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Lawmakers Fail To Approve New Congressional Maps

The Florida Capitol.
Nick Evans

UPDATE 8/21/15  12:08:

Despite two attempts by the Senate to to extend the special session, the process has fallen apart without a finished product.  Lawmakers have failed to approve any revisions to Florida's congressional districts.  This likely means the state Supreme Court will redraw the borders.

UPDATE 8/21/15 11:45:

The House refused to go along with the Senate's first offer to extend the special session.  House lawmakers also returned their version of congressional borders to the Senate without the Senate's changes.  Galvano amended that measure to include the changes of both chambers and returned it to the House along with another request to extend session to Tuesday evening.

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After reaching an impasse, it appears state lawmakers are preparing to extend their session to redraw the state's congressional borders.  The dispute came to a head in an informal conference between House and Senate redistricting chairs.  Sen. Bill Galvano (R-Bradenton) walked out on his House counterpart Rep. Jose Oliva (R-Miami Lakes). 

The Senate is pushing for a conference to find middle ground between the chambers' proposals, but the House is reticent to make further changes.  Oliva says the Florida Supreme Court may find Tier One violations—i.e., intent to favor a party or incumbent—in changes offered by Sen. Tom Lee (R-Brandon).

Shortly thereafter, the Senate reconvened to pass a bill to extend session until Tuesday evening.

Nick Evans came to Tallahassee to pursue a masters in communications at Florida State University. He graduated in 2014, but not before picking up an internship at WFSU. While he worked on his degree Nick moved from intern, to part-timer, to full-time reporter. Before moving to Tallahassee, Nick lived in and around the San Francisco Bay Area for 15 years. He listens to far too many podcasts and is a die-hard 49ers football fan. When Nick’s not at work he likes to cook, play music and read.