Florida voters disapprove 57 – 29 percent of the job Gov. Rick Scott is doing, the worst score of any governor in the states surveyed by Quinnipiac University and down from a 48 – 35  percent disapproval in an April 6 survey, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today. The state’s new budget is [...]

It’s the penultimate week of the legislative session – perhaps – and so far there’s nothing on the schedule to suggest formal budget talks. There is a whirlwind effort to get measures to the floor with a massive Senate Budget Committee agenda, and long sessions scheduled on the floor of both the House and the [...]

The American Civil Liberties Union of Florida (ACLUFL) today announced that the entire Florida Senate received the organization’s most recent “Defender of Freedom” award for the week which ended today, April 22, 2011.    The Senate has been on recess this entire week and as a result the Florida Legislature has been unable to pass [...]

It’s a waiting week. With both chambers having passed budgets, the next step is conference committees, and it’s difficult to tell when those might meet, though Senate President Mike Haridopolos said last week that it would likely be Thursday at the earliest, reports the News Service of Florida. Other measures are also going to conference [...]

Check out the screen shot I just pulled off the Orlando Sentinel‘s website after I attempted to post a comment which included that naughty little word — “Uterus”: Unless they are referring to “ACLU,” I believe the Orlando Sentinel, like the Florida Legislature, thinks “uterus” is a dirty word.

There’s always a moment of trepidation when I receive the Google Alert notifying me that my name is in the St. Petersburg Times.  But this story wasn’t bad, although I wish they used a better description than “St. Petersburg blogger.”  Actually, I like the description David DeCamp used on the blog version of the story: “…a [...]

A pared-down $66.5 billion budget for the coming fiscal year passed the House Appropriations Committee on Wednesday, even as opposition Democrats assailed the spending plan as a danger to public safety and an attack on state workers, reports Brandon Larrabee of the News Service of Florida. The 15-8, party-line vote moves the budget measure to [...]

The Legislature enters its fourth week of the session already getting into the budget – both chambers will have proposed budgets this week – and planning to bring a major Medicaid overhaul to the floor this week, according to the News Service of Florida. The Senate is expected to release on Monday its version of [...]

If there is one aspect of Florida’s campaign finance laws that does not benefit big business and its lapdogs in the Legislature, it is laws requiring the Division of Elections to provide an Internet-based disclosure system that details “who gives what.” By visiting the Division’s site and scrolling down to the Candidates and Committees section, [...]