Florida communities with surplus former military installations could reap a significant amount of money through increased property taxes if SB 126, which passed the Senate Military Affairs and Domestic Security Committee Tuesday, becomes law.
"The big moments are the ending of segregation. And Gov. Leroy Collins -- his moment. I don't know if Florida would be what it is today without them."
--Rivers H. Buford III, director of legislative affairs, Florida Department of State, whose grandfather served as attorney general, Florida Supreme Court justice and member of the House of Representatives
What role -- if any -- does state government have in shepherding Florida through tough economic times?
Test story... from reporter. This is to test draft reversion to see if Reporter can access.
Call Paula Dockery a collateral casualty in the squabble for the name and control of Florida's Tea Party.
The state senator from Lakeland lags Attorney General Bill McCollum in her bid for the Republican gubernatorial nomination. And whether she's the victim of not-so-friendly fire or a self-inflicted wound, the Tea Party battle is not helping her candidacy.
On one side is longtime Dockery associate Doug Guetzloe. He and Orlando lawyer Frederic O'Neal last year registered the Tea Party as a Florida political party. On the other side are Tea Party activists who sued the pair.
Dockery, fashioning herself as a populist, credits Guetzloe with getting her into the race. But instead of gaining traction with the Tea Party movement, she's found herself caught in the crossfire -- and losing GOP support in the process.
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The state Senate voted Tuesday afternoon to provide quick relief to businesses fearing a major hike in the state unemployment tax.
The Senate voted 39-0 to pass a House of Representatives bill that delays for two years a looming tax hike that would result in as much as a twelvefold increase on employers unemployment tax bills. The House bill (HB 7033) was one of two introduced for the session. The other was introduced into the Senate by Sen. Rudy Garcia, R-Hialeah.
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Balancing the federal budget may not be the Tallahassee press corps' cup of tea but the Tea Party likes the idea. A lot.
Senate President Jeff Atwater, R-North Palm Beach, after announcing a proposed resolution calling on the feds to balance the budget, was asked repeatedly by reporters Tuesday to address the irony in his demand that the U.S. government balance its books when the state has had to borrow money from the feds to balance its own.
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Hurricanes have written a large, violent and costly chapter in Florida history.
The big storms have created barrier islands and wiped them out. Overnight. They've ruined crops, dashed dreams, turned boardwalks into tinder.
The leadership of the Florida Legislature promised to quickly handle the unemployment compensation tax deferment and, so far, they are good on their word.
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