Daily Clips for March 31, 2011

FEATURED STORIES

$66.5 billion House budget cuts schools, services, jobs and employees' pay
By John Kennedy
Palm Beach Post
The House budget committee approved a $66.5 billion state spending plan Wednesday that would reduce the state's workforce by 5,245 jobs, pull $710 million from public employee paychecks and cut Florida schools by $1.1 billion.

Cuts to state budget likely will hurt many Floridians
By Gary Fineout
Ocala Star-Banner
The Republican-controlled Legislature has insisted that, in order to overcome the state's nearly $4 billion budget shortfall, it will slash state spending rather than raise taxes on Floridians during tough economic times.

‘Bold’ changes to Medicaid OK’d
By Jim Saunders
Health News Florida
With the chief sponsor calling for "bold and transformative" changes, a Senate committee today approved a controversial proposal that would hand over most of the Medicaid program to managed-care plans.

Growth management do-over passes
By Jerome R. Stockfisch
Tampa Tribune
Legislation that dramatically scaled back growth management in Florida but was blocked by the courts will go back into law with the expected signature of Gov. Rick Scott.

Sprawl invite
Editorial
Miami Herald
Every year, without fail, the Legislature takes up legislation that seeks to gut the state’s growth-management system. This year’s version is as bad as it gets.

Sen. Marco Rubio demands an overhaul of Social Security and Medicare
By William E. Gibson
Orlando Sentinel
Florida Sen. Marco Rubio launched a national publicity campaign Wednesday to demand an overhaul of Social Security and Medicare to keep the programs solvent and ease the national debt.

FLORIDA POLITICS

Senate code addresses conflicts of interest
By Bill Cotterell
Florida Capital News
A Senate committee approved a "code of honor" Wednesday forbidding state officials to vote on matters affecting their personal finances or business prospects.

Dramatic end to Ray Sansom trial gives way to debate on what happened
By Alex Leary
St. Petersburg Times
Juror Pamela McLean returned from lunch expecting to hear hours of additional testimony in the Ray Sansom trial. Instead she was told she could go home.

Haridopolos barb riles law enforcement
Staff Report
Palm Beach Post
Answering a question about budget cuts to law enforcement, Senate President Mike Haridopolos said he considers prison guards more like home security systems than police.

Today in Tallahassee: Senate budget, House Medicaid reform
By Mary Ellen Klas
St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
A day after the Florida House held a 12-hour meeting to take up budget issues, the Senate's Budget Committee has scheduled a nine-hour hearing to take up its spending and pension reform plans, as well as dozens of budget-related bills.

POLITICAL RACES

PPP Poll: Bill Nelson holding at least 13 point lead over GOP opponents
By Alex Leary
St. Petersburg Times
Sen. Bill Nelson, a Democrat up for re-election in 2012, holds "at least a 13 point lead" over prospective Republican opponents, a new poll finds.

Rick Scott, the one-term wonder? Poll says yes
By Mike Thomas
Orlando Sentinel
If you don't like Rick Scott, wait three years and nine months and he should be gone.

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

Senate panel passes bill that environmentalists say may be the worst of the session
By Bruce Ritchie
Florida Tribune
A measure one lobbyist called the worst environmental bill of the 2011 legislative session cleared a Senate committee on Wednesday.

Growth management bills that would fix judge's ruling head to governor
By Bruce Ritchie
Florida Tribune
A growth management bill that's supposed to fix a judge's court ruling from last August cleared the Senate on Friday and is on its way to the governor.

Senate budget chief wants land sales to pay for new purchases
By Bruce Ritchie
FloridaEnvironments.com
The Senate's budget chief says selling state land could help the Florida Forever land-buying program survive these lean budget times.

LGBT

Immigration authorities to continue denying same-sex couple’s green cards
By Sofia Resnick
Florida Independent
Speculation that the Obama Administration’s February announcement that it would no longer defend the Defense of Marriage Act in court would change how same-sex married couple’s applications for green cards and visa applications are reviewed — making the process no different from heterosexual married couples — ended Wednesday.

EDUCATION

Florida House bill that would limit multiyear contracts worries teachers
By Jeffrey S. Solochek
St. Petersburg Times
Jennifer Isley had options three years ago when choosing where to become a teacher.

