Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Daily digest for Florida Legislature, 1/11/12

Trying to get a handle on what's up with the Florida Legislature and its just-started session.


The Miami Herald's Naked Politics blog offers a daily primer.


Here's today's:

Five Stories To Think About Today

  • Florida's Secretary of State, Kurt Browning, is supposedly going to hand his resignation to the Governor today. Who will be appointed in the interim?
  • The 22-member Senate Reapportionment Committee casts its first vote on a proposed remapping of all 27 congressional districts, including two new ones as a result of population growth. It looks like Rep. Allen West is most likely to be on the chopping block.
  • The Proposed Committee Substitute for House Bill 119 will overhaul the state's no fault insurance system, creating a new system with a completely new approach for treating auto accident victims. Keep an eye on this.
  • The House Business and Consumer Affairs Subcommittee is the latest to take up the issue of gaming, inviting public testimony from supporters and opponents. Will also be heard: cutting unemployment compensation tax for Florida businesses.
  • The House Subcommittee on Community and Military Affairs will vote on House Bill 609, which would prevent local governments from enacting wage theft protection ordinances. This is particularly important in counties with large immigrant communities, like Miami-Dade.


Three Issues You Missed Yesterday


  • Governor Rick Scott gave his State of the State address, pledging $1 billion in additional funding for education. About 50 protestors were not allowed into the Senate chamber Tuesday afternoon because of the noise the group had made outside during Scott's speech earlier in the day.
  •  The Senate passed a bill to award Eric Brody $10.8 million, after all parties agreed to a settlement. The measure now moves to the House where it died last year. This is the fifth year the bill will be up for vote -- it was cut for budget reasons the last four.
  • Marco Rubio opened his new Tallahassee Senate office Tuesday.

Who To Watch Today/Quotable Quotes

“With all the lovely flowers in the House chamber, I can barely smell the Occupy people outside.” -Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Shalimar, on Twitter

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