Fundraising galore before start of 2016 Legislative Session

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The start of the 2016 Legislative Session means a cessation of political fundraising – sitting lawmakers are barred from ginning up cash while they legislate.

But session begins Tuesday, so the Monday before is the usual orgy of tippling, grip-and-grinning and check-writing.

House Majority 2016, Senate Majority 2016 and others sent out emails last week detailing the various events, subject to change and cancelation. All locations are in Tallahassee:

  • Heather Fitzenhagen, Holly Raschein: 11 a.m. at The Tennyson, Unit 5007, 121 N. Monroe St.
  • Kathleen Peters: 11:30 a.m. at 113 E. College Ave., 3rd floor.
  • Ben Albritton, Larry Metz, Elizabeth Porter: noon at the Governors Club, 202 S. Adams St. (on the corner of College Avenue).
  • Jamie Grant: 4:30 p.m. at the Governors Club.
  • Alan Williams, a Tallahassee Democrat who is term-limited as state representative, is having a fundraiser for his run for Leon County Supervisor of Elections, 4:30 p.m. at the Governors Club.
  • Paul Renner: 5 p.m. at the Governors Club.
  • Colleen Burton, Bob Cortes, Fred Costello, Eric Eisnuagle, Julio Gonzalez, Mike Miller, Mike La Rosa, Scott Plakon, Rene Plasencia: 5:30 p.m. at the Governors Club.
  • Also at 5:30 p.m., Senate Majority 2016 is hosting a “Welcome Back Reception” in the downtown Doubletree Hotel ballroom, 101 S. Adams St. (on the corner of Park Avenue). Senate President Andy Gardiner, President-designate Joe Negron, Majority Leader Bill Galvano and Sens. Lizbeth Benacquisto, Anitere Flores and Jack Latvala are the headliners.
  • Frank Artiles, Bryan Avila, Mike Bileca, Manny Diaz Jr., Jeanette Nunez, Jose Oliva, Ray Rodrigues, Carlos Trujillo: 7 p.m. at the Governance House, 510 N. Adams St.

Before joining Florida Politics, journalist and attorney James Rosica was state government reporter for The Tampa Tribune. He attended journalism school in Washington, D.C., working at dailies and weekly papers in Philadelphia after graduation. Rosica joined the Tallahassee Democrat in 1997, later moving to the courts beat, where he reported on the 2000 presidential recount. In 2005, Rosica left journalism to attend law school in Philadelphia, afterwards working part time for a public-interest law firm. Returning to writing, he covered three legislative sessions in Tallahassee for The Associated Press, before joining the Tribune’s re-opened Tallahassee bureau in 2013. He can be reached at [email protected].