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Mike Twitty retains fundraising lead over Jim Frishe for Pinellas Property Appraiser

in The Bay and the 'Burg/Top Headlines by

In what so far is the richest race among 2016 Pinellas County public office candidates, property appraiser hopeful Mike Twitty now has a $50,000 fundraising lead over his lone opponent, Jim Frishe. To date, Twitty has raised nearly $86,000, while Frishe has pulled in close to $36,000. However, the Supervisor of Elections’ October finance reports show a month where the two candidate’s fundraising efforts were a little closer than their overall totals might suggest. Twitty – a 48-year-old Republican and political newcomer with 25-years of…

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Jeff Brandes proposes homestead exemptions to military widows new to Florida

in Statewide/Top Headlines by

State Sen. Jeff Brandes filed a bill Tuesday that would allow spouses of now-deceased veterans moving to Florida from other states to receive the Florida veteran homestead exemption. Currently, those individuals cannot take advantage of the exemption. Senate Bill 804 would change that. “As a combat veteran I have seen firsthand the incredible sacrifice spouses make when their husband or wife is deployed overseas,” Brandes said. “Extending this property tax benefit to surviving spouses is a small acknowledgment of those sacrifices…

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Tierra Verde fire district bill looks all but doomed

in The Bay and the 'Burg/Top Headlines by

A plan to give Tierra Verde residents a path toward creating an independent fire district will probably be dead on arrival in the 2016 Legislative Session despite being approved by the Pinellas County Legislative Delegation during a meeting at USF St. Pete Tuesday. A bill sponsored by Representative Kathleen Peters and Senator Jack Latvala would allow residents in the upscale waterfront community to force a referendum asking voters whether or not to approve a new fire district by compiling petitions…

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Jeff Brandes files bill aimed at protecting private college students

in Statewide/Top Headlines by

State Senator Jeff Brandes filed legislation Monday that would put into place a series of protections for students enrolled in private Florida colleges, vocational schools or any other private post-secondary institution. The bill aims to address small private pop-up colleges that notoriously charge high fees on top of a relatively small general tuition leading students to rack up a mountain of student loan debt. Examples of such schools are the big ones like University of Phoenix or Kaiser University, but…

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Regulated Industries panel clears automated lotto tickets, cosmetics bills

in Statewide/Top Headlines by

In a quick 20-minute hearing Wednesday morning, the Senate Regulated Industries Committee passed bills to allow lottery tickets to be sold in machines and to require cosmetics makers to register with the state. The Senate panel, led by Chairman Sen. Rob Bradley, an Orange Park Republican and former prosecutor, passed both bills without much debate. Sen. Jeff Brandes said his SB 176 would help Florida consumers know who they’re dealing with when they buy cosmetics products, sometimes sold on the gray market on sites such as…

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Matthew Isbell: New coalition maps, DLP’S amendment, Oliva’s plan, and where things currently stand in redistricting

in Statewide/Top Headlines by

A good deal has happened with the ongoing redistricting saga during the past several days. The state Senate passed its proposed districts with a controversial amendment attached. The House redistricting committee passed their own amended version of the map, and the coalition plaintiffs now have put forward three proposals. We’ll now look over each development. Coalition maps Last week, the coalition plaintiffs, who are suing the state Legislature over its state Senate district lines, released its first proposal for the…

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Bills to encourage solar panel installations OK’d by Senate panel

in Statewide/Top Headlines by

A pair of bills to allow businesses to write off the costs of installing solar panels on commercial properties got the green light Tuesday from a Senate panel. “Occasionally a bill comes along both the Baptists and the bootleggers can agree on, and this is one of those proposals,” said St. Petersburg Sen. Jeff Brandes. The Brandes-sponsored SB 170 & SB 172 would expand a popular program devised by the Legislature several years ago that encourages Floridians to install residential solar panels on their homes,…

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