Daily Clips for June 15, 2011

PROGRESS FLORIDA IN THE NEWS

Florida’s Top Political Tweeters for June
By Peter Schorsch
St. Petersblog 2.0
Note: Progress Florida is tied for 5th among nearly 400 top political tweeters in Florida, ranking higher than Gov. Rick Scott, Marco Rubio and Jeb Bush among other notables. Follow us at http://twitter.com/progressflorida.

AWAKE THE STATE IN THE NEWS

The Education of Rick Scott
By John Frank
American Prospect
Excerpt: “That was a great event, wasn’t it?” Randolph says as she arrives at the office. On March 8, the first day of the legislative session, she helped organize statewide “Awake the State” protests that drew an estimated 15,000 people to rallies in 31 cities. Now, she’s trying hard to keep the energy going to label Scott “Pink Slip Rick.”

FEATURED STORIES

Redistricting process could hamper 2012 elections
By William March
Tampa Tribune
Chaos and voter confusion loom for the 2012 Florida elections if the state Legislature doesn't speed up drawing new maps for legislative and congressional districts, advocates of the anti-gerrymandering Fair Districts amendments said Tuesday.

Scott signs law he says he needs to start bringing jobs to Florida
By John Kennedy
Palm Beach Post
Related: Governor takes credit for creating jobs -- that were in the works
Gov. Rick Scott signed into law Tuesday the bill that he says he needs to more quickly react to opportunities to develop business and create jobs in Florida.

Bill reducing unemployment benefits signed by Gov. Scott
By Marcia Heroux Pounds
Orlando Sentinel
Gov. Rick Scott on Tuesday signed a bill that will cut unemployment benefits to as few as 12 weeks for Florida residents, when the state unemployment rate falls.

Patients in Florida's last Medicaid experiment issue a warning about the next one
By Christine Jordan Sexton
The Florida Current
If the federal government decides to give a green light to Florida's proposed massive overhaul of Medicaid, it might hinge on what happened in Jacksonville and a handful of other places in the state over the last few years.

Three abortion bills could become law within the next two weeks
By Ashley Lopez
Florida Independent
Gov. Rick Scott has two weeks to sign House Bills 501, 1127 and 1247 before they automatically become law.

Florida's Puerto Ricans ponder Obama's rare presidential trip to their home island
By John Lantigua
Palm Beach Post
President Barack Obama visited Puerto Rico Tuesday for what many political observers consider an early stop in his 2012 presidential campaign -- one that could help him in Florida.

FLORIDA POLITICS

Transparency questions dog upcoming public redistricting hearings
By Cooper Levey-Baker
Florida Independent
Related: Groups urge Legislature to stop fighting ‘Fair Districts,’ produce redistricting maps and end its ‘gag order’
An “unprecedented” part of “the most open, transparent, interactive” redistricting process ever, or a “sham” designed by Florida lawmakers to placate the public while they work to draw new district lines to benefit themselves?

Redistricting advocates protest delay and gagging of legislators during hearings
By Mary Ellen Klas
Miami Herald
Related: Haridopolos responds to redistricting criticism, slams Fair Districts
In a letter to House Speaker Dean Cannon and Senate President Mike Haridopolos this morning, the League of Women Voters, NAACP, Common Cause, Democracia and other advocacy groups working with the Democrat-backed Fair Districts Florida, strongly protested the gag rule imposed by the leaders on legislature during hearings next week in which they are prohibited from discussing maps or even speaking out.

The Inscrutable Mr. Scott, America’s Least Popular Governor
By Tim Padgett
TIME
Florida Governor Rick Scott was in Canada last week, trumpeting the news that three companies there are bringing operations, and more than 200 jobs, to the Sunshine State.

Rick Scott and the GOP’s national agenda
By Travis Pillow
Florida Independent
Republicans dominating the legislature and cabinet of one of the most politically diverse states in the country took up some pieces of the party’s national agenda that didn’t fly during this legislative session, and helped inspire a backlash.

