House Majority Leader Dana Young (R-Tampa) has had an active couple of days. After being solicited by the Florida Democratic Party for a donation, she formed a Legislative Brewing Liberty Caucus (regardless of your perspective on craft breweries the state has much more pressing issues) and now has filed a bill that would lead to […]
For the fifth consecutive year, “Awake The State” rallied working Floridians and those who care about good government across Florida on the opening day of the legislative session. Activists and concerned citizens in Central Florida rallied in front of Senate President Andy Gardiner’s district office. In wake of the most recent scandals involving Republican officeholders, […]
Rick Scott tried to prepare us for the rambling speech by opening with a joke about his speaking skills. Unfortunately, it did not help or make it any less painful. The state of the state was flat, boring, and the openly-cued clapping was cringe-worthy. Rick Scott tried to put forward an idea of “Florida exceptionalism” […]
Everybody is talking about water due in large part to the overwhelming popularity of Amendment 1. The 75% passage rate changed the dialogue in Tallahassee: now at least the Legislature has recognized this is an important issue for voters on both sides of the aisle. While there will be huge battles of the allocation of […]
I have been going to Tallahassee or following legislative sessions for 20 years. I plan to be in the capital city at some point this session though I cannot say I am overly enthusiastic about it. The one thing I can positively say is that Tallahassee has really grown up since I was first driving […]
Session overview here Legislative session kicks off tomorrow in Tallahassee and the Democrats have six less members of the House than last session and continue with 14 Senators. The Republicans have basically maxed out on potential seats (TFS estimates 83 as the maximum number of House seats the Republicans can win under this current map […]
The controversy over Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech this week in front of the US Congress continues to simmer. It is worth noting that despite Republican rhetoric regarding Netanyahu and Israel’s loyalty to the United States, exactly a year ago Israel failed to vote on the UN General Assembly Resolution 68/262. The resolution introduced by Canada, Germany and […]
With the Republicans back with a super-majority in the house, an almost super-majority in the Senate, and a secure seat for Governor Rick Scott in the governor’s mansion for the next four sessions, there is little hope the next two months will be easy for progressives. This week begins one of the greatest defensive battles […]
Since we began discussing rules reform on this site several weeks ago vastly differing perspectives on this subject have been presented to us from the different people within the party. We have also been told by those outside the party structure that this discussion borders on a red herring that is completely meant to divert […]
Another map from my collection – Florida (and Metropolitan Miami) in 1968. The most fascinating part of this map is to see the development of the Interstate system. By 1968, much of the Interstate system had been either constructed or planned in Florida. One key note was that I-75 ended in Tampa and was not […]
The Florida Squeeze 