Gov. Rick Scott today named 15 members of a task force to study possible changes in the state’s “stand your ground” law in the wake of the killing of Trayvon Martin, the Miami teenager who was shot by Neighborhood Watch captain George Zimmerman in Sanf... »
National small-government advocacy organization Americans For Prosperity is promoting nine “Tax Day” rallies in Florida including one in downtown Orlando next Sunday. The Orlando rally, at 2 p.m. in Lake Eola Park Amphitheater, is being sponsored by th... »
TALLAHASSEE — Senate President Mike Haridopolos and his successor Sen. Don Gaetz, R-Niceville, said they are open to looking at town halls or potential hearings on the Trayvon Martin case after the November elections when lawmakers will begin committee... »
UPDATES w/ Florida Democratic Party response By Aaron Deslatte, Tallahassee Bureau Chief TALLAHASSEE – The Florida Senate voted 31-6 Thursday to pass its response to a high-court rebuke of its once-a-decade chore of redistricting, despite objections th... »
TALLAHASSEE — The debate over re-drawing the Florida Senate’s political lines has come down to numbers, but not just racial breakdowns or election returns. The Senate Reapportionment Committee began its second day of debate Wednesday where it left off ... »
TALLAHASSEE — Interest groups anxious to make decisions about where to play in legislative elections have been expecting multiple head-to-head match-ups when the Senate unveiled new districts Saturday. They’re bound to be disappointed. The first Senate... »
TALLAHASSEE — Three of the groups that backed the Fair Districts reforms and are challenging congressional redistricting plans in court now want the Senate’s point-man to re-think his crash-course for re-drawing Senate districts. Lawmakers are facing a... »
The Florida Senate convened at 1:01 p.m. today to open a special session on redistricting — and promptly adjourned at 1:13, after observing procedural niceties and listening to Senate Reapportionment Chairman Don Gaetz, R-Niceville, tell them that his ... »
TALLAHASSEE — The effort to reform Florida’s no-fault auto-insurance law picked up an amendment in the House Friday that would prohibit the fraud-fighting “strike force” housed within Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater’s office from buying advertisin... »
TALLAHASSEE — The Florida Senate voted 38-1 Thursday to pass a claims bill paying former Brevard resident William Dillon $1.35 million for the 27 years he was wrongly imprisoned for murder, ending his three-year struggle to get compensation. Senate Pre... »
TALLAHASSEE – Complaining about the media and ban on gifts from lobbyists, a Senate panel shot down a bill that would have prohibited future lawmakers from also holding jobs or contracts with state colleges and universities. The legislation, SB 1560, m... »
By Jim Saunders, The News Service of Florida TALLAHASSEE — In a defeat for business groups and the insurance industry, a House panel Thursday narrowly rejected a bill that would add restrictions in “bad faith” legal fights. The House Civil Justice Subc... »
TALLAHASSEE — Lawmakers return to a full slate of committee hearings and floor action today on environmental bills, health-care and higher education budget proposals, and abortion bills. But the House (11 a.m.) and the Senate (9 a.m.) go into session b... »
TALLAHASSEE — Welcome back to another week of the 2012 legislative session. We’ll see both chambers on the floor this week and more on a number of huge issues that arose this last week as well. So with that, we give you the top five stories you should ... »
TALLAHASSEE — The Florida Senate passed its version of a new congressional map late Tuesday afternoon by a 34-6 vote. Senate President Mike Haridopolos called it one of the Senate’s “finest hours” and hailed it as a bipartisan product given that seven ... »
