FEATURED STORIES
By Cristina Silva, Kathleen McGrory and Patricia Mazzei
Related: Concerns aired over standards for teacher pay
U.S. Senate hopefuls Crist and Rubio slug it out with television commercials
St. Petersburg Times
GOP Tries New Delaying Tactic On Health Care
NPR
Editorial
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
Editorial
Miami Herald
LEGISLATIVE SESSION
By John Kennedy
A budget battle is looming in the Legislature, with the Senate and House spending plans $1.4 billion apart.
By Mary Ellen Klas
Legislators are closer than ever to resolving their differences over a gambling compact with the Seminole Tribe and injecting $450 million into the state budget, the lead House negotiator said Wednesday.
The Associated Press
After a sharp Senate debate Wednesday, a bill is headed to Gov. Charlie Crist's desk that would revive and modify a Florida "electioneering" law that was ruled unconstitutional last year by a federal judge who said it violated freedom of speech.
By Michael C. Bender
Most of the tax credits that Florida Republicans would use to attract film companies to the state would be cashed in by well-established corporations such as Wal-Mart, Sherwin-Williams or Bank of America.
By Catherine Whittenburg
A Senate panel voted on Wednesday to let property insurers raise their rates without approval from regulators, despite public urging from Gov. Charlie Crist that lawmakers reject the plan.
By Lee Logan
In a Legislature averse to raising taxes this election year, one item might not be off limits: bottled water.
By Bill Cotterell
Government agencies would no longer have to run legal advertisements in newspapers, but could notify the public of official actions via the Internet, under a bill narrowly approved by a House committee Wednesday.
By Josh Hafenbrack
After getting an earful from motorists around the state, lawmakers are moving to repeal or roll back some of the more than $1 billion in driver's license and vehicle registration hikes they approved last year.
By Bruce Ritchie
Go to any stretch of beach in Florida and chances are you will see someone casting a fishing line into the oncoming surf.
The Associated Press
A billion-dollar budget gap is hardly a laughing matter, but legislators are finding humor where they can.
POLITICAL RACES
By Adam C. Smith
Campaign finance reports show Charlie Crist's struggling U.S. Senate campaign has enjoyed some questionable expenses on the Florida Republican party's American Express account.
By Adam C. Smith
Chris Ingram, a Republican activist and consultant in Tampa who had been an early and enthusiastic supporter of Marco Rubio (and blistering critic of Charlie Crist), shares the following e-mail exchange with Rubio.
By Mike Thomas
Sink has done a masterful job of portraying herself as a waffling wimp on health care, allowing Bill McCollum's campaign to pound her as indecisive while Bill champions the battle to overturn the reform.
By Michael Vasquez
In the midst of delivering an impassioned speech decrying President Obama's healthcare reform, GOP congressional hopeful Corey Poitier veered dangerously off-script.
By David Hunt
Dean Black, a former military man who has a 48-acre farm on Jacksonville's Northside, has mingled with the region's Republicans for months preaching the need for a GOP ouster in the Democrat-heavy 3rd Congressional District.
By Tom McLaughlin
Jan Fernald, the Democrat who will oppose Matt Gaetz in the April 13 special election for the District 4 state House seat, said Wednesday that it was discouraging to see him emerge as the winner from Tuesday's Republican primary.
By Frank Fernandez
Volusia County would provide ballots in English and Spanish starting in 2012 and offer more help to Spanish voters this year under the proposed settlement of a lawsuit filed against the county.
BALLOT INITIATIVES
The Associated Press
A November ballot proposal that would loosen Florida's class size limits is up for a vote in the state Senate.
By Joel Engelhardt
Hometown Democracy recognizes that, too often in Florida, the balance falls on the side of the powerful interests.
ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY
By Mark Strain
It is surprising how quickly some Floridians are willing to reduce their standards if there's money involved.
Editorial
When Gov. Charlie Crist caved in to developers last year and eviscerated Florida's growth management laws, he pledged to push the Legislature this year to create a new fee to help pay for roads to accommodate new development.
LGBT
By Nancy A. Youssef and Margaet Talev
The Obama administration is expected to take the first concrete steps toward dismantling the ban on gays in the military service on Thursday, when Defense Secretary Robert Gates announces rules that will make it harder for other service members to force out suspected gays.
EDUCATION
By Aaron Deslatte and Leslie Postal
The Florida Senate voted Wednesday to shake up the state's teacher-pay system, toughen high-school-graduation requirements and expand a corporate-tax-credit program that allows parents to place their children in private schools.
By Dara Kam
Teachers salaries and job security would rest on how well their students perform on tests yet to be developed, under sweeping education reforms approved by the Florida Senate on Wednesday.
By Bill Cotterell
Thousands of chanting, sign-waving students jammed the Capitol courtyard today to celebrate Senate passage of a plan to expand corporate-funded tuition vouchers for school choice.
By Harriet Daniels
"No more cuts to education" is the message a group heading to Tallahassee this morning will deliver to state legislators.
The Associated Press
The Legislature will continue to play a leading role in setting tuition for Florida's 11 public universities under an agreement reached today with the board that oversees the schools.
By Ron Word
A bill allowing community college boards of trustees to establish a transportation access fee so their students can ride public buses was approved Wednesday in the Florida House.
JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY
The Progress Report
Now that health care reform has passed both the House and the Senate, Congress and the Obama administration will turn to, among other things, financial regulatory reform aimed at correcting the deficiencies that led to the 2008 meltdown.
The Associated Press
State transportation officials say construction on a high-speed rail line between Tampa and Orlando could begin in about one year.
By Jeff Kunerth and Scott Powers
If not for babies and immigrants, Metro Orlando would be shrinking.
Editorial
With government revenues battered by a slump that's now 4 years old, it's time Florida had the guts to reform its crazy tax system - or at least start to talk about it.
HEALTH AND SENIORS
By Sean Kinane
Florida's senior U.S. Senator, Democrat Bill Nelson, says he will vote for the package of health care reform fixes passed Sunday by the House. Nelson says the reform will "improve the lives of tens of millions of Americans"
By Dave Berman
U.S. Rep. Suzanne Kosmas sought to reassure her constituents on Wednesday that she did the right thing in voting in favor of health care reform legislation.
By Ryan Mills
Love him or hate him, Karl Rove is always more than willing to speak his mind.
By John Frank
Even as the GOP assails President Barack Obama's health care overhaul as a "government takeover," top Florida Republicans are pushing a measure that opponents say would do the same for the state's emergency rooms.
By Christine Jordan Sexton
A bill that would have provided sovereign immunity protections to health care providers who treat patients in emergency situations is "on life support," with a poor prognosis, according to its supporters.
By Carol Gentry
Six Medicare Advantage plans that have been in trouble in the past are still breaking marketing rules in ways that place beneficiaries at risk, according to a report by the Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
CIVIL RIGHTS, PEACE AND SOCIAL ISSUES
The Associated Press
Gloria Estefan will help lead a march in solidarity with the Cuban mothers and wives of some 75 dissidents arrested in a 2003 government crackdown there.
JUSTICE AND THE COURTS
Staff Report
A bill drafted in reaction to the slaying of a Fort Myers Police officer is closer to becoming state law.
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