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Progress Florida -- Progressive Solutions for Florida

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Daily Clips for April 21, 2010

PROGRESS FLORIDA IN THE NEWS

McCollum's lawsuit could be hurting efforts to become governor (includes video)

Reported by Jerry Hume

WTXL ABC News Tallahassee

Excerpt: "The attorney general of Florida is supposed to be the people's attorney and the people of Florida clearly want to have access to health care, so why he would be spending our tax dollars to fight against a solution to our health care problem is baffling to me," says Damien Filer, political director, Progress Florida.


60 Feet of Protest

By Whitney Ray

Capitol News Service

Supporters of the new health care regulations unrolled a 60 foot long petition signed by more than 76-hundred Floridians in the state Attorney General's Office this morning.


State Sen. Paula Dockery says state constitution bans oil drilling off Fla. Coast

By Carol Rosenberg

St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Politifact
Excerpt: Rather, the experts told us that the fate of near-offshore drilling is in the hands of the Florida Legislature, which in the 1980s adopted a ban in state waters. It was passed "in the wake of the Exxon-Valdez spill by the Florida Legislature" and designed to protect their coastal waters, said Mark Ferrulo, executive director of Progress Florida, a drilling opponent.

FEATURED STORIES

In Florida, Crist Moves Closer to Running as an Independent

By Tim Padgett

Time Magazine

Florida Governor Charlie Crist has to decide by April 30 whether he wants to run as an independent for his state's open U.S. Senate seat this fall -- an option he finally conceded this week he's considering.


If Crist runs as independent, political assumptions are gone

By Adam C. Smith

St. Petersburg Times

Charlie Crist is poised to leap into the great unknown.


U.S. attorney, IRS and FBI investigating Florida GOP credit card use

By Jay Weaver, Beth Reinhard and Lucy Morgan

St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Staff Writers

Federal law enforcement agencies have launched a criminal investigation into the use of American Express cards issued by the Republican Party of Florida to elected officials and staff, according to sources familiar with the probe.


Crist signs law imposing tougher high school graduation requirements

By Cristina Silva, Rebecca Catalanello and Jeffrey Solochek

Miami Herald/St. Petersburg Times Tallahassee Bureau

In a dramatic education shift, Gov. Charlie Crist signed into law tougher graduation requirements Tuesday for public high school students that will eventually replace the math and science Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test.


Senate panel leaves Crist's PSC appointees hanging, but Atwater says they'll get a vote

By Dara Kam

Palm Beach Post

Senate Republican leaders today refused to give the thumbs-up to two of Gov. Charlie Crist's appointed utility regulators in what the chairwoman of the Public Service Commission called political payback for Crist's recent vetoes of two key GOP initiatives.

LEGISLATIVE SESSION

In Tallahassee today, a message for Washington

By Marc Caputo

St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau

If you don't like President Barack Obama's administration, Wednesday's your day in the Florida House of Representatives.


Best of Florida Current April 20

Staff Report

Florida Tribune

The Florida House on Tuesday night unveiled its plan to respond to the veto of SB 6, the controversial legislation that stripped job protections for teachers.


Politically wounded personal injury lawyers salvage something

By John Frank

St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau

The final passage of two litigation measures Tuesday gave Florida trial lawyer two legislative victories in a year when few were expected.

POLITICAL RACES

Crist finances may take a hit

By William March

Tampa Tribune

Related: If Crist ditches GOP, 'no-party' label likely

If he bolts from the Republican Party and runs for the U.S. Senate as an independent, Gov. Charlie Crist will lose much of the financial base that once made him the state's top political fundraiser.


Fla. gov has many political options; none are good

By Brendan Farrington

The Associated Press

Plan A isn't working so well for Gov. Charlie Crist, a former rising Republican star who now trails badly in the Florida Senate primary, but Plans B, C and D don't look much better.


Crist campaign chair resigns, citing references to the Republican Party had been removed from Crist's campaign Website

By George Bennett

Palm Beach Post

It's not a good sign for a candidate when a local campaign functionary suggests dropping out, another speculates on making the most out of a loss and a third says his support is "in a wait-and-see mode."


GOP chairman urges Crist to remain a Republican

By Bill Cotterell

Tallahassee Democrat

The chairman of the Florida Republican Party expressed hope today that Gov. Charlie Crist will not leave the GOP in his race for the U.S. Senate, but said frontrunner Marco Rubio has tapped into a rich vein of "anti-establishment" feelings against the Obama administration.


Rubio picks up Cretul endorsement

By Bill Cotterell

Tallahassee Democrat

House Speaker Larry Cretul endorsed Marco Rubio for the U.S. Senate Tuesday, calling his opponent Gov. Charlie Crist "erratic."


