For two months each year,160 men and women elected by Florida voters gather in Tallahassee to make state policies. Everyday during this final week of the legislative session, WLRN-Miami Herald News will be reporting and examining what Florida lawmakers have accomplished, what’s been ignored, and how it will affect you for our special Session 2014: The Sunshine Edition.
To kickstart our special, we begin with the one thing the legislature has to do every session: pass a budget. Representatives Katie Edwards (D-Plantation) and Jose Felix Diaz (R-Miami) unpack the $75 billion questions.
With all that money, lobbyists are busy in this last week as well. WLRN-Miami Herald News' Gina Jordan gives us a profile of long-time lobbyist Jack Cory. How is lobbying actually done? South Florida lobbyist Ron Book joins Integrity Florida's Dan Krassner to explain the misconceptions and discuss whether Florida gets a bad rap for corruption.
Perhaps no GOP governor has staked his re-election as much on the economic and jobs recovery as Governor Rick Scott. Mark Vitner, senior economist with Wells Fargo; Jane Wooldridge, business editor at the Miami Herald; and Victor Mendelson, co-president of HEICO, assess if Florida is really a popular destination, for not just tourists, but companies.