Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Phil AmmannFebruary 16, 2016

A series of rewrites to Florida’s economic-incentive programs, a chief priority of Gov. Rick Scott, passed its first House panel Tuesday afternoon. Lobby Tools reports that HB 1325, from Bradenton Republican Rep. Jim Boyd, seeks to establish a new Florida Enterprise Fund, as well as changes in the process of administering economic incentives for businesses […]

Phil AmmannFebruary 3, 2016

Florida senators are divided over a proposal taking money out of the state park system for a pilot program to help reroute discharges from Lake Okeechobee into the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee rivers and estuaries. LobbyTools reports on a meeting of the Senate Appropriations Committee Wednesday, where Stuart Republican Joe Negron proposed amending the Senate […]

Phil AmmannFebruary 1, 2016

A bill giving the Department of Opportunity more tools in the fight against unemployment benefits fraud unanimously passed the House Economic Development and Tourism Subcommittee on Monday. According to LobbyTools, state Rep. Mike La Rosa, sponsor of HB 1017, said the DEO identified “9,600 claims based on I.D. fraud” in 2013 alone. Those figures led […]

Phil AmmannJanuary 26, 2016

After a handful of amendments, an omnibus ethics bill unanimously passed the House Government Operations Subcommittee Tuesday afternoon. LobbyTools reports that HB 593 will create a host of new mandates and requirements to help prevent fraud and waste in state government The strike-all amendment approved by the committee was similar to the original bill, only adding text […]

Peter SchorschJanuary 21, 2016

Florida legislative candidates, as well as political committees, had until Jan. 11 to report their campaign finance activity for the month of December. Now that the figures are in, here are 15 things I think I think about these latest reports. Thank you to LobbyTools for assembling much of the data relied on in this report. […]

Phil AmmannDecember 15, 2015

There won’t be any major education bills expected in the 2016 Legislative Session, according to Senate Education chair John Legg. As reported by LobbyTools, testing legislation was one of only a handful of substantive bills that ultimately passed in the 2015 session. And for the upcoming session, set to begin next month, Legg said education […]

Staff ReportsOctober 21, 2015

The state House and Senate have issued legislative calendar changes for the final week of 2015 Special Session C, which is set to end Nov. 6. The session was convened to amend Senate maps, ordered by a Florida Supreme Court judgment that found the upper chamber violated anti-gerrymandering laws. A number of scheduled hearing times […]

Phil AmmannSeptember 14, 2015

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With a tip of the hat to Legislative IQ powered by LobbyTools, here are the latest movements – both on and off – of the legislative merry-go-round. On: Luke Strickland is a new legislative assistant in the Senate Majority Office. Off: Christine DonFrancesco is no longer a legislative assistant for Wellington Democrat Sen. Joseph Abruzzo. Off: Katie Martin is no longer […]

Phil AmmannAugust 10, 2015

With a hat-tip to LobbyTools, the latest of who is on — and off — the legislative staffing merry-go-round. Off: Christine Biron is no longer legislative assistant for Sen. Darren Soto. On: Martin Rivera takes Biron’s place as Soto’s legislative assistant. Off & on: Michael Willson is leaving as legislative analyst for the House Economic […]

Phil AmmannJuly 20, 2015

With a hat-tip to LobbyTools, here is latest on who is on and who is off the legislative staffing merry-go-round. Off: Jay Ferrin has left his position as legislative analyst for the Senate Majority Office. Off: Chase Daniels has left his position as legislative assistant for state Sen. Charlie Dean. On: Drew Aldikacti is the […]

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TALLAHASSEE, FLA. 3/4/25-Gov. Ron DeSantis talks with the media after giving the State of the State speech on the opening day of the 2025 Legislative Session, Tuesday at the Capitol in Tallahassee. COLIN HACKLEY PHOTO

House committee OK’s rewrite of state economic incentive program

Senators divided over using state park money to control Lake O discharges

Bill to help DEO fight unemployment fraud passes House committee

Broad ethics bill unanimously passes first House stop

15 things I think I think about the latest Florida House campaign finance reports (Part 1)

Don’t expect major education bills in 2016, John Legg says

Legislative chambers revise schedule for final week of Special Session

Latest on the legislative staffing merry-go-round

The latest on the legislative staffing merry-go-round

The latest on the legislative staffing merry-go-round