Daily Clips for May 17, 2011

AWAKE THE STATE IN THE NEWS

Awake the State Pinellas - May 10, 2011 Rally at Rep. Jeff Brandes' Office
By Tim Martin
YouTube
Close to 200 people gathered at Rep. Jeff Brandes St. Petersburg office to deliver a report card on his voting record in Tallahassee this legislative session. After winning his election by only a handful of votes, Brandes voted overwhelmingly along partisan lines this session.

FEATURED STORIES

Deadline approaching for Scott to act on election bill
By Travis Pillow
Florida Independent
Gov. Rick Scott has until Saturday to act on House Bill 1355, the controversial elections bill that passed the Florida Legislature along party lines over objections that it would make voting more difficult.

Sides battle over Florida insurance bill as it awaits Gov. Rick Scott
By Janet Zink
St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
With a sweeping property insurance reform bill awaiting Gov. Rick Scott's signature, supporters and opponents of the proposal continue to battle.

Advocates fear effect of session's changes on seniors
By Catherine Whittenburg
Tampa Tribune
She had driven through the night from Tampa and signed up early to testify. But the state House committee hearing was ending, and still no one had called her. Nervously, Anna Spinella stood up and demanded to speak.

FSU: For Sale University
Editorial
St. Petersburg Times
Florida State University President Eric Barron should stop defending an indefensible arrangement with a private foundation to fund and approve faculty positions in the economics department.

FLORIDA POLITICS

Gov. Scott offers a personalized welcome to state
By Jim Ash
Florida Capital News
It's peanuts compared with the record-breaking $73 million that Gov. Rick Scott spent of his own fortune last year winning his first public office.

Scott's mom says he's doing a good job
By Bill Cotterell
Florida Capital News
Gov. Rick Scott may not have gotten everything he wanted out of the 2011 legislative session but, if they handed out political report cards, his mother would still paste this one up on the family refrigerator.

Rod Smith tells a Tampa Democratic fundraiser that the Florida GOP has gone so far right they're now out of the mainstream
By Mitch Perry
Creative Loafing
A week after the Republican dominated Legislature passed legislation that critics say will damage the environment, limit access to voting and make it more onerous to get a legal abortion, Florida Democratic Party chairman Rod Smith says he's convinced that the Florida GOP has gone too far outside the mainstream, and says such overreach presents the best opportunity in years for Democrats to start making a comeback in the Sunshine State.

Senate Republicans trawling for cash
By John Kennedy
Palm Beach Post
Florida Republican senators put the legislative session in the rearview mirror Monday and went fishing — raising money for Sen. Don Gaetz’s bid to become the next Senate president.

Florida lieutenant governor toasts tea party at UWF
By Carmen Paige
Pensacola News Journal
Without the support of the tea party, the legislative agenda of Florida Gov. Rick Scott and Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll of reducing corporate taxes and deleting $700 million in state spending would not have succeeded.

FEC clears complaint against Rep. Rivera
By Lesley Clark
Miami Herald
The Federal Election Commission has found “no reason to believe” that Rep. David Rivera violated campaign finance law during the 2010 election by coordinating a campaign attack with an independent political committee.

Number of lobbying firms earning at least $500,000 jumped up this year
By Gary Fineout
Florida Tribune
Some lobbying firms had a banner legislative season newly filed compensation reports show.

Boyd follows fellow Blue Dogs through congressional revolving door
By Travis Pillow
Florida Independent
Some 28 centrist “Blue Dog” Democrats lost their congressional seats after the 2010 elections, including now-former Rep. Allen Boyd, who represented Florida’s 2nd district.

POLITICAL RACES

George LeMieux sends mixed messages on spending, earmarks
By Alex Leary
St. Petersburg Times
From his U.S. Senate office in March 2010, George LeMieux declared he would have voted against the $787 billion federal stimulus "now that we see how little of that money has stimulated the economy."

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

With Lake Okeechobee 4 feet lower than last year, water managers ready pumps
By Christine Stapleton
Palm Beach Post
With drought dropping Lake Okeechobee's level almost three feet below normal, water managers may soon need to activate pumps to substitute for gravity and move water south through farmlands and into the Everglades.

Florida nuclear reactors pass inspection in wake of Japan disaster
By Susan Salisbury
Palm Beach Post
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has completed inspections of the nation's 104 nuclear reactors, including those in Florida, to examine the plants' abilities to deal with power losses or other issues following extreme events, such as floods, fires or terrorist attacks.

