Tag: Florida Legislature

Florida Is Spending $61.6 Million to Bulletproof Capitol Windows

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

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

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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