By Dan Christensen
FloridaBulldog.org
The chief investigator for the Broward Public Defender’s Office sued Fort Lauderdale last week alleging that a city policeman impermissibly obtained his driver’s license records while he was helping the FBI investigate police corruption in the city.
By William Gjebre
FloridaBulldog.org
Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach public schools have lost hundreds of millions of dollars since 2004 when the Florida Legislature changed the way schools are funded – an action linked to the political ambitions of Republican Party presidential candidate Marco Rubio.
By Nicholas Kusnetz, Center for Public Integrity
The Florida House of Representatives
In November 2014, Arkansas voters approved a ballot measure that, among other reforms, barred the state’s elected officials from accepting lobbyists’ gifts. But that hasn’t stopped influence peddlers from continuing to provide meals to lawmakers at the luxurious Capital Hotel or in top Little Rock eateries like the Brave New Restaurant; the prohibition does not apply to “food or drink available at a planned activity to which a specific governmental body is invited,” so lobbyists can buy meals so long as they invite an entire legislative committee.
Such loopholes are a common part of statehouse culture nationwide, according to the 2015 State Integrity Investigation, a data-driven assessment of state government by the Center for Public Integrity and Global Integrity. The comprehensive probe found that in state after state, open records laws are laced with exemptions and part-time legislators and agency officials engage in glaring conflicts of interests and cozy relationships with lobbyists.
By Francisco Alvarado
FloridaBulldog.org
As Marco Rubio pushes past Jeb Bush in the polls, Democrats are stepping up attacks on the U.S. Senator, accusing him of breaking Senate ethics rules and federal election laws.
By Dan Christensen
FloridaBulldog.org
Amid news of Gov. Rick Scott’s investment in a company that’s seeking to build a controversial, $3-billion natural gas pipeline in north Florida, he won’t make public his 2014 federal income tax return.