALLAHASSEE — They call us the Sunshine State, but Florida’s government prefers to operate in the shadows. Like vampire bats, cockroaches and mold spores. If you can’t see what the government is doing, you can’t fight it. That explains the 74 public records exemption bills before the Legislature this session. Yes, 74 new attacks […]

Jim RosicaJanuary 18, 2016

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The director of a state ethics watchdog on Monday said he doesn’t see a conflict of interest with state Rep. Ken Roberson, a funeral director, carrying a bill this session that would financially benefit the funeral industry. The legislation (HB 315) would do away with a fee, ranging from $25 to $63, charged for medical examiners to […]

Peter SchorschJanuary 11, 2016

Florida Sunshine Laws, which dictate transparency in government, could be significantly threatened — all with the change of a single word. As reported by Noah Pransky of WTSP, a new bill by Sarasota Republican State Rep. Greg Steube is generating concern among open government advocates, who see it as “legislators trying to further erode citizens’ […]

Mitch PerrySeptember 17, 2015

Florida House Republicans this week unanimously elected Land O’Lakes Richard Corcoran to be next speaker of the House of Representatives, beginning in fall 2016. In a speech to his House colleagues on Wednesday, the Pasco County Republican laid out several proposed ethics reforms aimed at “cleaning up our own house.” Among his proposed reforms are: Requiring […]

Mark FerruloAugust 31, 2015

America’s roads and bridges are slowly crumbling and, to make matters worse, the fund that pays to maintain and improve our nation’s transportation needs is on the verge of going broke. But as Congress rushes to replenish the fund, it should not make a big mistake that will cost us hundreds of billions of dollars. […]

Mark FerruloAugust 30, 2015

America’s roads and bridges are slowly crumbling and, to make matters worse, the fund that pays to maintain and improve our nation’s transportation needs is on the verge of going broke. But as Congress rushes to replenish the fund, it should not make a big mistake that will cost us hundreds of billions of dollars. […]

Mitch PerryAugust 26, 2015

A Quinnipiac poll released Tuesday shows that none of the Democratic or Republicans running for the U.S. Senate next year in Florida are well known enough to ask voters who they would vote for next year. That seems hard to believe when one of those candidates is Alan Grayson, but so be it. With more than […]

Mitch PerryAugust 25, 2015

A new report on Florida’s campaign finance laws says they seem to be designed to encourage money to flow into the more secretive and less transparent parts of the system. “Florida’s political parties were exempted from the increased frequency of reporting requirements included in the 2013 campaign finance reform law so the unlimited contributions and expenditures […]

Tag: Integrity Florida

Watchdog group warns of federal judicial vacancies

Diane Roberts: Legislature works hard to keep us in the dark

Diane Roberts: Legislature is working hard to keep citizens in the dark

Expert: No conflict in Ken Roberson’s bill benefiting his industry

Bill changing single word of public records rules could have “disastrous” effect on Sunshine Laws

Integrity Florida “encouraged” by Richard Corcoran’s ethics reform proposal

Fight over infrastructure funding will reverberate in Florida

Mark Ferrulo: Fight over infrastructure funding will reverberate in Florida

Mitch Perry Report for 8.26.15 — Alan Grayson thriving with small-dollar donations

New report says Florida’s campaign finance system can be described as “porous”