PROGRESS FLORIDA IN THE NEWS
By Alex Leary
Excerpt: "If they were sitting around the White House knowing that Florida would rise up in an apoplectic uproar, chance is this proposal would have looked a lot different," Mark Ferrulo of Progress Florida, which tracks the oil debate, said Thursday.
By Jeremy Wallace
Excerpt: Ferrulo said he is hopeful Nelson will drive a harder bargain when the legislation makes it into the Senate for debate.
FEATURED STORIES
By John Frank and Marc Caputo
Related editorial: Call in the feds to investigate state GOP
Related: All the Republicans who supported Jim Greer
The Florida Republican Party's political crisis exploded Thursday, as former chairman Jim Greer filed a lawsuit against the organization alleging it violated the terms of a secret severance agreement.
By John Kennedy and Lloyd Dunkelberger
After four hours of harsh, partisan debate, the House approved a $67.2 billion budget plan Thursday which relies on cuts to schools, health programs and human services -- a marked contrast to the Senate's budget, beefed up by anticipated dollars from Washington and gambling.
By Leslie Postal and Dave Weber
State pins future hopes for Race to the Top grant on merit-pay plan - not union support.
By Bruce Ritchie
With Florida facing a budget crisis, some legislators say it's time for the state to put some land up for sale that is no longer needed for conservation.
BEST OF THE BLOGS
By Joy Reid
During a "get to know the candidate" speech at a West Palm Beach church, no less, Senate candidate and donor funded bon vivant Marco Rubio made a juvenile crack about "trading" Keith Olbermann and two other famous liberals "for people who love this country and want to help us build it," prompting Olbermann to punch him in the face via "special comment."
By Beach Blogger
The NY Times reports President Obama plans to unveil a new coastal oil drilling plan today. If the oily details leaked to the press are correct, he intends to endanger just a little less sugar-white beach offshore of Pensacola than his predecessor desired.
By Gimleteye
More than two years after Wall Street's closest brush with death since the Great Depression, taxpayers, investors and voters are still waiting for the kind of bare knuckles Congressional action like the Pecora Hearings in the 1930's that resulted in federal legislation creating basic firewalls within the banking industries.
LEGISLATIVE SESSION
By Catherine Whittenburg and Richard Mullins
A divided Florida House voted 74-44 on Thursday for a state budget proposal that reduces services, boosts tuition and cuts benefits for state retirees -- tough choices that the full Legislature may adopt later this month if Florida doesn't soon receive large, hoped-for cash infusions.
By Steve Bousquet
On a party-line, election-year vote, House Republicans on Thursday pushed through their blueprint for spending $67.2 billion next year, most of it for education, health care, transportation and public safety.
By The News Service Of Florida
Members of the Florida House tried to vote to reduce their own pay today, but the chamber ended up inadvertently giving themselves a raise -- at least temporarily.
Staff Report
Sen. Dan Gelber is urging Gov. Charlie Crist to veto legislation that makes changes in the campaign finance reporting requirements for some electioneering organizations and creates a new type of campaign fundraising outfit tied to legislative leadership.
By Larry Hannan
A bill to ban Florida motorists from texting while driving is moving through a conflicted Legislature, where some of the measure's supporters don't seem very enthused about it.
POLITICAL RACES
By Aaron Deslatte and Rene Stutzman
As Winter Park Rep. Dean Cannon's power and prestige grew, so did his travel and spending on the state Republican Party dime.
By Justin Elliott
Over the past year, we've seen example after example of Florida GOP leaders using party credit cards for lavish personal spending -- from an $839 Starbucks bill to a $134 haircut and, now, a new allegation that the party chair used official funds to enrich himself.
By George Bennett
For South Florida voters who sent liberal Democrat Robert Wexler to Washington seven times, this month's special congressional election offers a chance to stay the Democratic course or deliver an upset even more improbable than Republican Scott Brown's January win in a Massachusetts special Senate election.
By Lesley Clark
President Barack Obama conveyed his harshest rebuke yet of Havana's government last week and, hours later, Gloria Estefan protested repression in Havana from the streets of Miami.
BALLOT INITIATIVES
By Cathy Keen
A group of scholars led by Daniel Smith, a University of Florida political science professor, filed a "friend of the court" brief today with the U.S. Supreme Court urging states be allowed to publicly disclose citizen signatures on ballot initiatives and referenda.
ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY
By John M. Broder and Clifford Krauss
In proposing a major expansion of offshore oil and gas development, President Obama set out to fashion a carefully balanced plan that would attract bipartisan support for climate and energy legislation while increasing production of domestic oil.
By Joe Conason
With President Obama's announcement that he will reopen offshore drilling, in the absence of any reciprocal commitment from Republicans to support carbon caps and alternative energy development, there is now an unmistakable pattern of White House strategy.
By Scott Finn
In the wake of President Obama's announcement to expand offshore oil and gas drilling, people in Florida are struggling to weigh its potential risks and benefits to the state.
Editorial
The South as a region, and Florida in particular, are trailing behind most of the nation in setting basic standards and goals for renewable energy.
Editorial
President Obama's expansion of offshore oil and gas drilling in Florida may be good politics, but it's bad policy.
Editorial
President Barack Obama's proposal to expand offshore oil and gas drilling shows a disappointing lack of foresight and creativity toward meeting our nation's future energy needs.
EDUCATION
Staff Report
At least three lawmakers have received threatening phone calls over a slate of controversial education reform bills being considered by the Legislature.
By Sara Kennedy
The state Senate this week voted to impose new restrictions on Bright Futures scholarships, which last year helped almost 170,000 students statewide, and at least 1,400 locally.
JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY
By Mark Albright
State officials have chosen a procedure for doling out Florida's 20 percent appliance rebates that requires access to a computer or someone who can use one.
By Kevin Smetana
An upcoming Tampa Bay Workforce Alliance graduation that is budgeted for $95,000 likely will not happen, the agency's interim president said Thursday.
Editorial
You don't have to look far to see the ruins of Wall Street greed that caused the Great Recession.
HEALTH AND SENIORS
By Jim Saunders
Senate Republicans tossed a bomb into the debate about overhauling Medicaid on Wednesday, approving a proposal that could lead to capping program costs and giving health-insurance vouchers to beneficiaries.
By Carol Gentry
Companies accused of breaking Medicare rules in federal documents released this week expressed shock at the news, saying they have taken pains to follow new rules for paying sales agents and field organizations.
By Suzanne Kosmas
Opposing viewpoint: U.S. Rep. John Mica on health-care-reform: Missed the mark, all will have to pay more
An examination of the Health Care Reform Law (audio story)
WMNF Community Radio Tampa
State Web site offers easy access to info on STDs
Tallahassee Democrat
CIVIL RIGHTS, PEACE AND SOCIAL ISSUES
By Carol Marbin Miller
Juvenile court judges cannot jail delinquent foster kids in county lockups just to keep the kids from running away, a Miami appeals court ruled Wednesday, ending a years-old practice that authorities have employed to protect runaway kids from themselves.
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