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Jim Rosica

Jim Rosica has 1252 articles published.

Before joining Florida Politics, journalist and attorney James Rosica was state government reporter for The Tampa Tribune. He attended journalism school in Washington, D.C., working at dailies and weekly papers in Philadelphia after graduation. Rosica joined the Tallahassee Democrat in 1997, later moving to the courts beat, where he reported on the 2000 presidential recount. In 2005, Rosica left journalism to attend law school in Philadelphia, afterwards working part time for a public-interest law firm. Returning to writing, he covered three legislative sessions in Tallahassee for The Associated Press, before joining the Tribune’s re-opened Tallahassee bureau in 2013. He can be reached at [email protected]

Constitution review panel could tackle ‘write-in loophole’

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A Constitution Revision Commission committee on Wednesday began considering whether to change Florida’s primary election system, including buttoning up what’s known as the “write-in loophole.” That allows a write-in candidate to close a primary. The commission’s Ethics and Elections Committee heard from advocates and some of the state’s elections supervisors, but took no action.

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Jason Brodeur files ‘fantasy sports’ bill for 2018

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Rep. Jason Brodeur has again filed legislation to exempt fantasy sports play from state gambling regulation.

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Bill would add ‘gender identity’ to hate crimes

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Legislation filed in the Florida House would add violence against an individual based on “gender or gender identity” to the state’s list of hate crimes. Rep. Joseph Geller, an Aventura Democrat, filed the bill (HB 211) Tuesday.

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Constitutional panel moves two public proposals

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Constitution Revision Commission

The Constitution Revision Commission (CRC) on Monday moved forward on two public proposals to amend the state’s governing document: One to close the “write-in loophole,” and another to repeal a provision on high speed rail. The next chance for commissioners to directly sponsor public proposals will be on Oct. 17, during another meeting of the full Commission. Commissioners also adopted a recommendation from their Rules Committee to extend the public filing deadline to this Friday because of Hurricane Irma.

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Gambling amendment now has 600K signatures

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A proposed constitutional amendment aimed at limiting gambling’s expansion in the state now has more than 600,000 signatures, its backers said Monday. Voters in Charge, the political committee behind the amendment, said it’s “over halfway towards its goal of gathering 1.1 million signatures in order to reach the required number of 766,200 valid petitions to appear on the 2018 General Election ballot.”

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Former House page supervisor convicted on attempted sex charge

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A man who formerly supervised teens in the Florida House of Representatives’ page and messenger program was convicted Friday on an attempted underage-sex charge. Michael A. Chmielewski, 38, was found guilty on one count of “attempted enticement of a minor to engage in sexual activity” by a federal jury in Tallahassee, court records show. He could face up to life imprisonment at a Jan. 5 sentencing.

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Dana Young files ‘fantasy contests’ bill

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Sen. Dana Young has again filed a bill to exempt fantasy sports play from regulation under the state’s gambling laws. Young, a Tampa Republican, filed her measure (SB 374) Friday afternoon. She introduced similar legislation this past session.

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