Daily Clips for March 17, 2011

FEATURED STORIES Scott praises teacher merit pay as House makes it the first bill to hit his desk By John Kennedy Palm Beach Post House members wrangled for hours Wednesday before the powerful Republican majority drove through legislation revamping how Florida teachers are paid, defying union officials who now may renew their fight in court. Medicaid overhaul on roll in House By Jim Saunders Health News Florida A House committee will move a step closer to revamping Florida's Medicaid system today, when it approves a bill to gradually shift almost all beneficiaries into managed-care plans. Bill would ban abortion coverage for some insurance By Katie Sanders St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau Republican-led committees dealt Democrats and Planned Parenthood advocates two blows Wednesday. Nelson questions Scott’s delay in starting foreclosure prevention program By Kim Miller Palm Beach Post Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Florida, is trying to find out why a $1.05 billion foreclosure prevention program has yet to open statewide. Tallahassee shoves a fertilizer bill down locals' throats By Howard Troxler St. Petersburg Times Now that our Legislature has given up on converting state parkland to golf courses, a terrible vacuum has been created. Efforts to curb unions lose steam Editorial St. Petersburg Times It's not Wisconsin or Indiana by any stretch, but Florida still has tensions running high between public employee unions and Republican state legislators. FLORIDA POLITICS Florida Rising: People From All Walks of Life Are Standing Up to Pro-Corporate Assaults in the Sunshine State By Camilo E. Meija Huffington Post As much of the national attention focuses on the massive pro-union demonstrations in Madison, Wisconsin, where over a 100,000 people gathered to oppose an anti-union law on Saturday, March 12, Florida workers and activists are taking aim against budget cuts and laws that threaten to further widen the already huge divide between rich and poor in our state. Fundraising firm sues Corrine Brown over claim of unpaid bills By Matt Dixon Florida Times-Union U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown is being sued by a Washington-based fundraising firm that says she owes it $45,000 in unpaid bills. Better Government Transparency The Progress Report Think Progress This is Sunshine Week. Started in 2002 by the Florida Society of Newspaper Editors as an attempt to counterbalance newly-proposed exemptions to the state's public records law, Sunshine Week has since grown into an annual national event to promote open government and freedom of information. POLITICAL RACES Florida wants to be state No. 5 for presidential primary Staff Report St. Petersburg Times Senate President Mike Haridopolos said Wednesday he supports Florida holding the fifth-in-the-nation presidential primary in 2012, as the first megastate to help choose a Republican presidential nominee. Ouster of Miami-Dade mayor leads to political fallout By Matthew Haggman and Martha Brannigan Miami Herald The reshuffling at the top of Miami-Dade County government began less than 24 hours after a stunning vote by the public to recall County Mayor Carlos Alvarez. ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY Lawmakers push for more drilling permits By Deborah Barfield Berry Florida Capital News The administration's "slow-walking'' of drilling permits in the Gulf of Mexico is costing thousands of jobs and crippling the Gulf region's economy, Gulf Coast officials told Congress Wednesday. Bob Graham: U.S. needs pact to protect shores if Cuba drills for oil By William E. Gibson Orlando Sentinel To help prevent a potential oil spill from wrecking Florida's environment, former U.S. Sen. Bob Graham urged federal officials Wednesday to form a pact with Cuba and Mexico to enforce safety standards and establish disaster-response plans for offshore drilling. Fla. House passes growth management bill-again Associated Press Sarasota Herald-Tribune The Florida House has twice more passed an existing law loosening urban sprawl controls to thwart a court challenge. Saving FL Panthers Could Get a Big Boost By Glen Gardner Public News Service Florida A proposal to create a new national wildlife refuge north of Lake Okeechobee could give a big boost to efforts to save the Florida panther. Federal ruling favors Everglades restoration over sparrow habitat Associated Press Orlando Sentinel A federal judge has upheld an Interior Department decision not to set aside critical habitat for an endangered species of Florida sparrow. Recycling Deposit Plans in the Works By Whitney Ray Capitol News Service Every year in Florida 11 billion plastic containers and cans end up in landfills where it takes decades and sometimes centuries for them to waste away. EDUCATION Merit pay passes – union likely to sue By Kathleen Haughney Orlando Sentinel After a three-and-a-half hour debate, Florida lawmakers Wednesday sent Gov . Rick Scott a bill to transform the way public school teachers are evaluated by emphasizing student test scores as a major factor in grading them. Teacher tenure bill headed to Gov. Rick Scott's desk By Patricia Mazzei St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau A major law intended to