admin Florida’s Special Session Update
Florida lawmakers intensified their criticism of the Florida Supreme Court’s redistricting ruling Tuesday as a Republican congressman fought for his political survival and a Democratic congresswoman announced she would file a lawsuit Wednesday to keep her current district. Find more on the two-week special session here.
Florida House will make Corcoran speakership official on Sept. 16
Florida House Republicans are scheduled to meet Sept. 16 to officially designate Richard Corcoran as House speaker for 2016-2018. Rep. Corcoran’s planned speech will outline policy priorities for his tenure, which would begin after the 2016 general election and include the 2017 and 2018 sessions. Corcoran resides in Land O’Lakes in the Tampa Bay area. Meanwhile, it is still unknown who will serve as senate president alongside Corcoran’s speakership. Republican senators Joe Negron, of Stuart, and Jack Latvala, of Clearwater, are vying for the seat with each said they have enough support to win the election. So far, no election has been scheduled.
Florida job creation slows in July
Florida added 13,700 private-sector jobs in July, the weakest monthly performance so far this year, according to a report released on Wednesday. The estimate from payroll-processing firm ADP indicated Florida is still among the strongest job-generators in the country. But it has dropped to third behind Gov. Rick Scott’s arch-competitor: Texas. California remains number one, adding a robust 27,600 private sector jobs. For Florida, the month marked a big drop-off from June when it boasted a relatively healthy 21,400 new private jobs. For much of the recent economic recovery, the Southern region — led by Texas and Florida — has been the strongest. As the third-largest state, Florida’s job growth was less impressive in terms of percentage increase, up just 0.2 percent. Among the states notching the strongest increases in monthly job growth rates last month were Arizona, Oregon, Idaho, California, Washington and Texas. ADP’s figures are based on company payroll data and do not include government jobs. The Labor Department’s July report for Florida is due to be released Aug. 21.
