Daily Clips for April 29, 2011

PROGRESS FLORIDA IN THE NEWS

Florida’s Top Political Tweeters for May
By Peter Schorsch
St. Petersblog 2.0
Editor's Note: @ProgressFlorida ranked 7th in the state, @AwakeTheState ranked 13th, where does your favorite Florida based political "Tweeter" rank?

FEATURED STORIES

New roadblocks hamper efforts for budget deal
By Steve Bousquet
St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Lawmakers hit new snags Thursday as they worked to hammer out a budget deal, with money for schools and health care sticking points in the $66.5 billion spending plan.

Feds: Fla. can't expand Medicaid pilot statewide
By Kelli Kennedy
Associated Press
Federal health officials told Florida lawmakers Thursday they can't privatize Medicaid statewide for now, saying they need to see specific details of how the state plans to change the program, which provide health insurance to mostly low-income residents.

Top adviser avoids creating public records as she shapes Gov. Rick Scott's policy, e-mails show
By Michael C. Bender
St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
When U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson's office tried to contact Gov. Rick Scott's top lieutenant, Mary Anne Carter offered her cell number, her state e-mail address and a warning.

Florida Senate OKs abortion funding bans
By Bill Kaczor
The Associated Press
The Florida Senate passed a bill and a proposed constitutional amendment Thursday that would ban the use of public and insurance exchange money for abortions, with most Republicans voting in favor and Democrats against.

Split Supreme Court plan jams up Senate
By Aaron Deslatte and Kathleen Haughney
Orlando Sentinel
House Speaker Dean Cannon's plan to re-shape the Florida Supreme Court is provoking a fierce lobbying effort in the Senate and threatening to bog down work on the state budget and a host of other issues.

Immigration legislation at impasse
By Bill Cotterell
Florida Capital News
Gov. Rick Scott's campaign promise to have an Arizona-style crackdown on illegal immigration in Florida is hamstrung by ethnic politics and economic concerns in the Florida Senate as the clock ticks down on the 2011 legislative session.

BEST OF THE BLOGS

What Your Florida Legislature is Really All About
By Benjamin Kirby
The Spencerian
Did you know that Howard Troxler is leaving the St. Petersburg Times?

New Rules For GOP Town Halls: No Facts, No Questions....Or Else
By Inkberries
Beach Peanuts
Remember last year during the health care fight when the media reported on the "angry mobs" at town hall meetings all over the country?

Cutting Corporate Income Tax Unwise, Economist Says
By Florida Center for Fiscal and Economic Policy
Florida Policy Matters
Governor Rick Scott has renewed his call for the legislature to adopt big tax cuts even as billions of dollars are being cut from state programs like education and Medicaid.

Why can’t political candidates, especially those in Florida, announce their candidacies the right way?
By Peter Schorsch
St. Petersblog 2.0
What the hell is the matter with political candidates these days?

Florida vs Wisconsin: town halls, recalls, God and blinkers
By Joy-Ann Reid
The Reid Report
When it comes to federal representatives, things look pretty much the same in Florida and Wisconsin: Republican lawmakers home on recess face angry constituents at their town halls, and are forced to defend their vote to turn Medicare into a voucher program.

FLORIDA POLITICS

Amid reports of its demise, Thrasher says union dues bill is 'in play'
By Matt Dixon
Florida Times-Union
Despite reports that it's on life support, Sen. John Thrasher, R-St. Augustine, is not conceding defeat for a union dues bill that has been his top priority this session.

Union dues bill rears its head as amendment
By Mary Ellen Klas
Miami Herald
Here it comes again. A bill to ban public employee unions from using payroll deduction to collect their dues was considered all but dead on Wednesday when Senate leaders couldn’t get the votes to pass it.

Pols with big perks shouldn't ask poor, mentally ill to sacrifice
By Scott Maxwell
Orlando Sentinel
A lot to talk about in today's edition of Friday files, starting with the latest group of people getting hosed by Tallahassee — the mentally ill.

