Daily Clips for April 1, 2011

PROGRESS FLORIDA IN THE NEWS Boo-birds, supporters plan to greet Scott at Rays opener By David DeCamp St. Petersburg Times Excerpt: Spurred by the boos Gov. Rick Scott received at recent Yankees spring training game, St. Petersburg blogger Peter Schorsch has organized an effort for fans to boo Scott when he tosses the first pitch at the Rays opener on Friday. Mark Ferrulo, who is leader of the Progress Florida progressive activist group, is helping, too. FEATURED STORIES Democrat chastised for saying 'uterus' on House floor By Aaron Sharockman St. Petersburg Times During last week's discussion about a bill that would prohibit governments from deducting union dues from a worker's paycheck, state Rep. Scott Randolph, D-Orlando, used his time during floor debate to argue that Republicans are against regulations -- except when it comes to the little guys, or serves their specific interests. Senate budget full of deep cuts, 'tough choices' By Marc Caputo St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau Big cuts for hospitals. State worker layoffs. Privatizing prisons in 18 counties. House: Yes to Medicaid overhaul By Jim Saunders Health News Florida Five years after a controversial pilot program began in Broward and Duval counties, the Florida House on Thursday approved a statewide proposal to shift Medicaid beneficiaries into managed-care plans. The Jobless See a Lifeline at Risk By Lizette Alvarez New York Times With his worn black canvas briefcase at his feet, Richard Dudenhoeffer, a cabinet maker, stood at a computer at the one-stop employment center and scrolled through Florida’s employment listings before settling on three applications Iowa, South Carolina go to war over Florida primary By Alex Leary St. Petersburg Times Florida's insistence on an early presidential primary kicked up a storm Thursday from Republican officials in Iowa and South Carolina who are demanding the national party force the Sunshine State to pull back. BEST OF THE BLOGS Florida House Proposes Giving Rick Scott Sole Power To Appoint Judges By Inkberries Beach Peanuts Republicans in the Florida House Civil Justice Committee recently passed three bills that would give Gov. Rick Scott the sole power to appoint appeals court and Supreme Court justices by restructuring the Florida court system, in the name of "accountability." First Look at 2010 Florida Census Data By Steve Schale Steve Schale The 2010 redistricting process will be unlike any before it. With the introduction of the redistricting standards approved by the voters in November 2010, this cycle’s version is sure to take on a very different look. Beware! Property Insurance Deregulation Puts You at Risk By Bruce Seaman Daily Marion Insurance is boring, riddled with fine print, a cryptic lexicon, and swirling numbers. Just When You Think Florida Republicans Can’t Get Any Dumber By Kenneth Quinnell Florida Progressive Coalition I’ll give it to Katie Betta for doing a amazing job of making her boss’s idiocy almost sound like a legitimate thing, but the simple fact is that this is just plain stupid. Fla. Gov. Rick Scott’s Big Government Program to Drug Test State Workers Could Cost Taxpayers $23.5 Mil Per Year By Jon Ponder Pensito Review Last week, Florida’s already wildly unpopular new Republican governor, Rick Scott, issued an executive order requiring state employees to submit to drug tests at least four times a year. FLORIDA POLITICS Politics will top Census numbers in carving out legislative representation By William March and Kevin Wiatrowski Tampa Tribune For politicians, numbers spell victory or defeat, and a big batch of numbers just arrived in Tallahassee that could change politics in Florida. Protests planned when Scott throws Rays' first pitch By Sherri Ackerman Tampa Tribune They're as American as apple pie: baseball and political protest. Floridians Are Maybe Starting To Understand Their Governor Is A Grifter By Jason Linkins Huffington Post Despite his being best known as a cartoon villain fraudster who bilked Medicare and incurred a record-setting fine from authorities, Florida Governor Rick Scott outspent and outgunned his primary opponent Bill McCollum and then slipped past Democratic challenger Alex Sink in the 2010 GOP wave. Cover the Children's Ears! By Amy Sullivan Time Republican members of the Florida House of Representatives chastised a Democratic colleague today for uttering the word 'uterus' on the House floor during debate. Gov. Rick Scott replaces transition director Enu Mainigi By Michael C. Bender St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau Gov. Rick Scott has replaced his transition director, despite several holes that remain in his administration. After resigning appointment to head agency, Carl Littlefield gets newly created DCF job By Michael C. Bender St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau In a year when Florida lawmakers expect to slash thousands of state jobs and cut benefits for workers who remain, Gov. Rick Scott's office helped create a position for the man whose role overseeing a controversial Tampa group home cost him an agency head position. The Fanjuls: The Koch brothers of South Florida? By Kyle Daly Florida Independent Following revelations of their involvement in the war on public unions in Wisconsin, the once-anonymous Koch Industries Executive Vice President David and his brother Charles have in a short time become boogeymen of the left, the liberal answer to the man behind many conservative conspiracies: George Soros — something David groused about in a recent, fawning Weekly Standard profile. Fla. Senate plans Saturday meetings for committees By Bill Cotterell Florida Capital News The Florida Senate will probably start holding committee meetings on Saturdays in the second half of the legislative session, Senate President Mike Haridopolos said Thursday. Today in Tallahassee: Petition-gatherer crackdown, budget bills By Mary Ellen Klas St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau Florida legislators take up changes to Florida election law and debate their final package of budget bills on Friday. ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY Water districts cut, grabbed by Senate By John Kennedy Palm Beach Post The Legislature would gain a powerful new grip on the South Florida Water Management District and the state’s four other water boards under legislation that sailed unanimously Thursday through the Senate Budget Committee. LGBT Report: Study of gay, transgender health needed By Lauran Neergaard Associated Press Scientists only recently learned how certain diseases affect women differently than men, and blacks differently than whites. EDUCATION Does teacher merit pay bill rely on flawed model? By Kim MacQueen Florida Tribune With Florida’s groundbreaking new teacher merit pay bill, the state has proclaimed its intention to hold fast to former Gov. Jeb Bush’s education reform legacy. Lawmakers seek ways around class-size rules By Patricia Mazzei St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau Florida voters in November rejected relaxing constitutionally mandated limits on class sizes. Florida lawmakers push forward with plan to shift school lunches to Agriculture Department By Katie Sanders St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam's hopes for wresting control of school nutrition programs got two thumbs-up from the Legislature this week, a sign his priority will reach the governor's desk. Miami-Dade teachers stage school “walk-ins” By Kathleen McGrory Miami Herald Miami-Dade teachers wanted to send a message to Tallahassee. Senate budget plan would lower chancellor's pay By Jim Ash Florida Capital News Senate Appropriations Chairman JD Alexander has quietly slipped language into his chamber's $68.9-billion budget proposal that would slash state university Chancellor Frank Brogan's $357,000 salary by more than one third. Another brand of Bush school reform: Jeb’s By Nick Anderson Washington Post The president who turned No Child Left Behind from slogan into statute is gone from Washington, and the influence of his signature education law is fading. JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY Fla. House panel advances bill making welfare applicants undergo and pay for drug tests By Dara Kam Palm Beach Post State welfare recipients would have to undergo -- and pay for -- drug tests to be eligible to receive benefits under proposals advancing in the state legislature. House to create $400 million development fund controlled by Gov. Scott By Jason Garcia Orlando Sentinel The Florida House will unveil a plan today that would eliminate dedicated funding sources for affordable housing, tourism advertising and some transportation projects, and funnel the money instead into a single, super-sized economic-development fund. Real knock-down, drag-out fight in Florida is over commercial interior design By Janet Zink St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau The young woman stepped to the podium, eager for a chance to address Florida lawmakers. HEALTH AND SENIORS Florida's health care reform lawsuit heats up June 8 By Janet Zink St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau Florida's lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of federal health care reform legislation is one step closer to the U.S. Supreme Court. Scott says new federal health care act eliminated inexpensive child-only insurance policies: False By Laura Figueroa St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald PolitiFact To mark the one-year anniversary of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act signed into law by President Barack Obama on March 23, 2010, Republican leaders have been rallying their voices and calling for a repeal of the health care measure. Scott praises athletes, then cuts programs By Bill Cotterell Florida Capital News The state Thursday slashed payments for group homes and case workers who help people with severe mental and physical disabilities to address a ballooning agency deficit, a move advocates said will be devastating for care. House plan cuts Moffitt's cancer research money By Jodie Tillman St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau A House plan headed for a floor vote would take $50 million from cancer research programs — including $10 million for H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute — and use it to help cover the state's Medicaid bill. CIVIL RIGHTS, PEACE AND SOCIAL ISSUES Gun law bill would make local officials personally liable By Zac Anderson Sarasota Herald-Tribune Few issues stoke more passion among Florida lawmakers than guns and property rights, but this year some critics worry the Legislature is going too far in its zeal to protect individual freedoms. Federal judge rules in favor of Sons of Confederate Veterans in license plate dispute By Anthony Colarossi Orlando Sentinel A federal district judge in Orlando has sided with the Sons of Confederate Veterans in a legal fight over specialty car-license plates showing the Confederate flag.