Apology demanded from sheriff after Democrats removed at Gov. Rick Scott event at The Villages
By Martin E. Comas
Orlando Sentinel
The head of the Lake County Democratic Party is calling for Sumter County Sheriff Bill Farmer to apologize after his deputies threw protestors out of a May 26 event in The Villages where Gov. Rick Scott signed the state budget.

Long running contract dispute headed to appeals court
By Gary Fineout
The Florida Current
A long-simmering contract dispute between the politically-connected owner of a company that prints the state's driver manual and a state agency will go before a state appeals court on Wednesday.

Gov. Rick Scott visits as fires rage in Volusia and Flagler
By Dinah Voyles Pulver and Patricio G. Balona
Daytona Beach News-Journal
Volusia County fire officials have two new brush fires to deal with, said Volusia County Fire Services Chief Joseph E. Pozzo at a roadside conference today in Maytown.

In maiden speech, Marco Rubio ties America's immigrant past to his own
By Alex Leary
St. Petersburg Times
Related: Marco Rubio's maiden Senate speech text
U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio delivered his maiden speech on the Senate floor Tuesday, tying the nation's immigrant past with his own and calling for a "new American century."

Sansom used leftover campaign money to reimburse himself
By Gary Fineout
The Florida Current
Former House Speaker Ray Sansom dipped into leftover campaign funds to reimburse himself thousands of dollars -- and to pick up travel costs during his time in office -- a review of records show.

Allen West flagged for scuba diving with Old Glory
By Jennifer Epstein
Politico
Rep. Allen West is in hot water with a local blogger after he led a group of veterans on a scubadiving trip off the coast of his Florida district over the weekend and planted an American flag underwater on an artificial reef.

POLITICAL RACES

Democrats are desperate for political candidates with pizzazz
By Scott Maxwell
Orlando Sentinel
Democrats convened in South Florida last weekend, downright giddy about their prospects for next year.

Analysis: Obama takes stock of supporters' passion
By Jim Kuhnhenn
Associated Press
As he weighed a presidential run back in 2006, President Barack Obama displayed a realistic sense of self-awareness: All the adulation he was receiving, he conceded then, was because he was a blank slate on which people could attach their aspirations.

Romney's first 2012 campaign visit to Florida makes Boca Raton its first stop
By George Bennett
Palm Beach Post
Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney is making his first visit to Florida as a declared 2012 presidential candidate.

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

Fires nearing Florida wildlife refuge
By Vivian Kuo
CNN
Two fires have merged, coming dangerously close to protected areas in Florida's Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge.

Some protected species thrive, as threats emerge
By Kate Spinner
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
Wildlife regulators are planning to take 16 creatures off the state's protected species list soon, but environmental groups fear actions by Gov. Rick Scott and the state Legislature this year may put the animals in peril again.

PSC approves $56.6 million in FPL charges for waste-to-energy plant expansion
By Bruce Ritchie
The Florida Current
Related: Eighty-six apply for Public Service Commission executive director job
The Public Service Commission on Tuesday approved Florida Power & Light Co.'s request to charge customers $56.6 million for electricity from the doubling of the size of a garbage incinerator in Palm Beach County.

Continued problems at Crystal River nuclear plant could lead to reactor's closing
By Ivan Penn
St. Petersburg Times
Ballooning costs and technical hurdles continue to dog efforts to bring Progress Energy's troubled Crystal River nuclear plant back online, further raising the specter of the utility permanently closing the reactor.

EPA hands job of cleaning water to polluters
Editorial
St. Petersburg Times
Public health, tourism and the environment in Florida suffered a major loss this week when the federal government put the protection of state waters back into the hands of the very people who have polluted them — big business and its enablers in Tallahassee.

EDUCATION

Look not to Florida's Capitol for schools' salvation
By C.T. Bowen
St. Petersburg Times
The following is a satire on the response from the governor's staff that said “because this is a local government matter, the governor's ability to assist is limited.”

Driving off teachers
Editorial
Tampa Tribune
The surest way to destroy a state's economic competiveness is to destroy its education system.