Want a Better State Legislature? Fix Campaign Finance!
By Dennis Maley
Bradenton Times
Last week, I talked about the changing culture of the Florida Legislature, where nearly half of the members are millionaires – a stark contrast to those they serve in what is supposed to be representative government.

Ethics complaint filed against Miami lawmaker
By Patricia Mazzei
Miami Herald
A Tallahassee mother of three said she filed an ethics complaint on Wednesday against state Rep. Erik Fresen over his family's ties to a charter school company.

Focusing on frog might have spared Florida bad legislation
By Frank Cerabino
Palm Beach Post
It's too bad the Florida Legislature hasn't devoted more time this session to the barking tree frog.

Latino voter growth a factor in progressive voter reform efforts
By Marcos Restrepo
Florida Independent
The growing participation of Latino voters shows a heightened responsibility and a need to continue voter reform efforts to further boost Latino voter participation.

Conservative Congressman’s Star Power Extends Beyond Florida District
By Jennifer Steinhauer
New York Times
Often, the most interesting thing about a person is the characteristic that lies beneath, that hidden thing that bobs up along the waves of time.

Today in Tallahassee: All eyes on Senate and court proposal
By Jodie Tillman
St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
House Speaker Dean Cannon says he doesn't mess in the Senate's business. But he'll be tuning in if the Senate takes up his pet project, a controversial overhaul of the Supreme Court that has been tied to budget negotiations.

Senate Saturday session includes Medicaid, immigration still on hold
By Dara Kam
Palm Beach Post
As budget talks on health and human services appropriations stalled, the Senate is moving forward with its Medicaid overhaul.

POLITICAL RACES

President Obama visits Miami Dade College with an eye on 2012
By Alex Leary
St. Petersburg Times
President Barack Obama appeared before a big crowd of college students and implored, "We can't sit this one out."

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

Environmentalists decry deregulation bill that House GOP suddenly fast-tracked
By Christine Stapleton
Palm Beach Post
The Florida House is poised to vote Friday on a bill that environmentalists are calling a Frankenstein, an eclectic collection of 34 regulatory changes that would make it easier and faster for various industries to obtain environmental permits.

Don't let Florida revert to abuses of past
By Nathaniel Pryor Reed
St. Petersburg Times
It is with an incredible sense of dismay that I watch what is unfolding in Florida this legislative session.

LGBT

Marines get trained on accepting gay recruits
By Elliot Spagat
Associated Press
If a Marine spots two men in his battalion kissing off-duty at a shopping mall, he should react as if he were seeing a man and woman.

EDUCATION

State school spending heads further south
By John Kennedy
Palm Beach Post
When the House and Senate approved separate budget proposals earlier this month which slashed public school spending by at least $1 billion, lawmakers said they were intent on boosting those dollars before session’s ends.

Florida lawmakers close to lifting barriers for charter schools
By Patricia Mazzei
St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
State lawmakers are poised to sign off on their second major piece of education legislation this session: a broad measure lifting barriers for charter schools.

Deal reached on higher education spending
By Jodie Tillman
St. Petersburg Times
The House and Senate tonight came to an agreement on proposed higher education spending.

Moves in Tallahassee to loosen class size limits send relief to Palm Beach County school leaders
By Allison Ross
Palm Beach Post
The Palm Beach County School District breathed a small sigh of relief as a bill to loosen Florida's class size limits passed another hurdle in the Legislature on Wednesday.

Students likely to get reprieve on algebra test
By Leslie Postal
Orlando Sentinel
It looks as if nearly 40,000 Florida students will get a reprieve from taking a state algebra exam next month.

JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY

Scott takes down website detailing stimulus spending
By Gary Fineout
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
Gov. Rick Scott, a sharp critic of the federal stimulus, has taken down a state-controlled website intended to inform taxpayers where the money was going and whether it was creating jobs.

