Once More With Feeling
It was an ugly 2015 in
Lawmakers then barely avoided a government shutdown by passing a
But as legislators return to the
Elections loom, giving lawmakers extra incentive to get their work done on time so that they can get back to raising money and campaigning. A divisive leadership battle that has roiled the
Scott is the wad card, as he has been since moving into the governor's mansion five years ago. The governor and the
If both sides can start anew, the
Here is a look at some of the issues hanging in the balance:
> Water
If everything goes according to plan, the House and the
> Unique Abilities
At the same time they pass Crisafulli's water bill, the two chambers expect to send the governor a package of reforms meant to help people with intellectual disabilities - a priority for
> Health Care
After failing to force the House to consider a plan last year to accept billions of dollars from the federal government to expand health care coverage, the
Meanwhile, the governor, who has become sharply critical of hospitals, will be pressing lawmakers to pass "transparency" reforms, such as requiring hospitals to post online the prices and average payments for all of their products and services.
> Tax Cuts
Scott campaigned for re-election in 2014 promising to make
> Economic Development
If
> Court Reform
Republican lawmakers have complained for years that the
> Mental Health
While the
> Education
A year ago, Scott made record spending on public school education one of this chief priorities, only to run into resistance from a
Education will be a big area for horse-trading: Crisafulli, for instance, wants to continue a school-uniform incentive program, while Gardiner will once again seek money for a proposed UCF campus in downtown
> Gaming
No issue is as heavily lobbied in
>
Online fantasy sports betting has ballooned into a multibillion-dollar industry. It also appears to be illegal under a 25-year-old Attorney General's opinion. Now the industry's biggest players -
> Marijuana / Alcohol
Two years after the Legislature agreed to allow the medical use of a non-euphoric strain of marijuana, the law still hasn't been fully implemented amid a legal and rule-making morass. Lawmakers are advancing legislation this year to streamline that regulatory process and expand the original law, in hopes of having something in place before voters again consider a broader medical marijuana constitutional amendment in November. Meanwhile,
> Social Issues
It's an election year, which means lawmakers will make sure to generate a lot of sound and fury over social issues in hopes of mobilizing their bases. Already attracting statewide attention is a bill that would allow holders of concealed weapons permits to carry their firearms onto college campuses and another that would allow people to carry guns openly in public. One or both are likely to pass the House, but they'll probably die in the
> Insurance
After successfully lobbying for legislation a few years ago to clamp down on what it said were often bogus sinkhole claims, the insurance industry says it has a new crisis on its hands: Construction firms and attorneys who are persuading homeowners to sign over their policies and then submitting excessive or inflated claims. The industry wants lawmakers to curtail so-called "assignment of benefits" rights insurance policies. But they'll face opposition from trial attorneys.
> Executive Appointments
If the session winds up in a standoff with the governor, the
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Rep.
> Rep.
> Rep.
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> An Uneasy Truce
For more than three years, the
Some senators, who traditionally pride themselves on being more collegial than House members, spewed epithets behind each other's backs. The protracted contest "sucked all the joy out of public service," one senator says. Things may be different this year. In November, amid a second unsuccessful redistricting special session, Negron and Latvala struck a deal in which Negron will become president and will name Latvala his appropriations chairman. The agreement was sealed in December, when the
County leaders say disregard for barricades an issue
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