Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Ryan RayMarch 11, 2016

Aiming to protect children’s dental insurance under Medicaid, GOP lawmakers held a news conference on Day 60 of the 2016 Legislative Session. They sought support for the bill, which separates kids’ Medicaid dental insurance from other medical coverage, and to avert a possible veto from Gov. Rick Scott. Senate President-designate Joe Negron and Rep. Jose Felix Diaz spoke to […]

Jim RosicaMarch 3, 2016

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The House’s lead negotiator on the Seminole Compact has filed another strike-all onto the troubled gambling legislation. State Rep. Jose Felix Diaz, the Miami Republican who chairs the House Regulatory Affairs Committee, filed his amendment Thursday, the day before the House is scheduled to begin its consideration of gambling legislation for 2016. Diaz was in the […]

Jim RosicaMarch 2, 2016

You can’t keep a good bill – or a bad bill, depending on your viewpoint – down in the Florida Legislature. Wednesday night, the House of Representatives quietly put its rewrite of the Seminole Compact and a proposed constitutional amendment on voter control of gambling on the agenda for Friday’s floor session. The legislation is on the […]

Jim RosicaMarch 1, 2016

Their lips were saying “not dead yet” but House leadership otherwise made clear that the Seminole Compact and gambling legislation are goners for this Legislative Session. “I’m not ready to declare it dead yet,” said state Rep. Jose Felix Diaz, the Miami Republican who shepherded the bills through the process this year. Diaz spoke after […]

Jim RosicaMarch 1, 2016

Echoing a Seminole Tribe attorney earlier in the day, Senate budget chief Tom Lee opened the possibility that provisions added to the Seminole Compact to placate the state’s pari-mutuels were a “ransom” that tanked the legislation. Lee, the Brandon Republican who chairs the Appropriations Committee, spoke to reporters after his panel finished its Tuesday meeting. As the […]

Jim RosicaMarch 1, 2016

If the Seminole Compact and related legislation don’t pass this session, lawmakers will have no one to blame but themselves, the tribe’s Tallahassee-based attorney said Tuesday. Barry Richard, who represents the Seminole Tribe of Florida, blamed the apparent Tuesday morning collapse of the 2016 gambling bills on lawmakers bending over backward to appease the state’s dog […]

Jim RosicaFebruary 29, 2016

One mystery was solved after a House panel cleared the latest version of this session’s gambling legislation: state Rep. Jose Felix Diaz said language on fantasy sports play was inserted into his chamber’s bill because Gov. Rick Scott wanted it there. Diaz, a Miami Republican, spoke to reporters Monday after the Finance and Tax Committee OK’d on […]

Peter SchorschFebruary 21, 2016

Borrowing from the Bard: “To (fill in the blank), or not to (fill in the blank), that is the question.” The week-that-was was filled with a fair amount of false starts, delays and Hamletian indecision. To name a handful, U.S. Rep. Gwen Graham still hasn’t decided whether to run again for her 2nd Congressional District […]

Jim RosicaFebruary 18, 2016

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State Rep. Jose Felix Diaz, the Florida House of Representatives’ point man on gambling, said Thursday said the Senate’s current version of the Seminole Compact and accompanying gambling overhaul is “too much” for his tastes – and that of his membership. “There’s a lot of extra slot parlors in the Senate bill,” said Diaz, the […]

Mitch PerryFebruary 10, 2016

A House committee on Wednesday OK’d a legislative move to replace the statue of a Confederate army general as one of Florida’s two eminences in the U.S. Capitol’s National Statuary Hall where it’s been since 1922. The House Economics Committee unanimously approved the proposal sponsored by Miami Republican Rep. Jose Felix Diaz to replace the […]

Tag: Jose Felix Diaz
Image via Palatka Main Street.

Lawmakers make case for dental carve-out bill at Session’s end

Jose Felix Diaz files more changes to Seminole Compact

House throwing a “Hail Mary” with Seminole Compact?

House all but declares defeat on Seminole Compact, gambling legislation

Gambling concessions to pari-mutuels same as “ransom,” Tom Lee says

Effort to appease pari-mutuels is killing Seminole Compact

Fantasy sports language in gambling bill because of Rick Scott, lawmaker says

Takeaways from Tallahassee — the “Hamlet, Magna Carta, and MMA” edition

Jose Felix Diaz says House would “riot” over Senate gambling legislation

Proposal to replace statue of Confederate general advances in Florida House