Voucher organization wants corporate taxpayer information
By Elaine Silvestrini
Tampa Tribune
With $140 million raised in less than six months, the organization that administers the state's school voucher program for economically disadvantaged students had no trouble meeting its goal this year.

Charter school expansion bill passes first test in Florida
By Tom Marshall
St. Petersburg Times
A bill to expand Florida's charter school system sailed past its first hurdle Wednesday, gaining unanimous approval by a Senate committee.

Stargel's plan to grade parents triggers debate
By Kim MacQueen
Florida Tribune
HB 255, Rep. Kelli Stargel’s effort to grade parents for participation in their children’s schooling, got a good amount of press months before the beginning of the 2011 session.

Community and state colleges could face 8% tuition hike
Staff Report
Orlando Sentinel
Senate budget writers on Thursday presented a new spending plan for higher education and, this time, they're proposing an 8 percent tuition increase for state colleges and community colleges.

Lawmakers take aim at university faculty unions
By Denise-Marie Balona
Orlando Sentinel
Faculty unions at public universities statewide are scrambling to boost their membership numbers for fear that the Legislature will decertify them.

JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY

Democrats blast $66.5 billion budget as a job-killer
By Aaron Deslatte
Orlando Sentinel
As Florida lawmakers rush to slash $4 billion in state spending, critics are warning the deep reductions will cost the one thing politicians promised to deliver: jobs.

Florida House committee approves $66.5B budget with deep cuts
By Steve Bousquet
St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
The size and scope of Florida's $3.8 billion budget shortfall came into sharper focus Wednesday as a key House committee approved a $66.5 billion budget with deep cuts in education, health care and other services.

House OKs space industry incentives, oil spill recovery
By Jim Ash
Florida Capital News
House panel on Wednesday overwhelmingly approved a series of tax breaks and incentives designed to offset two of the biggest economic disasters in the state — the Deepwater Horizon oil spill and the retirement later this year of the space shuttle.

Citizens rate increases marching to legislative approval in Tallahassee
By Janet Zink
St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Bills to increase rates for Citizens Property Insurance and push its policyholders to the private market are on the march in the Florida Legislature.

Associated Builders and Contractors voices support for Goodson wage theft bill
By Marcos Restrepo
Florida Independent
The Associated Builders and Contractors of Florida has launched a campaign to support the “Wage Protection” bill filed by state Rep. Tom Goodson, R-Titusville, which would override local wage theft ordinances like one in Miami-Dade County that aims to prevent employers from cheating workers out of pay they are owed.

Lawmaker delays hearing on Darden tax-break bill
By Jason Garcia
Orlando Sentinel
A hearing on a bill that would give Darden Restaurants a tax break of as much as $5 million a year was postponed Wednesday after the sponsor asked for more time to address recent questions about the legislation.

Bill to protect online travel companies stays alive
By Mary Ellen Klas
St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
An attempt to shield online travel companies from paying additional tourism taxes on the hotel rooms they sell over the Internet was narrowly defeated by a House committee Wednesday.

HEALTH AND SENIORS

Senate targets family coverage
By Jim Saunders
Health News Florida
A new Senate proposal would force many state employees to pay thousands a dollars a year more for health insurance --- or choose skimpier coverage.

Grading HMO's medicaid test: The state prepares to expand a complex, money-saving pilot
By John Kennedy
Palm Beach Post
Amy Silverman said she feels like a refugee - lucky to have escaped from a frightening place, but at a very high cost.

House bill to crack down on pill mills would benefit big retail pharmacies
By Dara Kam
Palm Beach Post
Big retail pharmacies like Walgreens, CVS, Publix and Wal-mart would have exclusive rights in Florida to dispense addictive pain medications, under a bill passed Wednesday by a House committee.

Deficit prompts Gov. Rick Scott to plan cuts to services for developmentally disabled
By Marc Caputo
St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Due to a shockingly large deficit, Gov. Rick Scott is planning to invoke his emergency powers and make deep cuts to the rates charged by group homes and caseworkers who help the developmentally disabled.

Stop assault on abortion rights now
Editorial
Ft. Myers News-Press
With a more conservative Legislature and governor in power in Tallahassee, some lawmakers have launched an intense and radical attack on abortion rights this session.