Sweeping property insurance bill passes Senate
By Janet Zink
St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Responding to cries from the insurance industry that fraudulent and frivolous sinkhole claims are draining their coffers, the Florida Senate voted Thursday in favor of a sweeping proposal that would free them from a requirement to provide comprehensive sinkhole coverage.

Cannon: “We’re going to do everything we can” to get Scott corp tax cut
By John Kennedy
Palm Beach Post
House Speaker Dean Cannon made a rare visit to the House press gallery Thursday evening, saying he’s optimistic about an on-time finish to the session last week — and hinting Gov. Rick Scott’s corporate income tax break would emerge, somehow.

What to cut? -- Big issues stymie Florida lawmakers over how to make up for budget shortfall
By John Kennedy
Palm Beach Post
Budget negotiators quit efforts to settle millions of dollars of differences on health and social services spending Thursday, abruptly turning the job over to House and Senate leaders to finish.

‘Secret amendment’ added to Senate insurance bill to attract ‘secret company’ to the state
By Travis Pillow
Florida Independent
As the legislative session runs down to the wire, dozens of last-minute amendments are added to bills during floor debates.

Senate passes phone deregulation measure
Associated Press
Miami Herald
A bill approving the deregulation of landline telephone service is headed to Gov. Rick Scott's desk.

Proposal could hasten decline of greyhound racing in Florida, nation
By Danny Valentine
St. Petersburg Times
The biggest draw at the 86-year-old Derby Lane used to be the dog track.

Gabrielle Giffords, Obama to watch the next-to-last shuttle launch
By Eliot Kleinberg
Palm Beach Post
Gabrielle Giffords, the U.S. Congresswoman wounded in an attack and the wife of Commander Mark Kelly, will be there.

HEALTH AND SENIORS

Anger over RyanCare now overshadowing ObamaCare
By Mike Thomas
Orlando Sentinel
Dan Webster would be hard-pressed to make himself heard in a library.

Senate amends two abortion bills, sends them back to House
By Janet Zink
St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
The Senate passed two of the House's antiabortion measures Thursday.

Mother of girl featured in controversial anti-abortion billboards files lawsuit against Life Always
By Ashley Lopez
Florida Independent
Life Always, the anti-abortion group responsible for erecting billboards all over the country accusing Planned Parenthood of having racially motivated aims, is being sued by the mother of the young girl featured on the controversial billboards.

Florida House overreaches on abortion bills
Editorial
Palm Beach Post
With a little over a week left in the legislative session, Florida lawmakers still have plenty of work to do — the work for which voters supposedly sent them to Tallahassee.

Senate President: Mistake made on drug database
Associated Press
Tampa Tribune
Florida Senate President Mike Haridopolos says a mistake was made when an amendment providing $1.75 million in funding for a state prescription-drug monitoring database was slipped into a law to combat "pill mills."

Top ombudsman volunteer — and outspoken critic — fired from state council
By Kate Santich
Orlando Sentinel
The chairwoman of the State Long Term Care Ombudsman Council — an outspoken volunteer who recently filed a whistle-blower complaint against Florida officials — has been dismissed from her position by the state Department of Elder Affairs in what she and others say is blatant retaliation for her critical comments.

CIVIL RIGHTS, PEACE AND SOCIAL ISSUES

Florida Senate president strips immigration bill from Hispanic lawmaker
By Marc Caputo and Patricia Mazzei
St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
When a group of immigration activists and children of immigrants flooded Senate President Mike Haridopolos' office, the Republican leader defused the situation by meeting them and chatting with the kids.

FL Feuding Over Arizona Style Immigration Law
By Les Coleman
Public News Service Florida
A tea party activist from Northwest Florida has filed a complaint with the Department of Homeland Security, contending that Florida state lawmakers should have reported undocumented immigrants they met with to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Senate passes three bills to expand gun rights in Florida
Associated Press
St. Petersburg Times
The Florida Senate on Thursday, by a succession of mostly party-line votes, approved a trio of bills that supporters say will ensure citizens' constitutionally-protected gun rights.

