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
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.
No comments:
Post a Comment