Getting Medicaid reform right
Editorial
St. Petersburg Times
There is no dispute that something needs to be done to rein in Medicaid, the health care program serving more than 2.9 million low-income Floridians at a cost of more than $20 billion.

JUSTICE AND THE COURTS

The Chamber's Genie
The Progress Report
Think Progress
Ever since Chief Justice Roberts joined the Supreme Court, corporate America has treated his Court as its personal genie, and Roberts has been eager to grant even many of their most outlandish wishes.

Reliable court funding essential to justice
Editorial
Daytona Beach News-Journal
The state court system is a victim of the law of unintended consequences.

Daily Clips for March 30, 2011

FEATURED STORIES

PPP survey: Rick Scott highly unpopular -- 55% dislike, 32% like
By Marc Caputo
St. Petersburg Times
PPP analysis: Scott incredibly unpopular
Complete poll results: Scott would get trounced by Sink in re-do election
You could say Rick Scott's honeymoon is over...but that would suggest he had one in the first place.

Unions rally against Scott, GOP Legislature, again
By John Kennedy
Palm Beach Post
About 1,000 protesters rallied Tuesday across the street from the state Capitol, blasting Gov. Rick Scott and Republican lawmakers for advancing an array of bills condemned as union-busting.

Critics say lawmakers want to continue gerrymandered districts
By William March
Tampa Tribune
Florida legislative leaders Mike Haridopolos and Dean Cannon have resubmitted the state's new anti-gerrymandering amendments for federal approval, but in a way that critics say seeks to allow the Legislature to continue drawing districts to benefit Republicans.

Florida lawmakers seek to limit liability of Medicaid doctors, hospitals, nursing homes
By Marc Caputo
St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
A baby's brain is damaged in a botched surgery.

Senate's budget plan higher than House's proposal
By Jim Ash
Florida Capital News
Setting up a possible showdown in May, the Senate on Tuesday released a proposed budget for the next fiscal year that is $3.3 billion larger than a competing House plan.

FLORIDA POLITICS

State workers go green for anti-Gov. Scott rally
By Bill Cotterell
Florida Capital News
Hundreds of green-clad government employees converged on the Capitol on Tuesday for a "death match" with conservative legislators who want to cut pensions, end deduction of union dues and privatize thousands of state jobs.

Rule Committee kills ethics bill targeting corrupt pols
By Marc Caputo
Miami Herald
Senator Mike Fasano's effort to stiffen penalties against corrupt lawmakers and public officials was killed on a 3-8 vote by the Senate Rules Committee, with most of the nay votes coming from fellow Republicans.

Just what we need: More big money in politics
By Scott Maxwell
Orlando Sentinel
Florida lawmakers are among the most innovative pimps you'll ever meet.

Scott on Solantic: “I’m not involved”
By John Kennedy
Palm Beach Post
Gov. Rick Scott offered little Tuesday when asked whether he would consider ending his family’s financial stake in Solantic, the urgent care company he founded and which provides drug-testing services.

Florida restarts process to clear voter-approved redistricting standards
By Michael C. Bender
St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Republican leaders in the Florida Legislature on Tuesday asked the federal government to sign off on a pair of voter-approved constitutional amendments requiring lawmakers to draw nonpartisan political districts.

Lawsuit challenges constitutionality of Gov. Rick Scott's rulemaking freeze
By Janet Zink
St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
A blind woman from Miami seeking to reapply for food stamps has filed a petition in the Supreme Court challenging the constitutionality of Gov. Rick Scott's rulemaking freeze.

Bill would ban red-light cameras
By Jeff Burlew
Florida Capital News
Red-light cameras that went up last year around the state would be banned under a Senate bill that passed Tuesday out of the Transportation Committee.

Florida congressmen, senator take varying views of Obama's Libya explanation
By George Bennett
Palm Beach Post
A few of President Obama's fellow Democrats have faulted his decision to launch military strikes in Libya without first consulting Congress, but Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson says Obama did "the right thing" and Rep. Ted Deutch, D-Boca Raton, called the intervention "necessary."

Charlie Crist returns to politics in Sarasota
By Jeremy Wallace
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
The former Florida governor on Tuesday agreed to be the keynote speaker at the Sarasota County League of Women Voters' annual meeting early next month.