JUSTICE AND THE COURTS

Plan to enlarge high court questioned
By Bill Cotterell
Florida Capital News
House Speaker Dean Cannon's politically charged plan to enlarge the Florida Supreme Court ran into tough questioning in the Senate on Thursday despite intense lobbying by Republican leadership.

Daily Clips for April 28, 2011

FEATURED STORIES

Florida House passes six anti-abortion bills
Staff Report
Palm Beach Post
Related: The Florida Legislature's assault on women's lives
The House passed six anti-abortion measures Wednesday mostly on party-line votes, with the Republicans approving.

Scott signs growth management bill
Staff Report
St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Related: Legislature poised to repeal much of Florida's growth law
Gov. Rick Scott on Wednesday signed the first in a series of growth management bills designed to respond to a court ruling last year that threw out a 2009 bill.

Senators reject Rick Scott’s pitch to fight unions
By Mary Ellen Klas
Miami Herald/St. Petersburg Times Tallahassee Bureau
Gov. Rick Scott paid a rare, personal visit to the offices of four Republican senators Wednesday in a last-minute attempt to rescue an anti-union bill that appeared destined for defeat.

Questions raised over lawmaker's push for charter school bill
By Patricia Mazzei and Christina Veiga
St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Rep. Erik Fresen, who sits on several education committees in the Florida House, is again raising eyebrows for his family ties to a Miami-Dade charter school company.

New divide in Florida budget debate: the federal health care law
By Marc Caputo
St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
A new wedge developed Wednesday between legislative Republicans as they hammered out a budget deal: President Barack Obama's health care law.

Lawmakers may let Scott hand out cash to companies offering jobs
By Aaron Deslatte
Orlando Sentinel
To help Gov. Rick Scott sell the state to corporations, budget writers assembling the governor's new jobs super-agency are preparing to give him broad authority to offer tax dollars to companies willing to create jobs.

FLORIDA POLITICS

State ethics officials find no conflict of interest for Scott
By Stacey Singer
Palm Beach Post
Florida Commission on Ethics officials have tentatively OK'd the steps that attorneys for Gov. Rick Scott have taken to protect the wealthy businessman from running afoul of state ethics laws.

You have their word: Early voting will be restored in Senate elections bill (kind of)
By Travis Pillow
Florida Independent
On Tuesday the state Senate budget panel cleared a controversial elections bill that, unlike the House version, cuts Florida’s early voting period in half.

Thrasher working to amend House version of union dues bill
By Matt Dixon
Florida Times-Union
Sen. John Thrasher, R - St. Augustine, filed an amendment Tuesday that would bring the House's version of a union dues bill in line with changes he made to his version two weeks ago.

Republican Senator Questions Lobbyist Influence in Plan to Shutter Citizens
By Ralph De La Cruz
Florida Center for Investigative Reporting
The improbable, if not outright impossible, has happened.

Death of 'birthers?' --Not in South Florida, where birth certificate doesn't sway all doubters
By John Lantigua
Palm Beach Post
The questions that President Obama's most skeptical political rivals have raised about his birthplace and his right to be president won't die easily.

U.S. Senator Rubio wows crowd
By Derek Catron
Daytona Beach News-Journal
As Marco Rubio stood alone under the bright lights of the News-Journal Center stage Wednesday morning, Florida's junior senator remarked on the unusual setting for a political meeting.

Today in Tallahassee: Racing against the clock
By Jodie Tillman
St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Lawmakers today continue racing against the clock to sew up spending gaps between the two chambers.

POLITICAL RACES

Early fundraising gives Senate clues
By Hastings Wyman
Southern Political Report
The Federal Election Commission (FEC) has released 1st Quarter reports for US Senate candidates and the results – although more than a year and half before the 2012 election – give some early indications of the shape of next year’s five U.S. Senate races in the South.

