James Call - page 33

Moments after being sworn in for a third term Tuesday, Rep. Bill Hager of Boca Raton filed HB 21, strengthening regulation of sober houses, once called transitional living facilities. The measure is identical to a bill Hager sponsored last session that cleared the House on a unanimous vote. It later died in the Senate’s Children, Families and Elder Affairs Committee. Hager said the poorly regulated industry threatens safe and quiet neighborhoods. “Dating back to my service on the Boca Raton City Council, I…

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Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey wants to take a parenting class statewide. The Sheriff and State Attorney Phil Archer have been working with a Time to Be a Parent Again program that includes having prison inmates talk with parents about how the inmates got on the road to jail. A presentation of the program can be seen here. Ivey says interest in the program has grown from attracting “seven grandparents” in a room to an audience of more than 300…

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House Democratic Leader Mark Pafford Wednesday filled out his leadership team for the 2015 legislative session. When floor debates and lawmaking begins, Pafford and Leader Pro Tempore Mia Jones, D-Jacksonville, will turn to a veteran lawmaker to develop policy, an experienced accountant to count votes and a former lawman to keep everyone in line. Democrats have little leverage in their dealings with the Republican majority, outnumbered 118 – 38 with two seats undecided. The House Democrats Policy Chair is freshman…

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David Cox said Tuesday he is a candidate for Florida Senate District 6. Cox, a Democrat, received 99,000 votes in a losing challenge to Congressman Ron DeSantis for the Congressional District 6 seat. “They’re virtually the same,” said Cox. “Senate District 6 has a little bit less Putnam County and a little bit more of Volusia County and I’ve spent the past year traveling the district and talking to people.” Cox is the director of freshman college resources at Bethune…

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Two Central Florida lawmakers have taken control of the Florida Legislature. Brevard County Rep. Steve Crisafulli was elected speaker of the Florida House and Orange County Sen. Andy Gardiner was elected president of the Florida Senate. The two will lead their respective chambers for the next two legislative sessions, and the GOP will govern with a super-majority in the House, a 12-vote majority in the Senate and with newly re-elected Republican Gov. Rick Scott. Gardiner said his colleagues’ support was humbling…

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Florida House Democrats elected Rep. Mark Pafford as their caucus leader Monday. The vote came on the eve of the Legislature’s organizational session and after Daytona Rep. Dwayne Taylor decided against contesting Pafford for the position. “I think we naturally come together when we need to come together,” Pafford said, describing Taylor’s short-lived challenge as part of the process. Last week, Taylor had faulted Pafford for the Democrats losing six seats in the Nov. 4 election; giving Republicans a super…

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Florida politicos remembered Tom Slade Monday as the brains and power that built the Republican Party of Florida. Slade who passed away last month at the age of 78 was eulogized Monday by colleagues, past RPOF chairs and political reporters. Former Sen. John Thrasher recalled a pivotal point in the party’s development, Jeb Bush’s 1994 defeat for governor at the hands’ of incumbent Lawton Chiles. “It was a hard loss a tough loss and we were kind of looking for…

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