PROGRESS FLORIDA IN THE NEWS
With Spill in Rear View and Expensive Gas, Drill Baby Drill Again
By David Royse
News Service of Florida
Excerpt: Mark Ferrulo, executive director of the progressive advocacy group Progress Florida, and a longtime drilling opponent, said the new calls for offshore drilling are shortsighted anyway – because the impact wouldn’t be felt where consumers want it – at the gas pump. “We could drill for every single drop of oil within our borders, including under Space Mountain, and it will not affect the price of gas one bit,” Ferrulo said. “That price is set on the international market.”
AWAKE THE STATE IN THE NEWS
Residents voice opposition to recent legislation at rally
By David DiPino
South Florida Sun Sentinel
Concerned with what they called the most anti-middle class legislative session in the state's history, about 130 residents and half a dozen state legislators voiced opposition to Gov. Rick Scott at the Palm Beach Awake the State Rally at Lawton Chiles Park in Delray Beach last week.
FEATURED STORIES
Gov. Rick Scott signs sweeping property insurance changes into law
By Janet Zink
St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
The insurance industry celebrated Tuesday after Gov. Rick Scott signed a sweeping property insurance bill into law.
Gov. Scott poises with veto power -- over his own party's spending plans
By John Kennedy
Palm Beach Post
Gov. Rick Scott vowed Tuesday to pare the $69.7 billion state budget approved by lawmakers, reining-in public-sector spending and easing a debt burden that has skyrocketed under fellow Republicans the past decade.
JQC brings charges against 'Taj Mahal' judge
By Lucy Morgan
St. Petersburg Times
The Judicial Qualifications Commission has charged 1st District Court Judge Paul M. Hawkes with exceeding his authority when he lobbied for a new $50 million courthouse in what has become known as the Taj Mahal scandal.
Chamber backing for-profit colleges
By Dave Weber
Orlando Sentinel
The education-as-business folks over at the Chamber of Commerce have moved beyond their controversial foray into pre-k-12 education politics.
For-Profit Colleges: Targeting People Who Can't Pay
Interview with Daniel Golden
NPR
For-profit colleges are making billions of dollars in profits by targeting vulnerable populations with misleading promises of low-cost tuition and jobs after graduation, says Bloomberg News investigative reporter Daniel Golden.
FLORIDA POLITICS
E-mails, phone calls flood into Governor's office on elections bill, SunRail
By Janet Zink
St. Petersburg Times
Related: Congressional Democrats turn up heat on Florida election bill
With the deadline approaching for Gov. Rick Scott to veto or sign into law a rewrite of Florida elections law, e-mails and phone calls on the topic are coming in by the thousands to the governor's office.
Feds say they’ll look into FL elections law changes
By Dara Kam
Palm Beach Post
The U.S. Department of Justice will “carefully consider” changes to Florida’s elections laws under a bill Gov. Rick Scott is expected to sign into law this week.
Gov. Rick Scott not expected to make much use of his veto powers
By Aaron Deslatte
Orlando Sentinel
Related: Scott sidesteps teacher layoff issue, talks budget vetoes
After a year of campaigning against Florida's political establishment, Gov. Rick Scott has yet to meet a bill he doesn't like.
Gov. Rick Scott threatens veto of college construction projects
By Steve Bousquet
St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Worried about Florida's debt, Gov. Rick Scott warns he may veto more than a hundred million dollars in college construction projects in the new state budget.
Haridopolos fields queries on immigration at Tea Party Manatee event
By Paradise Afshar
Bradenton Herald
Tea Party Manatee member Linda Neely drove to Tallahassee to push for the recent immigration bill to pass.
This time, a cordial crowd for Dan Webster
By Mark Schlueb
Orlando Sentinel
Republican U.S. Rep. Dan Webster found a much more hospitable crowd Tuesday night at his first town hall meeting since the one disrupted by liberal activists three weeks ago.
Another Allen West town hall, another early exit for higher-corporate-tax shouter
By George Bennett
Palm Beach Post
Anne Deon still hasn’t managed to make it through one of Republican U.S. Rep. Allen West‘s town hall meetings.
Florida's airport 'fix' leaves the public in the dark
Editorial
St. Petersburg Times
Commercial airports exist thanks to huge public subsidies.
POLITICAL RACES
Alvin Brown has 603-vote lead over Mike Hogan
By Matt Galnor
Florida Times-Union
Related: Jacksonville mayoral race could send shockwaves through state GOP circles
The tightest mayor’s race in Jacksonville’s history isn’t expected to have a winner for at least two more days.
Poll: LeMieux, Haridopolos tied; 64% undecided
By Adam C. Smith
St. Petersburg Times
Related: Cornyn: Still time for other Republicans to jump into Florida's U.S. Senate primary
An automated May 12-13 poll by Sunshine State Communications (MoE +/- 4.58%) shows just how unformed the Republican U.S. Senate primary is at this point: Sixty four percent of likely primary voters are undecided, 11 percent support Mike Haridopolos, 9 percent George LeMieux, 4 percent Mike McCalister, and Adam Hasner pulls up the rear with 0.
Poll: Florida Republicans Still Have No Idea Who They Want to Run for Senate
By Kyle Munzenrieder
Miami New Times
At this point the 2012 horse race the republican primary for the Florida senate seat sort of mirrors the party's primary for the presidential nomination: a bunch of not-terribly-exciting politicians that no one seems to be all that excited about.
ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY
Florida black bears may lose state protection
By Craig Pittman
St. Petersburg Times
The Florida black bear, once hunted statewide, has been legally protected as an imperiled species since 1974.
State's top officials consider fate of Florida Forever
By James Call
WFSU Public Radio Tallahassee
Governor Rick Scott and the Florida Cabinet Tuesday approved a five-year plan for Florida Forever, an environmentally-sensitive land buying program.
Power plant proposed in Florida panther habitat
By David Fleshler
South Florida Sun Sentinel
A large power plant with smokestacks up to 150 feet high has been proposed for a patch of Florida panther habitat south of Lake Okeechobee, setting up what is likely to be a bitter fight with environmentalists.
Lawmakers, Scott ready to drain money from Florida's water districts
By Kevin Spear
Orlando Sentinel
On a spring morning in 1995, real-estate developer B.B. Nelson walked into a Melbourne office of the St. Johns River Water Management District with a military smoke bomb.
Florida has no reporting requirements for controversial pesticide methyl iodide
By Kelly Benjamin
WMNF Community Radio Tampa
Methyl iodide is a controversial pesticide that has been approved for use in agricultural fields in Florida and California despite vocal opposition linking it to cancer and other ailments.
Cabinet okays Pasco channel near Sunwest Harbourtowne
By Michael C. Bender
St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Gov. Rick Scott and the Florida Cabinet gave the go-ahead Tuesday for developers to dig an 85-foot wide boat channel through more than 27 acres of sea grass in northwest Pasco County.
EDUCATION
School Districts on their Own
By Mike Vasilinda
Capitol News Service
Pink Slips are starting to flow in school districts across the state as districts grapple with a five hundred and forty-two dollar per student cut come August.
Broward teachers beg for their jobs
By Carli Teproff
Miami Herald
On the day letters went out to more than 1,400 teachers whose contracts weren’t being renewed, the Broward Teachers Union and several educators begged the School Board to reconsider.
Earning good school grades to get tougher
By Leslie Postal
Orlando Sentinel
Getting good grades could soon be tougher for Florida's public schools.
Glitches mar computerized algebra tests
By Leslie Postal and Dave Weber
Orlando Sentinel
A nationwide network outage at Pearson, Florida's testing company, created problems for schools administering the state's new standardized algebra exam today, officials said.
Three applicants so far for Florida's top education job
By Rebecca Catalanello
Orlando Sentinel
Quality over quantity. That's the mantra search firm officials are emphasizing as they near the May 25 deadline for applicants to lead Florida's massive public educational system.
State OKs Duval's management plan for struggling schools
By Topher Sanders
Florida Times-Union
The state Board of Education has approved Duval County Public Schools' plan to pass managerial responsibility of its four most struggling schools to a district-created nonprofit group if the schools don't improve on state exams.
JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY
Florida’s Cuts to Unemployment Benefits Will Stifle Economic Growth
By Heather Boushey and Danielle Lazarowitz
Center for American Progress
Despite troublingly high unemployment rates, some states are passing legislation that cuts unemployment benefits.
Gov. Scott signs property insurance rewrite
By Michael Peltier
News Service of Florida
A sweeping and controversial measure aimed at reducing costs to property insurers and liability for taxpayers was signed into law Tuesday by Gov. Rick Scott, who said it was a significant first step in restoring the private insurance market in Florida.
Castor says raising debt ceiling should come with deficit reduction
By William March
Tampa Tribune
Breaking with the orthodox Democratic position, U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor of Tampa said today that a measure to increase the national debt ceiling should be accompanied by a plan for long-term deficit reduction.
Debt Limit Blackmail
The Progress Report
Think Progress
The United States officially hit its statutory debt limit yesterday, preventing the government from borrowing any more money, as Republicans continue to demagogue the issue but refuse to act.
HEALTH AND SENIORS
Feds yank licenses; state doesn’t
By Brittany Davis
Health News Florida
Two dozen Florida doctors who lost their Drug Enforcement Administration licenses as part of a federal crackdown on pain clinics still have clear Florida medical licenses.
Florida Children's Doctors Face Gun Gag Order
By Les Coleman
Public News Service Florida
Florida is set to become the first state to pass a law that would limit doctors' ability to counsel parents about gun safety in the home.
Florida budget cuts almost $1 million from family planning
By Ashley Lopez
Florida Independent
Florida’s state budget this year has cut a little under $1 million dollars in funding for family planning, while crisis pregnancy centers in the state have yet to see significant cuts.
ACLU of Florida expands legal staff in wake of legislative session
By Ashley Lopez
Florida Independent
The American Civil Liberties Union of Florida has begun beefing up its legal staff to possibly take on some of the more questionable bills passed during Florida’s recent legislative session.
Some ob-gyns in South Florida turn away overweight women
By Bob LaMendola
South Florida Sun Sentinel
In a nation with 93 million obese people, a few ob-gyn doctors in South Florida now refuse to see otherwise healthy women solely because they are overweight.
JUSTICE AND THE COURTS
Education is the solution to prisonsBy Tonyaa Weathersbee
Florida Times-Union
With a $3.6 billion deficit looming, the Florida Legislature decided that years of mindless, tough-on-crime laws were becoming too tough on the state's coffers.
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