The Supreme Court today upheld a Florida campaign finance restriction prohibiting judicial candidates from personally soliciting donations. In a 5-4 decision, the Court rejected First Amendment concerns, ruling states may choose to elect their judiciary but are not required to treat judicial candidates like politicians.

Though candidates may not solicit contributions, the Florida law allows others, such as campaign managers and friends, to do so on their behalf.

Chief Justice Roberts stated the case was a rare instance where the state, in trying to maintain the integrity of the bench, has a compelling interest in restricting speech.

Citing an impasse with the Senate over Medicaid expansion, the Florida House abruptly ended its session today. With three days left in the scheduled legislative session, the Senate may choose to stay through Friday.

The Senate has insisted on discussing the expansion of Medicaid during budget negotiations, but the House has refused to do so.

House Speaker Steve Crisafulli stated he plans to return for a special session to resolve the conflict prior to a July 1 deadline.

Photo of the Old and New Florida State Capitols by Infrogmation on Wikimedia Commons.

Welcome! In this episode of the statehouse series we will travel to the southern state of Florida.

Everybody has heard of Florida’s great climate, beautiful scenery, and access to beaches at both the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean, but not many know about Florida’s capitol buildings. The old capitol building was built in 1845, and it has had several additions since then. In 1902, the dome was constructed by architect Frank Millburn and was the first main addition. The next major expansion came in 1923 with the addition of two wings and a marble interior, with the help of Henry Klutho. Then another two wings were added, with the House wing finished in 1936 and the Senate wing in 1947.

As the population in Florida grew, so did the need for government services. The local government had outgrown the old building. Construction on the new capitol was authorized to start in 1972.

In the late 70s, the Old Capitol came under threat of demolition because the new one was being built behind it. Through the action of Florida citizens, the Old Capitol was saved and resorted to its 1902 appearance, which took four years (1978-1982). The Old Capitol has since been turned into a museum and office for the Florida Legislative Research Center, which keeps all legislative history for the state of Florida.

The New Capitol contains a House and Senate building and twenty-two story executive offices. Both wings have domes. The building contains the Florida Women’s Hall of Fame on the northern rotunda and the Artist’s Hall of Fame. Visit Tour the Florida Capitol to learn more about the history, artwork, and virtual tours!

Thanks for joining us on our historic tour of Florida’s statehouse. Be sure to visit again when we explore yet another capitol!

Photo of the Old and New Florida State Capitols by Infrogmation on Wikimedia Commons.

Gov. Rick Scott has announced the special election dates to fill the Florida House District 64 seat. The special primary will be on February 10, 2015 with the special general set for April 21.

The seat remains vacant following the House’s rejection of the results from November’s election. An appeals court ruled a write-in candidate, Daniel John Matthews, was wrongfully removed from the November ballot.

The non-binding election results showed incumbent Republican Jamie Grant with 59.5 percent of the vote.

Gov. Rick Scott has announced the dates for three special elections after state Sen. John Thrasher left his seat to become president of Florida State University. The other two elections are to fill the House seats of those seeking the open Senate spot.

Special primary elections will be held on January 27, 2015, and the special general elections on April 7, 2015. The affected House districts are Districts 17 and 24, while Thrasher vacated the Senate District 6 seat.

Tallahassee voters overwhelmingly approved a referendum creating a city ethics code and new campaign finance restrictions. An independent ethics board will be appointed by the city to assist with the development and enforcement of the code.

Additionally, the code creates a $250 cap on campaign contributions to candidates for city commissioner. Initial appointments to the board must take place within 90 days and the city has six months from election day to enact the ethics code.

The U.S. Supreme Court agreed today to hear the case of a former Florida judicial candidate disciplined for violating state law by soliciting campaign contributions in 2009. Lanell Williams-Yulee, who ran for county court judge in Tampa, argues the law violates her right of free speech.

Currently, Florida and 29 other states prohibit judicial candidates from personally soliciting campaign contributions. Courts are split on the issue with some saying such bans protect the integrity of the courts by ensuring judges remain impartial upon winning election.

A ruling is expected in June 2015.

The Internal Services Department in Miami-Dade County has combined the separate vendor enrollment and registration processes into one online vendor registration. The online vendor registration process can be accessed here.