Avoiding the obvious
Editorial
Pensacola News Journal
We're barely into the first half of Gov. Rick Scott's first year in office, and already some of his policies are verging on the edge of incoherence.

Today in Tallahassee: House budget marathon, Senate Medicaid bill
By Mary Ellen Klas
St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Florida legislators will conduct a 10-hour marathon meeting to take up the House budget on Wednesday and the Senate will take its first vote on its version of the Medicaid reform bill.

POLITICAL RACES

Rubio: 'I'm not running' in 2012
By Jennifer Epstein
Politico
Freshman Sen. Marco Rubio is pushing back against rumors that he’s considering running for president in 2012, saying in his first national television interview since being elected that he’s focused on doing the job voters sent him to Washington to do.

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

FPL put years of work, money into solar energy legislation it will largely benefit from
By Mary Ellen Klas
St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Florida's largest electric utilities will be allowed to raise customer rates by as much as $2 a month and control the solar energy market in the state — all without having to get approval from regulators under two bills that easily moved this week through House and Senate committees.

Everglades contractors push Scott for more cash
By John Kennedy
Palm Beach Post
South Florida contractors were among those appealing Tuesday to Gov. Rick Scott’s job-creation push, urging him to seek more funding for Everglades restoration for economic, as well as environmental, purposes.

Who are the biggest polluters in South Florida?
By David Fleshler and Dana Williams
South Florida Sun Sentinel
Air pollution from power plants, factories and sugar mills plunged in South Florida over the past few years as manufacturing plants shut down, consumer demand fell and companies took steps to cut emissions of harmful chemicals.

New Florida water rule myth: Obama did it
By Virginia Chamlee
Florida Independent
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and Rep. Tom Rooney, R-Stuart, have unveiled a new argument in their quest to fight the EPA’s decision to create new water quality standards for Florida: The Obama Administration did it.

EDUCATION

Another year, another 15 percent tuition hike for Florida universities
By Jodie Tillman
St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Two years ago, Florida created a pursuit policy for all state universities: Catch up with the national average for tuition — but at speeds no faster than 15 percent a year.

Bill to end tenure at Florida community colleges passes first hurdle
By Matt Dixon
Florida Times-Union
Faculty at Florida's state colleges would no longer have the option to sign multi-year contracts, and new hires would be placed on one year probationary contracts under a bill that passed out of its first committee stop Monday.

JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY

Deregulation bill would cost Florida $6 million in lost revenue, 100 jobs
By Janet Zink
St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
As lawmakers seek to close a budget gap and eliminate "job-killing regulations," a vast deregulation bill would free auto repair shops from providing customers with written estimates that break down the cost of parts and labor.

Senate committee approves Citizens Property Insurance reform bill
By Janet Zink
St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
A bill that would increase rates for Citizens Property Insurance policy holders by up to 25 percent a year and gradually eliminate coverage for some homes valued at more than $500,000 was approved by the Senate Banking and Insurance committee Tuesday.

Survey: Gas prices, budget debates weigh on Florida consumer confidence
By Travis Pillow
Florida Independent
After a buoyant start to the year, consumer confidence in Florida fell over the last month, according ot the latest survey from the University of Florida.

HEALTH AND SENIORS

Amendment allowing Fla. to opt-out of part of federal heath care reform moves forward
By Matt Dixon
Florida Times-Union
Moving toward a 2012 ballot fight, a House subcommittee on Tuesday approved a proposed constitutional amendment that might allow Floridians to opt out of a key part of the federal health overhaul.

House deflects doubts on Medicaid
By Jim Saunders
Health News Florida
The Florida House is ready to remake Medicaid into a managed-care program, despite questions Tuesday from Democrats about whether the changes would hurt some patients.

Fetal pain abortion bill passes House committee
By Janet Zink
St. Petersburg Times
Bills that would require women to get an ultrasound and be offered an explanation of it before getting an abortion are rolling through the legislature this year.

Medical disparities: Confronting race in care
Editorial
Florida Times-Union
The disparities are disturbing in a health world that seems more advanced than ever in terms of technology and treatments.

CIVIL RIGHTS, PEACE AND SOCIAL ISSUES

New report indicates Arizona-style immigration laws do not favor local economies
By Marcos Restrepo
Florida Independent
A report released this month aims to help state legislators considering Arizona-style immigration-enforcement bills answer this question: If S.B. 1070-type laws accomplish the declared goal of driving out all undocumented immigrants, what effect would it have on state economies?