U.S. Rep. West urges drilling to tap U.S. oil in Gulf, and greater pursuit of all other energy
By George Bennett
Palm Beach Post
U.S. Rep. Allen West, R-Plantation, pumped $3.969-a-gallon gas at a Chevron station this afternoon and said more domestic energy production, including more drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, would eventually bring down prices.

Chamber blasts bill to repeal Big Oil tax breaks
By Andrew Restuccia
The Hill
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce blasted a bill by Senate Democrats to eliminate billions in tax breaks for the largest oil companies Monday, calling the effort “punitive taxation.”

EDUCATION

More than 1,400 Broward teachers losing their jobs
By Carli Teproff
Miami Herald
More than 1,400 teachers will be receiving letters Tuesday morning officially informing them that they won’t be coming back to their Broward County classrooms in August.

Pinellas School board moves toward difficult budget cuts
By Ron Matus
St. Petersburg Times
The Pinellas County School Board took a big step toward $60 million in targeted budget cuts Monday. But it left crucial decisions affecting more than 70 guidance counselors and media specialists — and the number of unpaid leave days for thousands of other employees — up in the air.

Lake school board won't consider four-day school week to close budget gap
By Erica Rodriguez
Orlando Sentinel
Lake County School Board members said Monday they've stopped considering a four-day school week as a way to balance their budget, but they reopened debate on another controversial proposal: requiring students to wear uniforms this fall.

Gov. Rick Scott adds new member to Florida Board of Education
By Jeff Solochek
St. Petersburg Times
Florida Gov. Rick Scott has gone with a prominent Jacksonville-area businessman to fill one of the two remaining State Board of Education vacancies.

Florida Board of Education to discuss federal Race to the Top money
Staff Report
South Florida Sun Sentinel
The Florida Board of Education will talk about education reform at its meeting in Largo.

JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY

State's hurricane fund could have a tougher time getting money this storm season
By Gary Fineout
Florida Tribune
Hurt by the ongoing volatility in the municipal bond market, Florida's main backup fund for insurance could have a much tougher time coming up with money to pay off major losses during the looming hurricane season.

Seminole expressway authority gets the ax
By Dan Tracy
Orlando Sentinel
The Seminole County Expressway Authority may no longer exist, which comes as quite a surprise to its members.

Florida Transportation Funding: Stuck in 'Paradise'
Editorial
Lakeland Ledger
This is National Transportation Week in America. But there is little reason to celebrate in Florida.

The ‘jobs agenda’ was to eliminate jobs?
Editorial
Polk County Democrat
Word that state budget cuts will force the Polk County School system to eliminate 384 jobs rippled like a wave of fear through the Polk County business community this week.

HEALTH AND SENIORS

Florida Pushing New Fees For Most Medicaid Recipients
By Phil Galewitz
Kaiser Health News
Florida wants to be the first state in the nation to charge most of its Medicaid recipients a monthly premium as well as $100 for using the ER for routine care.

AG skeptical about Fla. Medicaid fraud study
By Bill Kaczor
Associated Press
Attorney General Pam Bondi expressed skepticism Monday about plans for a study to measure Medicaid fraud and abuse in Florida.

ACLU of Florida: Parental notification for abortion bill ‘endangers health of young women’
By Ashley Lopez
Florida Independent
The American Civil Liberties Union of Florida sent out a press release on Friday warning that Florida’s House Bill 1247, which makes it more difficult to seek a judicial bypass for the parental notification of abortion, could possibly endanger the health of young women.

Child welfare costs have gone up in Florida since shift to private sector
By Sally Kestin
South Florida Sun Sentinel
Florida lawmakers ended their annual session this month with agreement to privatize government services from health care for the poor to state prisons on the assumption that the private sector not only can do it better, but cheaper.

CIVIL RIGHTS, PEACE AND SOCIAL ISSUES

Immokalee, America’s Tomato Capital
By Mark Bittman
New York Times
This morning I left Immokalee, Fla., the source of almost all the winter tomatoes grown in the United States.

JUSTICE AND THE COURTS

Florida Innocence Commission calls for changes to photo lineups
By Henry Pierson Curtis
Orlando Sentinel
A statewide panel seeking to prevent convictions of innocent defendants — the Florida Innocence Commission — on Monday recommended a sweeping change in the way Florida police agencies conduct photo lineups of people accused of crimes.