PROGRESS FLORIDA IN THE NEWS
Back at the Capitol, Crist, Sink Push Drilling Ban
News Service of Florida
WMBB TV News Panama City
Excerpt: Now Crist is teaming up with the Democrat who sought unsuccessfully to replace him, former Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink, to co-chair the Save Our Florida Beaches campaign that was launched in October by the Florida Wildlife Federation, Progress Florida and the Sea Turtle Conservancy.
FEATURED STORIES
Gov. Rick Scott to lawmakers: Let's make a budget deal
By Marc Caputo
St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Related editorial: Scott's budget full of political posturing
Gov. Rick Scott had a blunt request for lawmakers when he unveiled his budget: "Just pass it."
2,000 jobs axed, but Florida schools fear more cuts
By Denise-Marie Balona
Orlando Sentinel
Related editorial: Education is job 1
Florida educators worried over possible layoffs and other casualties resulting from Gov. Rick Scott's proposed budget have been cutting their staffs for years.
Gov. Rick Scott backs away from universal school vouchers
By Michael C. Bender
St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
A flurry of legal questions on top of an already ambitious education agenda has helped persuade Florida Gov. Rick Scott to back away from a controversial plan for universal school vouchers.
Florida governor turns Voting Rights Act rule on its head
By David G. Savage
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Since the 1960s, state and local officials in the South have been required by law to seek advance approval from the Justice Department in Washington before making changes in their election rules, a legacy of the era when blacks were denied the right to vote.
Florida cities face underfunded pension benefits
By Mary Ellen Klas
St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
From Hialeah to St. Petersburg, Florida's cities and counties face a "ticking time bomb" of debt because they do not have enough money to pay future pensions and health care benefits already promised to current employees, according to a report released Wednesday from the LeRoy Collins Institute.
Gov. Rick Scott opposes president's plan to put off states' jobless debt payments
By Alex Leary and Jeff Harrington
St. Petersburg Times
President Barack Obama's plan to give states more time to pay back billions borrowed for jobless benefits ran into a key obstacle Wednesday: Florida Gov. Rick Scott.
FLORIDA POLITICS
Gov. Rick Scott overstated budget cuts, legislators say
By Aaron Deslatte
Orlando Sentinel
Gov. Rick Scott made a campaign-like splash this week, proclaiming to national cable news audiences and tea partiers that his $65.9-billion budget proposal to lawmakers would cut government spending by around $5 billion.
Businesses, drivers would pay less under Scott budget
By Dara Kam
Palm Beach Post
Among the big winners in Gov. Rick Scott's first-time spending plan are business owners and anyone who owns a motor vehicle.
Scott's e-mail riles the troops
By Bill Cotterell
Florida Capital News
Accused of using the White House to preach his personal morality on things like trust-busting and wilderness conservation, Theodore Roosevelt cheerfully admitted it.
Fla. lawmakers influence foreign affairs
By Lesley Clark
Miami Herald
Looking for a member of the Florida congressional delegation? Try the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
Florida Chamber of Commerce outlines 2011 legislative agenda
By Travis Pillow
Florida Independent
The Florida Chamber of Commerce has released its legislative agenda for 2011.
Haridopolos to speak at UF about upcoming session
By Nathan Crabbe
Gainesville Sun
Florida Senate President Mike Haridopolos will speak Thursday night at the University of Florida about the upcoming state legislative session.
POLITICAL RACES
Mike Haridopolos, the $1-million man
By Adam C. Smith
St. Petersburg Times
Yep, there are solid reasons for George LeMieux, Connie Mack, Adam Hasner, Nick Loeb and co. to be very afraid of Mike Haridopolos' Senate campaign.
BALLOT INITIATIVES
Drilling opponents campaigning for constitutional amendment
By Paul Flemming
Florida Capital News
Oil-drilling opponents Wednesday kicked off a campaign to get nearly 700,000 signatures in less than a year so voters can decide whether to ban drilling in Florida waters.
Charlie Crist and Alex Sink return to promote oil drilling ban proposal
By Aaron Sharockman
St. Petersburg Times
Former Gov. Charlie Crist and former Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink returned to the Capitol on Wednesday to try to do what they couldn't while in office: ban oil drilling.
ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY
S. Fla. board: Scott plan to cut water district taxes 25 percent threatens jobs, Everglades cleanup
By Ana M. Valdes
Palm Beach Post
The South Florida Water Management District may be forced to lay off employees and halt some Everglades restoration efforts if Gov. Rick Scott sticks by his proposal to cut water management districts' property taxes by 25 percent, board members and staff said Wednesday.
Rebate shortages cloud solar projects
By Jim Waymer
Florida Today
Florida Power & Light Co. can recoup from customers the full $70 million cost of its new solar plant at Kennedy Space Center.
EDUCATION
Governor's budget would cut K-12 spending per pupil by $703
By Jackie Alexander and Nathan Crabbe
Gainesville Sun
Florida Gov. Rick Scott's budget has the Alachua County Public Schools crying foul but the University of Florida breathing a sigh of relief.
“Waiting for Superman” educator backs Florida teacher pay bill
By Brandon Larrabee
Florida Times-Union
The drive to tie teacher pay more closely to student achievement got a boost Wednesday from the former chancellor of the school system in the nation's capital, who gave a qualified endorsement in front of the Senate panel that will vote on the measure today.
Florida students' scores among tops nationally in Advanced Placement report
By Ron Matus
St. Petersburg Times
Florida high school students continue to rank among the top in the nation when it comes to performance on college-caliber Advanced Placement exams, according to results released Wednesday.
JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY
Governor Scott's Budget Recommendations Infographic
Staff Report
Florida Tribune
The impact of Governor Rick Scott's proposed budget for FY 2011-12. The chart represents proposed changes in positions and dollars by state agency.
Impact Of Governor Scott's Budget On Low And Middle Income Floridians (audio story)
By Robert Lorei
WMNF Community Radio Tampa
Here to talk with us about the state budget is Alan Stonecipher communications director of the Florida Center for Fiscal and Economic Policy, a nonprofit focused on budget and tax issues, particularly from the viewpoint of low and moderate income Floridians.
Public pensions get more scrutiny
By Jerome R. Stockfisch
Tampa Tribune
The alarm over public employee pensions has already been sounded at the state level, with Gov. Rick Scott vowing to overhaul an increasingly costly state employee benefit system.
Foreclosure crisis: Dip in filings doesn't mean worst is over
By Kimberly Miller
Palm Beach Post
Florida's foreclosure tally for the month of January fell to a 3½ -year low as the number of homes getting an initial default letter plunged 69 percent from the same time in 2010 - but don't pop the champagne corks yet.
Planners pitch idea of shorter, less expensive light rail in Tampa
By Rich Shopes
St. Petersburg Times
Hillsborough transit planners are proposing a light rail line between Tampa International Airport and downtown that's smaller and less costly than the one shot down by voters in November.
Scott's plan to sell state planes may come up short
By Brent Henzi
Florida Tribune
Gov. Rick Scott’s plan to sell the state’s two planes might not go as expected, as bids for the planes received by the Department of Management Services on Wednesday might be too low.
HEALTH AND SENIORS
Bills change rules for how Florida's vulnerable file lawsuits
By Christine Jordan Sexton
Florida Tribune
A pair of bills were filed in the Legislature this week that would limit lawsuits against companies that care for the state's elderly and the developmentally disabled.
Gov. Scott's call for repeal of pill mill law ill-advised
Editorial
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Seven per day, governor. That's the estimate of the number of people who lose their lives to medication abuse every day in Florida.
CIVIL RIGHTS, PEACE AND SOCIAL ISSUES
Immigration bills advance despite warnings from business lobbyists and immigrant advocates
By Jim Turner and Jenna Buzzacco-Foerster
TC Palm
State Rep. William Snyder and Sen. Mike Bennett both agree Florida shouldn’t be dealing with immigration policies.
JUSTICE AND THE COURTS
14 DOC execs terminated as of Friday
By Bill Cotterell
Florida Capital News
The Department of Corrections is terminating 14 top executives this week and moving two others to posts in combined, streamlined regions just in time for the arrival of Gov. Rick Scott's new prisons chief from Indiana.
Florida Attorney General widens foreclosure firm probe
By Shannon Behnken
Tampa Tribune
The Florida Attorney General's office broadened its probe into sloppy or fraudulent documentation at foreclosure law firms.
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