Jeb Bush to testify in Michigan Wednesday on education reform
Associated Press
South Florida Sun Sentinel
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush will be in Michigan to meet with Republican leaders and testify about how he thinks states should change how they approach education.

Fla. universities eye 7 percent tuition increase
By Bill Kaczor
Associated Press
Trustees at six of Florida's 11 public universities have unanimously agreed to seek 7 percent increases in their in-state undergraduate tuition rates. If approved, they would be on top of an 8 percent tuition increase ordered by the Legislature for the next academic year.

Bright Futures Students Face New Financial Requirement
By Mike Vasilinda
Capitol News Service
Bright futures abound, but beginning this fall new and returning students will have fill out a form: the Free Application for Federal Student Aid.

JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY

Economists looking at Fla. oil spill tax losses
Associated Press
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
How much did Florida lose in sales tax and other revenue due to last year's Gulf of Mexico oil spill?

Florida Teen Job Forecast: Mostly Cloudy
By Les Coleman
Public News Service Florida
Florida has the nation's 10th-highest teen unemployment rate at nearly 29 percent, according to figures from the Employment Policies Institute.

Home insurers request rate hikes
By Julie Patel
South Florida Sun Sentinel
Seven home insurers have asked for statewide rate hikes since Gov. Rick Scott signed a sweeping property insurance bill into law on May 17.

Fla. firm OKs $55M Chinese drywall settlement
By Michael Kunzelman
Associated Press
A Miami-based supplier of tainted Chinese drywall agreed in a court filing Tuesday to a $55 million settlement of claims that the corrosive product damaged homes, all or nearly all of them in Florida.

Fla. citrus industry deals with losses
Associated Press
Miami Herald
The Florida Citrus Commission is meeting for the first time since being dealt two major losses by Gov. Rick Scott and the state legislature.

Florida lawmakers can't be trusted to keep their hands off designated trust funds
Editorial
TC Palm
They're called trust funds, but Florida lawmakers can't be trusted to keep their hands off them.

HEALTH AND SENIORS

Lawyers warn of "granny dumping" at Medicaid hearing in West Palm Beach
By Stacey Singer
Palm Beach Post
A little-known incentive buried in Florida's new Medicaid reform law will reward health plans for cutting numbers of seniors in nursing homes, several speakers said during a highly charged hearing on the law Tuesday.

Medicaid town hall in Jacksonville reveals lingering concerns with Reform Pilot program
By Virginia Chamlee
Florida Independent
Tuesday morning’s Medicaid town hall held at Jacksonville’s Department of Children and Families went fairly smoothly, considering how heated the issue of overhauling Medicaid has become.

Scott joins fellow Republican governors pushing for more flexibility in Medicaid spending
By Travis Pillow
Florida Independent
As Florida prepares to overhaul its Medicaid system, Gov. Rick Scott joined a group of mostly conservative governors calling on federal lawmakers to give other states more flexibility to make similar changes.

After years of lax regulation, state finally cracks down on ALFs
By Mary Ellen Klas
St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
After years of failing to crack down on abuse and neglect in homes for the elderly and disabled, the state agency that regulates assisted living facilities quietly imposed sanctions and $125,000 in fines on 46 of the worst abusers in May in response to an investigation by The Miami Herald.

CIVIL RIGHTS, PEACE AND SOCIAL ISSUES

Welfare drug test's effects feared
By Catherine Whittenburg
Tampa Tribune
Welfare applicants who fail a new mandatory drug test might not only lose their claim to government assistance — they may also be investigated for child abuse.

JUSTICE AND THE COURTS

Judge Hawkes tries to get prosecutor removed from Taj Mahal case
By Lucy Morgan
St. Petersburg Times
F. Wallace Pope Jr., the Clearwater lawyer who is prosecuting 1st District Court Judge Paul M. Hawkes for misconduct, viewed Hawkes as a "stooge'' appointed by Jeb Bush because he thought the governor hated judges, lawyers and the courts.