A new contender emerges for GOP U.S. Senate race?
By Adam C. Smith
St. Petersburg Times
The chatter and speculation has barely let up that a stronger, surprise, self-funding candidate may yet emerge in Florida's U.S. Senate race.

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

Controversial permit streamlining bill includes extension for replacing petroleum tanks
By Bruce Ritchie
Florida Tribune
A House bill that supporters say would streamline the state permitting process also would extend yet again the deadline for gas station owners to remove leaking underground fuel tanks.

Feds sink plan to ban bottom fishing off Florida, Georgia coast
By Steve Patterson
Florida times-Union
The federal government has dropped a plan to ban bottom fishing in almost 5,000 square miles of ocean off Florida and Georgia.

EDUCATION

God, segregation, and vouchers
By Kim MacQueen
Florida Tribune
The Florida House -- giving a long-sought after victory for private school voucher supporters -- approved along party lines a measure that would end a long-standing ban on state money going to religious organizations.

Education bills enter last leg of session race
By Lynn Hatter
WFSU Public Radio Tallahassee
Several education proposals are on their way to clearing the senate, with at least one headed to the governor's desk.

Students, Castor speak out against higher ed cuts in GOP budget
By Kate Bradshaw
WMNF Community Radio Tampa
Two weeks ago, Republicans in the US House of Representatives passed a budget that would drastically cut health care and education.

Obama kicks off So. Fla college graduation season
By Serena Dai
Miami Herald
President Obama kicks off the graduation season among South Florida’s institutions of higher learning Friday when he appears as the main speaker at Miami Dade College.

JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY

Scott talks taxes with supportive lobbyists
By Lloyd Dunkelberger
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
Speaking to a sympathetic group of lobbyists who support his call for less government regulation and spending, Gov. Rick Scott on Wednesday put the responsibility for passing his major tax cuts on House and Senate leaders.

Insurance package may get Senate vote on Thursday
By Paige St. John
Ocala Star-Banner
Florida property insurers that funnel money through affiliated companies — pocketing profits while claiming paper losses — would be required to open those related firms’ books under a surprise legislative change Wednesday.

Sen. Nelson asks for investigation of tax fraud by identity thieves
By Sally Kestin
South Florida Sun Sentinel
U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson is calling for a federal investigation into an explosion of tax fraud by identity thieves that is holding up legitimate refunds for thousands of taxpayers.

Save Our Homes property-tax break loses luster
By Mary Shanklin
Orlando Sentinel
Central Florida's housing slump has wiped out longtime homeowners' favorite tax break — Save Our Homes — as the once-fast-rising home prices that had long penalized newcomers, landlords and snowbirds have come back down to earth.

Back-to-school sales tax holiday back in business
By Gary Fineout
Florida Tribune
Florida’s popular back-to-school sales tax holiday will be back in business again this year.

Mike Haridopolos says many states, but not Florida, are deficit spending: False
By Aaron Sharockman
St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald PolitiFact
After some bumps and squabbling, Florida Senate President Mike Haridopolos and House Speaker Dean Cannon emerged from secret budget negotiations on April 26, 2011, to announce that they had reached the framework of a budget agreement.

Endeavour launch brings tourists, traffic to Fla.
By Mike Schneider
Associated Press
Florida Space Coast hotels are sold out, residents are renting bedrooms and restaurants are doubling food supplies as thousands of tourists arriving for Friday's launch of space shuttle Endeavour are boosting a region fearing its economic future.

Sen. Haridopolos: More bitter than sweet
Editorial
Florida Today
Tomorrow, Florida hosts President Obama and his family as they witness first-hand the launch of Endeavour, one of America’s final space shuttle missions.

HEALTH AND SENIORS

As abortion measures pass Florida House, fight breaks out between Democrats
By Janet Zink, Katie Sanders and Marc Caputo
St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
During hours of passionate debate Wednesday, emotions ran high.

