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Ryan Ray - page 79

Ryan Ray has 632 articles published.

Ryan Ray writes about campaigns and public policy in Tampa Bay and across the state. A contributor to FloridaPolitics.com and before that, The Florida Squeeze, he covers the Legislature as a member of the Florida Capitol Press Corps and has worked as a staffer on several campaigns. He can be reached at [email protected].

Easter & Passover, as brought to you by these lobbyists and political associations

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Easter celebrates a rebirth that some bygone issues like Medicaid expansion may or may not ever have, while Passover memorializes the emancipation of Israelites held captive in Egypt. Heavy stuff we know, but that doesn’t mean we can’t take an unorthodox approach in examining the reasons for the season. Here’s a look at the holiday in lobbying terms. Travel increases on any holiday that commands a three-day weekend — and this weekend is no different. Most every lawmaker is back…

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TallyMadness second-round action heating up; voting ends Monday night

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The second round of the 2015 TallyMadness tournament — the online voting competition to determine Tallahassee’s “best” lobbyist — is shaping up to be every bit as exciting and tumultuous as Round 1. The early returns from the ongoing Round of 32 are in and they foretell another wild ride of upsets and nail-biters — plus a huge overall surge in the volume of votes cast. Brian Ballard and Allison Carvajal — just a couple of days removed from harrowing…

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Second round of TallyMadness underway; vote now for Florida’s top lobbyist

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The first round of TallyMadness 2015 — the online voting competition to determine Tallahassee’s “best” lobbyist – is in the books, and it was a barn-burner. The Round of 32 promises to be no less dramatic. See below for a preview of the second-round action. After surviving a first-round upset scare from Jon Costello, Brian Ballard is through to the second round, though his competition has not gotten any easier. The top seed faces #8 seed Allison Carvajal, winner of 64…

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Senate passes language preventing Pam Bondi suit against feds, takes it back

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Florida’s so-called “dreamers”- undocumented youth who were brought to this country as children – received a rude April Fools joke from the Senate majority this afternoon. Sen. Darren Soto introduced an amendment to SB 2500, better known as the Senate budget proposal, that would have prevented Attorney General Pam Bondi from pursuing a lawsuit against the Obama administration. Bondi has joined Republican attorneys general in 25 other states in challenging the President’s recent executive action to halt deportation of Dreamers who have not…

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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

Southern Strategy Group lands short-term rentals giant Airbnb

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Though ridesharing companies like Uber and Lyft are getting most of the ink these days, you’d be a fool to sleep on the short-term rental aspect of the new so-called sharing economy, where companies like industry leader Airbnb are challenging zoning rules, raising the ire of the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association and raising questions about fundamental property rights. Such a complex issue will require a big lift on the influence side, and Airbnb is hiring up top-shelf lobbying talent to meet…

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New winner-take-all primary could be decisive either way for Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio

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Lawmakers in both chambers went along with little friction this year as they passed leadership-supported bills to move back Florida’s presidential primaries, in order to take advantage of new national GOP rules allowing states to grant their delegates on a winner-take-all basis if they do so. The logic was simple: whether it’s Jeb Bush or Marco Rubio, apportioning all those delegates in one lump sum will help our home-state guy. But as Adam Wollner in National Journal asks: will it really? “…the…

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Upsets dominate first round of TallyMadness

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The first round of TallyMadness 2015 — the online voting competition to determine Tallahassee’s “best” lobbyist — is now in the books and, boy, was it a live one. #16 seed Monica Rodriguez started out on a hot streak and just kept going, sending first-time #1 seed Bill Rubin to an untimely TallyMadness demise by a count of 54.9 percent to 45.1 percent, marking one of the biggest upsets in recent memory. After a serious threat of a coup from the ruggedly handsome #16 seed Jon Costello,…

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