• Most Recent
• Highest Rated
• Hot Comments

Naked Politics

• As debate lingers on CCEs, Cannon keeps his alive; newcomers open new ones

  Former Speaker Dean Cannon is among the former legislators whose use of his political committee is raising the hackles of both his former colleagues and lobbyists.

  Cannon, who left politics after being term limited out of office in November, has opened a lobbying firm in Tallahassee to lobby the executive [...]

  Share  |  Rate

• As House and Senate compromise, mega PACs emerge as replacement for CCEs

  Political slush funds will get a new name and campaign finance limits will rise for statewide candidates under a Senate campaign finance bill that won unanimous approval by a Senate committee on Monday.

  The proposal by Sen. Jack Latvala, R-St. Petersburg, is intended as a compromise to a House plan that makes similar changes [...]

  Share  |  Rate

• What people are saying about Senate rejecting Medicaid expansion

  Here is a round up of what folks are saying now that the Senate's Affordable Care Act committee voted to reject Medicaid expansion, same as the House did a week ago. Instead, legislators say they will create an alternative for the state's roughly 1 million uninsured.

  House Speaker Will Weatherford, [...]

  Share  |  Rate

• Domestic partnership bill gets a second chance Tuesday

  A bill that would give domestic partners certain rights, including hospital visitations, property rights and end-of-life decisions, will have another chance at passing its first hurdle on Tuesday.

  At a press conference Monday, Sen. Eleanor Sobel, D-Hollywood, said Senate Bill 0196 has been revised and “narrowed” to mirror domestic partnership registries [...]

  Share  |  Rate

• Senate committee rejects Medicaid expansion, joins House in seeking alternative

  Instead of expanding Medicaid, Florida should create its own program that helps the uninsured buy private insurance policies, the Senate select committee on the Affordable Care Act decided today.

  "I oppose the Washington plan, and I want a Florida plan," said Sen. Joe Negron, the Stuart Republican who chairs the committee.

  The [...]

  Share  |  Rate

• Cuban blogger Yoani Sánchez to visit Congress

  @PatriciaMazzei

  Yoani Sánchez, the dissident Cuban blogger who since last month has been on an international tour after being granted a passport, will meet with U.S. senators and representatives on March 19, Sen. Bill Nelson's office announced Monday.

  Nelson, of Florida, and Miami Rep. Joe Garcia, both Democrats, invited Sánchez to [...]

  Share  |  Rate

• Next health care fight: limiting liability for doctors and hospitals

   

  A year ago this month, Michael Lawley of Melbourne disconnected the respirator that was keeping his brain-damaged daughter alive.

  Shannon Lawley had entered a Brevard County emergency room suffering from what an autopsy would later determine was acute pancreatitis. She waited five hours as the understaffed team failed to monitor her [...]

  Share  |  Rate

• Education proposals have Gov. Rick Scott stuck between a rock and Republicans

  Gov. Rick Scott is in a tight spot with teachers.

  To score points with rank-and-file educators, Scott has made $2,500 pay raises for classroom teachers a top budget priority.

  But to stay in their good graces — and possibly win their votes in 2014 — Scott will need to bat down a [...]

  Share  |  Rate

• Five Things to Watch in Tallahassee on Monday, March 11

  TALLAHASSEE Will they or won’t they? That is the question before the Florida Senate Monday as a select committee discusses whether or not to join Gov. Rick Scott and endorse the expansion of Medicaid in Florida.

  The chamber is quietly divided, with Senate President Don Gaetz suggesting that the opposition of [...]

  Share  |  Rate