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Bill Day’s latest: Old Corruptible

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Before the gavel falls on Tuesday to open Florida’s 2015 Legislative Session, before Gov. Rick Scott gives his annual State of the State missive, there is a final blast from the Tallahassee “river of green.” “Old Corruptible” makes its last hurrah, before falling silent for the next 60 days. Today, editorial cartoonist Bill Day casts his razor-sharp gaze on Monday, the closing day of pre-session fundraising. In the shadow of the Florida Capitol, the underground river crests after making way…

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2015 Legislative Session Preview: Big tobacco, Brecht Heuchan, and the most interesting food fight this Session

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Almost all of the headlines surrounding the annual session of the Florida Legislature will have already been written by the time lawmakers are gaveled into business on March 3. Those headlines will involve calls to expand Medicaid; a budget hole created by the federal government’s refusal to fund the Low Income Pool health care program; how to spend the money derived from Amendment 1,  etc. You’ll read about gambling and water and Uber and grad school tuition and tax breaks and…

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Congress’ dysfunction not limited to Homeland Security fight

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Congress’ dysfunction isn’t limited to the struggle to keep a Cabinet department running without interruption. Lawmakers couldn’t finish their work last year and it’s showing now. The leftover business could prove even more divisive than the dispute over rolling back President Barack Obama‘s immigration policies on a bill providing money for the Department of Homeland Security. Stretches of brinkmanship are certain to consume much of the legislative calendar in 2015. One critical issue is whether to increase the nation’s borrowing…

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2015 Legislative Session Preview: Dogfight breaking out over jet fuel sales tax exemption

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Editor’s Note: As the 2015 Legislative Session approaches, FloridaPolitics.com is reporting on several “legislative food fights” likely to break out during the annual lawmaking period. These food fights don’t always make the front page of the Tampa Bay Times, but they are the kind of industry vs. industry or intra-industry turfbattles that drive Tallahassee — and expand the economics for state lobbyists. One focused on an expected scrum between Big Tobacco and trial lawyers. Today’s installment is about a tax exemption on jet fuel…

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Irma effect on tourism mixed

Florida could recover from Hurricane Irma’s wrath in time for its busy tourism season this winter, but that’s likely not

High court case threatens independent electoral map drawers

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In a reversal of the usual worries about political influence on electoral map-making, the Supreme Court is being asked to let raw politics play an even bigger role in the drawing of congressional district boundaries. The court hears argument Monday in an appeal by Republican lawmakers in Arizona against the state’s voter-approved independent redistricting commission for creating the districts of U.S. House members. A decision striking down the commission probably would doom a similar system in neighboring California, and could…

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2015 Legislative Session preview: gambling legislation on the move in the Florida Legislature

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Despite Senate President Andy Gardiner’s publicly expressed disinterest in seeing the Florida Legislature renew the Seminole Gaming Compact, there is behind-the-scenes progress being made by lawmakers and lobbyists determined to expand gambling in Florida. House Majority Leader Dana Young, who has been tasked by Speaker Steve Crisafulli to be the House’s point person on gambling issues, says that she is actively conferring with other lawmakers and stakeholders. “This is beyond three dimensional chess,” Young said on Monday. “This is three dimensional chess played on several…

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2015 Legislative Session Preview: Will Airbnb make itself at home in Florida?

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What does it mean to own property? Are app-based lodging and transportation services showing the way toward an enlightened age of the Sharing Economy or simply enabling a kindler, gentler gentrification? Can I crash at your parents’ house in Boca for 70 bucks a night? As Airbnb expands its presence in Florida, such are the stakes in the looming fracas over short term rentals. Since 2008 Airbnb has hosted listings for individuals with spare rooms — or even, controversially, spare residences — to rent…

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