Campbell, Julien buck Democratic party line during House passage of abortion-restricting bills
By Ashley Lopez
Florida Independent
Today, six abortion-restricting bills passed during their final vote on the Florida House floor. Even though each of the bills were sponsored by House Republicans (and Democrats had little input on final versions of the bill), some House Democrats broke party lines to speak during debate in support of some of the legislation.

Privatizing Medicaid Under Fire
By Les Coleman
Public News Service Florida
Basic health security for seniors, the poor and people with disabilities would be privatized under a Republican plan pending in the Florida Legislature.

Cannon gives special treatment to bills dealing with nursing home litigation and permitting
By Bruce Ritchie
Florida Tribune
Three bills Wednesday were placed on the House calendar for second reading, bypassing committee stops despite House Speaker Dean Cannon's memo Tuesday stating there was no need to withdraw bills from committees.

CIVIL RIGHTS, PEACE AND SOCIAL ISSUES

Immigration debate ramps up as students take over Senate president's office
By Dara Kam
Palm Beach Post
Division over proposed immigration reform ramped up in the Capitol on Wednesday as undocumented students and other immigrants staged a sit-in in Senate President Mike Haridopolos' office and national advocates pushed for a boycott of Florida.

Immigrant groups respond to letter charging that Flores and Alexander should have reported activists to ICE
By Marcos Restrepo
Florida Independent
Immigrant-rights groups are up in arms after a retired U.S. Navy chief Geoff Ross filed a complaint with Immigration and Customs Enforcement alleging that GOP state Sens. Anitere Flores and J.D. Alexander “engaged in dialogue” with “suspected illegal aliens” — actually, immigrant activists — and did not report them to authorities.

Senate set to OK bill giving Fla. final authority on guns
By Paul Flemming
Florida Capital News
The Senate is teed up for final approval of a bill to establish the state's authority to set gun policy with fines against local governments who dare pass gun-regulating ordinances.

Wrong way on illegal immigration
Editorial
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
The United States needs sensible, humane, nationwide immigration reform. That's not what CS/HB 7089, proposed in the Florida House, would provide.

JUSTICE AND THE COURTS

Prison savings illusory
Editorial
St. Petersburg Times
There is strong evidence that the best way to reduce prison costs is to pump resources into substance abuse treatment, mental health services, education and job training. Investment in those programs can translate into big reductions in recidivism.

Daily Clips for April 27, 2011

FEATURED STORIES

After secret talks, Republicans end budget impasse
By Marc Caputo
St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
After secret talks and public acrimony, the Florida Legislature's Republican leaders announced they reached a budget deal Tuesday, sparing them the embarrassment of an overtime lawmaking session.

House bills would limit reproductive rights
By Jim Ash
Florida Capital News
Reproductive-rights advocates warn that abortion clinics across the state would be shuttered and thousands of women seeking abortions would face sky-high medical bills under a series of bills poised to pass the House today.

As Florida House focuses on abortion, guns and religion, Democrats ask: Where are the jobs?
By Janet Zink
St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
In a year where lawmakers promised to focus on jobs, jobs, jobs, the Republican-led Florida House spent more than seven hours Tuesday talking about abortion, guns, gambling and religion.

Immigrants keep up the fight, even as Florida crack-down bills founder
By Dara Kam
Palm Beach Post
Hundreds of immigrants, some in the country illegally, and their children are swarming the Capitol this week to plead with lawmakers not to break up their families.

U.S. judge blasts state on Everglades restoration; says 'whole situation sliding backwards'
By Christine Stapleton
Palm Beach Post
The federal judge presiding over a contentious Everglades restoration lawsuit took a swipe at Gov. Rick Scott's water quality policy Tuesday and announced his intention to strip to Florida environmental regulators of their role in enforcing the Clean Water Act and return those powers to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

FLORIDA POLITICS

Senate committee cuts off debate on election law rewrite
By Travis Pillow
Florida Independent
Related: Little evidence found to support claims of voter fraud
A controversial elections bill passed the Senate budget panel with almost no public testimony today, the measure’s last stop before it goes to the floor for final approval.

