Major policy committees will be first up when the House starts holding committee meetings in September to prepare for the 2018 legislative session, according to a tentative schedule posted online.
Dan Raulerson is resigning from the Florida House. The Tampa Bay Times reported Tuesday that the Plant City Republican has announced he will resign his seat effective Aug. 15. The announcement, according to the report, comes about a month after he made public comments critical of House leadership.
Byron Donalds started thinking about running for Speaker early on in his legislative career. He knew he could be a voice for change and offer a different perspective than some of his classmates, but also knew the traditional method for electing a leader meant the Speakership was unlikely for a lesser known freshman. Then the rules changed; and in some ways, so did the state of the race. When members voted to change the rules to prohibit speaker candidates from…
Florida House Democrats are beefing up their campaign arm for next year’s elections, hiring a communications chief and operatives to begin work immediately. Kionne McGhee, scheduled to become House leader following the 2018 elections, said it is “imperative” that Democrats “take back power” in the House. “I’m pleased to welcome our new staff into the fray,” McGhee said in a written statement. “They represent part of our bold, aggressive effort towards the critical elections ahead of us. Together, we will hold House…
Jacksonville House member Jay Fant announced for state Attorney General Tuesday, promising to fight for the Constitution — especially the First and Second amendments — and against “big government.” Fant said during a kickoff news conference in the state Capitol that “fighting big government, fighting for the Constitution, and fighting for free enterprise” were what drove him to seek his House seat in 2014. “My zeal for protecting property and people has not abated. Today, because if this, I am…
A bill to implement the 2016 medical marijuana constitutional amendment is dead, after the House amended the bill to increases the cap on retail facilities twentyfold. The decision to send the bill back to the Senate kill the legislation (HB 1397), where senators were unwilling to increase the caps. Earlier in the day, Sen. Bill Galvano told POLITICO Florida the chance of passing was “slim to none, and I just saw slim leave town.” The House voted 99-16 to send…
The Florida Senate voted 31-7 to approve an amended version of a medical marijuana bill, sending it back to the House for a final vote on Friday. But with the clock running out on the 2017 Legislative Session, the fate of the proposal remains unclear. The Senate amended the House bill (HB 1397) to limit the number of retail facilities licensed growers can have and remove a provision that would have made medical marijuana exempt from sales tax. Sen. Rob…