The Parkland school shooting put Florida in the cross hairs of gun control activists in Florida as a new bill which would arm teachers (if they choose and if they are licensed) advanced in Tallahassee. The Senate Appropriations Committee voted 11-9 for a bill to revise a school safety lawContinue Reading
The U.S. Department of Labor Friday announced the award of an opioid-crisis Dislocated Worker Grant (DWG) to the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity for up to $2,500,000, with $833,333 released initially. This grant funding will address the workforce impacts of the opioid crisis by providing employment services to eligible individualsContinue Reading
The American Conservative Union Foundation (ACUF) has just released its 48th Edition of its annual Ratings of Congress. The guide ranks members of Congress based upon their commitment to conservative principles as demonstrated by their voting records in the 2018 session of Congress. These Ratings of Congress—and our Ratings of all 50Continue Reading
From Florida’s House Speaker: THE FLORIDA HOUSE WILL ENSURE ASSIGNMENT OF BENEFITS (AOB) REFORM SAVINGS ARE PASSED ALONG TO CITIZENS’ RATEPAYERS Legislation Will Prohibit Raising Rates in 2019 unless Rate Filing Includes Savings Due to Reforms Speaker Jose Oliva released the following statement upon introduction of an amendment to HBContinue Reading
In his recent Washington Post editorial Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg called for regulation for “harmful content, election integrity, privacy and data portability.” Zuckerberg’s proposal appears to be part of an effort to set clear oversight principles for the industry and shift the burden for monitoring itself badly, which it does. “However, decidingContinue Reading
Prosecutors have asked U.S. District Court Judge George A. O’Toole Jr. to provide Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s lawyers, who are working on an appeal of his conviction, to keep the evidence secured. An appeals case regarding the murder of one suspect tied to the bombers, Ibrahim Todashev/Ibragim Todashev has alsoContinue Reading
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., plans to push more Republicans to support paid parental leave, a policy that has traditionally been a Democratic priority. “We are hoping that we can continue to work to preach the gospel of paid family leave within our own party and sort of reframe the orthodoxyContinue Reading
Tampa, Florida WWE Executives and Superstars gathered alongside Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn, Hillsborough County Commissioner Ken Hagan, and Tampa Bay Sports Commission Executive Director Rob Higgins today at Raymond James Stadium to announce that Tampa will host Wrestlemania 36 in 2020. More details to follow. See updated press release: Tampa MayorContinue Reading
Last week it was reported that a Citrus County School District Middle School teacher was was running the white nationalist podcast “Unapologetic”. The podcast was run by Crystal River Middle School social studies teacher Dayanna Volitich, who ran the show under the pseudonym, “Tiana Dalichov”. School district officials, upon learning of the report, removed VolitichContinue Reading
Ryan Torrens, Democratic candidate for Florida Attorney General, pledged that he will draft a Student Loan Bill of Rights to finally protect Florida borrowers from being victimized by predatory student loan servicers and collectors. “Far too many Florida borrowers are buried in student loan debt and are unaware of theirContinue Reading
Earlier this week, the Congenital Heart Futures Reauthorization Act, sponsored by Congressman Gus Bilirakis passed the House of Representatives. This important legislation addresses the need to invest in continued research to assist the millions of Americans living with Congenital Heart Disease (CHD). It is estimated that there are currently between 2-3Continue Reading
Last week, Florida’s House of Representatives formally recognized the public health harms of pornography. The National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE) applauds this action and Rep. Ross Spano for spearheading this effort. “Public health impacts of pornography are no trivial matter,” said Lisa L. Thompson, Vice President of Research and EducationContinue Reading
Rep, Kathy Castor (D) of Florida’s 14th Congressional District voted no last month on HR 4712 – The Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act. The bill required practitioners who are present when an abortion procedure results in a “child born alive” ( a fetus that has been removed from the uterus at any stageContinue Reading
While voters will take to the polls in Pinellas, Manatee and Polk counties to cast ballots for mayor and/or various referendums, the big race in the area is in St. Pete: Rick Kriseman, the mayor of St. Petersburg versus the former mayor Rick Baker taking back the office. The two candidates have raised $2.6 millionContinue Reading
Moffitt Cancer Center Executive Vice President and Center Director Thomas A. Sellers, Ph.D., MPH, was joined by State Rep. James Grant and State Sen. Dana Young today to announce a new bill asking lawmakers for an $8 million increase in the annual funding that the cancer center receives from Florida’sContinue Reading
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. (Applause.) Thank you, everybody. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. That’s so nice. A lot of spirit. Great spirit for this country. Thank you, all. We have tremendous spirit and I want to thank you. We had a wonderful election, didn’t we?Continue Reading
“Vote Anti-Abortion” will be the message from Created Equal to citizens as a voter-education campaign comes to Tampa on November 3, 2016 and St. Petersburg on November 5. This initiative travels across the swing states of Pennsylvania, Ohio and Florida in the days before the 2016 Presidential election. The “Vote Anti-Abortion” FloridaContinue Reading
A judge extended Florida’s voter registration deadline because of Hurricane Matthew, calling it “irrational” for the state to reject the idea. U.S. District Judge Mark Walker on Monday extended the deadline from Tuesday to 5 p.m. Wednesday and then during a hearing Wednesday, Walker extended the voter registration deadline in theContinue Reading
Libertarian voters spoke on Tuesday in an unprecedented party primary in Florida, as Paul Stanton defeated Augustus Invictus and the race was called by Bay News 9 with 92 percent of the state’s voting precincts in. As of the time of the election being called by the local affiliate, Stanton heldContinue Reading
Today, after speaking with the Florida Division of Emergency Management (FDEM) regarding Tropical Depression 9, Governor Rick Scott will be visiting Tampa’s Emergency Operations Center to be briefed on the storm’s potential impacts to the area. This morning, the State Emergency Operations Center elevated its status to Level Two inContinue Reading
Congressman Gus Bilirakis (FL-12), along with Congressmen Dennis Ross (FL-15) and David Jolly (FL-13), recently sent a letter to bipartisan leaders of Congress requesting additional funding and resources to address the Zika virus. The members write: “To date, health officials have identified roughly 500 travel-related infections of the Zika virusContinue Reading