Haridopolos financial backer goes belly up
By John Kennedy
Palm Beach Post
One of Senate President Mike Haridopolos’ big financial backers, Appliance Direct, has filed for bankruptcy in an effort to reorganize its finances and stabilize its eight retail stores in Central Florida.

Angry crowd at town-hall meeting could be the norm for Dan Webster
By Mark Schlueb
Orlando Sentinel
A town-hall meeting held in Orlando by U.S. Rep. Dan Webster degenerated into bedlam Tuesday, with members of the crowd shouting down the freshman Republican congressman and yelling at one another.

West, like Republicans at home district meetings nationwide, draws hecklers on Medicare
By George Bennett
Palm Beach Post
U.S. Rep. Allen West's first town hall meeting since voting for a controversial Medicare proposal saw three hecklers removed -- one in handcuffs -- from a generally supportive crowd of about 500.

Blocking the vote
Editorial
Florida Today
Government leaders should encourage citizen participation at the polls to keep democracy vibrant, including making it as easy as possible for registered voters to cast a ballot.

Today in Tallahassee: Budget negotiations get under way
By Jodie Tillman
St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Now that they know how much money they've got to work with, House and Senate leaders today begin hammering out the spending details on everything from health care to schools to prisons.

POLITICAL RACES

In Florida and nationally, Republicans can't find a giant killer
By Adam C. Smith
St. Petersburg Times
Something peculiar is going on with the Republican party, nationally and in Florida.

Can Adam Hasner rekindle the Marco Rubio magic?
By Alex Leary
St. Petersburg Times
Adam Hasner formally opened his campaign for U.S. Senate on Tuesday, casting himself as an "honest conservative" ready to take on the health care law and big government spending.

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

Legislators reject renewable energy plan again
By Mary Ellen Klas
St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Solar and biomass energy companies mourned the loss of a sure job development opportunity Tuesday as the Senate's budget chief put a spear through a bill to spur renewable energy in Florida.

Proposed land-use law would be huge mistake
By Richard Grosso
Miami Herald
Florida is threatened by the growth-management bills our Legislature is about to approve.

Haridop: ‘Drill, baby. Forget what I said a year ago after BP spill’
By David Royse
News Service of Florida
Senate President Mike Haridopolos said in an interview broadcast Tuesday that new oil drilling is needed in the Gulf of Mexico, a reversal from last year, when, in the wake of the BP spill, he said Florida was going to “turn the page” away from drilling.

LGBT

GLBT Democratic Caucus head blasts state for alleged mismanagement of AIDS funds
By Marcos Restrepo
Florida Independent
Responding to a federal report obtained by The Florida Independent that alleges that Florida has mismanaged funds for a program meant to supply HIV/AIDS medications to low-income citizens, Michael Rajner — legislative director of the Florida GLBT Democratic Caucus — says the state has downplayed how neglect has played an important part in its AIDS Drug Assistance Program’s ongoing funding crisis.

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder defends Paul Clement, the attorney defending gay marriage ban
By Nedra Pickler
Associated Press
The former Bush administration lawyer under fire for defending the federal ban on gay marriage is getting support from an unexpected source - Attorney General Eric Holder.

EDUCATION

Several education-related bills ready to die in Florida House
By Jeff Solochek
St. Petersburg Times
As the Florida Legislature nears the end of the 2011 session, many ideas that once looked likely to pass now appear dead.

Jeb Bush Leads Broad Push for Education Change With ‘Florida Formula’
By Trip Gabriel
New York Times
With the dust settling on legislative sessions around the country, 2011 is shaping up as one of the most consequential years in memory for changes in the way schools are run.