Paper based registrations are no longer accepted.

All registered vendors whose status was “Active” prior to September 15, 2014 will be able to update their existing registration profiles through this portal. An email containing the login information will be sent to each firm currently registered or enrolled. These vendors will only be required to log-in to the portal to establish an online, secure profile. Thereafter, the existing registration records will be available to them online.

Vendors still must return a notarized business entity registration application by regular mail.

A Leon County Circuit Court judge has approved the Florida Legislature’s changes to the state’s congressional map. Judge Terry Lewis’ ruling in July found the 5th and 10th congressional districts to be in violation of the Florida Constitution and ordered the Legislature to redraw the map. The approval, however, did not call for a special election to implement the new districts.

All 2014 elections will be held under the current map and the changes, affecting a total of seven districts, will go into effect in 2016. Challengers of the congressional map, including the League of Women Voters, believe the new map does not go far enough and plan to appeal.

The Florida Legislature will convene a special session at noon on Thursday, August 7, 2014. The special session is a result of a ruling by Judge Terry Lewis ordering the Legislature to revise its congressional district maps, specifically for the 5th and 10th Congressional Districts.

The Legislature could potentially adjourn as early as Monday, August 11, under a proposed schedule released by House Speaker Will Weatherford and Senate President Don Gaetz. However, the Legislature has until August 15 to revise the maps.

Photo of the Florida State Capitol by Jenn Greiving on Wikimedia Commons.

A state judge ordered the Florida Legislature to redraw two congressional districts by August 15, 2014. In Rene Romo, et al v. Ken Detzner, et al, Judge Terry Lewis of the Leon County Circuit Court in Tallahassee found the redistricting maps drawn by the Legislature for the 5th and 10th Congressional Districts to be created “in contravention of the constitutional mandates” found in Article III, Section 20 of the Florida Constitution.

In addition to a new redistricting map drawn by the Legislature, the secretary of state and the supervisor of elections must present a proposed special election schedule by August 15, 2014.

A hearing is scheduled August 20, 2014, where objections to the proposed map and special election schedule will be heard. The judge is still tasked with determining whether a special election is necessary before a new Congress takes office in January 2015. While it is not an option to use a newly drawn map for the upcoming November 4, 2014, elections, Lewis pointed to the possibility of pushing the general election date back to allow for a special election in 2014 for any affected districts.

Republican leaders are considering an appeal to the ruling. In the interim, Lewis’ ruling forces the Legislature to convene a special session to revise its map by the August 15 deadline.

A special election is expected for Florida’s House District 13, a district covering the heart of Jacksonville and its surrounding areas. Incumbent state Rep. Reggie Fullwood was projected to run unopposed, but problems were found with his qualifying papers. Jacksonville City Council member Johnny Gaffney now plans to enter the race.

Gov. Rick Scott must determine the date of the special election, although Duval County Supervisor of Elections Jerry Holland projects the primary for the special election to be November 4, 2014. If necessary, a runoff would likely be in December 2014.

Gov. Rick Scott signed Senate Bill 846 into law on Friday, June 20, 2014. The ethics bill takes effect July 1, 2014 and requires lobbyists at Florida’s five water management districts to register and file periodic reports with the Lobbyist Registration Office of the Florida Legislature.

The original version of the bill would have required lobbyist registration for individuals seeking to influence any of the 136 independent special districts statewide. Such independent special districts include water management districts, hospital districts, and any other independent special district that exercises ad valorem taxing authority. The final version, however, only requires lobbyist registration for individuals seeking to influence Florida’s water management districts.

Rep. Kathleen Passidomo considered the original version of the bill too broad, thus revising the bill in committee to only impose lobbyist registration on water management districts. Passidomo has said if registration works smoothly at the water districts, the Legislature may consider requiring more special districts to register lobbyists.

Former Doral mayor Juan Carlos Bermudez has been appointed as a commissioner to the Miami-Dade County Commission on Ethics and Public Trust. Bermudez is one of Doral’s founders and previously served as president of the Miami-Dade County League of Cities.

Marcia Narine, an assistant professor of law at St. Thomas University, was also sworn in as a new commissioner.

Commissioners are appointed to four-year terms.