Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Ryan RayDecember 3, 2015

A House panel approved a bill Thursday morning that would reshape the timing and electorate of Florida’s local elections. The bill, PCB SAC 16-04, would preempt local authority to set the date of municipal elections, granting the ultimate say-so on when they are held to state lawmakers. Bill sponsor Rep. Matt Caldwell chairs the State Affairs Committee which passed […]

Ryan RayNovember 18, 2015

A House budget panel on agriculture and the environment passed an expansive water policy bill by Rep. Matt Caldwell Wednesday afternoon. The House Agriculture & Natural Resources Appropriations Committee approved HB 7005 by a vote of 11 to 1, with Democratic Rep. José Javier Rodríguez opposing. The state’s Department of Environmental Protection has signaled its approval for the bill, as did a number […]

Jim RosicaOctober 20, 2015

Two more state Senate maps were submitted late Tuesday as part of the ongoing Special Session to redraw the districts, which the chamber previously admitted were gerrymandered to benefit Republicans. State Rep. Matt Caldwell, a North Fort Myers Republican, and state Sen. Jeff Clemens, a Lake Worth Democrat, each filed their own map. A cursory […]

Staff ReportsSeptember 24, 2015

Associated Industries of Florida, the state’s premier business lobby, will hold its sixth annual Florida Water Forum today. The forum begins 9 a.m. at the Renaissance Orlando at Sea World. “This meeting will provide participants with the most current information from Florida’s policy leaders in the Legislature and state government on issues relating to water […]

Phil AmmannAugust 17, 2015

State Rep. Ritch Workman, Tallahassee’s newest Uber driver-partner, is getting rave reviews from his legislative colleagues . Workman, whose other part-time job is Chairman of the House Rules Committee, is also director of business development at Keiser University. The Melbourne Republican hopes to use his passion for Uber to gain insight on an issue sure to […]

Ryan RayAugust 15, 2015

The South Florida Water Management District was joined by Republican elected officials Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam and Rep. Matt Caldwell this week in saying tighter restrictions on agriculture in the Everglades Agricultural Area are unnecessary because best management practices, or BMPs, are working. Levels of harmful phosphorous – a product of agricultural runoff into the ecologically sensitive […]

Mitch PerryJuly 17, 2015

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement has begun to look into the request by Senate Transportation Chairman Jeff Brandes for a state investigation into red-light camera contracts held by an Arizona company whose chief executive has pleaded guilty to bribery charges related to camera contracts in Chicago. Brandes, a St. Petersburg Republican, is well known for […]

Mitch PerryJuly 15, 2015

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The use of red-light cameras in Florida and nationally has been a flashpoint for years. The news in June that a former CEO of a traffic-camera company in Ohio pleaded guilty to bribing public officials has prompted two Florida lawmakers to call for a state investigation into that company’s contracts with local governments in the […]

Ryan RayJune 3, 2015

The intense intra-cameral friction that defined the 2015 Legislative Session seems not to have dissipated after a few weeks off but rather compounded, culminating in the most antagonistic legislative hearing of the year at Tuesday’s meeting of the Senate Appropriations Committee. There, budget chief Tom Lee led a chorus of indignant senators who excoriated AHCA deputy director Justin […]

Bruce RitchieApril 27, 2015

A trio of former state parks directors are raising concern about state lands bills that would allow “low-impact agriculture” on state lands. Of even greater concern, thy said, is a push by Florida Department of Environmental Protection leadership to make state parks financially self-sustaining. HB 7135 would allow the Cabinet to give away state land […]

Tag: Matt Caldwell

House panel votes to allow state to set municipal election dates

Long-awaited water policy bill passes House committee

2 more maps filed for Senate redistricting

Associated Industries of Florida to hold water forum Friday

Ritch Workman’s legislative colleagues praise his Uber ambitions

State officials say Everglades water policy, BMP regime are working

FDLE to do preliminary review of complaint on red-light camera vendor

Lawmakers want FDLE to investigate contacts with red-light camera vendor

House-Senate health care fight inflected by Twitterverse

Former parks chiefs sound alarm on state lands bills, push to boost park revenue