Wednesday, March 13, 2013
Jennifer Carroll’s resignation amid a racketeering investigation has Patch wondering if this affects your trust in government, Tampa Bay?
Florida Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll has resigned her post as a racketeering investigation into a nonprofit she was once affiliated with continues. That nonprofit, Allied Veterans, is accused of money laundering, siphoning profits and misreporting how much cash actually went to the charity, according to The Washington Post. The organization claims to help “fellow veterans in need,” according to its website. While no charges against Carroll have been filed, several people with connections to Allied Veterans have been arrested. Carroll resigned to prevent her “former affiliation with the company from distracting from the administration’s important work on behalf of Florida families,” a spokesman for Gov. Rick Scott is quoted as saying. The …
Wednesday, March 6, 2013
Florida’s governor was adamant in his State of the State address that his policies have put us on the right path. What do you say, Tampa Bay?
Florida Gov. Rick Scott might have a new catchphrase. If his March 5 State of the State address is any indication that phrase is: “It’s working.” The governor gave his address as both the Florida House and Senate officially began their sessions. "We eliminated thousands of regulations on job creators. We paid down state debt for two years in a row," The Tampa Tribune reported him as saying. "We invested in priorities – like education. And, now our economy is on the rebound. It's working." Scott went on to defend his anti-tax and anti-spending policies. He also sent the message that his reforms have improved the state’s public schools. Throughout the address, he repeated the phrase: “It’s working.” Do you agree, Tampa Bay? What are your …
Monday, March 4, 2013
It’s looking like Gov. Rick Scott’s decision to go along this major plank in the Obamacare plan is getting a frigid reception from State lawmakers. What do you think about it Tampa Bay?
Florida Gov. Rick Scott’s recent flip-flop on Obamacare might be a moot point. It looks like the plan to expand the state’s Medicaid coverage to another 1 million or so people is falling flat with other Florida lawmakers. A state House committee recently decided that expanding Medicaid to provide care for the uninsured wasn’t the way to go, according to a report on TBO.com. Committee members, TBO reported, said they were concerned about the quality of care and the costs associated with the proposal. Scott recently said he’d go along with the notion of expanding Medicaid since the federal government would be paying for it for the first three years as part of the Obamacare package, which is more formally known as the Affordable Care Act. The…
Thursday, February 21, 2013
He said he wouldn't, but he did. Gov. Rick Scott announced Wednesday, Feb. 20, that Florida would expand its Medicaid program.
Florida’s Medicaid program is about to get bigger – a lot bigger. In a flip-flop from a previous decision, Gov. Rick Scott has acquiesced to expanding the state’s Medicaid program to provide coverage for an estimated 1.3 million more people. The expansion is a major prong in the Obamacare program that kicks into effect in 2014, according to The Huffington Post. Scott has been an outspoken opponent of Obamacare in the past. His disdain for the concept of government-backed universal healthcare coverage even prompted him to dip into his own fortune. He spent about $5 million of his own cash to prevent President Barack Obama’s healthcare reform legislation from being passed in the first place. Once it did pass – and he became governor – Scott …
Thursday, January 31, 2013
As Florida Gov. Rick Scott calls on state legislators to increase funding for school by $1.2 billion some are skeptical about his intentions. We’d like to get your take on the governor’s proposals, Tampa Bay.
Florida school districts that have struggled with multi-million-dollar budget cuts and teachers who’ve gone years sans raises are being offered some hope courtesy of Florida’s Republican governor. Rick Scott is calling on the state’s legislature to approve a budget that includes an extra $1.2 billion in funding for public schools. Some of that money would help fund across-the-board raises of $2,500 for the state’s teachers. The overall plan would also boost per-student funding by about 6.5 percent, according to TBO.com. "Investing in our teachers and in our education system is the key to our state's continued economic growth," Scott said in the TBO piece. "We made the hard choices to recover and get back on track — now we must make the …
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
The former governor of Florida has announced he’s joined the Democrat Party. Could another run for the governor’s office be far behind?
