State Sen. Tom Lee‘s office announced he had again filed legislation to add financial protections for residents of continuing care retirement communities (CCRCs). The Thonotosassa Republican, a former Senate President, filed the 70-page bill (SB 438) on Thursday; he filed similar legislation last session.
Megyn Kelly says Donald Trump tried unsuccessfully to give her gifts, including a free stay at one of his hotels, as part of what she called his pattern of trying to influence news coverage of his presidential campaign. In her memoir “Settle for More,” to be released Tuesday, Kelly says Trump may have gotten a pre-debate tip about her first question, in which she confronted him with his critical comments about women. Her book also details the insults and threats she received after…
Florida lobbyists are an optimistic lot, so says an exclusive state-of-the-industry survey in the latest issue of INFLUENCE Magazine. In its first-ever “State of the Lobby Corps” poll, conducted with a major assist from the Florida Association of Professional Lobbyists, the magazine asked more than 700 members of the government affairs industry to weigh in on a range of topics. There are 1,977 registered Florida lobbyists working with the Legislative branch, representing about 4,000 principals, and 1,539 for the executive…
Miami-based governmental affairs firm Gomez Barker took in an estimated $230,000 during the second quarter of 2015, according to recently submitted compensation reports. The firm’s three-lobbyist team — composed of Fausto Gomez, Manny Reyes, and William Helmich — represented 29 clients between the months of April and June, all for legislative work. The roster of interests was heavily South Floridian — seven of their eight highest-paying clients were based in the Miami area including Miami-Dade Expressway Authority, which compensated the firm at a rate of some…
State Sen. Alan Hays on Wednesday sternly informed a Senate subcommittee audience that the Legislature had not neglected the environment in past years, and that Amendment 1 supporters may have misled Florida voters. The ballot initiative, approved by 75 percent of voters in November, provides an estimated $22.6 billion toward water and land conservation over the next 20 years. Hays made the comments while chairing a meeting of the Senate Subcommittee on General Government Appropriations during a discussion of bills…
Another skirmish in the battle over how Florida’s congressional districts were drawn played out Wednesday at the Florida Supreme Court. Sen. Bill Galvano emerged from the courtroom confident that the justices would uphold a plan approved by a lower court judge. David King represents the League of Women Voters which spearheaded a Fair Districts Constitutional Amendment that the group said lawmakers violated. King told justices that documents provided a peek “behind the curtain” of a corrupted process. Here’s five minutes…
Quite frankly, this was a great week for Saint Petersblog. Readership continues to increase. Measured by Google Analytics, 7,832 viewers read Saint Petersblog on Monday, March 1, a day unmarked by any major event to drive traffic, in fact, Monday was just a typical day on the blogs. Wednesday and Thursday’s traffic was even busier than Monday’s, probably due to the interest in my post on Rep. Jim Frishe’s cousin on American Idol and the story about the vampire running…
