Daily Clips for June 6, 2011

PROGRESS FLORIDA IN THE NEWS

Liberal, labor groups gathering in Orlando, thanking Rick Scott
By Travis Pillow
Florida Independent
Excerpt: Mark Ferrulo of Progress Florida, which will be leading some of the workshops, said watching the 2011 legislative session and Scott’s first five months as governor unfold is helping to create “a new generation of civically engaged Floridians — some of them for the first time. We’ve never seen this level of progressive energy,” he said. “And Rick Scott has been a catalyst for that.”

Rally Against Legislature
By Whitney Ray
Capitol News Service
Excerpt: Damien Filer of Progress Florida says, "It's a recognition that people are not going to rest now, the mentality that was behind these attacks on the middle class are going to continue."

AWAKE THE STATE IN THE NEWS

Opposition organizes as legislature begins planning for 2012 session
By Janet Zink
St. Petersburg Times
Excerpt: Susan Smith, a long-time active member of the Hillsborough County Democratic Party, is now organizing a Tampa chapter of Awake the State, a group launched just four months ago to fight the Republican led legislature. Awake the State will have a booth at the festival, and host a workshop.

FEATURED STORIES

Orlando Hosts “The Festival For Florida’s Future”
By Q. McCray
WFTV News Central Florida
Related video: Thousands Gather For “The Festival For Florida’s Future”
Thousands of people invaded the Central Florida Fairgrounds on Saturday to learn how to take their complaints to Tallahassee.

Two groups sue Gov. Scott over new Florida elections law
By Marc Caputo
St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
A pair of liberal-leaning groups sued Gov. Rick Scott on Friday to block an elections law that they say amounts to "voter suppression."

Scott's 'jobs' budget will take toll on jobs
By Lloyd Dunkelberger
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
Gov. Rick Scott calls it his "jobs" budget.

Governor blames ejection of protesters on 'confusion'
By Michael C. Bender
St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Protesters should not have been removed from a state budget signing ceremony in the Villages last week, a spokesman for Florida Gov. Rick Scott said Friday.

GOP lawmakers can't afford to kick Scott when he's down
By Aaron Deslatte
Orlando Sentinel
Gov. Rick Scott is being portrayed as the most unpopular governor in the country, a toxic political asset for his Republican allies, an alarmingly aloof public servant when it comes to issues Floridians have cherished for decades.

Gov. Rick Scott May Personally Benefit From New Law That Hands Medicaid Program Over To Private Companies
By Tanya Somanader
Think Progress
Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) signed “a landmark Medicaid overhaul” yesterday that will put “hundreds of thousands of low-income and elderly Floridians into managed-care plans.”

EDITORIAL CARTOON OF THE WEEK

By Jim Morin
Miami Herald

FLORIDA POLITICS

Florida Gov. Rick Scott may switch his chief of staff
By Adam C. Smith
St. Petersburg Times
The Buzz is that Stephen MacNamara, the chief of staff-general counsel in Senate President Mike Haridopolos' office, is the top choice to become Gov. Rick Scott's new chief of staff.

How to fix money in Florida politics
By Howard Troxler
St. Petersburg Times
There's an old joke that members of the Florida Legislature should be labeled like NASCAR drivers to show who is paying for them.

Legislators ignoring Florida's rampant corruption cost you money
By Scott Maxwell
Orlando Sentinel
To see how bad political corruption in this state is, look no further than the Tallahassee Democrat.

Buchanan slow to reveal refund of disputed contributions
By Susan Taylor Martin
St. Petersburg Times
On Oct. 17, two weeks before the November election, U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan refunded $5,000 in contributions made by five former employees — one of whom had claimed that he and others were pressured to donate to Buchanan in violation of federal law.

Court battles over new state laws could be costly
By Catherine Whittenburg
Tampa Tribune
For the second time this week, the American Civil Liberties Union announced it is hauling Gov. Rick Scott into court -- this time, over a controversial makeover of Florida's election laws -- as another group prepares to sue him over a new law restricting what doctors can ask their patients.

