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 billBy 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.
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