Sunburn – The morning read of what’s hot in Florida politics.
By Peter Schorsch, Phil Ammann, Mitch Perry, Ryan Ray, and Jim Rosica.
Good morning from St. Augustine, where America’s oldest city is celebrating the Nights of Lights. What better way to celebrate the Festival of Lights (Hanukkah) than here?
To best convey the spirit of this year’s Hanukkah, I’d like to share with you the words of my friend Jonathan Kilman, a lawyer-lobbyist with Foley & Lardner. Jonathan very much needs his own blog, his writing on Facebook is that interesting.
On Hanukkah we celebrate and say, “A great miracle happened here.” (Or, outside of Israel, “a great miracle happened there.”) By its definition, a miracle is likely a rare event. We look for miracles every day, and attempt to explain positive things as miracles (such as the beauty of a sunset or the birth of a child). But these are not rare and perhaps not miracles – maybe they are just natural conditions of our world. Of course, many pray for a miracle to end suffering, prevent war, or cure disease. Frequently the miracles we seek do not come.
We need not await miracles to make the world better. Another Jewish notion, that of “tikkun olam,” suggests that we act to “heal the world.” No miracle required, just human kindness and a willingness to act.
So, on this Hannukah, I will be thankful for any miracles that may have happened in the past, and focus not on what future miracles may come, but on how I can bring about a better world. Perhaps you will join me?
Hannukah Sameach! (Happy Hannukah!)
Now, on to politics…
OBAMA: TERROR THREAT AGAINST UNITED STATES HAS ENTERED NEW PHASE
In a rare Oval Office address, President Barack Obama vowed Sunday night the United States would overcome a new terror threat that seeks to “poison the minds” of people here and around the world, as he sought to reassure Americans shaken by recent attacks in Paris and California.
“I know that after so much war, many Americans are asking whether we are confronted by a cancer that has no immediate cure,” he said, speaking from a lectern in his West Wing office. “The threat from terrorism is real, but we will overcome it,” he declared.
The president’s speech followed Wednesday’s shooting in San Bernardino, California, that killed 14 people and wounded 21. Authorities say a couple carried out the attack and the wife pledged allegiance to the Islamic State and its leader in a Facebook post.
Obama said that while there was no evidence that the shooters were directed by a terror network overseas or part of a broader plot, “the two of them had gone down the dark path of radicalization.”
“This was an act of terrorism designed to kill innocent people,” he said in the 13-minute address.
Obama’s speech was likely to leave his critics unsatisfied. He announced no significant shift in strategy and offered no new policy prescriptions for defeating IS, underscoring both his confidence in his current approach and the lack of easy options for countering the extremist group.
He did call for a review of the visa waiver program for people seeking to come to the U.S. and said he would urge private companies and law enforcement leaders to work together to ensure potential attackers can’t use technology to evade detection.
He also called on Congress to pass new authorization for military actions underway against IS in Iraq and Syria and to approve legislation to keep people on the “no-fly list” from buying guns.
The president also reiterated his call for tightening gun laws, saying no matter how effective law enforcement and intelligence are, they can’t identify every would-be shooter. He called it a matter of national security to prevent potential killers from getting guns.
“What we can do, and must do, is make it harder for them to kill,” he said.
WHY OBAMA SPOKE FROM THE OVAL OFFICE via the New York Times – The choice of the Oval Office as the location for the address to the nation was partly the result of holiday happenstance: The rest of the White House is decorated for the many parties that Obama will be hosting this week for his staff, members of Congress, journalists and others. But the decision also reflects the gravity of a subject that has come to define Obama’s presidency, especially in his second term: how to reassure Americans of their safety even as the United States faces an increasingly aggressive terrorist foe. And it suggests the importance that the president and his advisers place on responding to criticism of the his strategy for defeating the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.
