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Naked Politics (10 unread)

• Fired trooper who 'cut breaks' to lawmakers gets break of his own: Hearing officer says he should get his job back

  A state hearing officer on Monday ruled that the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles should not have fired Trooper Charles Swindle for his actions in citing two state legislators for non-existing violations. Hearing officer Gregg Morton said that by pulling over two lawmakers, Swindle "was in a no-win [...]

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• Rick Scott's certificate of campaigning: school-kid attaboy letters

  @MarcACaputo

  Dear [First Name],

  Congratulations! I am so proud of the hard work you have done this year. Through your outstanding efforts and the outstanding work of your teachers, you achieved a perfect score on:
  [Assessment]

  Bearing the name and signature of Gov. Rick Scott, form letters like this are soon [...]

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• FDLE busts Opa-Locka cop for kidnapping man who wanted to complain about police brutality

  Here's a good way for police to temporarily stop people from complaining against them -- only to wind up in jail. The press release:

  MIAMI - Agents with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement Miami Regional Operations Center, arrested of German Bosque, 49, on charges of kidnapping, a first degree felony, [...]

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• Nelson to Scott on sequester: power is in your hands to keep guard on duty

  UPDAte: U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson on Friday turned the tables on Gov. Rick Scott's criticism of the federal budget cuts and said the governor should be putting pressure on Republican congressmen who sought the sequester that has forced full-time employees of the Florida National Guard into furloughs during hurricane season.

  Nelson, [...]

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• FSU, UF vote to increase tuition over Scott's objection

  With Gov. Rick Scott giving university leaders the full-court press on tuition, each school's board of trustees has some decisions to make. They can side with Scott and reject the 1.7 percent tuition hike tied to inflation. But many are worried they could alienate the Legislature and turn down [...]

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• British firm could get early victory in legal fight with Monroe County if Scott signs property tax bill

  A bill on Gov. Rick Scott’s desk could save a British company millions of dollars, while stymieing the Monroe County Property Appraiser’s office and setting a new precedent for calculating property taxes at privatize military housing. 

  SB 354, which passed the Legislature with bipartisan support last month, clarifies key provisions in Florida’s tax code, determining who is--and who [...]

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• Bracy defends need for Dreamer law, says highway safety policy is inadequate

  The House sponsor of HB 235, which was vetoed by Gov. Rick Scott this week, defended the bill as necessary to expedite the ability of children of illegal immigrants to obtain drivers licenses under the law, despite allegations to the contrary by the Florida Department of Highway Safety.

  Rep. Randolph [...]

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• Simpson avoids conflict of interest by relying on shaking ethics law

  When is a conflict not a conflict for a Florida lawmaker?

  For Sen. Wilton Simpson, R-Trilby, it’s after he gets cleared by Senate legal counsel that no such conflict exists, even if it still, in all practical terms, remains.

  Simpson, who reported his $15.6 million net worth last week, makes his [...]

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• Simpson avoids conflict of interest by relying on shaky ethics law

  UPDATED WITH A CORRECTION: Senate general counsel George Levesque in an email Saturday said he didn't say that he relied on a 1985 Florida Commission on Ethics opinion before giving advice to Simpson. He said he spoke generically and was referencing other opinions. He did say that he relies on Florida [...]

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• Gov. Scott's efforts to raid out-of-state jobs ticks off other governors

  Gov. Rick Scott's latest tactic to attract jobs is to brag about Florida as much as possible while criticizing other states — whose governors don't appreciate it one bit.

  What Scott considers savvy salesmanship, other governors see as a crass publicity stunt, one with partisan overtones.

  Scott's "One-Way Ticket to Florida" letter-writing [...]

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