Kottkamp to back McCollum for governor, likely run for attorney general himself

By Bill Cotterell

Lt. Gov. Jeff Kottkamp said today he will probably run for attorney general, not governor, as dominoes continue falling across Florida’s 2010 political landscape.

That means Attorney General Bill McCollum, who won’t say officially that he’s running for governor, will probably go for the top prize next week. Kottkamp said he plans to be with McCollum for the announcement of McCollum’s gubernatorial candidacy expected next week in Central Florida.

Agriculture Commissioner Charles Bronson, who is term-limited out of his Cabinet seat next year, is still considering a bid for governor. Like McCollum, he has said he will announce his plans next week.

Florida Republican Party Chairman Jim Greer, who has been working for the past few months to have as few GOP primaries as possible, said Thursday his efforts are making progress. Gov. Charlie Crist’s long-expected announcement that he is running for the U.S. Senate Tuesday touched off the political chain reaction in GOP circles, as Democrats united around Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink.

“I anticipate being there on Monday to support this party,” Kottkamp said of McCollum’s plans. “I’ve been by the governor’s side for the last two and a half years and I’ve seen what it takes on a day-to-day basis to be governor, and I think Bill McCollum is capable of doing that.”

Senators: Does ‘Rachel’s Law’ compromise go far enough

Irv Hoffman and Margie Weiss are the parents of Rachel Hoffman, who was killed last year while working as a confidential informant for the Tallahassee Police Department, appeared Wednesday before the Senate Criminal Justice Committee

A push to regulate the use of confidential informants cleared an important hurdle on Wednesday, but only after the heart-wrenching pleas of a grieving father left some lawmakers wondering whether “Rachel’s Law” goes far enough.

The bill is named after 23-year-old Rachel Hoffman, a recent FSU graduate who was slain last year after she was recruited to serve as a confidential informant for the Tallahassee Police Department.

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Crist: Stimulus plan a boon to Florida

By Jim Ash

Tallahassee – Gov. Charlie Crist, President Barack Obama’s favorite Republican cheerleader, said Monday the state can expect to rake in more than $12.2 billion over the next three years from the federal stimulus package just passed by Congress.

“It passed with great gratitude from Florida,” Crist said.

 It’s still not clear whether Florida will have to ask for special permission from the federal government to claim $3.6 billion in education dollars. A feature of the federal plan denies education money to states like Florida that have slashed their school budgets.
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Crist proposes cuts, sweeps to make up $2.3 billion gap

Gov. Charlie Crist has proposed spending cuts, sweeping trust funds for extra money, using Seminole gambling money and borrowing to build prisons to meet a projected $2.3 billion shortfall in the state’s spending plan.

The Legislature is set to meet in special session starting Jan. 5 to fix the budget. An economy in recession and a burst housing bubble has continued to drain tax revenue.

Crist’s proposal, released this afternoon, includes $561.5 million in spending cuts.

It pulls extra money from a variety of sources. The biggest is $600 million from the Lawton Chiles Endowment Trust Fund, set up with a portion of proceeds from the state’s settlement in tobacco litigation.

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