REAX FROM FLORIDA POLS
Jeb Bush: “President Obama has finally been forced to abandon the political fantasy he has perpetuated for years that the threat of terrorism was receding. We need to remove the self-imposed constraints President Obama has placed on our intelligence community and military, and we need to put in place an aggressive strategy to defeat ISIS and radical Islamic terrorism as I have proposed. Unfortunately, neither he nor Hillary Clinton has the resolve to put in place such a strategy. … This is the war of our time. It should not be business as usual. We need a war-time Commander-in-Chief who is ready to lead this country and the free world to victory.”
Ron DeSantis: “President Obama’s speech tonight demonstrates one troubling reality: the Islamic State specifically, and the global jihad generally, will continue to be on the march until we inaugurate a new Commander-in-Chief. The President’s strategy has failed and the American people will remain at risk as a result of his failure.”
Carlos Lopez-Cantera: “Our President is failing us miserably in keeping Americans safe and secure, and his address tonight did not assuage the fears of the American people. He is either in complete and total denial or living in fantasy-land. It is time we recognize ISIS is a threat here on American soil, and be honest with the American people. We must completely eradicate the presence of ISIS. … Radical Islamic terrorists are attacking Americans, yet President Obama’s top priority is to attack American’s 2nd Amendment rights to protect themselves. Tonight, we heard more of the same, with little details. President Obama displayed further evidence that he has no strategy to defeat ISIS, and instead has tried to pass the buck to Congress instead of utilizing the powers available to him as Commander in Chief.”
Blaise Ingoglia, via Twitter: To put #POTUS lack of leadership in perspective, ask yourself how would #Reagan have delivered that speech??
Jason Brodeur, via Twitter: “Best part of the speech was 8:08 pm when it dawned on most Americans that people on those doomsday prepper shows aren’t all that crazy.”
MEANWHILE … NATIONAL FRONT WINS BIG IN FRENCH ELECTIONS
Exit polls show France’s far-right National Front “pulled off an historic win” Sunday, topping the vote nationally in the first round of regional elections, France 24 reports. (H/t Taegan Goddard)
The centre-right Republicans party led by former President Nicolas Sarkozy appeared to be in second place ahead of the governing Socialist Party.
***Today’s SUNBURN is brought to you by Bright House Networks for Business, your trusted provider of industry leading communications and networking services for any size business – from startup to enterprise, and everything in between. We offer a full portfolio of products and services, including Business Phone and cloud-based Hosted Voice, Business Internet at speeds up to 325 Mbps to fiber-based Dedicated Internet Access, several tiers of high quality HD Video programming, and an array of advanced cloud and managed IT services. Our solutions are customized to fit your business, your budget, and your industry. We own, manage and maintain our network, which means we are 100% accountable; and we’re locally based, which allows us to be immediately responsive to our customers. Find out why so many businesses in your area trust their communications needs to Bright House Networks. Learn more.***
CNN POLL: DONALD TRUMP ALONE AT THE TOP AGAIN via Jennifer Agiesta of CNN – … with 36 percent of registered Republicans and Republican-leaning independents behind him, while his nearest competitor trails by 20 points. Three candidates cluster behind Trump in the midteens, including … Ted Cruz at 16 percent … Ben Carson at 14 percent … Marco Rubio at 12 percent … Carson (down 8 points since October), … Bush (down 5 points to 3 percent) and … Rand Paul (down 4 points to 1 percent) have lost the most ground … Cruz (up 12 points) and Trump (up 9 points) are the greatest beneficiaries of those declines. Rubio is also up slightly, gaining 4 points — an increase within the poll’s margin of sampling error — since the last CNN/ORC poll.
MY TAKE: IF IT’S NOT JEB BUSH, I GUESS I’M GOING WITH CHRIS CHRISTIE Full blog post here – I can’t believe this is where I may end up, but he may be the man for the times. He makes me feel safe, without making me think he’s one bad real estate deal away from blowing up a country. He gets angry, but these are angry times. He shouts down those who disagree with him, but that’s better than encouraging others to kick the shit out of a protester.
