Florida Legislature Archives

Tantrum in Tallahassee

January 27, 2025 Buck Banks

“Come to Tally for my extra special session!
“It’s a DeSantis Decree — comply without question!”
But lawmakers told Ron to take a dump,
They’d rather take orders direct from Trump.
Ron’s just a “flailing guy, losing relevance,” with indigestion.

Florida Is Spending $61.6 Million to Bulletproof Capitol Windows

August 29, 2023 Buck Banks

$61.1 million

The Florida Legislature (which last year passed a “Constitutional Carry” gun law) is spending millions of dollars beefing up security at the Capitol Complex with expensive bulletproof windows while also making it easier for people to carry weapons into those state buildings. The Legislature approved a $61.6 million window replacement project as part of a larger renovation of the Capitol, reports the Orlando Sentinel.

Gaetz Says Tallahassee Looks Like Washington

April 29, 2015 Buck Banks

We ought to wave a copy of the Constitution under everybody’s nose and say we have a constitutional obligation to pass a budget … If not, we’re Washington. We look like Washington.

— Florida Sen. Don Gaetz (R), on the Florida legislature closing its session three days early, sine die, with no date set for a special session to create a budget — the only legislative act required by the state’s constitution, the Tampa Bay Times reports.

Republicans Run Amok in Florida

April 29, 2015April 29, 2015 Trish

FLHouse — Nobody home: Looks like a good place to hold a legislative session. *Photo: Aaron Deslatte of the Orlando Sentinel*

When the going gets tough, what do the tough do? They get going. And that’s exactly what Florida state House members did. They walked out in a huff, with three days remaining in the state’s annual legislative session.

You had one job, Florida House Republicans — to approve a budget. And you didn’t even come close.

Technically, there is no lack of leadership, it’s that the leaders are mainly Republicans, and this is what Republicans do. Let’s all be clear on that.

Republicans in the Florida House disagree with Republicans in the Florida Senate over Medicaid expansion. And the Republican governor keeps changing his mind.

For states unlike Florida, not run by Republicans, this is a non-issue. What’s not to like about getting more Medicaid coverage for your poorest residents, with most of the bill footed by the federal government?

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Tag: Florida Legislature

Tantrum in Tallahassee

Florida Is Spending $61.6 Million to Bulletproof Capitol Windows

$61.1 million

Gaetz Says Tallahassee Looks Like Washington

We ought to wave a copy of the Constitution under everybody’s nose and say we have a constitutional obligation to pass a budget … If not, we’re Washington. We look like Washington.

— Florida Sen. Don Gaetz (R), on the Florida legislature closing its session three days early, sine die, with no date set for a special session to create a budget — the only legislative act required by the state’s constitution, the Tampa Bay Times reports.

Republicans Run Amok in Florida

Poetic Justice

Verbatim

“Well, if you’re a white male Christian cisgender macho MAGA man, you can be as dumb as a rock and be deemed qualified to serve as secretary of Defense. That’s apparently what we’ve learned from this episode.”

— Former National Security Adviser Susan Rice bucked Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s intelligence following weeks of scrutiny over leaks at the Pentagon amid massive spending reductions at the Department of Defense, The Hill reports.

“Let’s be honest. This uncertainty, this chaos, is no accident. The president of the United States has chosen. Chosen to destroy the federal government’s ability to help people.”

— Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D), quoted by The Hill.

— Will Saletan

“We live in a moment when our freedoms are once again under attack from the highest office in the land. We see things that would be familiar to our revolutionary predecessors: the silencing of critics, the disappearing of people from our streets, demands for unquestioning fealty.”

— Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey (D), quoted by the Boston Globe.

Numerati

72%

69%

$1,000

59%

A new AP-NORC poll finds 39% have a favorable opinion of Donald Trump and 58% have an unfavorable view. Similarly, a majority of the public disapproves of Trump overall as president, 59% vs. 39%. Those numbers are lower than Joe Biden’s when he left office.

$100 million