FEATURED STORIES
Florida House, Senate debate separate $66B-plus spending plans
By Aaron Deslatte and Kathleen Haughney
Orlando Sentinel
Florida's Republican-led Legislature rushed Wednesday to pass a $66 billion-plus spending plan that would dispense harsh fiscal medicine to every corner of government, from schools, public workers, and environmental programs to poor Medicaid patients and the disabled.
Advocates protest cuts to disabilities services
By Bill Cotterell
Florida Capital News
Hundreds of advocates for the disabled took their protest against budget cuts to the doors of Gov. Rick Scott's office Wednesday, challenging him to personally try caring for people with severe developmental and physical handicaps, as he cuts $170 million from the agency that helps their clients live with dignity and independence.
State courts get funding reprieve, won't be forced to close
By Rene Stutzman and Anthony Colarossi
Orlando Sentinel
Related: Cannon scales back plan to remake Supreme Court
Florida Supreme Court Chief Justice Charles T. Canady and Gov. Rick Scott's Office reached a breakthrough emergency-funding agreement Wednesday morning, sparing courts statewide from having to shut down for four days next week and two weeks in May.
From the Florida House to national media, 'uterus' is runaway hit
By Aaron Sharockman
St. Petersburg Times
A little thing happened in the Florida House two weeks ago.
Barack Obama faces uphill climb in Florida
By Abel Harding
Florida Times-Union
President Barack Obama faces an uphill battle in scoring a Florida repeat in his 2012 re-election bid.
FLORIDA POLITICS
South Florida Dems -- and some in GOP -- applaud choice of Wasserman Schultz to lead DNC
By John Lantigua
Palm Beach Post
Republican fund-raiser Ana Navarro of Miami may be on the other side of the aisle from Democratic U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, but she is a longtime admirer.
Today in Tallahassee: House, Senate votes on budgets
By Patricia Mazzei
St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
The Florida House and Senate will vote on their budgets today, after two marathon days of discussions about the deep cuts coming to state services and employees.
Attempts to slim down professional deregulation bill fail
By Janet Zink
St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Attempts by House Democrats to dismantle a bill that would deregulate about 20 professions went nowhere Wednesday.
League: House bill would suppress voter participation
By Travis Pillow
Florida Independent
The League of Women Voters of Florida issued a statement saying a sweeping rewrite of the state’s election laws, unveiled by a state House committee less than a day before it was approved, would “undermine the democratic process.”
Questions for radioland to ask of Gov. Rick Scott
By Mary Ellen Klas
Miami Herald
Florida Gov. Rick Scott appears to be turning a new leaf this week and getting over his media aversion.
Dean Cannon: I didn't try to ban use of word 'uterus'
By Aaron Deslatte
Orlando Sentinel
House Speaker Dean Cannon has heard enough talk about an Orlando lawmaker's use of the word "uterus."
U.S. shutdown could close parks, loans, paper tax returns; but retiree, vet benefits to continue
By George Bennett
Palm Beach Post
Don't plan on applying for a federal home or small business loan or fishing in the Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge if a budget stalemate continues in Washington and the government goes into shutdown mode.
POLITICAL RACES
Poll: Florida voters disapprove of Obama's performance but lean toward Nelson
By Marc Caputo
St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
A majority of Florida voters disapprove of President Barack Obama's job-performance and think he should be a one-termer, according to a new poll that also shows Floridians slightly prefer a generic Republican candidate.
Hasner slams LeMieux, calls him untrustworthy and a ‘Charlie Crist Republican’
By Dara Kam
Palm Beach Post
The GOP U.S. Senate primary campaign is heating up as former state House Majority Leader Adam Hasner of Boca Raton came out swinging today against former U.S. Sen. George LeMieux.
ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY
Conservation groups say Florida lawmakers going too far "streamlining" growth management laws
Staff Report
St. Petersburg Times
State lawmakers — reciting Gov. Rick Scott's mantra that reducing regulations will spark the sluggish economy — are on the verge of a major "streamlining" of growth management laws.
House panel approves pared-back bill on nutrient criteria
By Travis Pillow
Florida Independent
A Florida House panel yesterday made several major changes to a measure that would have blocked state and local governments from enforcing the EPA’s numeric nutrient criteria, water quality rules intended to crack down on high levels of nitrogen and phosphorus in Florida’s waterways.
Federal judge dismisses lawsuit over Florida panther habitat
By Craig Pittman
St. Petersburg Times
A federal judge Wednesday threw out a lawsuit aimed at forcing the government to do a better job of protecting the habitat of the endangered Florida panther.
Gov. Scott: No state money for beach restoration
By Kimberly Miller
Palm Beach Post
There were plenty of bikinis on Palm Beach County's sunny beaches Wednesday, but shirt-and-tie-clad Rick Scott was all business as he evaluated the region's shore erosion and what the state should do about it.