Before writing this, I went shopping at International Mall in Tampa. In the back of my mind, I kept thinking of the atrocious Chuck Norris movie “Invasion U.S.A.,” in which terrorists start a shootout at a mall where people are doing their Christmas shopping. I also kept looking suspiciously at nearly every head-scarved fellow shopper. I feel horrible about that, but a part of me is genuinely scared, despite the infinitesimal chances that some ISIS-inspired home-grown terrorist will shoot up Dillard’s. … But that’s where I am. And I know I am hardly the only one who feels more scared than they want to be.
I’m looking for a president who makes me feel safe, makes me feel confident about our country, has enough executive experience to deal with the sprawling federal government, and has displayed compassion for his fellow Americans. To that last point, I believe Christie started to win me over when he snapped at Trump and Carly Fiorina, saying “While I’m as entertained as anyone by this personal back-and-forth about the history of Carly’s career, the 55-year-old construction worker out in that audience tonight who doesn’t have a job … they could care less about their careers. They care about theirs.”
So if its not going to be Bush and it can’t be Trump, Carson, or Cruz, this moderate, slightly scared, but ever optimistic establishment Republican is starting to lean towards Chris Christie.
JEB BUSH IS CONVINCING DONORS THE POLLS ARE WRONG via Eli Stokols and Marc Caputo of POLITICO – … one significant success that is keeping his campaign alive … Bush has convinced major GOP donors and supporters that the polls are wrong … “Given the poll numbers currently, you would think there would be these massive defections from a campaign like this,” said Slater Bayliss … longtime Bush ally. “And the reason there haven’t been is Jeb Bush; because people believe he’s in it for the long haul and believe he’s a serious candidate — even in a cycle where serious doesn’t seem to be selling. They like him because he’s serious. Eventually, they think serious will sell.”
CAN ‘THE JEB STORY’ TURN AROUND A TROUBLED CAMPAIGN? via Alex Leary of the Tampa Bay Times – Bush super PAC has released 14-minute biographic video about the candidate, a move that comes amid continued struggles for the campaign. The video will eventually end up on television, according to Right to Rise.
BUSH CAMPAIGN’S RAINBOW OF COLORS GOES ON DISPLAY via Sergio Bustos of the Associated Press – A painting of Bush‘s campaign slogan and the Twitter hashtag — “#All In For Jeb” — was unveiled … before friends and supporters at the Miami studio of artist Romero Britto … features a bright, glittering red sun set against a background of colorful stars with the phrase #AllInForJeb dominating the painting. The event theme was “Pop Art, Politics & Jeb.”
AS MARCO RUBIO SPEAKS OF FAITH, EVANGELICALS KEEP OPTIONS OPEN via Jeremy Peters of The New York Times – Rubio’s religious background is a bit of a mystery to evangelical voters in Iowa. The senator was initially raised Roman Catholic, converted to Mormonism, returned to Catholicism and now attends both a Catholic church and a Southern Baptist-affiliated church where his wife is a member … Rubio has been lagging among religious conservatives and has begun emphasizing his Christianity on the campaign trail, in ways overt and subtle. Rubio’s more open discussion about his religion is cracking a window into a part of his life he does not often discuss. Sometimes he goes on at length, as at the dinner in Des Moines, demonstrating a fluency with Scripture that surprises his audience. When he spoke of the Apostle Peter that night, he offered this lesson: “Once he was infused in the Spirit that impulsiveness was used as a tool for God’s plan.”
RUBIO PLEDGES TO BRING A PIECE OF CUBAN-AMERICAN WEST MIAMI TO THE WHITE HOUSE via Patricia Mazzei of the Miami Herald – Rubio thanked his most faithful loyalists Saturday by making the kind of promise only they would appreciate. “¡Vamos a llevar una caja china a la Casa Blanca!” he told an overwhelmingly Cuban-American audience in West Miami. We’re going to bring a caja china – a Cuban pork roaster – to the White House. “¡Y una cafetera!” he added. And a stovetop moka pot, to make Cuban espresso. “Over the next few weeks, unless you go to the grocery story on Sunday, you’re going to see less of me,” he said, promising to be back in March before the Florida primary. Then, he began, perhaps Republicans would elect a new winning candidate. The riveted audience chanted his name.