Previous changes to election laws were not implemented without Justice Department approval
By Travis Pillow
Florida Independent
During a conference call with reporters explaining a lawsuit challenging the rapid implementation of Florida’s new election laws, lawyers helping to bring the case for the American Civil Liberties Union said the changes could not be implemented before they are approved by the U.S. Department of Justice.

POLITICAL RACES

On Medicare, GOP plan could be its problem
By Adam C. Smith and Alex Leary
St. Petersburg Times
Related PolitiFact article: Mike Haridopolos claims Medicaid reform was bipartisan: False
It's not that the radio host failed to press Mike Haridopolos.

Haridopolos Steps Into Medicare Trap
By Joe Shea
Bradenton Times
In a moment of deeply-held Republican conviction, Florida State Sen. Mike Haridopolos - one of the brightest stars in Florida's political firmament - abruptly decided to embrace proposals by a rising GOP counterpart in Congress, Rep. Paul Ryan, that would cut Medicare for many Florida seniors.

Florida Workers Gearing Up for 2012 Elections
By Les Coleman
Public News Service Florida
Working people from across Florida gathered over the weekend in Orlando, marking the kickoff of a sustained campaign to demand meaningful action from the Republican-controlled state legislature.

2012 Republican hopefuls court religious right
The Associated Press
Tampa Tribune
A gathering of religious conservatives drew nearly all the GOP presidential hopefuls to a single stage, a claim that a South Carolina debate and a well-publicized forum in New Hampshire couldn't make about their recent events.

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

An obituary for Florida Growth Management
Editorial
St. Petersburg Times
Growth management, an imperfect but noble effort to protect Florida from selfishness and greed, died Thursday (June 2, 2011).

A year after BP oil spill, Panhandle towns seeing signs of recovery
By Laura Figueroa
Miami Herald
ATVs still rumble across the eight-mile stretch of Pensacola Beach each morning, driven by workers looking for tar balls.

Scott left too early
Editorial
Pensacola News Journal
It was unfortunate that Gov. Rick Scott ducked out early from this week's Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Task Force meeting in Pensacola.

State senator's bill would have loosened Florida's restrictions on billboard companies
By Matt Dixon
Florida Times-Union
Related: State withheld emails, denied meetings related to handover of trees to billboard company
There was a quiet effort made this year by Sen. Greg Evers, R-Milton, to loosen requirements billboard companies must meet to cut down state-owned trees to make their signs more visible.

Repairing Lake Okeechobee dike needed not only to save lives, but crops, ag commissioner warns
By Christine Stapleton
Palm Beach Post
With fields dry, plants wilting and stiffer water restrictions looming, Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam told a room of growers, water managers and business officials on Friday that Florida's biggest long-term problem is not crime, Medicare or the economy. It's water.

Nuclear power still part of Florida's future energy mix
By Ivan Penn
St. Petersburg Times
Does nuclear power have a future here?

DCA positions being filled even as department appears headed towards elimination
By Bruce Ritchie
The Florida Current
Department of Community Affairs Secretary Billy Buzzett has filled key positions in the department even as its veers towards likely elimination.

LGBT

Gay Days Brings Cash, Criticism
Staff Report
WESH TV News Orlando
Controversy surrounds an annual event that brings thousands of people to Central Florida.

New Broward policy offers protection to transgender students
By Carli Teproff
Miami Herald
For 17-year-old Taylor, a typical school day presents unique challenges: Does he use the boy’s bathroom, or the girl’s?

EDUCATION

Details of Florida's new teacher-evaluation system emerge
By Leslie Postal
Orlando Sentinel
Florida teacher evaluations are about to get an extreme makeover.

3rd-graders who fail reading FCAT not held back -- despite state rule
By Allison Ross
Palm Beach Post
Third grade is no easy assignment. By the end of the school year, students are supposed to be able to read on their own.

Virtual schools showing real growth
By Annie Martin
Daytona Beach News-Journal
Kim Medley said she was "fed up" with public schools.

