Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Drew WilsonJanuary 9, 2019

Rep. Brad Drake filed a bill Wednesday that would redirect settlement money from the BP oil spill into a new economic development fund in Northwest Florida. HB 191 would create the Northwest Florida Rural Inland Affected Counties Recovery Fund, which would receive 5 percent of all payments the state receives from BP after July 1, […]

Gary FineoutMay 2, 2017

After keeping the money locked up for nearly a year, Florida legislators have finally agreed on a plan to hand out millions of dollars given the state for damages related to the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The Florida Senate on Monday voted unanimously for a bill that would guarantee […]

Michael MolineMarch 23, 2017

The Florida House voted Thursday unanimously to direct two-thirds of the $400 million the state is due from the 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster to the worst-affected counties in the Panhandle. HB 7077 requires 75 percent of all payments that Florida receives from the settlement agreement between the five Gulf states and BP […]

Staff ReportsMarch 16, 2017

A House panel has approved legislation to make sure settlement money from the 2010 BP oil spill stays in the Florida Panhandle. The House Select Committee on Triumph Gulf Coast passed a proposed committee bill that, among other things, requires 75 percent of all payments that Florida receives from the settlement agreement between the five […]

Jim RosicaMarch 7, 2017

Senate President Joe Negron on Tuesday said he was committed to getting $300 million in settlement money from the 2010 BP oil spill to affected communities in northwest Florida. Negron spoke to reporters on the first day of the 2017 Legislative Session. “I don’t believe that we should set up some complicated bureaucracy,” said Negron, a […]

Associated PressDecember 21, 2015

More than five years after the Deepwater Horizon oil drilling rig exploded off the Louisiana coast, killing 11 workers and sending more than 134 million gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, a portion of the billions of dollars in settlement money with oil giant BP and others is slowly starting to reach 23 […]

Shannon NickinsonNovember 10, 2015

It’s Scott Luth’s job to find jobs. As the head of FloridaWest, Escambia County’s economic development agency, Luth is the point-man for selling Pensacola as the pick of the litter in the Southeast. “All the companies that we work with are net importers of wealth and that’s where we focus,” Luth says. “That’s everything from […]

Ryan RayAugust 24, 2015

Former Senate President Don Gaetz — fresh from bad publicity for his role in the 2011 redistricting fiasco, when he was chairman of his chamber’s map-making committee — accentuated the positive Sunday in an email to his constituents in his sprawling Senate District 1, which runs from Walton to Jackson counties in the western Panhandle. Legislators […]

Tag: Triumph Gulf Coast

Brad Drake bill would bring BP money to inland Northwest Florida

After delay Florida will finally hand out oil spill money

House votes to steer most BP oil spill settlement money to the Panhandle

House committee OK’s proposal to keep BP oil funds in Northwest Florida

Joe Negron backs Gulf Coast compensation process

Florida counties have different plans for oil spill funds

Shannon Nickinson: Try assessing why jobs pass Pensacola by

Don Gaetz says BP recovery bill a coup for Northwest Florida