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The race for Senate president has become a Chinese finger puzzle

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The half-decade-long race to determine who will serve as president of the Florida Senate from 2016 to 2018 — either Jack Latvala or Joe Negron — has taken on all the difficulty of a Chinese finger puzzle after a series of recent developments designed to solve the matter have only made the issue more complicated. Most notable of these developments is the official signing-on of now 10 current members of the Florida Senate to Negron’s political committee, the Treasure Coast Alliance according to…

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Takeaways from Tallahassee, er, St. Augustine

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The picture to the right is of the dock in front of the beach house the Griswolds, err, the Schorsches are vacationing at this week. This was supposed to be a recuperative, post-session retreat, and while it has been an enjoyable time here in St. Augustine, it feels like just a break before the next wave crashes. Here are my Takeaways from Tallahassee, er, St. Augustine. — If I had to revise my list of Winners and Losers emerging from…

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The latest on five legislative food fights

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Where things stand on a number of “legislative food fights” is a complicated question in today’s adversarial climate at the Capitol. The $4 billion chasm between the House and Senate budget proposals is casting a shadow on every corner of legislative business, both appropriations and policy measures. “Bill aren’t just dying; they’re being massacred,” state Rep. Frank Artiles told this reporter in line at a Shell station on Monroe Street in Tallahassee Saturday evening. Nonetheless, the show must go on in the…

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Uber’s fortunes uncertain as House, Senate gear up for ride sharing fight

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With just six days before end of regular legislative business this Session, the House and Senate are still troublesomely far apart on legislation regarding the popular ride sharing apps Uber and Lyft, particularly if you’re an advocate for the expansion of “transportation network companies” as they are rendered in committee-speak. The Senate today passed SB 1298 by Altamonte Springs Sen. David Simmons which would increase insurance requirements beyond the now-voluntary insurance policies already they already carry. Support for the bill came well short of a…

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For some Florida Senators, healthcare budget standoff isn’t business, it’s personal

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As the 2015 legislative session winds down – and the state’s budget standoff heats up – money is on everyone’s mind. With that, the darkening prospects of the House and Senate settling differences over Medicaid expansion lead a casual (and maybe not so casual) observer to ask the obvious question. Why? Why is the Senate willing to serve more than 800,000 uninsured, low-income Floridians, while the House steadfastly opposes, with no end in sight? One possible explanation lies in an…

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Senate delays action on John Armstrong’s nomination for Health Dep’t secretary after he refuses to say whether he supports a Medicaid expansion

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The Senate Health Policy Committee on Tuesday delayed Department of Health Secretary John Armstrong‘s confirmation process after the secretary refused to answer whether expanding Medicaid would improve Floridians’ healthcare outcomes or whether he supported the Senate’s alternative proposal to expand Medicaid. State Sen. Aaron Bean asked Armstrong to return soon and said the committee looked forward to continung the hearing “very soon.” Initially, state Sen. Don Gaetz asked Armstrong about his position on the Oregon Medicaid health insurance experiment, which used a lottery system…

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Eyeball wars II: Senate OKs bills letting retailers set price for contacts

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The Senate Health Policy Committee on Monday gave the nod to a bill that would restrict contact lens manufacturers from preventing retailers from selling or advertising contact lenses below a set price. The bill, SB 1400 by state Sen. Tom Lee, brought lobbyists from Las Vegas, Utah, and Washington, leading former Senate President Don Gaetz to joke that Lee, also a former Senate president, deserved the “Visit Florida” award for the number of lobbyists who traveled to the state to testify on the…

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