Ethical questions forces Rep. Ros-Lehtinen to cancel fundraiser

By Lesley Clark

Miami Herald

Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, the top Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, scrapped an upcoming fundraiser after a Capitol Hill newspaper questioned the invite that asked participants to join an advisory council -- for a $2,500 campaign contribution.

BALLOT INITIATIVES

Black Democrat blasts GOP redistrict plan to protect blacks as 'unacceptable'

By Mary Ellen Klas

St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau

Not every black Democrat likes the the counter-amendment being pushed by Republican legislative leaders.


Opt-out amendment pops up again

By Jim Saunders

Health News Florida

Floridians could vote this fall on a proposed constitutional amendment that Republican supporters say would offer "freedom" from requirements of a new federal health-reform law.


Growth has consequences

By Dori Sutter

Orlando Sentinel

Like a game show, produced and directed by developers and local officials and sponsored by the economy, development provides an entertaining scenario until the show ends with too much growth, too fast and without need.


Negron plan would mean referendum for children's services taxing districts every 12 years

By Dara Kam

Palm Beach Post

Children's services councils that have taxing authority would have to go before the voters every twelve years under a controversial proposal revived today by Sen. Joe Negron.

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

House agrees to provide funding for land-buying program

By Bruce Ritchie

FloridaEnvironments.com

The House agreed Tuesday to provide money for Florida Forever, ending a year-long funding drought for the state land-buying program.


Fla. Superfund lawsuit seeks more than $500M

By Brian Skoloff

The Associated Press

Residents of a neighborhood on the edge of a polluted Florida Superfund site sued the property owners Tuesday, seeking at least $500 million to decontaminate their homes and monitor their health.


Atlantic right whale calving season ends with 19 born, possible changes ahead

By Caren Burmeister

Florida Times-Union

The Atlantic right whale calving season is over, and while it didn't set records, biologists are pleased that 19 calves were born, many of them off St. Johns County's coast.

EDUCATION

It's now tougher to graduate from high school in Florida

By Leslie Postal

Orlando Sentinel

Gov. Charlie Crist on Tuesday signed a bill requiring students to take more difficult math and science courses and pass new end-of-course exams to earn high-school diplomas.


Prayer, religious funding bills find backing in House and Senate

By Cristina Silva

St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau

Republican senators sat aghast Tuesday as Pace High School principal Frank Lay described the religious ban at his public school.

JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY

Fund raid may cost hundreds of jobs

By Catherine Whittenburg

Tampa Tribune

Lawmakers have said for months that creating jobs is their top priority, but critics say the Legislature's plan to shrink a transportation trust fund will wipe out more than 11,000 jobs.

HEALTH AND SENIORS

McCollum Lawsuit to Block Federal Health Care Reform Politically Unpredictable

By Margie Menzel

WFSU Public Radio Tallahassee

Attorney General Bill McCollum, the front-runner in the GOP primary for governor, has said all along that his lawsuit to block the new federal health-care-reform measure isn't driven by politics.


Health subsidy for state retirees saved in budget talks

By Steve Bousquet and Marc Caputo

St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau

A second day of budget talks Tuesday produced at least one group of winners: retired public employees.


Medicaid overhaul is facing headwinds

By Catherine Whittenburg

Tampa Tribune

With fewer than 10 days left before the legislative session ends, an aggressive House plan to overhaul Medicaid may be in trouble.


Florida Cancer Survivor Fights to Save "Nature's Pharmacy"

By Gina Presson

Public News Service Florida

The venom of the Brazilian pit viper, the saliva of the Mexican Gila monster, and tree bark of the Bornean rainforests - all hold ingredients of life-saving medications.


State to give Moffitt $10 million

By Catherine Whittenburg

Tampa Tribune

The H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute scored a victory Tuesday when House and Senate budget negotiators agreed to give the institution $10 million next fiscal year.

CIVIL RIGHTS, PEACE AND SOCIAL ISSUES

Florida House approves hate crime protection for the homeless

By Lee Logan

St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau

Spurred by a 2006 video showing a group of teenagers bashing a homeless man with baseball bats, House lawmakers voted Tuesday to give the homeless added protection under the state's hate crimes law.


Dorothy Height, civil rights activist, dies at 98

The Associated Press

Palm Beach Post

Dorothy Irene Height, a pioneering voice of the civil rights movement whose activism stretched from the New Deal to the election of President Barack Obama, died Tuesday.

JUSTICE AND THE COURTS

Dismissal motions for Sansom, Richburg to be heard Wednesday

By Tom McLaughlin

Northwest Florida Daily News

Lawyers for Ray Sansom and Bob Richburg will be in court in Tallahassee Wednesday morning to argue for dismissal of criminal charges against their clients.

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