Florida joins suit against for-profit college company
By Michael Vasquez
Miami Herald
The nation's second-largest for-profit college company is fighting a lawsuit that keeps growing — with the state of Florida now one of the newest parties to join the case.

The cost of school-bashing
Editorial
Palm Beach Post
The list of applicants to replace Eric Smith as education commissioner was so thin that the deadline was extended to today.

JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY

Gov. Scott Questions Value of Ag Department's Consumer Divisions
By Zac Anderson
Lakeland Ledger
It's called the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, but the name might have to change if Gov. Rick Scott gets his way.

Gov. Rick Scott's veto of public TV and radio funds spares capital's WFSU
By Eric Deggans
St. Petersburg Times
Even as public television and radio stations across Florida work furiously to cope with the recent veto of nearly $4.8 million in state funding, there is one public broadcaster that will see its state support increased.

Gov. Rick Scott has lofty goals for Florida ports
By Steve Huettel
St. Petersburg Times
As he stiff-armed the Obama administration's offer of $2.4 billion for high-speed rail, Gov. Rick Scott embraced a far less sexy alternative: lumbering cargo ships.

Florida's 'jobs governor' disses company bringing in thousands of jobs to Florida
News Service of Florida
Florida Courier
A biomedical laboratory that was seeking to build a new campus in Southwest Florida is abandoning the plan, saying the state isn’t willing to put up enough money to make it worth it.

Lawmakers hope new bill fixes hurricane insurance
By Brent Kallestad
Associated Press
Florida hasn't been hit by a hurricane since the disastrous years of 2004 and 2005 - but the state's property insurance companies say they are still losing money despite collecting billions in premiums.

Lawmakers raided special accounts again rather than close special-interest tax loopholes
Editorial
Orlando Sentinel
Florida's leading Republican lawmakers were crowing last month after approving next year's nearly $70 billion state budget without raising taxes.

Florida needs more stimulus spending
Editorial
St. Petersburg Times
With the painfully slow economic recovery experiencing a hiccup, or perhaps worse, the importance of states spending the remaining federal stimulus money promptly and prudently has never been more critical.

HEALTH AND SENIORS

Gov. Rick Scott signs legislation to crack down on pill mills
By Janet Zink and Justin George
St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
After initially fighting one of its key provisions, Florida Gov. Rick Scott signed a bill Friday aimed at cracking down on clinics that frivolously dispense pain pills and feed a nationwide prescription drug abuse epidemic.

Targeting seniors isn't reform
By Rep. Ted Deutch
Palm Beach Post
There is nothing courageous about asking seniors and middle-class families who have already borne the brunt of this recession to shoulder painful cuts just to finance the policies driving our deficit - such as oil company subsidies, trillion-dollar tax cuts for millionaires and special-interest giveaways.

Poll: Americans are tired of abortion debate
By Ashley Lopez
Florida Independent
A recent poll finds that Americans are tired of the current debate over abortion rights.

CIVIL RIGHTS, PEACE AND SOCIAL ISSUES

Advocates for poor: Florida welfare drug-testing measure based on stereotype
By Jeremy Cox
Florida Times-Union
State Rep. Jimmie Smith can sympathize with the plight of people on public assistance. He's been there.

House Defense Bill Finally Addresses the Rape Epidemic in U.S. Military
By Dennis Maley
Bradenton Times
As an Army veteran, I am proud to have served my country.

Florida better off without Arizona-like immigration law
Editorial
South Florida Sun Sentinel
Tea party adherents are angry that Florida lawmakers didn't approve an Arizona-style immigration law. Get over it, folks, because the state is better off without it.

JUSTICE AND THE COURTS

DOC lays off 190 guards
By Jim Ash
Florida Capital News
The Florida Department of Corrections announced Friday that 190 prison guards in training will lose their jobs in a move the department estimates will save $8.8 million.

Gov. Scott signs bill killing Florida Commission on Capital Cases
By Paul Flemming
Florida Capital News
Gov. Rick Scott on Thursday killed the Florida Commission on Capital Cases.