JUSTICE AND THE COURTS

New prisons chief making big changes in prison system
By Steve Bousquet
Miami Herald/St. Petersburg Times Tallahassee Bureau
Ed Buss doesn’t look like a revolutionary.

Inmates, volunteers sue state to block closure of Hillsborough Correctional Institution
By Steve Bousquet
St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Inmates and volunteers at a Riverview women's faith-based prison filed suit against the state Tuesday, seeking to block the Department of Corrections from closing Hillsborough Correctional Institution.

Daily Clips for March 29, 2011

FEATURED STORIES Scott vows to stop ‘Oxy express’ By Jim Saunders Health News Florida As lawmakers remain divided about how to fight pill mills, Gov. Rick Scott on Monday announced a statewide law-enforcement effort to stop what he described as the “Oxycontin express.” Florida Senate proposes less steep budget cuts than House, but nearly 1,600 would lose state jobs By John Kennedy Palm Beach Post The Senate unveiled its budget proposal late Monday, spending $3.2 billion more than the House, while cutting far fewer state jobs and taking less out of Florida's classrooms. Florida Senate budget plan would privatize prisons in 18 counties By Marc Caputo St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau In a massive private takeover of public prisons, the Florida Senate quietly slipped language into its newly proposed budget Monday that seeks to give corporations the chance to run correctional facilities and probation services in 18 counties. Bills gutting growth management sailing through Legislature By Mike Salinero Tampa Tribune Florida's growth management protections, enshrined in a ground-breaking 1985 law, are being swept away by lawmakers who see them as roadblocks to economic development. Florida GOP legislators singling out unions (includes reader poll) Editorial Orlando Sentinel Republicans hold overwhelming majorities in the Florida House and Senate as well as every statewide elected office except one. FLORIDA POLITICS Let's say it again: Florida's legislators are for sale By Howard Troxler St. Petersburg Times There is no state, no nation, no planet, and no universe where it should be legal to pay off a Legislature directly. Big field off and running in dopiest idea race By Daniel Ruth St. Petersburg Times To paraphrase Mark Twain's famous line, no scintilla of common sense, reality or functioning brain synapses are safe while the Florida Legislature, that parallel universe of addled delusion, is in session. With census done, eyes turn to legislative map By Bill Thompson Ocala Star-Banner Once state lawmakers redraw Florida's political map to match recently released census data, major changes could be in store for Marion County voters, some observers say. Emails offer window into Scott's thinking as candidate for governor Staff Report Sarasota Herald-Tribune When Rick Scott was on the campaign trail, the hard-charging Republican outsider could be seen constantly checking his iPad and using email. Sansom, community reflect on ordeal By Tom McLaughlin Northwest Florida Daily News Ray Sansom and his family arrived home from Tallahassee on Friday to find their Destin yard full of people waiting to welcome them. State government stained Editorial St. Petersburg Times The unsatisfying end to the criminal trial of former House Speaker Ray Sansom should not be misread as an endorsement of his abuse of public office. Gov. Scott's drug testing order makes little fiscal or policy sense Editorial South Florida Sun-Sentinel It never bodes well when a new boss comes in and immediately institutes a sweeping, potentially costly initiative that at its heart speaks of an underlying distrust of the employees he is now leading. ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY Florida ready to put growth control into local hands By Zac Anderson Sarasota Herald-Tribune Florida is poised to end a 26-year experiment in growth management, as economic concern and a free market philosophy have finally trumped longstanding worries about traffic congestion, environmental protection and overdevelopment. Senate plan lets utilities raise rates for renewable energy efforts By Mary Ellen Klas St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau The Florida Senate unveiled its plan Monday to allow Florida's electric companies to raise average customer bills $1.40 to $2.60 a month to build solar and biomass energy plants for the next five years. PSC nominees move toward confirmation as chairman is warned By Mary Ellen Klas St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau Four newly-appointed Public Service Commission members were given the green light for confirmation by a Senate committee Monday, as the commission chairman was warned that he has more explaining to do after he socialized with the head of a water company he was regulating. Florida utility reports radiation from Japan Associated Press Sarasota Herald-Tribune Utilities in Florida