Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Peter SchorschFebruary 3, 2018

Hey, we get it. There’s a lot going on in the 2018 Legislative Session — and it’s only Week Five. With budget negotiations, the passage of 27 bills this week and it being an election year, it’s easy to get lost in the noise. So, here’s a brief — very brief — update on some […]

Peter SchorschJanuary 27, 2018

A proposal that would restrict local governments from imposing their own regulations sparked a back-and-forth Friday over LGBTQ rights between two individuals who come from completely opposite ends of the political spectrum. Democratic state Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith told a Constitution Revision panel that the proposal would “eliminate all human rights ordinances” adopted by local […]

Peter SchorschJanuary 20, 2018

Citizen groups, the Legislature and the Constitution Revision Commission (CRC) are all able to change the state’s governing document, but constitutional amendments still have to pass the final test — the people. That means placement on the statewide ballot and getting at least 60 percent approval. But what governs the order of amendments on the […]

Peter SchorschJanuary 13, 2018

It looks like Sen. Gary Farmer has been keeping up with the news. ProPublica and the Naples Daily News both published in-depth investigations last year that highlighted a state law used by businesses and insurers to profit from undocumented workers and then dump them after they’re injured. One of the reports found that nearly 800 undocumented workers […]

Peter SchorschJanuary 6, 2018

Sen. Jose Javier Rodriguez wants to know if the state will take any independent action against drug companies for their role in the state’s opioid epidemic. “As we all know, this is now, and has been for some time, a full-blown public health crisis, and there is no time to waste,” Rodriguez wrote to Attorney […]

Peter SchorschDecember 16, 2017

Some send letters to Congress, others pray. When it comes to DACA, some Floridians do both. DACA, or Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, is the “government program that protects young undocumented immigrants from deportation,” as NBC News explains it. In Florida, the effort to push Congress to pass a replacement for the Obama-era program was […]

Peter SchorschDecember 10, 2017

A coalition of progressive and open government organizations is again taking the state’s Constitution Revision Commission (CRC) to task, this time for “glaring examples of rule violations” and calling the panel’s conduct “a travesty.” Leaders of the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida, the Florida First Amendment Foundation, the League of Women Voters Florida and […]

Peter SchorschDecember 2, 2017

If you fly in and out of Tallahassee International Airport (TLH) this holiday season, you may have cause to panic. A staffing snafu has left thousands of American Airlines flights without pilots and in danger of cancellation. But the airline is reassuring passengers that their holiday season travel plans are still good to go. While […]

Peter SchorschNovember 18, 2017

The head of the panel now eyeing the state’s constitution for changes says “more than 50 percent of the 103 proposed constitutional revisions filed by (its) commissioners represent public ideas.” Carlos Beruff, chair of the Constitution Revision Commission (CRC), this week recounted how his board “traveled the state listening to Floridians and reviewed thousands of […]

Peter SchorschNovember 11, 2017

After Hurricane Irma walloped the state — and wrecked people’s houses, apartments and mobile homes — there has been a renewed push from state housing groups to protect the state’s affordable housing programs. That includes efforts to stop lawmakers from taking money from the state’s housing trust fund, which sets aside money for state housing […]

Tag: takeaways
Image via WUFT News.

Takeaways from Tallahassee — Legislative misses

Takeaways from Tallahassee — LGBTQ tweet war

Takeaways from Tallahassee — Getting 2018 ballot in ‘order’

Takeaways from Tallahassee — Help for ‘disposable’ workers

Takeaways from Tallahassee — What’s up with the opioid probe?

Takeaways from Tallahassee — Praying for DACA?

Takeaways from Tallahassee — A ‘travesty’ in Tallahassee?

Takeaways from Tallahassee — Stuck in TLH with you?

Takeaways from Tallahassee — Carlos Beruff’s ‘constitutional’ angst

Takeaways from Tallahassee — Irma batters affordable housing