Finally, it's official. There will be a special legislative session next month. Gov. Charlie Crist, not a proponent previously, is now on board. That (2008-09) $2.3 billion state budget hole - that could deepen to $3.8 billion or more in 2009-10 - plus possible harm to Florida's credit rating and Medicaid scenarios from hell has everyone finally fixated on a resolution. Presumably, everything is on the table, especially in a state that hasn't fundamentally changed its revenue-raising ways from the LeRoy Collins administration years. ...more

December 24, 2008

Businesses across Florida are carefully watching the Legislature with the deepening cash crisis facing state government leading to the most serious talk of eliminating some tax exemptions since former President John McKay took on the tax structure eight years ago. ...more

December 21, 2008

Sebring City Attorney Mike Swaine said as of Friday his firm Swaine and Harris P.A., had dropped Southern Oaks as a client to avoid a conflict of interest with his other client, the city of Sebring, in a possible deal by Southern Oaks to sell its Hammock Road property to a hospice. ...more

December 20, 2008

Florida Senate President Jeff Atwater and House Speaker Ray Sansom obviously are in denial. In setting a January special session to deal with the state's financial crisis on Monday, they retreated to the same old way of doing business - pledging only to target "spending reductions and trust fund transfers." ...more

December 17, 2008

House and Senate leaders have declared a special legislative session in early January to plug an expected $2.3 billion hole in the state budget. ...more

December 16, 2008

House and Senate leaders have declared a special legislative session in early January to plug an expected $2.3-billion hole in the state budget. ...more

December 15, 2008

Democratic lawmakers want to raise the cigarette tax, and some Republicans are warming to the idea. Gov. Charlie Crist says he hasn't. ...more

December 11, 2008

The family of former Gov. Lawton Chiles said they will sue state leaders if they decide to raid the Lawton Chiles Endowment Fund for children and seniors in an attempt to balance the budget. ...more

December 7, 2008

PLANT CITY The Hillsborough County legislative delegation will hear public testimony this morning on a bill designed to crack down on predatory towing companies. The legislation would give Hillsborough's Public Transportation Commission enforcement powers over towing companies that target cars on private business property without the owner's written permission. ...more

December 2, 2008

Every year, city and county government officials and civic groups make pitches to Hillsborough County's state legislators for money. They come with requests for road, water and redevelopment projects, and seeking state tax dollars for local issues. ...more

November 28, 2008