Republicans have returned enough “no” votes in a poll of legislators to quash the idea of a special session to address the state’s stand your ground law, yet the Dream Defenders, a group of protesters whose around-the-clock sit-in at the Capitol stretched to a 30th day on Wednesday, are not quitting.
Florida Legislature
Stand Your Ground Special Session: Florida Democrats Invoke Unique Tactic in Hunt for Votes
Vastly outnumbered Democrats have a week to convince enough Republicans lawmakers to support a special session of the Legislature on the Stand Your Ground law. The Secretary of State’s office has to find 96 lawmakers to trigger such a session.
Lawmakers Will have $435 Million More to Work With in 2014 as Recovery Continues
The added revenue swells to $2 billion the net increase from this year’s budget in the general revenue, but lawmakers aren’t scheduled to take up the budget again until next spring’s legislative session, and other revenue forecasts are expected in the interim, meaning it will likely take awhile before the full budget picture is known.
Hypertown: Jesse Jackson and His Detractors
But by the time Gov. Scott and his ilk were done demanding that Jesse Jackson apologize to all Floridians over hos comparisons of Scott to George Wallace and the Dream Defenders to the Selma march, lo and behold, we were back talking about the Dream Defenders and Stand Your Ground. That was Jackson’s goal.
Duke-Progress Energy Won’t Build Troubled $25 Billion Nuke Reactors in Levy County
Customers will be required to pay as much as $1.466 billion over 20 years to cover continuing costs at the defective and shuttered Crystal River plant, and they will not be refunded the $150 million they’ve paid in up-front costs for the Levy reactors.
Jesse Jackson Calls Capitol Sit-In “The Selma of Our Time.” Scott Calls It an “Insult” to Floridians.
Calling Florida “an apartheid state,” Jackson spoke ahead of an overnight visit with the Dream Defenders that has staged a sit-in at Scott’s office to demand a special legislative session to consider changes to the state’s self-defense laws, initiatives to end racial profiling and an end to zero-tolerance discipline policies in schools.
Into Their Second Week of Protest, Dream Defenders Plan Their Own Special Session
Scott, who is expected to spend the next couple of days back on the road, didn’t pop out for a chat with those who want him to call a special session on the state’s controversial “stand your ground” law.
Florida Snubs Millions in Federal Health Grants That Could Help Workers and the Poor
in a pattern of politically motivated rejections by Florida itself, the state got the lowest amount of health-care reform act grant funding per capita – behind all 50 states and the District of Columbia – in 2011. While state agencies received the bulk of federal health grants in other states, it was the reverse in Florida.
Harry Belafonte Joins Dream Defenders at Florida Capitol as Protest Enters 2nd Weekend
Backed by the arrival of supporters from throughout Florida and the East Coast, as well as singer and activist Harry Belafonte, protesters led by the Hialeah-based Dream Defenders maintained their request for a special legislative session amid rousing chants that filled an area outside the governor’s office.
Back-to-School Tax Holiday Now Includes Computers, Tablets and Electronic Gadgetry
Florida’s back-to-school tax holiday Aug. 2 through Aug. 4 for the first time includes high-tech computer and other electronics as long as each individual item is priced under $750. Retailers are preparing for the demand, in some cases lowering prices to match the benchmark.