RUBIO’S ‘WATER THING’ via Ben Schreckinger of POLITICO – Rubio … became famous … for diving for his water bottle and taking a sip in the midst of a roughly 14-minute nationally televised response to President Barack Obama’s State of the Union speech … the water tic has persisted and remained noticeable on the campaign trail this fall, drawing comment from those who have worked with and watched the Florida senator. Like Richard Nixon’s perspiring or John Boehner’s crying, Rubio’s need for constant hydration is a bodily quirk that impinges on his political life … takes care to ensure the availability of water at his public events and can be particular about how he takes it … mandated exact requirements for the vessels he will drink out of: stemless glasses — not stemmed ones or water bottles. He reaches for it constantly during public remarks. Its absence has thrown off his delivery, and he and his campaign have acknowledged its presence by attempting to turn it into a joke. On the trail, he has even asked hecklers to time their outbursts around his breaks for it. “Marco does have a water thing,” said one longtime Rubio associate … “I don’t know what it is. He says he just gets thirsty, but it’s clear it’s just a nervous tic. It’s something he just has to have around, like a security blanket or something” … Rubio’s water tic predated his career in the United States Senate, even if it escaped notice before then … In public, Rubio has continued to work to make water an endearing totem of his public persona — one that, if all goes according to plan, could occupy a place similar to Ronald Reagan’s beloved jelly beans in the American imagination.
ZZZZZ — BEFORE SENATE WIN, RUBIO TURNED POLITICAL ‘JUICE’ INTO PERSONAL PROFITS via Rosalind Helderman of the Washington Post – In the period between stepping down as Florida House Speaker and becoming a U.S. senator, Rubio “built a consulting and legal practice that made more than half a million dollars. … Rubio’s business deals … demonstrated the ways he leveraged his enduring power inside government to make a profit on the outside. And they add to the contradictory picture of his personal finances that has emerged … of a young man who struggled financially even as his personal income soared along with this political success. This account is based on a … review of public records as well as … depositions recorded by Florida ethics officials who investigated a complaint filed by a political critic who … alleged” Rubio “had scored clients as remuneration for his legislative support. The inquiry found no evidence to support the allegation.”
95,000 WORDS, MANY OF THEM OMINOUS, FROM DONALD TRUMP’S TONGUE via Patrick Healy and Maggie Haberman of the New York Times – The New York Times analyzed every public utterance by … Trump over the past week from rallies, speeches, interviews and news conferences to explore the leading candidate’s hold on the Republican electorate for the past five months. The transcriptions yielded 95,000 words and several powerful patterns, demonstrating how … Trump has built one of the most surprising political movements in decades and, historians say, echoing the appeals of some demagogues of the past century. … The most striking hallmark was Trump’s constant repetition of divisive phrases, harsh words and violent imagery that American presidents rarely use … He has a particular habit of saying ‘you’ and ‘we’ as he inveighs against a dangerous ‘them’ or unnamed other – usually outsiders.
TRUMP: EVEN CHEATING SPOUSE SHOULDN’T STOP IOWA CAUCUS-GOERS via Thomas Beaumont of the Associated Press – Trump was at a rally … where he urged supporters to do all they can to make it to the caucuses on Feb. 1 … a strong showing was essential for his campaign — and turning out is everything. How important? He told the crowd that even if the night before the caucuses, someone had caught their spouse cheating — well, they still needed to show up for the sake of Trump’s candidacy.
INFLUENCE OF CHURCHES, ONCE DOMINANT, NOW WANING IN SOUTH via Jay Reeves of the Associated Press – … a broad pattern across the South: Churches are losing their grip on a region where they could long set community standards with a pulpit-pounding sermon or, more subtly, a sideward glance toward someone walking into a liquor store. The South is still the Bible Belt … church affiliation remains stronger in the states of the old Confederacy than anywhere else in the United States. Seventy-six percent of Southerners call themselves Christians, and political advertisements often show candidates in or near church. Religious conservatives remain a powerful force in many Southern statehouses. Still, the same South that often holds itself apart from the rest of the country is becoming more like other U.S. regions when it comes to organized religion … And while race divides many things in the South, the trend is evident among blacks, whites and Hispanic adults.
