411 Update September 13, 2010
Posted by grchair in advertising, economy, Education, Election 2010, Florida budget, Health care, Legislative.comments closed
With the Labor Day holiday behind us, campaigns across the state have shifted into high gear for the final seven-week sprint to election day on General Election Day, Tuesday November 2nd.
Here’s a look at this week’s political and government happenings:
Sinks Bests Scott in Latest Poll – The latest CNN/Time poll released late last week shows Democrat Alex Sink leading Republican Rick Scott by 7 points — 49 to 42 percent — in the contest for Governor. Sink posts strong leads over Scott in a number of key subgroups including independents, urban voters, moderates, those earning less than $50K, and voters in South Florida.
Who Gave It, Who Got It – This Friday at midnight marks the deadline for state candidates and committees to file their latest periodic campaign finance report. Under Florida’s public campaign finance law, candidates must publicly disclose the source of all contributions and expenses. Candidates for governor and those seeking cabinet posts file reports covering Sept. 4-10, while all others disclose for the Aug. 20 to Sept. 10th timeframe.
Budget Gap Narrows – Preliminary guesstimates that Florida government’s budget shortfall for the next fiscal year could be as much as $6-billon, appear to soon be scaled down. The Legislative Budget Commission meets on Tuesday to vote on a new financial forecast that shows red ink of only about $2.4 billion instead.
Health Care Debate – The Obama administration will try to persuade a federal judge on Tuesday to throw out the lawsuit filed by Florida together with 20 other states which seeks to deem the recent health care reform package signed into law as unconstitutional. Oral arguments are scheduled for Tuesday at the federal courthouse in Pensacola.
Universities Want More – The Florida Board of Governors two-day meeting in Jacksonville at UNF this week (Wed. & Thurs.) will include a discussion of their annual legislative budget request. Chancellor Frank Brogan is asking the 17-member board which oversees the State University System to ask for a 6% increase for next year.