reward the best teachers with better pay and weed out bad teachers won final approval in the Florida House on Wednesday, handing a victory to Republicans who pushed similar reforms through the Legislature last year only to be rebuffed by former Gov. Charlie Crist. Private testing in new system questioned By Lilly Rockwell St. Augustine Record As Florida prepares to establish a new system of paying public school teachers that is based heavily on test scores, many lawmakers are casting a skeptical eye on the potential boon the reform could bring to educational testing companies. Rick Scott’s job plan will cripple the schools By Mark Woods Florida Times-Union The most interesting criticism of the new governor's budget - the one he proudly unveiled as "Florida's first jobs budget" - didn't come from political opponents, unions, protesters or media. Florida Legislature poised to battle over teaching evolution in schools By Abel Harding Florida Times-Union Forget the decade-long debate that has swirled around the FCAT. Think no more of the weeklong fracas over the future of high school sports in Duval County. House plan raises tuition, tightens Bright Futures standards By Jodie Tillman St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau State university tuition would go up and Bright Futures eligibility requirements would be tightened under a draft House higher education budget released Wednesday that has to offset the universities' loss of $150 million in federal stimulus money. JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY Scott economic development takeover a no-go in Senate By Dara Kam Palm Beach Post Gov. Rick Scott’s desire to have control over up to $300 million for economic development won’t fly in the Florida Senate, according to President Mike Haridopolos. Majority Leader Andy Gardiner says 'smart cap' bill lets voters decide on new taxes: False By Aaron Sharockman St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald PolitiFact Florida's fiscally conservative Senate wants to leave its mark in the Constitution by more tightly capping the amount of taxes the state could collect in any given year. Gov. Rick Scott's 32,000 projected port jobs face sizable hurdles By Dan Tracy Orlando Sentinel Hours after rejecting Florida's high-speed train, Gov. Rick Scott declared the state would spend $77 million on dredging the Port of Miami — a project he said would create 30,000 permanent jobs. Advocate urges incentives for aerospace industry By Jim Ash Florida Capital News In April 1972, astronaut Charlie Duke was walking on the moon with Apollo 16 crewmate John Young when the voice of mission control crackled over their headsets. Congress had just voted to fund the space shuttle. Florida lawmakers try again to put brakes on auto insurance fraud By Aaron Sharockman St. Petersburg Times Two lawmakers rolled out proposals Wednesday aimed at curbing staged auto accidents that they say are costing the state billions of dollars in fraudulent insurance payouts. Legislation would let dog tracks end live racing By Mary Ellen Klas St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau Lawmakers are weighing two bills that could change the face of gambling in Florida. HEALTH AND SENIORS Two sides disagree if Medicaid 'reform' helps or hurts By Bob LaMendola South Florida Sun Sentinel Florida's 5-year-old experiment of putting most Medicaid patients in five counties into managed care has sharply divided the state into camps: One sees disaster, the other sees a sound path for the future. Two decades after Pinellas lawmaker proposed it, Florida's prisons ban smoking By Steve Bousquet St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau Two decades after a Pinellas County legislator first proposed it, Florida is finally ready to outlaw smoking by prison inmates. Despite Barahona case concerns, liability limits for foster care agencies advances in House By John Kennedy Palm Beach Post A measure capping legal damages for agencies providing foster care services cleared a House committee on an 11-4 vote Wednesday, despite emotional testimony from opponents who said lawmakers are putting dollars ahead of the safety of children in a troubled system. H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center seeks state cigarette tax money to fund delayed expansion By Jodie Tillman St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau Tampa Bay lawmakers are pushing to pledge more state money to a delayed $370 million expansion at H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute. CIVIL RIGHTS, PEACE AND SOCIAL ISSUES Florida sheriffs worried over bill allowing permit holders to openly carry guns By Jessica Vander Velde St. Petersburg Times Fast-forward to Gasparilla 2012. Fla. religious leaders rally for immigrants Associated Press Sarasota Herald-Tribune Florida religious leaders are holding a prayer service to denounce bills recently introduced in the Legislature they fear will hurt immigrants, particularly those in the country illegally. JUSTICE AND THE COURTS Today in Tallahassee: Bid to revamp Supreme Court gets hearing By Steve Bousquet St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau House Speaker Dean Cannon's proposal to revamp the Florida Supreme Court will be the focus of a three-hour hearing today.