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 questionedBy 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.
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