REPUBLICANS REV UP GROUND GAME FOR FLORIDA PRESIDENTIAL FIGHT via Adam Smith of the Tampa Bay Times – What Republican Party leaders can do, and are doing, is seize lessons from Barack Obama‘s 2008 and 2012 presidential campaigns — investing early and heavily in both high-tech and old-school voter outreach in Florida and other battleground states … plans to triple the roughly 100 RNC staffers on the ground in Florida for Romney in 2012 … new voter turnout program divides Florida into 255 “turfs,” each with 8,000 to 10,000 targeted voters. Rather than waste time and resources on reliable Republican voters, they are targeting persuadable swing voters and Republican-leaning voters who often fail to vote.
GOP CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATES SPAR IN EARLY CAMPAIGNING via Katie Landeck of the Panama City News-Herald – Dr. Neal Dunn and attorney Mary Thomas are sharpening their rhetoric as they campaign to run against incumbent … Gwen Graham for the race for the revamped District 2. “Voters will have the choice between a very liberal Republican and a true conservative,” Thomas [said],” there’s been too much compromise in Washington and not enough standing up for conservative ideals.” Dunn takes issue with being called a liberal Republican — or even a moderate Republican. “On the scale of liberal to conservative, I line up as a conservative,” he said. “I like to think the people are betting on my experience … I’ve built a lot of things, worked on a lot of teams and I have a background in accomplishing things.”
***Today’s SUNBURN is brought to you by Jamestown Associates – Winning tough campaigns. The record to prove it. Jamestown produces persuasive TV, radio, mail and digital advertising that breaks through the clutter and gets votes. We help our clients in Florida and the nation perfect their message, create powerful ads, micro-target the media buy and WIN. Jamestown’s work has been recognized with 50 Pollie and Reed awards. See our work at www.JamestownAssociates.com/work***
FLORIDA TO GET $12 BILLION FOR ROADS, BRIDGES, TRANSIT via Ledyard King of the Tallahassee Democrat — The $305 billion measure is the first long-term transportation bill Congress has passed in a decade. It provides Florida about $1 billion more than it would have gotten under current funding formulas …depends on a patchwork of funding sources beyond the 18.4-cent-per-gallon gas tax that provides most money for highway projects. The next Congress and president will have to decide how to make up a shortfall that could reach around $24 billion per year.
DCF CHIEF SEES PROGRESS DESPITE CHALLENGES via Lloyd Dunkelberger of the Sarasota Herald-Tribune – Mike Carroll … says the Department of Children and Families is making progress in protecting some of the state’s most vulnerable residents in the wake of tragic deaths of two Southwest Florida children. In a confirmation hearing before the Senate Children, Families and Elder Affairs Committee … described the scope of his agency’s daily challenge, which includes not only protecting children but also providing adult protective services, child care regulation, mental health and substance abuse services and domestic violence programs. “We literally serve folks from cradle to grave and the services that we provide clearly touch every social ill that we struggle with in this state … It’s very difficult. Sometimes things don’t work.”
STORIES LIKE THIS ARE WHY THIS REPORTER IS ON THE INFLUENCE 100 — HOW FLORIDA RATIONS CARE FOR FRAIL KIDS via Carol Marbin Miller of the Miami Herald – Aref [Shabaneh] is among about 9,000 Florida children who have been purged from Children’s Medical Services since May as part of a wholesale reorganization of the program in conjunction with a new state law. The law, passed in 2011, changed CMS from a Medicare-like fee-for-service plan, where the child goes to a doctor and the insurer pays the bill, into state-run managed care, in which the state sets aside a pot of money — which is capped — and hires insurers to divvy it up … a story about rationing of services for children who are poor and disabled, a long tradition in Florida. It is about the malleable nature of words like “moratorium,” and about numbers on a balance sheet … elimination of children from CMS was the result of a plan to slash spending on sick kids at a time when Florida had a $635.4 million surplus. For the legislative session that begins next month, Gov. Rick Scott has proposed $1 billion in new tax cuts. The spending plan would eliminate an additional 718 health department positions.
