Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Michael MolineDecember 15, 2016

Visit Florida, beleaguered over its $1 million promotional contract with the rapper Pitbull, found a defender Thursday in Senate budget chairman Jack Latvala. In light of a soft construction sector, “what’s kept the whole outlook from softening up has been our strong tourism economy,” Latvala told reporters after the Appropriations Committee heard about the financial demands […]

Peter SchorschMarch 21, 2016

I was not sure if today was state Sen. Jack Latvala’s birthday, so I double-checked the list of lawmakers birthdays furnished by LobbyTools. Nope, today is definitely not the senior Latvala’s birthday. It’s Nov. 3. Still … If you had told Sen. Latvala last year that come the first day of spring he would be: on […]

Jim RosicaMarch 3, 2016

A squabble over tourist taxes, a last-minute amendment to the Senate’s tax cut package, sucked up about half of the 2016 Legislative Session’s last Senate Appropriations meeting, killing bills left hanging on the agenda. The panel OK’d the House plan (HB 7099) after amending it with the Senate’s own tax package. The legislation promises about $129 million in […]

Jim RosicaMarch 1, 2016

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Their lips were saying “not dead yet” but House leadership otherwise made clear that the Seminole Compact and gambling legislation are goners for this Legislative Session. “I’m not ready to declare it dead yet,” said state Rep. Jose Felix Diaz, the Miami Republican who shepherded the bills through the process this year. Diaz spoke after […]

Jim RosicaMarch 1, 2016

Echoing a Seminole Tribe attorney earlier in the day, Senate budget chief Tom Lee opened the possibility that provisions added to the Seminole Compact to placate the state’s pari-mutuels were a “ransom” that tanked the legislation. Lee, the Brandon Republican who chairs the Appropriations Committee, spoke to reporters after his panel finished its Tuesday meeting. As the […]

Jim RosicaMarch 1, 2016

If the Seminole Compact and related legislation don’t pass this session, lawmakers will have no one to blame but themselves, the tribe’s Tallahassee-based attorney said Tuesday. Barry Richard, who represents the Seminole Tribe of Florida, blamed the apparent Tuesday morning collapse of the 2016 gambling bills on lawmakers bending over backward to appease the state’s dog […]

Ryan RayFebruary 26, 2016

Senate budget chair Tom Lee has added a pair of potentially momentous gaming bills to the Appropriations Committee’s agenda for its meeting Tuesday. SB 7072 would expand slot machines beyond South Florida and reduce the effective tax rate on the machines. It would allow slots in six counties where voters already have approved the form of gambling […]

Phil AmmannFebruary 25, 2016

The Senate Appropriations Committee approved Thursday several bills with some cost-saving measures for health providers. The bills now head to the Senate floor. LobbyTools is reporting on SB 1686, sponsored by Fernandina Beach Republican Sen. Aaron Bean, which will allow Florida’s health care practitioners to provide telehealth services. The bill creates a task force under the Agency […]

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 […]

Ryan RayOctober 20, 2015

A bill sponsored by Sen. Joe Negron to prevent state funding from flowing to organizations that boycott or have divested from Israel on human rights grounds passed unanimously through a Senate budget panel on general government Tuesday afternoon. The bill, SB 86, creates a state list of “scrutinized companies” that boycott Israel to be kept by the […]

Tag: Senate Appropriations Committee

Jack Latvala defends Visit Florida amid Pitbull contract controversy

It’s not Jack Latvala’s birthday!

Tug of war over tax package kills bills

House all but declares defeat on Seminole Compact, gambling legislation

Gambling concessions to pari-mutuels same as “ransom,” Tom Lee says

Effort to appease pari-mutuels is killing Seminole Compact

Senate budget chief Tom Lee adds gaming bills to Appropriations panel agenda

Senate committee passes series of cost-saving health care proposals

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

Joe Negron bill to cut ties with anti-Israeli boycotters sails through committee stop