June 18, 2012, (Written by Katie Sanders – Tampa Bay Times). U.S. Rep. Connie Mack IV’s strategy to win the Republican primary for U.S. Senate is simple: ignore it. “We have a 33-point lead,” Mack said last week, explaining his decision to skip three televised GOP primary debates.
News Release Category: Industry News
High court decision on health-care bill will set off a Florida scramble
June 17, 2012, (Writeen by Ledyard King – Florida Today). WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court’s upcoming decision on the 2010 health care reform law will set off a scramble in Florida — no matter what the court decides. A ruling upholding the entire law is expected to kick-start efforts to set up health exchanges for consumers, identify as many as 2 million uninsured Floridians who will be newly eligible for Medicaid, and dish out millions in insurance rebates to individuals and businesses.
Obama sets campaign stop for Friday in Tampa
June 18, 2012, (Written by Times Staff – Tampa Bay Times). TAMPA — President Barack Obama is scheduled to make a campaign stop Friday at Hillsborough Community College’s Dale Mabry campus. His speech is free and open to the public, but tickets are required.
Poll: Big support for immigration plan
June 19, 2012, (Written by William Bergstrom – Politico). President Barack Obama’s order to halt the deportation of certain young illegal immigrants enjoys big public support, a new poll Tuesday found. The survey by Bloomberg found that 64 percent of likely voters approved of Obama’s new policy, while 30 percent disagreed
Senate Dems balk at ending Bush-era tax rates on wealthy without a deficit deal
June 19, 2012, (Written by Alexander Bolton – The Hill). A growing number of Senate Democrats are signaling they are not prepared to raise taxes on anyone in the weak economy unless Congress approves a grand bargain to reduce the deficit. At least seven Democratic senators have declined to rule out supporting a temporary extension of the Bush-era income tax rates, breaking with party leaders who have called for letting the rates expire for people earning more than $1 million per year.
Dem hopes of taking House dim
June 19, 2012, (Written by Cameron Joseph – The Hill). Democratic hopes of recapturing the House are dimming as a series of race-by-race setbacks and economic uncertainty suggest that the 25 seats they need to net might be out of reach. The Hill projects that Democrats will net somewhere between 10 and 15 seats, assuming the presidential election remains a close contest.
Obama, Romney court Hispanic vote at Orlando conference
June 20, 2012, (Written by Lloyd Dunkelberger – Herald Tribune). Over the next two days, Florida will again become a hot spot in the 2012 presidential campaign as Barack Obama and Mitt Romney court Hispanic leaders attending a national conference in Orlando. Heading into the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) meeting, Obama has the stronger hand. Last Friday, the president announced a landmark program that could benefit more than 800,000 children of illegal immigrants.
AH&LA – Per Diem Rates May Be Slashed
July 20, 2012, (Written by AH&LA) – The General Services Administration (GSA) is seeking to reduce travel costs by changing the way it calculates per diem rates (GSA sets hotel per diem rates for the federal government). Smith Travel Research (STR) provides GSA with room rate data from hotels throughout the United States. GSA determines hotel average daily rates (ADR) by including rates from hotels in the “mid-price range.” Those rates are gathered from independent, midscale, upscale, upper upscale properties. GSA omits rates from economy and luxury hotels from the data as it considers them outside the mid-price range (too low and too high, respectively).
Speak Out Against Proposed ‘Per Diem’ Change
July 20, 2012 (Written by Waldorf Astoria) – Your help is needed in opposing a proposed change in the way federal per diem rates are calculated. The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) is considering removing “upper upscale” hotels (which would include the Hilton Hotels & Resorts and Embassy Suites brands, among others) from its per diem rate formula calculation. This could reduce the lodging per diem rate for federal travelers as much as 30% in major markets, which could cause all brands to see less government revenue. In urban core markets, full-service hotels will likely be priced out of range for federal travelers.
RESTORE Act ‘monumental’ to coastal economies
July 23, 2012 (Written by Travis Pillow – Florida Capital Bureau) The first checks remain a long way off, and much is uncertain, but federal and Florida legislation committing billions in fines from Deepwater Horizon operator BP will mean unprecedented cash windfalls for eight Florida counties, Wakulla and Franklin among them. As much as $20 billion in fines for the 2010 rig explosion and oil spill offers the chance to change the nature of Florida’s northern Gulf coast after the fisheries, resorts and people were threatened by more than 200 million gallons of spilled oil.