The Senate voted Thursday to reinvent the nation's health care system, passing a bill to guarantee access to health insurance for tens of millions of Americans and to rein in health costs. ...more

December 25, 2009

A House panel has approved a bill limiting fees the Florida Attorney General's Office will pay when hiring private lawyers for state cases. ...more

March 24, 2009

The stimulus package is a terrible piece of necessary legislation. Its flaws are gaudily obvious. The bill was written in monopartisan secrecy, weighed down by irrelevant spending, considered in a rushed, uninformed debate and passed on a party-line vote. The law contains provisions that seem to weaken welfare reform and invite trade disputes. ...more

February 19, 2009

With job losses soaring nationwide, Senate Democrats reached agreement with a small group of Republicans Friday night on an economic stimulus measure at the heart of President Barack Obama's plan for combatting the worst recession in decades. ...more

February 6, 2009

The Senate voted Tuesday to give a tax break to new car buyers, setting aside bipartisan concerns over the size of an economic stimulus bill with a price tag edging above $900 billion. The 71-26 vote came as President Barack Obama said he lies awake nights worrying about the economy and signaled he'll try to knock out "buy American" provisions in the legislation to avoid a possible trade war. ...more

February 3, 2009

The House voted late Tuesday to open waters off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts to oil and gas drilling but only 50 or more miles out to sea and only if a state agrees to energy development off its shore. ...more

September 17, 2008

A leading congressional proponent of opening up offshore oil drilling closer to Florida's Gulf Coast promised on Wednesday to continue his fight, after being dealt yet another defeat. ...more

June 12, 2008

WASHINGTON - A leading congressional proponent of opening up offshore oil drilling closer to Florida's Gulf Coast promised to continue his fight Wednesday, after being dealt yet another defeat. A Democratic-controlled House panel voted 9 to 6 in a party-line vote against lifting the 27-year-old offshore drilling moratorium, at a time when gasoline prices are expected to float at or above $4-a-gallon for the rest of the summer. ...more

June 11, 2008

If Gov. Charlie Crist signs the bill, college tuition would rise by 5 percent in January. The increase, passed Friday by the Legislature, is part of an effort to make state spending comply with a revenue shortfall, which has been blamed partly on the housing market downturn. ...more

October 13, 2007

After a week of meetings but too little public debate, Florida lawmakers have agreed on where to cut $1.1 billion from the state's $71 billion budget. They'll return to Tallahassee on Friday for a final and largely party-line vote to bring it into balance. ...more

October 9, 2007