Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Ryan NicolDecember 18, 2018

Broward Schools Superintendent Robert Runcie lobbied Broward County legislators Tuesday to set up a victims’ compensation fund to pay out money to those affected by February’s shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. Runcie and other school board members were confronted by some of those families at another delegation meeting earlier this month. Mitch Dworet, Debbie […]

Phil AmmannDecember 13, 2018

Governor-Elect Ron DeSantis’ looming appointments of three Florida Supreme Court justices brings into stark relief the urgent need to institute a fair, nonpartisan and merit-based selection process for judicial nominations in our state. The process for nominating state judges has become increasingly politicized in recent years, threatening the independence and impartiality of our courts. This […]

Ryan NicolDecember 11, 2018

State Sen. Perry Thurston has filed a new bill (SB 138) which would alter the makeup of judicial nominating commissions (JNC) starting in 2019. The bill would reduce the Governor’s control over the commissions, reverting the nominating process to the one that existed before 2002. Currently, the Governor is allowed to make five appointments to […]

Ryan NicolNovember 30, 2018

In light of news the Florida Supreme Court will be without a black justice for the first time in 36 years, Democrats in the state Senate are pushing to reform the state’s judicial nominating panels. “The latest nominations submitted by the Judicial Nominating Commission (JNC) to the incoming governor underscore how politicized the process has […]

Ryan NicolNovember 26, 2018

Democratic state Sen. Lauren Book and GOP state Sen. Manny Diaz are among the newly-named legislative committee chairs hailing from South Florida. Book, who represents Senate District 32, was one of only two Democrats (Tallahassee’s Bill Montford is the other) named to head a committee; she will lead the Committee on Children, Families, and Elder […]

Drew WilsonMay 24, 2018

Democratic Sen. Daphne Campbell picked up 11 endorsements from her colleagues in the Florida Legislature ahead of her contested primary for another term in Senate District 38. Incoming House Minority Leader Kionne McGhee and Senate Minority Leader Pro-Tempore Lauren Book topped the list, which also included Democratic Sens. Gary Farmer, Perry Thurston, Darryl Rouson, Kevin […]

Drew WilsonMarch 7, 2018

A last-minute attempt to strip out a narrow requirement for the continuing education course required by the bill combatting the opioid epidemic failed in the Senate Wednesday. Both HB 21 and the Senate opioid bill, SB 8, would require all physicians who prescribe controlled substances to take a two-hour continuing education course every two years […]

Staff ReportsFebruary 28, 2018

The Florida Legislative Black Caucus announced Wednesday evening it will “hold a press conference to announce (its) opposition to legislation moving through the Florida House and Senate that would provide incentives to arm schoolteachers in Florida.” The news conference is 11:30 a.m. Thursday, on the 4th floor rotunda of the Capitol. In a statement, Democratic […]

Ana CeballosFebruary 28, 2018

A broad amendment to the Senate vegetable garden bill that would have preempted local ordinances that ban plastic straws, or really any plastic utensils, was withdrawn Wednesday after facing scrutiny. “I am going after the paper straws,” Sen. Rob Bradley said. The powerful state senator and sponsor of the bill (SB 1776) filed the utensil […]

Mitch PerryFebruary 20, 2018

Florida is poised to make history with the Legislature’s Tuesday passage of a proposal to place a statue of civil-rights leader and educator Mary McLeod Bethune in the National Statuary Hall at the U.S. Capitol. The statue of Bethune would replace a likeness of Confederate Gen. Edmund Kirby Smith, who has represented Florida for decades in […]

Tag: Perry Thurston
Crowds gather to see Atlantis at Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. (Gabrielle Russon)

Robert Runcie urges compensation fund for Parkland victims’ families

Trelvis Randolph: Justice in jeopardy – the reshaping of Florida’s Supreme Court

Perry Thurston files bill to reform Judicial Nominating Commission

Senate Democrats push to overhaul judicial nominating process

South Florida represents: Lauren Book, Manny Diaz named Senate committee chairs

Daphne Campbell lands wave of endorsements ahead of primary battle

Senate rejects changes to course requirement in opioid bill

Black lawmakers plan presser to oppose arming teachers

Save the ‘sporks’? Amendment yanked from Senate veggie garden bill

Bethune statue bill heads to governor