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James CallMarch 18, 2015

Wow, talk about a gaggle. If you want a good understanding of what separates the House and Senate as the session approaches the midpoint check out this exchange between Sen. Tom Lee and a gaggle of reporters including the AP, The Palm Beach Post, The Tampa Tribune and the Times/Herald Capitol Bureau. It’s the best gaggle of the session so […]

James CallMarch 18, 2015

The Senate Appropriations Chairman is drawing a line in the sand. Sen. Tom Lee wants clarity on health care spending before moving forward on building a budget, and both Sen. Aaron Bean and Sen. Renee Garcia are looking for the money to help him produce a balanced spending plan. The federal Low Income Pool program expires in June, and the more than […]

Christine Jordan SextonMarch 18, 2015

The Senate budget will include nearly $3 billion in Medicaid funding to expand coverage to about 800,000 people as well as an alternative plan to draw down supplemental Medicaid money to help pay hospitals and other providers for treating uninsured patients. That means the Senate and House budgets could be billions apart — a fact […]

Christine Jordan SextonMarch 18, 2015

The Senate budget will include nearly $3 billion in Medicaid funding to expand coverage to about 800,000 people as well as an alternative plan to draw down supplemental Medicaid money to help pay hospitals and other providers for treating uninsured patients. That means the Senate and House budgets could be billions apart — a fact […]

Ryan RayMarch 16, 2015

Editor’s note: As the 2015 Legislative Session kicks into high gear, FloridaPolitics.com is continuing to report on several “legislative food fights” during the annual lawmaking period. These kerfuffles don’t always make the front page of the traditional media outlets, but they are the kind of industry vs. industry or intra-industry turf battles that drive Tallahassee — […]

Ryan RayMarch 16, 2015

Editor’s note: As the 2015 Legislative Session kicks into high gear, FloridaPolitics.com is continuing to report on several “legislative food fights” during the annual lawmaking period. These kerfuffles don’t always make the front page of the traditional media outlets, but they are the kind of industry vs. industry or intra-industry turf battles that drive Tallahassee — […]

James CallMarch 15, 2015

At the state Capitol this week the budget begins to take shape and Rep. Richard Corcoran increasingly becomes the man to watch. By the end of the week the Senate will have released its budget allocation and Corcoran and Sen. Tom Lee, the two chambers’ appropriation chairs, will move closer to center stage as a spending plan begins […]

Bruce RitchieMarch 11, 2015

State Sen. Alan Hays on Wednesday sternly told a Senate subcommittee audience that the Legislature had not neglected the environment in past years, and that Amendment 1 supporters may have misled Florida voters. The ballot initiative, approved by 75 percent of voters in November, provides an estimated $22.6 billion towards water and land conservation during […]

James CallMarch 8, 2015

This week politics at the state Capitol will be about money and a search for clarity. Legislators will get a better view of the hill they need to climb in building a state budget for the year beginning July 1. The Revenue Estimating Conference meets Tuesday and will count up how much tax money the […]

James CallMarch 6, 2015

At the end of the first week of the 2015 Legislative Session, the Capitol City’s newspaper printed an editorial cartoon that compared lobbyists to great white sharks. The cartoon asks which species pose a greater threat to Floridians; paid advocates or Jaws. Psychologists tell us we see what we know and what we know influences […]

Tag: Tom Lee
Donald Trump. Image via AP.

The day that was in Florida politics — March 18

Five minutes with Tom Lee — Talk of playing cards while building a budget

Senate budget is chock full o' Medicaid dollars, says Tom Lee

Senate budget is chock full o’ Medicaid dollars, says Tom Lee

Where does sh*t stand — the "legislative food fights" edition

Where does sh*t stand — the “legislative food fights” edition

The week ahead in Florida politics

Alan Hays says Amendment 1 backers misled voters

Capitol Preview: Money, press skits and the search for clarity

The week that was in Florida politics