Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Mitch PerryDecember 17, 2015

There are several gun bills that will be before the Florida Legislature when they convene next month in Tallahassee, including a guns-on-college-campuses bill. The legislation failed in the 2015 session, but GOP lawmakers are pushing for it again next year. On Wednesday, Florida’s Congressional Democrats sent a letter to Senate President Andy Gardiner and House Speaker […]

Mitch PerryDecember 7, 2015

(UPDATED) Last week President Obama signed into law the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act or FAST Act, a $305 billion transportation bill that will provide the state of Florida with $890 million more than it would have gotten under current funding formulas — and about $12 billion overall. “What will be most relevant for us in this bill is it will […]

Mitch PerryDecember 3, 2015

While the news is all about the latest gun shooting in San Bernardino on Wednesday, let’s focus here on another death that’s been in the news a lot in the past couple of weeks: that being of Laquan McDonald, the black teenager killed by a white Chicago police officer a year ago. In between her […]

Mitch PerryDecember 2, 2015

Tampa Bay area U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor is the latest Democrat to ask House Speaker Paul D. Ryan to disband the select committee investigating Planned Parenthood. She argues in a letter addressed to the speaker that GOP-rhetoric-incited anger toward the group led in part to Friday’s deadly shooting at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado […]

Mitch PerryDecember 2, 2015

The Florida Supreme Court gave its blessing gave its blessing Wednesday to a congressional districts map that was picked by Leon County Circuit Judge Terry Lewis back in October. The high court had ruled in July that the Legislature gerrymandered eight of the state’s 27 congressional districts in violation of the 2012 Fair District amendments. […]

Mitch PerryNovember 24, 2015

If you’re a reporter, you didn’t have to be in Jacksonville Monday to learn the details of Gov. Rick Scott‘s $79 billion budget. That’s because the governor’s press office helpfully sent out email after email to highlight aspects of the vast budget throughout the day, where the highlights include $1 billion in tax cuts and cutting […]

Mitch PerryNovember 23, 2015

A CBS News poll released on Monday shows that 66 percent of Americans don’t think President Barack Obama has a clear strategy to defeat the Islamic State. U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor says she understands where the public is coming from. “I think President Obama can do much better in communicating that strategy,” the Democrat representing […]

Mitch PerryNovember 20, 2015

The Tampa City Council rejected a proposal from Mayor Bob Buckhorn‘s administration that would have made a serious dent in alleviating the city’s epic problems with stormwater runoff yesterday. The plan wasn’t cheap — $251 million, and it certainly left open a lot of questions about how fair it was for everyone to pay the […]

Mitch PerryNovember 19, 2015

The U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday approved a bill calling for a halt to accepting Syrian refugees until more stringent safeguards are in place, and Florida Democrats Gwen Graham and Patrick Murphy joined House Republicans in supporting the bill. The American Security Against Foreign Enemies (SAFE) Act proposed by Homeland Security Committee Chairman Michael McCaul, […]

Drew WilsonNovember 14, 2015

A Florida group that helps human trafficking victims will receive a $600,000 U.S. Department of Justice grant to continue its work, Democratic US Rep. Kathy Castor announced Friday. “This grant will provide more tools to Gulfcoast Legal Services and local law enforcement to aid victims of human trafficking,” Castor said. “Gulfcoast now will be able […]

Tag: Kathy Castor

Florida Congressional Democrats weigh in against guns on campus bill in Legislature

FAST Act means more money for Florida transit agencies’ buses

Mitch Perry Report for 12.3.15 – Rahm Emanuel and Chicago are stuck with each other

After Colorado Springs killings, Kathy Castor calls on Paul Ryan to disband Planned Parenthood probe

Charlie Crist hails Florida Supreme Court’s approval of new congressional map

Mitch Perry Report for 11.24.15 — Did Rick Scott release something Monday?

Kathy Castor says president can do “much better” at telling ISIS strategy

Mitch Perry Report for 11.20.15 – Buckhorn stormwater tax plan gets killed. Now what?

Kathy Castor votes no to SAFE Act, prefers “appropriate” resettlement of refugees

Pinellas legal-aid program receives $600K grant to fight human trafficking