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Richard Corcoran - page 24

Divided over dollars: Florida legislators split on spending

in Statewide/Top Headlines by

With about a month left in the regular session, Florida’s Republican-controlled Legislature is on a major collision course over spending. This past week the House and Senate released rival budgets for the coming year that reveal a wide divide between the two chambers on everything from taxes to schools to state worker pay raises. The two sides don’t even have the same bottom line: The Senate’s overall budget is more than $85 billion, or roughly $4 billion more than the…

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Black clouds loom over this year’s gambling bills

in Statewide/Top Headlines by

Ed. Note: A version of this story ran previously in Saturday’s “Takeaways from Tallahassee” email. It’s long been a Capitol cliché, but there are few pronouncements on a piece of legislation as inauspicious as calling something “a heavy lift.” Saying a bill is “a heavy, heavy lift” sounds even more portending of defeat. Yet that’s how House Speaker Richard Corcoran referred to the omnibus gambling bills now on their way to conference. They include a new agreement for continued exclusive rights…

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Janet Cruz’s ‘tough haul,’ frustrations of the Democratic House caucus

in The Bay and the 'Burg/Top Headlines by

In Tampa, Florida Democratic Party Chair Stephen Bittel waxed optimistically last month about the Democrats’ chance of winning back the state Senate in 2020. Notably, he didn’t say anything about the House, where Republicans outnumber Democrats, 79-41. Tampa Rep. Janet Cruz, serving the first year of a two-year stint as Minority Leader and four weeks into the 2017 Session, admits it’s been a tough haul. “I feel like we’re spending so much time on bills that in caucus meetings, we’ve grown to call them ‘dead…

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House speaker’s ‘corporate welfare’ crackdown runs into Senate roadblock

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Enterprise Florida Inc. could survive 2017 after all. Established in 1996, the taxpayer-funded organization has awarded nearly $2 billion in economic incentives to private businesses to create jobs and boost the state economy. Its record is mixed, and its reputation has been scarred by exorbitant executive pay, high-profile taxpayer losses and a failure to match private funding with public appropriations — a statutory requirement. As a result, Florida House Speaker Richard Corcoran, R-Land O’Lakes, is spearheading an effort to put the…

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Dana Young, environmentalists still holds hope for fracking ban in 2017

in Statewide/Top Headlines by

House members now say the possibility of a fracking ban is dead for the 2017 Legislative Session. Sen. Dana Young thinks it’s premature to administer last rites, at least just yet. “You never say never, but now we’re saying it looks like that will be next year,”  Rep. Mike Miller, an Orlando Republican, told the Naples Daily News about his bill (HB 451) as the first month of Session ended this week. The reason for the impasse is the desire by some…

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Joe Henderson: Psst … Tallahassee, you might want to actually listen to the people on this one

in Statewide/Top Headlines by

While the business of governing requires tough choices and choosing between priorities that can be conflicting, sometimes it’s best to do what the people want. After all, it’s their money that is being spent. So, listen up, Tallahassee. On the subject of state Medicaid funding, the people — your bosses — appear to have spoken loudly, clearly and with a you-better-not-mess-with-this message. They want it funded, and they’re not kidding. According to a Public Opinion Strategies poll conducted for the…

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Can Susan Glickman ever shoot straight?

in Peter/Top Headlines by

The House of Representatives’ new lobbying registration regime has ensnared Susan Glickman, Florida director for the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy. House Speaker Richard Corcoran now requires lobbyists to disclose every bill, amendment, and individual appropriation they are trying to influence. Go to the House website, and you’ll see Glickman is registered for four House bills. But not for a fifth that she also testified on recently. That would be HB 1043, which would allow Florida Power & Light the ability to pass…

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