James Call - page 34

Florida House Republicans voted unanimously Monday for Rep. Steve Crisafulli to lead their caucus and cleared the way for the Merritt Island Republican to be the next Speaker of the Florida House. The House will convene an organizational session Tuesday and formally elect the Speaker for the next two legislative sessions. “Here we are, we made it,” said Crisafulli in brief remarks upon his selection. “Our entire Republican Cabinet is back. Our entire Legislature is back – with a supermajority…

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Florida Senate Democrats voted unanimously Monday for Tampa’s Arthenia Joyner to lead their caucus through the 2016 legislative session. Joyner was reelected unopposed earlier this month to represent a district that includes parts of Hillsborough, Manatee and Pinellas counties. Sen. Geraldine Thompson, D-Orlando nominated Joyner calling her a history maker whose career has inspired others. Joyner was the first African-American female to practice law in Hillsborough County in 1969. “Arthenia Joyner has been a fearless champion for fairness and justice…

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An important step towards the start of the 2015 Florida Legislative Session occurs Monday. Caucuses in the Florida House and Senate will select their respective leaders for the next two years. Republicans control both the House and Senate and Steve Crisafulli, R-Meritt Island and Sen. Andy Gardiner are expected to be named presiding officers Tuesday. Crisafulli will lead a Republican supermajority in the House. He has served as a House majority leader and moved into leadership role unexpectedly two years…

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Costa Farms’ petition challenging the regulations for the Charlotte’s Web law rested on the argument that the Department of Health exceeded its authority when it expanded the criteria for eligible applicants for the five licenses authorized by the Legislature. “The proposed rule diminishes the importance of the statutory list of selection criteria, treating these as just eligibility requirements; and instead uses an unauthorized random selection to choose among eligible applicants, stated the petition by Costa attorney’s Stephen Turner and David…

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The Florida Department of Health will have to rewrite regulations for Charlotte’s Web. Administrative Judge W. David Watkins Friday tossed out the proposed rules for implementing the state’s medicinal marijuana law as an invalid exercise of delegated legislative authority. “Here’s the divorce papers for the lottery,” said Ron Watson of the Florida Medical Cannabis Association. Watson had urged the Department to divorce a lottery from the licensing process, testifying that sometimes it is in the best interest of children for…

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The day before the deadline for a notary processors solicitation, the Department of State responded to a public information request about the new procedures made three weeks earlier. The solicitation was issued in September — the day that Governor Rick Scott’s general counsel, Pete Antonacci, had written Secretary of State Ken Detzner about new procedures “to maintain high quality standards for prompt and accurate notary application processing.” The governor is responsible for the appointment of notaries and Antonacci’s duties included…

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Surety companies, attorneys and accountants are confused by new bid requirements and say the Department of State isn’t helping.  A Notary Processors Solicitation was issued in September. Apparently, the procedure for a solicitation is different than that outline in Florida Statutes for a competitive procurement process, Chapter 287. The Department of State has not responded to questions about the Notary Processors Solicitation released Sept.5 but did respond to a public information request concerning correspondence about it. A letter from Peter…

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