Daily Clips for January 12, 2010

PROGRESS FLORIDA IN THE NEWS Advocacy groups claim Florida is denying minimum wage earners a raise, while state lawmakers are hiring six-figured salaried friends By Mitch Perry Creative Loafing Related: Let’s get to work! Or the distant drums of the coming class war Related: Minimum Wage Dispute Excerpts: “While families in Florida are deprived a six-cent raise, state leaders are using our tax dollars to hand out six-figure salaries to their political buddies,” said Susannah Randolph, executive director of Florida Watch Action. “The legislative session has yet to begin but it’s already business-as-usual in Tallahassee.” ... Mark Ferullo with Progress Florida says, “Our government balks at a six cent per hour increase for Florida’s working families, but our government leaders have no problem doling out six-figure salaries to their political cronies. That’s a $10-per-month raise refused thousands of hard-working Floridians while a political buddy of the Senate President makes $175 an hour.” FEATURED STORIES Bob Graham: Keep oil drilling away from Florida's coast By William E. Gibson Orlando Sentinel Offshore drilling is inherently risky and should be kept far from Florida's shores, former U.S. Sen. Bob Graham declared Tuesday after leading a federal investigation of the BP oil spill. Hundreds of state rules, contracts caught in freeze By Aaron Deslatte Orlando Sentinel Four weeks ago, Gov.-elect Rick Scott's transition office reached out to the top lawyers in state agencies across Florida government to pick their brains about what would happen if the new governor froze contracts and new rules when he took office. The answer: a lot. New legislation could redirect revenue from ‘Choose Life’ plates — but where does it go now? By Virginia Chamlee Florida Independent New legislation could affect where revenue from Florida’s “Choose Life” license plates ends up — moving it out of the hands of counties, who then distribute it to adoption organizations, and into the hands of Choose Life, Inc., which would distribute some of the money to various pregnancy centers, and keep the rest for publicity and upkeep. FLORIDA POLITICS Florida job is enough, thanks By Alex Leary and Janet Zink St. Petersburg Times Enough of the Marco Rubio for vice president chatter. Democrats’ new chair plans to turn party’s fortunes in ‘the most malapportioned state in the South’ By Travis Pillow Florida Independent Newly elected Florida Democratic Party chairman Rod Smith outlined some unsurprising priorities for his party’s shrunken state House delegation Tuesday: rebuilding the party infrastructure at the local level, making sure Florida breaks for Barack Obama in 2012 and keeping Bill Nelson as Florida’s senior senator. Gruters announces several high-profile endorsements, despite ties to Buchanan allegations By Virginia Chamlee Florida Independent Joe Gruters announced several endorsements for his candidacy to become the next chairman of the Republican Party of Florida, including from state Senate Majority Whip Anitere Flores, R-Miami, and Senate President Pro Tempore Mike Bennett, R-Bradenton. Florida Parties are Justified in Desire for Early Presidential Primary By Dennis Maley The Bradenton Times The Florida Republican Party has indicated that it plans to move forward its 2012 Presidential Primary even if the national party decides to penalize them delegates for violating its schedule policy. POLITICAL RACES City elections: Cut the fluff Editorial Florida Times-Union Get ready for a new wave of candidate chatter in Jacksonville. ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY Spill panel urges more government action By Dina Cappellio Associated Press The oil industry, Congress and the Obama administration need to do more to reduce the chances of another large-scale oil spill, a presidential panel investigating the BP well blowout concluded Tuesday. Lake Okeechobee's declining water level strains South Florida's water supply By Andy Reid TC Palm Declining Lake Okeechobee water levels once again threaten to generate water-supply ripple effects that spread throughout South Florida, leaving less water for thirsty crops and lawns as well as an ecosystem trying to rebound from years of abuse. League of Cities and Florida Stormwater Association sue EPA to kill water quality standards By Virginia Chamlee Florida Independent The Florida League of Cities and the Florida Stormwater Association are the latest groups to file suit over the EPA’s numeric nutrient criteria, a strict set of standards that will limit the amount of waste allowed to be dumped in state waterways. State won't examine FPL's profits, orders beefed-up energy saving program By Julie Patel TC Palm State regulators on Tuesday unanimously rejected a proposal to monitor Florida Power & Light's profits in case the company earns more than what's allowed and customers are