Law gives Florida's electric monopolies control of solar energy
By Howard Troxler
St. Petersburg Times
Two opposite ways to approach solar energy in Florida, long overdue:
Commission faces heat for considering increase in redfish catch
By Bruce Ritchie
FloridaEnvironments.com
A proposal by state fisheries managers to increase the daily recreational catch for red drum in North Florida recalls the "redfish wars" of the late 1980s, according to a veteran recreational fishing activist.
Legal team targets BP to recoup Florida tax losses from spill
By Scott Powers
Orlando Sentinel
A team of high-powered lawyers is preparing to file claims against BP on behalf of Florida school districts, cities and counties over lost tax money blamed on last year's oil spill.
Not so fast, BP
Editorial
St. Petersburg Times
The Obama administration should not rush a decision on whether to allow BP to resume oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.
EDUCATION
Conservative wonk: SB 736 will be "train wreck"
By Ron Matus
St. Petersburg Times
Perceptions aside, teachers, teachers unions and Democrats aren't the only ones worried that the Florida Legislature and Gov. Rick Scott went too far, too fast with SB 736.
Butt out of prayer, drawers
By Reginald Dogan
Pensacola News Journal
What do droopy drawers and school prayer have in common?
Pay cut would mean Duval School Board for rich, critics say
By Topher Sanders
Florida Times-Union
Duval County School Board members said a proposal to eliminate School Board salaries in Florida could mean that only wealthy people would serve.
Summer classes may be required at UF under legislative proposals
By Nathan Crabbe
Gainesville Sun
As the University of Florida's spring semester winds down, some Gainesville residents might look forward to the summer as a time of less traffic and smaller crowds at area businesses.
JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY
Lawmakers ready for budget showdown
By Jim Ash
Florida Capital News
The House and Senate began a two-day marathon on Wednesday, debating competing spending plans that would slash $3.7 billion, keep roughly $1 billion in reserves, avoid raising taxes and at the same time satisfy a constitutional mandate for a balanced budget.
Senate adjusts public employee pension plan
By Bill Cotterell
Florida Capital News
Public employees would make escalating contributions to the Florida Retirement System under a plan approved tonight by the Florida Senate.
Analysis contends Florida gets more federal tax dollars back than it sends to DC
Staff Report
Florida Tribune
Florida ranks in the middle of the pack when it comes to how much money it gets back from the federal government, a new analysis done by the Daily Beast shows.
States, Amtrak vying for Florida's rejected high-speed train money
By Joan Lowy
The Associated Press
Twenty-four states, the District of Columbia and Amtrak are vying for $2.4 billion in federal aid that became available when Florida's governor canceled a high-speed rail project in his state, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said today.
Florida bills may slow dog racing, boost other gambling
By Derek Catron
Daytona Beach News-Journal
The sun is shining. The beer is cold. And the dogs are running.
HEALTH AND SENIORS
Parents of developmentally disabled children protest Florida cuts
By Marc Caputo
St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
The little old lady had a simple question as she strained to speak into the microphone in the cavernous Florida Senate meeting hall: "With all these cuts, what am I going to do?"
State workers get break on coverage
By Jim Saunders
Health News Florida
Still grappling with health-insurance costs, the Florida Senate on Wednesday decided rank-and-file employees should escape a large increase in premiums next year. But they could see their benefits trimmed.
Medicaid bill drops 90% rule
By Jim Saunders
Health News Florida
Inching toward agreement on a Medicaid overhaul, a Senate committee today eliminated a proposal that would have required HMOs to spend 90 percent of the money they receive on patient care.
Nurses Lobby
By Whitney Ray
Capitol News Service
Nurses are roaming the halls of the state capitol today asking lawmakers for more money for public hospitals.
Florida’s AIDS Drug Assistance Program waiting list continues to surge
By Marcos Restrepo
Florida Independent
The number of Florida HIV/AIDS patients on a waiting list to get their medications through the taxpayer-funded AIDS Drug Assistance Program (aka ADAP) continues to grow.
CIVIL RIGHTS, PEACE AND SOCIAL ISSUES
Humane Society on Norman’s farm-photo bill: Undercover investigation gave us humane slaughter laws
By Brett Ader
Florida Independent
As state Sen. Jim Norman’s farm-photo bill heads to its second committee stop later this month, animal-advocacy groups continue to lambast the legislation, which they see as an attempt to further conceal the inhumane treatment of animals bred for food.
JUSTICE AND THE COURTS
Florida reconsiders minimum mandatory sentences for nonviolent crimesBy Steve Bousquet
St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Florida's decades-old, tough-on-crime laws may have helped cut the crime rate, but legislators now say such policies put too great a burden on taxpayers and are too harsh, especially for drug addicts.
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