and the Carolinas are adding to the list of states in the U.S. reporting trace amounts of radiation from a nuclear reactor in Japan that was damaged by an earthquake and tsunami. LGBT Immediate end to 'don't ask, don't tell' urged Associated Press Miami Herald Gay rights advocates on Monday filed a challenge to a request by the Obama administration to keep the repealed "don't ask, don't tell" policy in place while the Pentagon prepares for an end to the ban on allowing gays to serve openly in the military. EDUCATION Report: Florida public teachers’ salaries keep dropping By Marcos Restrepo Florida Independent The Florida Center for Fiscal and Economic Policy today issued its State of the State of Florida report, which compares Florida’s education, health and human services, and tax fairness with other states. Are Rick Scott’s Education Cuts Unconstitutional? By Ralph De La Cruz Florida Center for Investigative Reporting Article IX, section 1 of the Florida Constitution states: The education of children is a fundamental value of the people of the State of Florida. Lawmakers mull ending college faculty tenure By Lilly Rockwell News Service of Florida With the ink barely dry on the new teacher merit pay law that eliminates multi-year contracts for public school teachers, Florida lawmakers have surprised many stakeholders by swiftly moving toward a similar reform of community colleges. Liberty University one of the largest recipients of federal aid for students By Kyle Daly Florida Independent Evangelical college Liberty University is the largest recipient of federal aid to a student body in Virginia, and the eighth largest recipient in the country overall, reports Lynchburg, Va.’s News & Advance. JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY Death by a Thousand Cuts By Whitney Ray Capitol News Service Educators, seniors and state workers are offering a warning tonight. They say budget cuts proposed by the legislature and the governor would leave the state’s most vulnerable with no where to turn. Scott gives agency heads a big bump in their pay By Bruce Ritchie Florida Tribune State employees haven't received a raise in more than four years, but most agency heads that Gov. Rick Scott has appointed are making $20,000 a year more than their predecessors. HEALTH AND SENIORS Bills would restrict state's nursing-home watchdogs By Kate Santich Orlando Sentinel In the weeks since Gov. Rick Scott called for the ouster of Florida's top nursing-home watchdog, Republican lawmakers have introduced more than a dozen bills that critics claim would further "neuter" the ombudsman program. Gov. Rick Scott announces plan to combat pill mills By Janet Zink St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau Facing criticism for not supporting a database that many believe would help combat the state's prescription drug epidemic, Gov. Rick Scott on Monday launched his own initiative to fight the problem. Florida Senate bill would allow doctors to ask about guns Staff Report St. Petersburg Times Doctors would still be able to ask patients questions about whether they have guns under a measure approved by a Senate committee Monday, a result of a compromise between gun rights groups and the medical establishment. Fla. House beginning debate on privatizing Medicaid Associated Press Palm Beach Post The Florida House is beginning floor action on legislation that would shift delivery of Medicaid services largely to private companies. Disabled sue FL in federal court By Jim Saunders Health News Florida Gov. Rick Scott and two state agencies have been hit with a class-action lawsuit alleging Florida has failed to provide needed services to 19,000 disabled people who are stuck on a waiting list. CIVIL RIGHTS, PEACE AND SOCIAL ISSUES Hasner jumps on anti-Sharia bandwagon By Cooper Levey-Baker Florida Independent In a YouTube clip posted on March 20 by the conservative blog Shark Tank, former Florida House Majority Leader Adam Hasner, currently exploring a run for the U.S. Senate, can be heard warning about the dangers of Islamic law entering the American court system. JUSTICE AND THE COURTS Senate panel OKs tougher standards for photo lineups By Jim Ash Florida Capital News Ignoring the pleas of the state's most powerful law-enforcement groups, the Senate Criminal Justice Committee on Monday approved a bill that would force police to adopt tough new standards for conducting photo lineups. Effort to decriminalize sexting as a first offense advances By Patricia Mazzei and Katie Sanders St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau Should children who snap racy photos on their cell phones and send them out to their friends be punished as child-pornography distributors or sex offenders? Suit: Florida drivers 'detained' if tolls paid with big bills By William R. Levesque St. Petersburg Times Whenever Joel Chandler tried to pay a $1 toll with a $20 bill in Polk County, he was asked by toll collectors to provide personal information.