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2015 Legislative Session preview: gambling legislation on the move in the Florida Legislature

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Despite Senate President Andy Gardiner’s publicly expressed disinterest in seeing the Florida Legislature renew the Seminole Gaming Compact, there is behind-the-scenes progress being made by lawmakers and lobbyists determined to expand gambling in Florida. House Majority Leader Dana Young, who has been tasked by Speaker Steve Crisafulli to be the House’s point person on gambling issues, says that she is actively conferring with other lawmakers and stakeholders. “This is beyond three dimensional chess,” Young said on Monday. “This is three dimensional chess played on several…

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Previewing the Legislative Session with Progress Florida’s Damien Flier

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With a super-majority in the House and a strong majority in the senate, Florida Republicans stand a pretty good chance of getting their way during this year’s Legislative Session. But that doesn’t mean progressive Democrats aren’t still riled up with messages for lawmakers. The group Progress Florida came together in Governor Rick Scott’s first term in office to fight an onslaught of Tea Party ideals including drastic cuts to public education and efforts to seemingly silence minority voters at the…

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Legislature demands clarification of Charlotte’s Web draft rule

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The Joint Administrative Procedures Committee Thursday sent a 14-page letter to the Office of Compassionate Use asking for an explanation of a proposed rule for the Charlotte’s Web law. The letter is here. JAPC’s chief attorney Marjorie C. Holladay asked OCU director Patricia Nelson to explain how the Department of Health reached the conclusion that a statement of estimated regulatory costs would not trigger a review of the rule by the Legislature. Nelson had guided a negotiated rule making committee…

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Previewing the 2015 legislative session with Rep.-to-be Paul Renner

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Paul Renner came within two votes of winning an election last year for the seat that Jay Fant holds. And he is still one election away — a special election on April 7 — from formally being elected to the House. He very likely will win that election, so we have reached out to him and gotten answers to questions regarding his opinions on issues relevant to the pending legislative session. Our questions are in bold; his answers are directly below. In one…

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Former House Speaker Ray Sansom wants state to pay his legal fees

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Attorneys for former Florida House Speaker Ray Sansom argued Thursday that taxpayers should pay his legal fees of nearly $1 million from corruption charges dating back to 2009. The Destin Republican’s lawyers argued that because the charges stemmed from his work as a legislator and were dismissed, Samson is entitled to have the public pay his fees. They’re seeking $817,518 plus interest, $970,187 in all, for some 2,700 hours of legal work and costs. Sansom was accused of scheming with…

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Optometrists, contact lens retailers fight battle along blurred lines

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Editor’s Note: As the 2015 Legislative Session approaches, FloridaPolitics.com is reporting on several “legislative food fights” likely to break out during the annual lawmaking period. These food fights don’t always make the front page of the Tampa Bay Times, but they are the kind of industry vs. industry or intra-industry turfbattles that drive Tallahassee — and expand the economics for state lobbyists. The first profile focused on an expected scrum between Big Tobacco and trial lawyers, a second story focused on the tax exemption on jet fuel purchases,…

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Manny Diaz Jr. files bill to rein in state-funded litigation

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Republican Rep. Manny Diaz of Hialeah Gardens has filed a bill that would prevent entities who receive funding from Florida’s government from suing the state using those taxpayer dollars. The Hialeah Gardens Republican says that he is not seeking to limit access to the courts for these organizations, but rather simply seeking a commonsense accountability measure. “It is illogical that taxpayers can foot the bill when an organization sues the state.” said Diaz in a statement on Wednesday. “We need to hold all groups accountable:…

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