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2015 legislative session

Tampa Bay Buccaneers expect to apply for stadium renovation subsidies in 2016

in The Bay and the 'Burg/Top Headlines by

Florida lawmakers gave no money for sports stadium projects during the 2015 Legislative Session. But that was last session. With a new application period approaching, Legislative IQ powered by Lobby Tools reports the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Tampa Sports Authority are expected to seek state funds for renovations at Raymond James Stadium. This week, the Bucs announced details of a proposed stadium overhaul, with costs estimated at somewhere between $78 million and $100 million. The Bucs franchise would pick up most of the costs, although Noah…

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House Democratic Leader Mark Pafford laments ‘missed opportunities’ in budget

in Statewide/Top Headlines by

A final vote on the record-breaking $79 billion budget Friday evening brought a disappointing end to Florida’s 2015 Legislative Session, according to House Democratic Leader Mark Pafford. “I think of all the missed opportunities,” said the West Palm Beach Democrat, who faces term limits in 2016. “As much as this budget funds many good programs and projects, he added. “Our issue is with what might have been.” The House passed a last-minute spending plan 96-17 at just about 6 p.m., a…

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Florida League of Women Voters blasts record budget that ‘ignores Constitution’

in Statewide/Top Headlines by

Citing “blatant political maneuvering and a disregard for the wishes of voters,” few lawmakers can take pride in the 2015 legislative session, says Pamela Goodman, president of the Florida League of Women Voters. Her primary concerns in the recently ended special session were notable failures in accepting federal Medicaid expansion money to cover more than 800,000 of the state’s uninsured poor, as well as falling short on environmental funding passed overwhelmingly by Florida voters last November. “The 2015 Legislature kicked…

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M&Ms, special sessions and productivity: the ‘Other Session Wrap-Up’

in Top Headlines by

After an abrupt and acrimonious end of the legislative session, both the Florida House and Senate have come to at least one agreement – a special session to finish a state budget. Many believe nothing good came out of this year’s 60-day session (or 57-day, for the House). For them, the folks at Moore Communications Group and LobbyTools compiled a number of fun facts and trivia in the “Other Session Wrap-Up.” To hammer out a budget for 2015-2016, lawmakers expect…

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Today on Context Florida: stupid & evil, environmentalists, judicial campaigns and voter choice

in Apolitical/Top Headlines by

Today on Context Florida: Diane Roberts asks which is worse: stupid and evil, or smart and evil. It’s a thought experiment: you can apply it to, say, George W. and Jeb Bush, Rick Scott and Adam Putnam, the Florida House, etc. They don’t deserve to be in the same paragraph as the word “thought,” she says. As Bruce Ritchie was sitting in the press gallery looking down into the darkened Senate chambers on the last day of the 2015 Legislative Session,…

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Tom Lee calls out Ritch Workman for comments involving his family

in Top Headlines by

Lawmakers left the statehouse last week amid a stream of insults and without a budget in place for the fiscal year that begins in July. Most observers seemed to think time away from Tallahassee would lower the temperature in the room and allow budget work to begin but that doesn’t seem to be the case. Senate Appropriations Chair Tom Lee is taking exception to comments House Rules Chair Ritch Workman made in the media about an alimony reform bill left dead on the special order calendar…

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Florida Chamber: Special session offers second chance to get it right

in Top Headlines by

After a stubborn budget impasse, capped off by an abrupt adjournment by the Florida House, most will agree the 2015 Legislative Session was something of a disappointment. Among those particularly dissatisfied with the outcome this year is the state’s business community, led by the Florida Chamber of Commerce. But hope remains for a victory, as Tallahassee now faces a sort of “sudden death overtime.” Although 2015 didn’t produce – as the Chamber diplomatically puts it – “anticipated results,” the state’s leading…

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