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Florida Trend August 2020, Nick Iarossi and Ron LaFace Jr.

2019 COMPENSATION: Approximately $12.5 million ($7.5 million legislative and $5 million executive branch) ABOUT: LaFace, the son of an attorney, and Iarossi, a former legislative staffer and attorney, founded the firm in January 2003 along with Gerald Wester and Pat O’Connel, who have both since retired. Today, the shop has 12 lobbyists — six of […]

In Florida, DeSantis taps his inner Trump

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is resurrecting a Trumpian style that served him on the campaign trail but has been dormant since taking state office. Emboldened by a flattening curve of coronavirus cases in Florida after weeks of national ridicule, the Republican is tapping his inner Trump after serving his swing state as a kinder, gentler […]

DeSantis gets Trump nod as Florida prepares to reopen

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis got a big stage at a big moment Tuesday, but not everything went totally as scripted. One day before DeSantis is set to unveil his plans to reopen the state’s economy, he was at the White House for a public meeting with President Donald Trump, who unexpectedly signaled he was considering […]

Coronavirus shutdowns ‘pointless’ and ‘criminal’, House Speaker José Oliva emails

As Florida weighs how to emerge from economic restrictions driven by COVID-19 caution, the state’s most powerful lawmaker says those shutdowns were “pointless” and “criminal.” That’s the hardline message from House Speaker José Oliva, a Hialeah Republican who included it as part of a series of unattributed links and article excerpts at the bottom of an […]

State elections office in Tallahassee closes after worker tests positive for coronavirus

The state’s Division of Elections offices in Tallahassee’s R.A. Gray state office building have been closed after an employee there tested positive for COVID-19, a spokesman said. Mark Ard, spokesman for Secretary of State Laurel Lee, said the coronavirus-infected employee was last in the office April 17. He did not identify the worker. Lee oversees the […]

Florida says it’s fixing its unemployment mess. But it’s still a mess

Here’s one way for frustrated jobless workers to expedite payment of their unemployment benefits: Sue the agency that’s handling their claims. That’s what happened when several workers sued the Department of Economic Opportunity last week, according to Tallahassee lawyer Marie Mattox. Once the lawsuit hit the local courthouse, the agency suddenly found the wherewithal to […]

How safe is Florida’s reopening plan? Public health experts give a candid critique

Restaurants, state parks and stores will open in most of Florida on Monday for the first time in weeks. Businesses once deemed “nonessential” will welcome back workers. Hospitals will perform surgeries put on hold since March. It’s the first step in restarting an economy intentionally halted to slow the spread of the coronavirus. It is […]

Florida’s state treasury has $6B in untapped CARES Act funds

Nearly $6 billion in the state treasury are ready to use for COVID-19 relief, but questions remain on how the state might be able to spend it. That money — approximately $5.9 billion from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act — has yet been drawn down by the state’s executive agencies. The […]

DeSantis waiting to see what funds flow from Washington before acting on state budget

Florida’s next budget remains on hold pending another round of federal stimulus money, which could also dictate how state lawmakers readdress the spending plan. Gov. Ron DeSantis said Monday he has put off formally accepting and reviewing a $93.2 billion budget for the 2020-21 fiscal year that was approved by the Legislature in March and […]