40,000 may have to take algebra test that counts for nothing
By Leslie Postal
Orlando Sentinel
It's as if they are caught in a real-life version of that classic bad dream, the one where you must sit for a final exam in a course you didn't take.

Proposal to restructure Miami-Dade School Board barely alive
By Patricia Mazzei
St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
A contentious proposal to restructure the Miami-Dade School Board is on life support in the Legislature, after one of its proponents shelved the bill in the Senate.

JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY

Fla. House, Senate leaders break budget deadlock
By Bill Cotterell
Florida Capital News
House and Senate budget negotiators have informally agreed that public employees will chip in 3 percent of their salaries for their pensions, as legislative budget talks get started today.

Florida consumer confidence falls for third straight month
By Jeff Harrington
St. Petersburg Times
Consumer confidence among Floridians fell a third consecutive month with many people expressing gloom about where their personal finances are headed, according to a University of Florida survey released Tuesday.

Business property-tax break could be on presidential primary ballot
By Aaron Deslatte
Orlando Sentinel
The Florida Senate is advancing legislation that calls for a special election coinciding with the 2012 Florida presidential primary to give a dramatic property-tax benefit to commercial properties and snowbirds.

HEALTH AND SENIORS

Florida legislators to vote on abortion restrictions
By Kathleen Haughney
Orlando Sentinel
The Florida House is set to vote Wednesday on a half-dozen bills that include forcing women seeking an abortion to first have an ultrasound, prohibiting publicly funded insurance from offering abortions and tightening parental notifications for teens trying to terminate a pregnancy.

Pregnant to see Medicaid change
By Brittany Davis
Health News Florida
Waddling into the doctor’s office at eight months pregnant, two kids in tow, Danielle Johnson fully expected to see her obstetrician.

Fla. House passes welfare drug testing requirement
Associated Press
Tampa Tribune
Welfare applicants would have to pay for drug tests but they'd get reimbursed if they pass under a bill that has cleared the Florida House.

State names replacement for nursing home ombudsman
By Kate Santich
Orlando Sentinel
Officials have appointed 27-year civil servant Jim Crochet to run the state's troubled nursing home ombudsman program. He is a man praised by some for a "wealth of experience" and criticized by others as an industry lapdog.

CIVIL RIGHTS, PEACE AND SOCIAL ISSUES

Gov implies he'll sign anti-illegal immigration bill
By Lynn Hatter
WFSU Public Radio Tallahassee
Governor Rick Scott is dropping hints on which way he'll go should an Arizona-style immigration bill land on his desk.

House approves two gun bills on Hammer’s birthday
By John Kennedy
Palm Beach Post
A compromise between two big Republican backers — the Florida Medical Association and the National Rifle Association — cleared the GOP-dominated House Tuesday, setting new standards for doctors treating gun-owning patients and families.

Bill would fine local governments for violating state gun regulation
By Paul Flemming
Florida Capital News
The Florida House on Tuesday passed a bill that would fine local officials up to $5,000 for violating state law that reserves most gun regulation to the state.

JUSTICE AND THE COURTS

Senate committee splits from House on court reform bill
By Katie Sanders
St. Petersburg Times
The Florida Bar will retain its power to select members of judicial nominating commissions thanks to a late-filed amendment during a committee meeting Tuesday.

The speaker plays hardball
Editorial
Tampa Tribune
Earlier this month, Speaker of the House Dean Cannon saw his priority legislation — changing the formation of the Florida Supreme Court — pass his chamber by a wide margin.

Florida's crime rate the lowest in 40 years
By Catherine Whittenburg
Tampa Tribune
Florida's crime rate is the lowest in 40 years, Gov. Rick Scott and law enforcement leaders announced on Tuesday.

Tackling wrongful convictions — will Bondi keep her word?
By Scott Maxwell
Orlando Sentinel
Last year, when Pam Bondi was in the throes of a cut-throat campaign for attorney general, she vowed to be a crusader for justice.