Category: Lobbying
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The cash-rich pharmaceutical lobby and the rising cost of drugs for Medicare seniors
By Stuart Silverstein
FairWarning.org
When the Republican-controlled Congress approved a landmark program in 2003 to help seniors buy prescription drugs, it slapped on an unusual restriction: The federal government was barred from negotiating cheaper prices for those medicines. Instead, the job of holding down costs was outsourced to the insurance companies delivering the subsidized new coverage, known as Medicare Part D. -
Heavy-spending trucking industry pushes Congress to relax safety rules
By Brian Joseph
FairWarning.org
Big rig crashes kill nearly 4,000 Americans each year and injure more than 85,000. Fatalities involving large trucks are up 17 percent since 2009; injuries up 28 percent. Given these numbers, you might expect Congress to be agitating for tighter controls on big rigs. In fact, many members are pushing for the opposite – looser restrictions on the trucking industry and its drivers. -
Jeb Bush’s missing emails detail his lobbying support for Bacardi as contributions flowed
By Dan Christensen
FloridaBulldog.org
The mass release of emails covering presidential aspirant Jeb Bush’s years as governor omitted at least a dozen emails documenting behind-the-scenes lobbying support he gave to liquor giant Bacardi. -
Miami developer hires governor’s pal; Scott, Cabinet green light Watson Island project
By Francisco Alvarado
BrowardBulldog.org
In late March, state emails show, Florida’s Department of Environmental Protection was poised to pull the plug on a long-delayed, contentious plan to build a resort and mega-yacht marina on Miami’s Watson Island. But developer Flagstone Island Gardens had an ace in the hole. A month earlier, the company hired Fort Lauderdale lobbyist William “Billy” Rubin, a longtime personal friend, business associate and political supporter of Gov. Rick Scott. -
New law drives lobbyists out of the shadows at state water management districts
By Dan Christensen
BrowardBulldog.org
Florida’s five water management districts, special-purpose governments that collectively will spend $1.1 billion next year, have publicly registered 250 special-interest lobbyists since new registration requirements took effect July 1. -
Gov. Scott signs ethics bill; Lobbyists at water districts must register and disclose
By Dan Christensen
BrowardBulldog.org
Gov. Rick Scott signed into law Friday a state ethics bill that requires lobbyists at Florida’s five water management districts to register and disclose who they’re working for and how much they’re being paid.
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