JESSE PANUCCIO’S ROAD TO RESIGNATION PAVED WITH SENATE’S HARD FEELINGS via Jim Rosica of Florida Politics –One of three Senate committee leaders set to review … Panuccio for confirmation next year didn’t say she was sorry to see him go. “I’ve already said too much about Mr. Panuccio,” state Sen. Nancy Detert … “I wish him well in his next job” … Garrett Richter … has an opposite take. “I think Jesse did a good job and I think he would have been confirmed by the Senate … Frankly, I think he wants to earn more money” in the private sector.
MIAMI DOLPHINS ASK STATE FOR STADIUM FUNDING; SHORT ON ROI, LONG ON WISHFUL THINKING via Florida Politics — Four Florida sports teams … [are] jostling for a slice of the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity pie, in the form of cash from the Sports Development Program. No one wants to go home empty-handed; but one does stand a better chance of losing – the Miami Dolphins. Of all the factors used in the process, one is considered most crucial: Demonstrating Return on Investment (ROI) … Therein lies the challenge … For the Dolphins … events determining the team’s ROI are not much more than wishful thinking, and not necessarily based on hard, provable numbers. The list has become pretty long, too; such as the 2018 College Football Playoff national championship game … now in Atlanta … Miami also lost its chance to host the 50th Anniversary Super Bowl … and the 2017 College Football Playoff National Championship Game … Houston and Minneapolis are already hosting Super Bowls for 2017 and 2018 … even if the Dolphins completed taxpayer-supported renovations to Sun Life Stadium, they still might not attract the high-profile events they need for a healthy return on taxpayer investment.
DEBATE OVER PROPOSED FSA CUT SCORES HINGES ON DEFINITIONS via Kristen Clark of the Miami Herald – How best to set proposed “cut scores,” or passing rates, for the new Florida Standards Assessments continues to divide state Board of Education members and state Education Commissioner Pam Stewart. The board plans to set the cut scores in January and continues to debate whether the scores should be set higher than what Stewart recommends — which would make it more difficult for students to pass the statewide assessment. The passing level for Florida standardized tests — considered a Level 3 out of five levels — is, by state law, defined as “satisfactory.” Only the Legislature could change that. Stewart said she is “comfortable” equating a Level 4 score to “college ready” or “proficient,” and that should be conveyed, too.
MORNING MUST-READ: AMID BIAS CLAIMS, VENDOR DEMANDS ANSWERS IN SELECTION PROCESS FOR FLORIDA EMERGENCY NOTIFICATION SYSTEM via Florida Politics – While it is encouraging to know [Florida’s Statewide Emergency Alert Notification System] could soon become reality, concerns over the procurement process have overshadowed the benefits an early warning system would provide … Everbridge – the company chosen to maintain Florida’s EANS … some feel … is simply not up to the task … the DEM selection process itself raised several questions; so much so that Ormond Beach-based Emergency Communications Network (ECN), a competing vendor in the bidding process, filed an administrative protest with the state … The state’s request for proposal … demands all respondents must first register … by the proposal due date and time – which, in the case of the EANS, was 8:45 a.m. Oct. 19, the moment the intent to award was posted. At that point … Everbridge should have been disqualified and deemed to be “nonresponsive” by the DEM … the firm finally recorded its intent to do business in Florida Nov. 2, three days after ECN publicly filed its protest petition … also alleges Everbridge lacks infrastructure … ECN currently offers users a real-time, location-specific mobile app … named CodeRED, which could be easily converted for use by Florida’s nearly 100 million visitors. As it stands, Everbridge offers no such ability, and would have to create a system from scratch. the most striking assertion … is that “four of the (departments) six (bid) evaluators are current users of Everbridge services … Of those four, three scored Everbridge significantly higher and ECN markedly lower than did the other evaluators” despite distinct, significant advantages.
