PROGRESS FLORIDA IN THE NEWS
Progressive to address Democratic Club
By Mark Harper
Daytona Beach News-Journal
The founder of Awake the State, a progressive grass-roots effort to fight budget cuts and "the assault on working families," plans to speak Thursday in Deltona. Ray Seaman, online director for Progress Florida, will speak to the Democratic Club of Southwest Volusia in a meeting open to the public.
FEATURED STORIES
President Obama's secret weapon in Florida: Rick Scott
By Glenn Thrush and Byron Tau
Politico
Six months ago, in the wake of the wipeout midterm elections, moderate Florida Sen. Bill Nelson privately vented that President Barack Obama, weighed down by his health reform effort and muddled messaging, was “toxic” for Democrats back home.
Elections supervisors in key counties refuse to implement new law
By Marc Caputo
St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Related edidtorial: Vote suppression must not stand
The elections supervisor in Rick Scott's home county refuses to recognize a new law the governor signed out of concerns that the U.S. Department of Justice hasn't decided whether it violates a law protecting minority voters.
'We've done the bait and switch'
By Paul Flemming
Florida Capital News
Lawmakers and governors have used a broom to balance Florida's budget during the Great Recession, sweeping out $2.8 billion from 95 dedicated pots of money and using it to keep the state in the black.
Gov. Rick Scott's office: We didn't kick anyone out of budget signing
By Aaron Sharockman and Marc Caputo
St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
A day after some Democrats were removed from Gov. Rick Scott's budget signing by sheriff's deputies because the event was "private," a Scott spokesman tried to deflect blame by claiming that Scott's office ordered no one out. Only that's not true.
Ethics reform ignored by Florida lawmakers
By Zac Anderson
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
For all the major reforms Florida lawmakers took on this year, they failed to enact stronger ethics standards for public officials despite a rash of corruption cases from South Florida to Sarasota.
Did BP's oil-dissolving chemical make the spill worse?
By Kate Spinner
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
BP succeeded in sinking the oil from its blown well out of sight — and keeping much of it away from beaches and marshes last year — by dousing the crude with nearly 2 million gallons of toxic chemicals.
EDITORIAL CARTOON OF THE WEEK
By Jim Morin
Miami Herald
FLORIDA POLITICS
Democrats kicked out of Gov. Scott’s budget signing: the irrefutable evidence
By Joy-Ann Reid
The Reid Report
Here’s the video evidence of the event the governor’s spokesman claims never happened.
Lawmakers call Scott's veto total and his intent, into question
By Lynn Hatter
WFSU Public Radio Tallahassee
Governor Rick Scott signed Florida's budget on the road this week, making it a campaign-style event before a friendly crowd in a Republican and Tea Party dominated part of the state.
Florida Republicans put out Scott robocall on budget
By William March
Tampa Tribune
The state Republican Party sent out a robocall in which Gov. Rick Scott pushed his position on the $69.1 billion state budget he signed Thursday, including the contention that his vetoes cut "special interest waste" and that he wants the proceeds to go to public schools.
GOP won’t let democracy get out of hand
By Carl Hiaasen
Miami Herald
According to a new Quinnipiac University poll of Florida voters, Rick Scott is now one of the country’s most unpopular governors, a dubious feat after only four months in office.
Browning can't make case
Editorial
Palm Beach Post
Florida Secretary of State Kurt Browning says he does not understand why his ex-colleagues, the state's elections supervisors, howl about the pernicious new election rules signed into law by Gov. Scott this month.
'Fair districts' for Florida is only a beginning
By Howard Troxler
St. Petersburg Times
Let's talk about fair voting districts for Florida.
How the jobs session became the politics session
By Randy Schultz
Palm Beach Post
It was one day from the scheduled end of a frantic legislative session, and Sen. Evelyn Lynn, R-Ormond Beach, had seen and heard enough.
Conservative groups score big this year in state legislatures
By Catherine Whittenburg
Tampa Tribune
Texas lawmakers passed a law this spring requiring women seeking abortions to get an ultrasound.
Government secrecy in Florida is out of hand
By Howard Troxler
St. Petersburg Times
We have a simple and important principle in Florida: What the government does is the public's business.
POLITICAL RACES
Medicare plays key role in Florida's U.S. Senate Republican race
By George Bennett
Palm Beach Post
Democrats see a defining issue for 2012 in the controversial Republican plan to overhaul Medicare.
