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Bruce Ritchie - page 9

Bruce Ritchie has 127 articles published.

Senate committee chair seeks to ban fracking during study

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An amendment that was filed Monday — and later withdrawn — by the chairman of a Senate committee would have placed a ban on state permits for oil and gas fracking until a study of the practice can be completed in 2016. SB 1468 by Sen. Garrett Richter, a Republican from Bradenton, requires the state to develop rules for permitting “high-pressure well-stimulation,” which includes hydraulic fracturing — also called fracking. The bill is scheduled to be considered Tuesday by the Senate Committee…

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Legislators pound FMPA after top officials fail to appear

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Senators and representatives serving on a panel that oversees state audits responded angrily on Monday when they were told that top officials at the Florida Municipal Power Agency were too busy to meet to discuss audit findings that described lavish spending and risky fuel trading schemes. And state Sen. Joe Abruzzo, a Democrat from Wellington who chairs the Joint Legislative Audit Committee, vowed that FMPA officials will be subpoenaed when they are requested again to attend a committee meeting. The…

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Bruce Ritchie: Is House giving Florida Forever $205 million? Nope

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Words matter, or they should – at least for journalists. Not necessarily for politicians. Case in point: the Florida House leadership saying that it has $205 million in the proposed 2015-16 state budget for Florida Forever, the state’s land-buying program. Nope, not true. In fact, the House budget proposal doesn’t include a single dollar for Florida Forever, in my opinion, although it seems to have some for land acquisition. How much? We can’t be sure. Florida Forever actually is a…

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Bill Nelson takes stand against muzzling scientists on climate change

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U. S. Sen. Bill Nelson is speaking out against policies that would prohibit  government employees from discussing climate change and offered a budget amendment Thursday to prevent federal legislation from doing that. “We have all read news reports at the state level, the local level, maybe even at the federal level,” Nelson said. “Indeed some folks are trying to muzzle scientists from speaking about the science involved in oceans, atmosphere, climate and the weather.” Nelson, a Democrat from Melbourne, was…

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Solar ballot measure sent to Pam Bondi on way to Supreme Court

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Signatures for a proposed solar amendment to the state constitution have been verified and the measure has been submitted by state elections officials to Attorney General Pam Bondi. Floridians for Solar Choice says it wants to encourage solar energy production with a constitutional amendment that would prohibit governments or utilities from placing barriers on the sale or distribution of the power. The political committee needs more than 683,000 signatures to put the measure on the ballot by Feb. 1, 2016.…

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Pam Bondi goes to Nevada

Drawing on lessons learned after a nightclub massacre last year in Orlando, Attorney General Pam Bondi and members of her

Rewind to 2013: Proposed House bill would allow adjacent landowners to acquire state land

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A proposed House committee bill being considered Thursday would require state park managers to allow “low-impact agriculture” on parks and allow adjacent landowners to acquire state land. The House State Affairs Committee, meeting at 1 p.m. today, will consider proposed committee bill SAC 15-02. In 2013, HB 33 by state Rep. Jimmie T. Smith, a Republican from Lecanto, also would have allowed an individual or corporate landowner to acquire state land by asking the Cabinet to approve a swap for…

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Add growth management to a busy legislative session

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A 2015 legislative session that already was busy with water bills and Amendment 1 funding just got a huge growth management bill in the House. A House subcommittee on Wednesday passed a sweeping committee substitute for HB 933 despite objections from cities, counties and environmental groups. “We’ve got a lot to consider,” state Rep. Mike La Rosa, a Republican from St. Cloud who is sponsor of the bill, said after public testimony and debate. “I give you my promise we…

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