BABY JESUS COULD BE ABSENT FROM FLORIDA CAPITOL THIS YEAR via Jim Rosica of Florida Politics – The private group that has put up a Christian Nativity scene inside the statehouse says it’s taking a pass this year … Pam Olsen, president of the Florida Prayer Network, announced the decision. “Our nation is in great grief and turmoil right now due to multiple mass-shootings that have taken place, people grieving their lost loved ones due to senseless violence, racial tensions growing across the nation, and anger, fear and despair have gripped our county … We pray that Christ’s message of hope and peace will be communicated in a much stronger way this year from Florida’s State capitol, by us NOT placing the Nativity in the rotunda … out of our love for people to truly enjoy what this season is all about.”
SENATE BUDGET PANEL PREPARING ALTERNATIVE WAYS TO BOOST DOLLARS FOR K-12 EDUCATION via Kristen Clark of the Miami Herald – Sen. Don Gaetz … is preparing his fellow senators to consider other options including ones that would require a greater share of state support — something that’s not likely to be met well by Scott, who’s also seeking a $1 billion tax cut … The initial presentation by Gaetz came as no surprise … been critical of Scott’s intentions dating back to September, when Department of Education officials first broached the idea with their legislative funding request. “The governor’s kicked the ball onto the field and we have to make the first play … The question for us to be thinking about … is: Do we consider taxpayers having to pay more in taxes to be a tax increase?”
FOUR BILLS READY FOR VOTE ON DAY ONE OF THE LEGISLATURE via Dan Sweeney of the South Florida Sun Sentinel — One bill is the House’s water policy, a 150-page behemoth that would, among other things, rewrite rules for cleaning up springs and unify water policy in Central Florida, which is currently split between several water management districts. Another two bills address the Senate’s chief priority: helping disabled children. One sets up a financial literacy program for the developmentally disabled, which will provide job training and education on topics such as money management. The fourth bill ready for a vote in both houses makes it illegal to fire a gun in a residential area … 29 more are ready for a vote in the Senate, and another four are ready for a floor vote in the House. And of those 33 bills that are ready for a vote in one chamber, 11 have passed through at least two committees in the other and are almost ready for a vote.
LEGISLATIVE DELEGATION MEETING LINE-UP via Legislative IQ powered by Lobby Tools – The Martin County legislative delegation will elect delegation leaders and consider local bills at a meeting beginning 9 a.m., at the Martin County Administration Center, 2401 S.E. Monterey Road, in Stuart. The Duval County legislative delegation will hold a public hearing and elect delegation leaders at a meeting starting 1 p.m. in the Jacksonville City Hall, 117 West Duval St. in Jacksonville. The Madison County legislative delegation, consisting of Tallahassee Democratic Sen. Bill Montford and Monticello Republican Rep. Halsey Beshears, will meet to prepare for the 2016 Legislative Session. Meeting starts 6 p.m. at the Madison County Courthouse Annex, 229 S.W. Pinckney St., Suite 107, in Madison.
LEGISLATIVE STAFFING MERRY-GO-ROUND via Legislative IQ powered by Lobby Tools
Off and on: Nancy Bernier is no longer a legislative assistant for Rockledge Republican Sen. Thad Altman. She will become the new district secretary for Melbourne Republican Rep. Ritch Workman.
Off: Aaron McKinney is no longer the legislative assistant for Cutler Bay Democratic Sen. Dwight Bullard.
On: Shannon Cooper is Bullard’s new legislative assistant.
Off: Courtney Vandenberg is no longer a legislative assistant for Clearwater Republican Sen. Jack Latvala.
Off and on: Rep. Dwayne Taylor replaced Rep. Clovis Watson as the Minority Ranking Member of the State Affairs Committee. Both are members of the committee, only changing designations.
Off: Ned Hance is no longer legislative assistant to Spring Hill Republican Rep. Blaise Ingoglia,
On: Ashley Hofecker is Ingoglia’s new assistant.
Off: Ashley Fairbrother is no longer district secretary to Jacksonville Republican Rep. Lake Ray.
