Jack Latvala

TALLAHASSEE — A Florida Senate panel is fast-tracking a sweeping ethics proposal that would crack down on politicians' lavish lobbyist-funded living, their revolving-door jobs and even their paychecks in cases when they don't pay ethics fines. The...

TALLAHASSEE — Senate President Don Gaetz, R-Niceville, said last week he wanted to curb the “fillet Mignon lifestyle” some lawmakers are living courtesy of political funds called “committees of continuous existence” that ...

TALLAHASSEE – Florida lawmakers are about to embark on a political journey to reform Florida’s campaign-finance system, so it’s important to know where we are before policymakers set a course for where to go next. Florida’s...

TALLAHASSEE — Former House Speaker Dean Cannon made some news this week when Senate Ethics and Elections Chairman Jack Latvala took exception to his return as a (temporary) executive-branch lobbyist and the head of a firm that will immediately begin...

TALLAHASSEE – Trying to clamp down on rampant perceived excesses of power, a Florida Senate committee on Tuesday began fast-tracking the most sweeping ethics reform proposal the state has witnessed in decades. If passed by the full Legislature...

The News Service of Florida had an interesting Q-and-A with veteran legislator Jack Latvala, where the Tampa Bay Republican opined on everything from early voting to the ideology of the Senate. He also teed off on the legislative “bad apples”...

TALLAHASSEE — House Speaker Will Weatherford said Tuesday he didn't think the Senate's proposals to shape up campaign-finance abuses of lawmaker-controlled slush funds went far enough. So, the House will go a leaping step further, and propose to...

TALLAHASSEE — A key component of the ethics package the Senate workshopped Tuesday takes aim at a common occurance in state politics: the revolving-door that sees formerly powerful lawmakers return to the Capitol as high-priced lobbyists soon...

TALLAHASSEE — In the wake of national backlash, Secretary of State Ken Detzner told lawmakers Tuesday that much of the fault for Florida's apparent snail's pace in counting ballots last month belonged with five “under-performing”...

TALLAHASSEE — With lawmakers turning their attention to another national embarrassment, you could call it the low-hanging fruit of causal explanations for the long-lines and slow tallying of votes in last month's presidential election. While too-few...

It’s the one vote that candidates for the Florida Legislature can cast even before they are elected: Whom to support for the powerful posts of speaker of the House or president of the Senate. And some of the Republican candidates in Central Florida&...

TALLAHASSEE — While the game is a sellout, there is apparently room for some like-minded and deep-pocketed Republicans to watch Saturday night's much-hyped Florida State-Clemson football game alongside some of the Legislature's most powerful...