First he was a Republican. Then he became an Independent. Now, former Florida Gov. Charlie Crist has officially joined the ranks of the Democrats. Crist made the announcement of his recent switch to the Democratic Party on his Twitter feed. “Proud and honored to join the Democratic Party in the home of President @Barack Obama,” he tweeted. Crist, a vocal supporter of Obama, is said to have signed the papers to become a Democrat while visiting the White House. The former Republican dropped his affiliation with that party during his 2010 Senate bid against now Sen. Marco Rubio. Crist’s announcement has many wondering if he’s positioning himself for a 2014 run against Gov. Rick Scott. Or, perhaps he has another seat in mind? We’d like to hear…
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
Florida Gov. Rick Scott wants the state’s universities to come up with a way to make higher education more affordable. His challenge could save Dunedin households thousands.
Dunedin residents who find themselves scrimping and saving to pay for college might have it a little easier in the years to come if Gov. Rick Scott gets his way. The Republican leader is challenging the state’s 12 public universities to come up with a way to create $10,000 degrees, according to TBO.com. "You should be able to work and go to school and not end up with debt," Scott said in an interview on News Channel 8. "Yet those degrees cost so much money and tuition is so high that that's not going to happen. So I put out this challenge to our state colleges." Scott’s challenge comes on the heels of major budget cuts to the state’s university system. This year alone, Florida’s universities took a $300 million cut in funding, prompting …
Friday, November 2, 2012
The League of Women Voters wants Florida Gov. Rick Scott to extend the early-voting period until Sunday, Nov. 4 to accomodate voters. The League mentions media reports about people waiting in line for up to six hours to vote.
The League of Women Voters of Florida is hoping to convince Florida Gov. Rick Scott to extend the state's early voting period to Sunday, Nov. 4, to accommodate the needs of voters. Early voting is currently scheduled to end at 7 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 3. On Thursday, the league sent a letter to Scott that mentioned how some people have stood in line for hours waiting to vote. Here in Pinellas County, the Supervisor of Elections website says 24,156 people have participated in early voting as of Thursday afternoon, and 187,675 mail ballots have been submitted. A record-breaking 300,000 mail ballot requests have been submitted in Pinellas County. The Pinellas County Supervisor of Elections website also has a page that gives a real-time estimate …
Monday, June 25, 2012
A Level 1 state of emergency, the lowest declaration, is in effect as Tropical Storm Debby brings rain, winds and flooding to Florida.
Florida Gov. Rick Scott declared a state of emergency Monday afternoon as the state deals with the effects of Tropical Storm Debby. Scott declared a Level 1 state of emergency, the lowest, which activates storm operations in all 67 counties, the Tampa Bay Times reports. Scott receieved a briefing on the storm's effects before advising Floridians "to be safe, avoid non-essential driving, pay close attention to weather reports and stay away from downed power lines," according to the Times. "I think the most important thing is, one, just use common sense. Be careful," Scott said. "If you're close to a beach, be very cautious. Look at all the beach advisories. If there's any standing water, if there's any flooding, don't drive into it. Be very…
Friday, June 1, 2012
The Pinellas County Supervisor of Elections halted the verification process of potential non-citizen voters, after questioning the accuracy of the list provided by the Division of Elections.
Pinellas County Supervisor of Elections Deborah Clark announced Friday that she halted processing the list of potential non-citizen voters distributed to all Florida Supervisors of Elections by the Division of Elections. "The accuracy of the voter registration database is of the utmost importance,” Clark said in a released statement, “and we will continue our efforts to ensure the information is current. However, we will not use unreliable data.” Nancy Whitlock, communications director for the Supervisor of Elections, said that the decision is partly in response to Thursday's U.S. Department of Justice letter to Florida ordering the state to stop purging voter rolls. "It is partly in response (to the DOJ) but we were already considering …
St.Pete.Resident
2:00 pm on Monday, April 29, 2013
Just another dirty Republican. more ›