On: Derron Bennett is the new district secretary for Miami Democratic Rep. Kionne McGhee.
HAPPENING TOMORROW: State Rep. Kathleen Peters is holding a fundraiser for her House District 69 re-election effort, beginning 6 p.m. at Simpatico Wines, 722 Pasadena Ave. South in South Pasadena.
ELEANOR SOBEL RUNNING FOR HOLLYWOOD MAYOR via Anthony Man of the South Florida Sun Sentinel – Her likely candidacy has been talked about in political circles for months. “My commitment to the people of Hollywood and my passion for serving them has only grown since I first began serving in public office … Hollywood needs a fighter, someone who cares passionately about our future and has the experience to make a difference for the people who call this city home,” she said, adding that “I believe I am that person.” Peter Bober, the mayor since 2008, said over the summer he would not run for re-election in November 2016. City Commissioner Patty Asseff … [also] would run for mayor.
APPOINTED: Jon Coker, Alton Williams Jr. to the North Florida Community College District Board of Trustees; Tuesday Tritt to the Hendry County Hospital Authority; Sherif Assal, Louis Sola and David Wilkins to the Board of Pilot Commissioners; Andrew Fleener, Joel Paul Jr., and Darrin Wall to the Chipola College District Board of Trustees; Edward Connor and Dr. Carl “Rick” Lentz III to the Halifax Hospital Medical Center Board of Commissioners; William “Bill” Preston and Mary E. Spencer to the Southeast Volusia Hospital District; Richard Toppino to the Florida Keys Aqueduct Authority; Michael Puto to the Florida Keys Community College District Board of Trustees; Dr. Mary Martinasek and Dr. Theresa Graham to the Tobacco Education and Use Prevention Council; andJaclyn Whiddon to the West Orange Healthcare District.
REAPPOINTED: Ann “Sharon” Benoit and Lloyd “Gary” Wright to the North Florida Community College District Board of Trustees; Teresa Davlantes and Frank Mackesy to the Jacksonville Aviation Authority; Jonathan Alex Setzer and Scott Howat to the Seminole State College District Board of Trustees; Thomas “Tommy” Lassmann to the Chipola College District Board of Trustees; John Falconetti and Ed Fleming Jr. to the Jacksonville Port Authority; Harold “Pat” Card to the Southeast Volusia Hospital District; and Alan “Kurt” Ardaman and John Murphy to the West Orange Healthcare District.
FSU’S 2015 CAMPAIGN COULD COME FULL CIRCLE AGAINST HOUSTON IN THE PEACH BOWL via Brendan Sonnone of the Orlando Sentinel – No. 9 FSU (10-2) received an invitation … to play in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl in Atlanta. The Seminoles will face No. 18 Houston (12-1) At noon on Dec. 31 in the Georgia Dome. ESPN will broadcast the contest. “From that point we could have done two things; we could have pouted and felt sorry for ourselves and not done anything or we could have learned from it and grew,” FSU coach Jimbo Fisher said of his team’s late-season turnaround. “I think we did and I think that second half of the season, we definitely played our best football and played our most complete football.” As a result, FSU finds itself in an unlikely spot. The Peach Bowl is part of the prestigious New Year’s Six rotation. Two of the six bowls in the New Year’s Six serve as semifinal games in the College Football Playoff, while the other four contests feature the next tier of teams that missed the playoff, as determined by the selection committee. Making an appearance in a New Year’s Six bowl is a significant success for FSU, which is in a rebuilding year after losing more than a dozen starters from a squad that made the national semifinal the previous season.
SPOTTED at the SEC championship game at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta Saturday afternoon: Chris Dorworth, Donovan Brown, Taylor Biehl, Troy Kinsey, Paula Dockery, Michael Wickersheim, Sidney Ridley.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY to one of our fave’s, On 3 PR’s Anna Alexopoulos, as well as our dear friend and bannerman, Mark Ferrulo of Progress Florida. Also celebrating today is Rep. John Wood, former Rep. Doug Holder, and Jon Yapo.
