Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Christine Jordan SextonMarch 25, 2015

Budget chief Sen. Tom Lee said on Wednesday that tax cuts and member projects will be put on hold in the Senate until there is a resolution of whether Florida will receive additional Medicaid supplemental funding to help pay hospitals, federally qualified health centers and Medicaid HMOs. After a marathon seven-plus-hour meeting where the committee […]

James CallMarch 25, 2015

Wednesday at the state Capitol we learned that when the House and Senate begin talking to each other about a state budget what the focus of the discussion will be. We’ve watched the respective leaders draw lines in the sand. And we’ve seen the positions harden. And now, as we approach the midpoint of the […]

Christine Jordan SextonMarch 25, 2015

While they are far apart on Medicaid funding, both the House and Senate budgets have money enough to fund more residency slots to train physicians to help abate a looming shortfall in specialties such as psychiatry, general surgery, thoracic surgery and rheumatology. The House budget appropriates nearly $3.8 million in total funds for graduate medical […]

Mitch PerryMarch 25, 2015

Tuesday a Public Policy Polling survey showed that a majority of Floridians wanted neither Jeb Bush nor Marco Rubio to run for president in 2016. That was so yesterday. Literally. A new poll released Wednesday morning from St. Leo University shows quite the opposite: Sixty-three percent of Floridians want Bush to run for president, and 58 […]

James CallMarch 25, 2015

Humans are a strange species. One can be pushing 60 and a chance encounter with a childhood hero turns him into a little boy. I outed an astronaut today. I’m standing in a crowded elevator and next to me is Mike McCulley, a space shuttle Atlantis commander. Your humble correspondent immediately blurted, “You’re an astronaut!” unleashing a shower […]

Janelle Irwin TaylorMarch 25, 2015

Intolerance and bigotry is expensive business in Florida. That’s according to a report released Wednesday by a coalition of major employers in the state called Equality Means Business. The report found that discrimination against the LGBT community costs employers more than $362 million a year. The losses are linked to employee turnover and loss of productivity. “We’ve […]

Mitch PerryMarch 25, 2015

Allen West has been in the news a lot this week — but not for anything he’s done of late. Despite outspending Democrat Patrick Murphy by a 4-1 ration in his bid for re-election to Congress in 2012, the South Florida Tea Party favorite lost to Murphy in that celebrated race. Now Murphy is running […]

James CallMarch 25, 2015

A stack of court documents makes it difficult to see when epileptic children will have access to medicinal cannabis oil to calm the dangerous seizures that wrack their small bodies. Sen. Rob Bradley’s effort to provide growers more opportunities to participate in a nascent medicinal marijuana industry failed to stop more lawsuits from being filed against […]

James CallMarch 25, 2015

A stack of court documents makes it difficult to see when epileptic children will have access to medicinal cannabis oil to calm the dangerous seizures that wrack their small bodies. Sen. Rob Bradley’s effort to provide growers more opportunities to participate in a nascent medicinal marijuana industry failed to stop more lawsuits from being filed against […]

Mitch PerryMarch 25, 2015

A new survey from St.Leo University shows that a plurality of Floridians believe Rick Scott’s controversial sacking of FDLE head Gerald Bailey was political in nature. 37 percent of those asked in the poll say that the Governor acted to punish Bailey for Bailey’s reluctance to aid in Scott’s re-election campaign and the change was mainly politically motivated. 47 percent […]

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Aleksandar Vucic Image via AP

No supplemental Medicaid dollars? Then no tax breaks says Senate budget chief

The day that was in Florida politics — March 25

House, Senate budgets take baby steps to funding additional doctors’ residencies

New poll says Floridians DO want Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio to run for president

Five minutes with astronaut Mike McCulley on Lewis and Clark, the final frontier, and human nature

Study finds LGBT discrimination costs Florida businesses big

Say what? Poll says Allen West leads GOP field for 2016 U.S. Senate race

Charlotte’s Web tangles grow deeper after more challenges filed

Charlotte's Web tangles grow deeper after more challenges filed

New poll says plurality of Floridians think Rick Scott acted politically in “Baileygate” controversy