Michael Van Sickler, Times/Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Michael has been with the Tampa Bay Times since 2003. A Cleveland, Ohio, native, he graduated from Allegheny College in Meadville, Pa., and got his master's degree at the University of Florida. He has worked at the Ledger and the Palm Beach Post. For the Times, he has covered everything from mortgage fraud, growth and development in Tampa Bay, and St. Petersburg City Hall. He now covers state politics and government as part of the Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau.
Phone: (850) 224-7263.
Email: mvansickler@tampabay.com
Twitter: @MikeVanSickler
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Banks get incomplete grades in first report card of mortgage settlement case
06/19/13 BlogWednesday was report card day for the five largest banks that agreed to a $25 billion settlement with the 49 attorneys general, but they received mostly incomplete scores from the government-appointed monitor passing out the grades.
Joe Smith, the monitor, released a report on Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase, CitiMortgage Inc., ResCap Partiers (formerly GMAC) and Wells Fargo. The banks were tested during two separate periods: July 1-Sept. 30 and Oct 1. to Dec. 31. According to a report by Smith last month, the banks have reported distributing $50.6 billion in direct relief to more than 620,000 homeowners through the settlement....
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So why again is Scott offering incentives to Amazon?
06/18/13 BlogWhen Amazon expands, like it wants to in Florida, state and local governments practically line up to offer to pay the company to move.
Virginia officials approved $4.4 million in taxpayer subsidies so Amazon could build two warehouses in the state. California reached a deal where the online company was free from sales taxes for a year, saving about $200 million. Texas officials forgave $269 million in back sales taxes to get a new warehouse. New Jersey officials put up millions more in breaks....
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Florida alone, not any tax break, could lure Amazon to Hillsborough
06/18/13BusinessTALLAHASSEE — When Amazon expands, as it wants to in Florida, state and local governments practically line up to offer to pay the company to move.
Virginia officials approved $4.4 million in taxpayer subsidies so Amazon could build two warehouses in the state. California reached a deal where the online company was free from sales taxes for a year, saving about $200 million. Texas officials forgave $269 million in back sales taxes to get a new warehouse. New Jersey officials put up millions more in breaks....
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Governor vetoes wildflower license plate
06/14/13 BlogFlorida’s native wildflowers include 263 species that sprout in yards, gardens and along the road, a ubiquity that has relegated the plant to a mostly overlooked status.
That all changed when the flower stormed the political stage Friday after Gov. Rick Scott vetoed HB 265 — a bill that would have increased the annual $15 fee for the wildflower license plate by $10. Scott’s veto sent shock waves throughout the plant world....
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Wildflower license plates get no respect from Scott
06/14/13 Local GovernmentTALLAHASSEE — Florida's native wildflowers include 263 species that sprout in yards, gardens and along the road, a ubiquity that has relegated the plant to a mostly overlooked status.
That all changed when the flower stormed the political stage Friday after Gov. Rick Scott vetoed HB 265 — a bill that would have increased the annual $15 fee for the wildflower license plate by $10. Scott's veto sent shock waves throughout the plant world....
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Grover Norquist has been watching Florida and he likes what he sees
06/14/13 BlogWashington anti-tax lobbyist Grover Norquist has gained fame for holding conservative elected officials to a no-new-taxes pledge. He's so powerful that his stamp of approval is a coup for any conservative wanting to prove himself to a wider national audience.
So on Friday afternoon, it was paydirt for Florida House Republicans when, seemingly unprompted, Norquist touted Florida's low taxes in a tweet to his 49,694 followers....
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Does Amazon deal undermine Scott's tea party support?
06/14/13 BlogFor Gov. Rick Scott, Thursday’s announcement boosts his claim that he’s a “jobs governor.”
Upon getting elected in 2010, Scott promised to create 700,000 new jobs on top of the average growth of 1 million jobs by 2017. About 302,500 jobs have been created since he took office. Thursday's Amazon announcement represents what would be one of the largest coups he’s had since taking office. The 3,000 jobs trails only 135,000 anticipated jobs from the opening of the Port Everglades Intermodal Terminal, 8,500 from a Winter Haven rail terminal, and 3,500 from a Wawa opening in Orlando. It would be the largest one-time job announcement for Tampa Bay since Scott became governor....