President Obama returning to Miami next month to raise money
By Adam C. Smith
St. Petersburg Times
President Barack Obama is set to return to Miami on June 13 for a series of campaign fundraisers.
Visiting GOP hopefuls attest to value of Florida primary
By Jeremy Wallace
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney visited Jacksonville to raise money and solidify his standing as the perceived front runner for the GOP presidential nomination in 2012.
Bennett hopes to join Buchanan in Congress
By Jeremy Wallace
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
Florida Sen. Mike Bennett made his long-planned run for Congress official this week, filing his statement of candidacy with the Federal Election Commission to challenge U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor, D-Tampa, in the 11th Congressional District.
Challenge of two Miami-Dade mayoral candidates: Broaden bases
By Martha Brannigan and Matthew Haggman
Miami Herald
With the race for Miami-Dade County mayor narrowed to two candidates, the challenge for Julio Robaina and Carlos Gimenez is to broaden their bases of support while keeping loyalists on board through a summer doldrum of a campaign.
Myriad of failures led to Mike Hogan's defeat in Jacksonville runoff
By Jim Schoettler
Florida Times-Union
The day after the March 22 primary, former Jacksonville councilwoman Suzanne Jenkins got a call from a relative of Mike Hogan's asking her to endorse him for mayor.
BALLOT INITIATIVES
Citizens can push for more say in government
By John Hedrick
Florida Today
Signs abound of citizen dissatisfaction with local and state governments.
ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY
Funding nil for Florida Forever
By Jim Ash
Florida Capital News
It was once the largest conservation land-buying program in the nation, a $300-million-dollar-a-year jewel that in the past 10 years has set aside 2.4 million acres of open spaces, parks and wildlife habitat.
Scott signs law cutting water districts' budgets; environmentalists worried
By John Kennedy
Palm Beach Post
Environmentalists said Friday they remain wary of legislation signed into law by Gov. Rick Scott that sharply reduces water managers' dollars while giving lawmakers new control over district spending.
A guide to Florida's proposed nuclear expansions
By Julie Patel
South Florida Sun Sentinel
Construction of Florida's newest nuclear reactors could start in 2013.
154 groups urge feds to act on post-BP disaster health crisis
By Sue Sturgis
Facing South
A coalition of 154 organizations sent a letter yesterday to the heads of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Health and Human Services, asking them to take immediate action to address the public health crisis on the Gulf Coast triggered by last year's BP oil spill.
How long can South Florida’s hurricane luck last?
By Curtis Morgan
Miami Herald
Florida enters hurricane season 2011, which commences on Wednesday, officially pushing its luck.
Oil spill's not over
Editorial
Pensacola News Journal
It's hard to say what, exactly, is causing the sick fish which now appear to be spread across a wide area of the Gulf of Mexico.
EDUCATION
More Cash for Schools Illusionary
By Mike Vasilinda
Capitol News Service
Governor Rick Scott’s call to use money he vetoed from the state budget to increase school funding is being called “disingenuous.”
Scott's textbook case of myopia: Three bureaucrats will now review school materials
By Bill Maxwell
St. Petersburg Times
When Gov. Rick Scott signed the state budget into law last week at the Villages retirement community, he virtually removed the concept of "public" from the process of adopting textbooks and other instructional materials for Florida's public schools.
Dade teachers may get merit pay this summer
By Kathleen McGrory
Miami Herald
The Miami-Dade school district is poised to become one of the first in the nation to launch a merit pay program — one that could propel top teachers to more than $100,000 in compensation.
Broward teachers brace for more cuts
By Rafael Olmeda
South Florida Sun Sentinel
About 400 Broward teachers can expect to be told next week that their current positions are being eliminated, Superintendent Jim Notter said Friday.
8% of Florida students default on school loans
By Scott Travis
South Florida Sun Sentinel
Forget term papers and roommate conflicts. For many students, the biggest college stress comes after they leave school.
College Students Face Drop in Bright Futures, Jump in Tuition
By Mary Toothman
Lakeland Ledger
Florida students seeking college degrees during these difficult economic times now face a 20 percent drop in Bright Futures scholarship money and predicted tuition hikes.
Universities now for sale?
Editorial
Pensacola News Journal
We don't what Florida State University officials were thinking when they granted the right so approve faculty hires to rich donors in return for a donation of $1.5 million.
JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY
Breaking down Florida's pension reform changes
By Mary Ellen Klas
St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
On Thursday, Gov. Rick Scott signed into law significant reforms to the Florida Retirement System, the state-run pension fund for 655,000 state and county employees.
Consumers aren't happy about Scott's insurance policy
By Aaron Deslatte
Orlando Sentinel
Even though his fellow Republicans hammered him for his refusal to give in to the marketplace logic and demands of the industry, Gov. Charlie Crist never wavered during his four years in office: he was an unrelenting supporter of regulating the property insurance market.
Workforce Central Florida jobs agency gave contracts to board member, executive's mom
By Jim Stratton
Orlando Sentinel
Workforce Central Florida, the agency that proposed giving capes to the unemployed, has repeatedly given contracts and awards to companies linked to its board members and to at least one business with family ties to a senior Workforce executive.
Lawmakers, lobbyists to make new push for 'destination' casinos
By Kathleen Haughney
Orlando Sentinel
A movement to bring Las Vegas-style "destination casinos" to Florida fell apart this year when lawmakers could not come to an agreement on whether the state should further expand its gaming industry.
Prodded by pro sports teams, Florida clamps down on traveling workers who claim injuries
By Jason Garcia
Orlando Sentinel
Florida workers who travel as part of their jobs may soon have a harder time claiming benefits from on-the-job accidents — thanks, in large part, to the state's professional sports teams.
Graduates struggle to find the first rung on the career ladder
By Joe Callahan
Ocala Star-Banner
At a time when Kat McPadden should be thinking about how to decorate her classroom for the new school year, the recent Florida State University graduate instead is spending her days unpacking boxes back in her childhood bedroom.
HEALTH AND SENIORS
Health care services for women and children among Scott vetoes, crisis pregnancy centers untouched
By Ashley Lopez
Florida Independent
Gov. Rick Scott yesterday vetoed almost $1.5 million for a handful of community health care clinics in Florida that provide adult and pediatric primary health care services, family planning, immunizations and STD and HIV screening, among other services, to low-income and minority patients.
Florida turns down $35.7M grant
By Carol Gentry
Health News Florida
In March, Gov. Rick Scott’s staff said he would accept a $35.7-million federal health grant called the “Money Follows the Person.”
FL HMO profits for last year $675 million
By Brittany Davis
Health News Florida
With premiums and co-pays rising and insurers' spending on medical care dropping, Florida HMOs are rolling in cash.
Review of Florida's public hospitals begins
By Lloyd Dunkelberger
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
The day after Gov. Rick Scott drew criticism for cutting some $615 million in state spending, his administration embarked on another contentious venture: taking on Florida's public hospital system.
Florida flunks in providing dental care for poor children
By Megan O’Matz
South Florida Sun Sentinel
Here’s news that shouldn’t make Floridians smile: For the second year in a row, the Sunshine State has received an F for its efforts to help provide poor children with dental care.
CIVIL RIGHTS, PEACE AND SOCIAL ISSUES
Tea party wants U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio to step into contentious immigration debate Republicans want to avoid
By Alex Leary
St. Petersburg Times
A crack is forming in U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio's tea party.
Diversity growing within U.S. Hispanic communities
By Marcos Restrepo
Florida Independent
A Pew Hispanic Center report about the country-of-origin of Hispanics in 30 U.S. metropolitan areas indicates that Hispanics of Mexican, Puerto Rican and Cuban origin or descent remain the nation’s three largest Hispanic groups, but diversity within the Latino community is increasing.
JUSTICE AND THE COURTS
Judge strikes down corporate donations banBy Kenneth P. Vogel
Politico
A federal court in Alexandria, Va. on Thursday struck down a federal ban on corporate campaign contributions, in a case with potentially dramatic ramifications for a campaign finance regulatory system under siege by legal and regulatory attacks.
Supreme Court gives Southern states more incentive to push prison alternatives
By Chris Kromm
Facing South
The Supreme Court's ruling this week that California's prisons are so overcrowded it amounts to cruel and unusual punishment -- requiring the release of 30,000 prisoners -- is rightly being heralded as a landmark case for the rights of the incarcerated.
Six finalists chosen for two spots on the Parole Commission
By Kim MacQueen
Florida Tribune
A search committee voted Friday to send to Gov. Rick Scott and the Cabinet a slate of six names for appointment to the Florida Parole Commission.
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