Sunburn â The morning read of whatâs hot in Florida politics â 3.2.21
The Legislative Session is here, and Florida Influencers believe that come April 30, Gov.
Ron DeSantis will be the big winner.
Florida Politics asked the stateâs top consultants, lobbyists and political minds who stands to have the best Legislative Session and 43% picked the Governor. His believers include more than half of Republican Influencers, with just 27% of Democrats saying heâs their early favorite.
For the minority party, that honor goes to Senate President
Wilton Simpson, albeit by a narrow margin. Three in 10 Democrats say heâll be the clear winner when the hankie drops. More than half of independents believe the same while just 21% of Republicans agree.
No 14 on the list of Tampa Bay s Most Powerful Politicians: Chris Latvala floridapolitics.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from floridapolitics.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
A Senate committee Tuesday approved a bill that would limit state dollars that could go to salaries at two types of organizations that play key roles in the child-welfare and mental-health systems.
The Executive Director of Florida’s Guardian ad Litem programs defended his agency today before a Senate panel. A recent state audit of the program found it was able to hire more staff with increased state funding but wasn’t serving more kids.
Guardian ad Litem Executive Director Alan Abromowitz says in five years, the program saw a one-time increase of $10 million, money he says the legislature earmarked for more staff but not to expand youth representation. It was for quality, for improvements, volunteer travel and trainers. But it was not for expanded representation, we’ve always met our obligation to the legislature on those issues, he said Tuesday before the Senate s Children and Families Committee.
Guardian ad litem program in Florida draws scrutiny
Dara Kam, Senior reporter, News Service of Florida
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TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The head of Florida’s guardian ad litem program defended the agency’s efforts Tuesday to a Senate committee, following a report that said the organization’s funding has increased while the number of children it represents has dropped.
Alan Abramowitz, who has served as executive director of the program for more than a decade, pushed back against the report during an appearance before the Senate Children, Families and Elder Affairs Committee.
The report, issued last month by the Legislature’s Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability, or OPPAGA, identified a number of issues in the operation of the program, which receives state and local funds to represent abused, neglected and abandoned children in dependency cases.