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Amazon deal could bring 1,000 jobs to Hillsborough, but more taxes for online shoppers
06/13/13BusinessTALLAHASSEE — Gov. Rick Scott and Amazon announced a deal Thursday in which the Internet retail giant would create 3,000 new jobs in Florida by 2016 — with about a third of those likely headed for a 1-million-square-foot warehouse in Ruskin, a part of Hillsborough County desperately needing an economic jolt.
But the good news comes with a catch: The new jobs in the state also mean consumers will be required to pay a 6 percent state sales tax on all the books, DVDs, CDs and other products they buy through Amazon.com. ...
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Storms, four others, made mistakes in disclosing finances, but won't be penalized
06/12/13 BlogThe Florida Commission on Ethics issued separate orders Wednesday finding that five current and former state lawmakers -- including former State Senator Ronda Storms -- filed incomplete financial disclosures last year.
But because the candidates filed amended disclosure forms that investigators determined were complete, the Commission decided to take no further action....
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Not a stolen election in House race, but burglary of ballots still a mystery
06/12/13 BlogState officials must have breathed a sigh of relief on Tuesday when Mike Hill easily won the special election for House District 1 by a healthy margin of more than 3,000 votes.
If it had been tight, Florida could have snared the national spotlight once again for questions about the security of its elections.
Minutes after 2 on Sunday morning, two men walked into the Santa Rosa Supervisor of Elections after prying the door open with a crow bar and cutting a fiber optic cable used for the building’s communications. They stole two safes, each weighing about 300 pounds, which they loaded on a hand dolly. Inside the safes were 33 early voting ballots, two absentee ballots and a cell phone....
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Did rejection of Medicaid expansion help House Republicans?
06/11/13 BlogFlorida Democrats hoping the fight over Medicaid expansion and the sequester would win them support with those who depend on federal funding won’t find much encouragement in Tuesday’s special election for House District 2.
In the first referendum since House Republicans bypassed more than $50 billion in federal aid for health care, Mike Hill, a 55-year-old tea party Republican insurance agent, won 57.9 percent of the vote in a Northwest Florida district that has an economy dominated by hospitals as well as the military -- which is weathering a sequester deal rife with budget cuts forced by congressional Republicans....
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DOT contract poses no conflict, Simpson says
06/07/13 BlogUPDATED WITH A CORRECTION: Senate general counsel George Levesque in an email Saturday said he didn't say that he relied on a 1985 Florida Commission on Ethics opinion before giving advice to Simpson. He said he spoke generically and was referencing other opinions. He did say that he relies on Florida Commission on Ethics advisory opinions to provide the interpretation of the law...
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Powerball winner's son never let on he was about to be rich
06/06/13 Human InterestFlorida Lottery officials say Gloria MacKenzie of Zephyrhills and her son in Jacksonville knew the night of the drawing that they had won the record $590 million Powerball jackpot.
If so, they did a masterful job of disguising their sudden fortune to the outside world. Jacksonville neighbors of Scott MacKenzie said they found out that he had won the May 18 drawing only when TV trucks and reporters descended upon their residential street Wednesday night. Until then, Scott and the man he lives with didn't let on....
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Scott signs mortgage relief bill, but will banks comply?
06/04/13 BlogFlorida Gov. Rick Scott signed a bill Tuesday that will distribute $200 million in mortgage relief and vowed the new law would hold banks accountable so homeowners are better shielded from foreclosure abuses.
“Banks will now be held accountable and Florida families will be protected with new protections for homeowners,’” Scott said while flanked by Attorney General Pam Bondi and state housing officials....
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Scott signs mortgage relief bill as concerns emerge about whether banks are following rules
06/04/13CourtsTALLAHASSEE — Florida Gov. Rick Scott signed a bill Tuesday that will distribute $200 million in mortgage relief and vowed the new law would hold banks accountable so homeowners are better shielded from foreclosure abuses.
"Banks will now be held accountable and Florida families will be protected with new protections for homeowners,'" Scott said while flanked by Attorney General Pam Bondi and state housing officials....