owed a refund. Florida Senate committee approves growth law fix The Associated Press A Senate panel today approved a fix for a 2009 law loosening state planning requirements and controls on urban sprawl that a judge has ruled unconstitutional. FPL touts steps for safer plants By Curtis Morgan Miami Herald Safety and security concerns have repeatedly cropped up at the Turkey Point nuclear power plant in recent years -- snoozing security guards, a disgruntled contractor drilling a hole in a pipe, a senior operator quitting at midnight over concerns about restarting a reactor too quickly, to name a few. EDUCATION Lawsuit over class size fines not a certainty, lawyer Meyer says By Jeff Solocheck The Gradebook The papers are ready. The more than 30 Florida school districts that face fines for failing to comply with the 2002 class size amendment are prepared to sue the state over the penalties as soon as they are actually imposed, lawyer Ron Meyer says. Michelle Rhee’s agenda: Fix “broken” education system, a “bureaucracy about adults” By Leslie Postal Sentinel School Zone Michelle Rhee, now an education adviser to Gov. Rick Scott, today released her new organization’s agenda for fixing America’s “broken” education system. Reserves help Lee County schools avoid cuts By Chris Umpierre Fort Myers News-Press With Florida facing declining property tax revenues, the Lee County School District is anticipating a $15 million budget shortfall for the 2012 fiscal year and plans to dip into reserves to plug the holes, budget director Ami Desamours said at Tuesday's board meeting. St. Lucie School District gets almost $5 million federal education reform grant By Kelly Tyko TC Palm The St. Lucie County School District is getting nearly $5 million in federal Race to the Top dollars. JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY Casino impact on state revenue touted at Senate hearing By Mary Ellen Klas St. Petersburg Times The state Senate committee poised to take up a bill to bring casino gambling to Florida heard a report Tuesday on how 13 other states collected millions of dollars in revenue after opening their doors to traditional Las Vegas-style games. Senate told building first high-speed rail gives state economic edge By Janet Zink St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau With Gov. Rick Scott and Senate President Mike Haridopolos indicating they don't want to put any state money into a high-speed rail line connecting Tampa to Orlando, the pressure is on private companies to pick up Florida's $280 million tab for the project. Scott says he's working phones to bring businesses to state Associated Press Gov. Rick Scott says he's working the phones to bring new businesses to Florida. Army Special Forces, potential new businesses could provide economic 'shot in the arm' By Dan Ricketts Northwest Florida Daily News Experts expect a strong turnaround in the local economy, which has taken a beating from the recession and the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. HEALTH AND SENIORS Senate GOP wages war on new health-care law By Paul Fleming Tallahassee Democrat Senate Republicans on Tuesday took the latest step to battle federal health care in Florida's constitution, one prong in state officials' multifaceted attack on President Obama's Affordable Care Act. Kids' coverage could be at risk By Jim Saunders Health News Florida Florida Gov. Rick Scott and other Republican governors are asking the federal government to give them more power to trim Medicaid eligibility to help control costs. After months of work, Medicaid group makes no recommendations By Christine Jordan Sexton Florida Tribune After months of meetings a blue ribbon panel of hospitals and insurance executives failed to make recommendations to the state on how to use local, mostly ad valorem, tax dollars to fund a Medicaid managed care expansion. CIVIL RIGHTS, PEACE, AND SOCIAL ISSUES Law professor: Arizona-style legislation in Florida would likely face major legal challenges By Travis Pillow Florida Independent The stage for Florida’s immigration debate was set this summer in Arizona, when controversy over Senate Bill 1070 inspired ads during the campaign and copy-cat bills during last year’s special legislative sessions. State senators voice frustration with E-Verify By Travis Pillow Florida Independent During last year’s election, then-candidate Rick Scott pledged to increase immigration enforcement at the state level. He began fulfilling that pledge on his first day as governor, signing an executive order requiring the state to verify that new hires are eligible to work in the United States using E-Verify. JUSTICE AND THE COURTS Lawmakers moving to make selling fake pot a real crime By Marc Caputo St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau Florida lawmakers have opened a new battle in the drug war, and they're saying no more Mr. Nice Guy.