Florida Legislature ends special session with no agreement on new congressional districts
Source: Tampa Bay Times
TALLAHASSEE — A special legislative session to redraw congressional district lines ended in chaos Friday as senators staged an abrupt walkout and an angry House refused Senate requests to extend the session until next week.
The House and Senate adjourned shortly before noon. As a result, the Florida Supreme Court will likely have the duty to redraw the boundaries of all 27 congressional districts, creating unprecedented political uncertainty heading into the 2016 elections.
Gov. Rick Scott has the power to force the Legislature to reconvene and agree on a map before a court-imposed deadline of next Tuesday, Aug. 25. Scott had no immediate comment on the latest legislative meltdown. ..... The crisis engulfing the Legislature greatly complicates the members' next responsibility to redraw Senate boundaries after senators acknowledged that the 2012 lines were illegally gerrymandered.
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Friday's escalating tensions were the latest sign of a Capitol in complete chaos. Republicans have battled each other for months over health care, the budget and a recent mandate by the Florida Supreme Court to redraw congressional district lines to adhere to constitutional requirements that they not favor a party or incumbent.
Read more: http://www.tampabay.com/news/politics/stateroundup/florida-redistricting-special-session-implodes-with-no-agreement-on-new/2242227
Every one of these corrupt, stinking ba$tards needs to be yanked out of office, and new special elections held.
THIS IS HOW they have ensconced themselves into power in a state where there are nearly 500,000 more registered Democratic voters than registered Republican voters.
They have created a web to cheat themselves into power and stay there. And will take all of US to stop them.
Documents reveal secret Florida Senate process to draw district maps, August 20, 2015
The documents, filed Wednesday in Leon County Circuit Court as part of a lawsuit over the Senate map, show that Republican operatives faked "public" submissions, possessed draft Senate maps more than a month before senators and submitted Republican-leaning maps that matched pieces that became the foundation of the adopted Senate redistricting plan.
The same tactics emerged in the congressional redistricting trial that led to the Florida Supreme Court ordering the maps be redrawn in a special session that ends this week.
Documents show that the elaborate plan, which included staffing up public hearings with fake testimony and building maps in the shadows, involved many of the same Republican advisers who influenced the congressional plan — long-time political consultant Rich Heffley, Gainesville-based operative Pat Bainter and Republican Party of Florida adviser Frank Terraferma.
Testimony also shows the degree to which former Senate President Don Gaetz, R-Niceville, was engaged in drafting the maps.
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Gaetz would later tout the process as "the most transparent" redistricting in Florida history. But John Guthrie, former staff director of the Senate Reapportionment Committee who retired in June, said Gaetz intentionally met individually with senators so they could "share their reactions" and avoid the public meeting requirements of Senate rules.
Ladies and gentlemen, you are looking at THE most utterly corrupted GOP legislature and Governor in the country.
It is their intent to create as much chaos as possible prior to the next presidential election. Because in the midst of chaos, they can steal.
