Daily Clips for June 7, 2011

FEATURED STORIES

Political payback? GOP donors enjoy huge tax breaks
By John Kennedy
Palm Beach Post
The biggest tax break created by Gov. Rick Scott and the Republican-led legislature will let the average home­owner in Palm Beach County knock about $28 off his or her property tax bill next year.

Doctors sue over new state gun law
By Michael Peltier
The News Service of Florida
Pushing back against the National Rifle Association, a group of physicians on Monday filed suit in a Miami federal court to nullify a controversial measure prohibiting health practitioners from routinely asking their patients if they own guns and have them properly stored.

Gov. Rick Scott visits Canada on quest to lure jobs to Florida
By Michael C. Bender
St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Gov. Rick Scott on Monday kicked off a five-day tour of Canada's two largest cities.

State Sen. Mike Bennett files papers to run for Congress against Kathy Castor
By Craig Pittman and Caryn Baird
St. Petersburg Times
Mike Bennett successfully pushed to make voters work harder to get to the polls.

A step toward fair districts
Editorial
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
The proponents of fair congressional and legislative districts — including almost two-thirds of the Floridians who voted last November — got good news last week from the U.S. Department of Justice: The agency found no reason why the Legislature should not use two new state constitutional amendments to guide it in redrawing Florida's political map.

FLORIDA POLITICS

Rep. Vern Buchanan is No. 1 spender on mass mailings in House
By Jeremy Wallace
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
No member of Congress spent more taxpayer money on mailers and other communications with voters than U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan in early 2011.

The State Department’s rationale for the rush to implement elections overhaul
By Travis Pillow
Florida Independent
As House Bill 1355 made its way through the Legislature, critics railed against provisions that would impose new regulations on groups that register voters, reduce the number of days of early voting and require voters who move between counties to vote by provisional ballot.

Price Tag Impedes Access to Florida Public Records
By Bobbie O'Brien
WUSF Public Radio Tampa
Florida has long been known as a leader in the nation for accessibility to public records and meetings.

Lawmakers told to pay for summer trips out of their own pocket
By Gary Fineout
The Florida Current
State lawmakers who want to head to this summer's two main legislative conferences will have to pay their own way.

Former governor/senator Bob Graham 'concerned' about Florida's direction
Staff Report
Florida Courier
Former Gov. Bob Graham avoided taking a direct swipe at Gov. Rick Scott during a visit to Tallahassee on Monday, but the former Democratic governor said he has some qualms about where Florida's ruling Republicans are steering the state.

With corruption, timing is everything
By Daniel Ruth
St. Petersburg Times
It's often been said that the one thing politics and stand-up comedy have in common is that timing is everything.

'I'm too busy' is not an option
By Howard Troxler
St. Petersburg Times
My father, who died in 2008, was a welder.

Martin County to host a redistricting public hearing
By Jim Turner
TC Palm
Martin County will host one of the public hearings on state legislative and U.S. Congressional redistricting now scheduled throughout Florida.

They Want to Make Voting Harder?
Editorial
New York Times
One of the most promising recent trends in expanding political participation has been allowing people to vote in the weeks before Election Day, either in person or by mail.

POLITICAL RACES

Wasserman Schultz: GOP ‘war on women’ big help for Obama in 2012
By Ashley Lopez
Florida Independent
President Obama and the Democratic National Committee have begun courting female voters for the upcoming presidential election.

Ironically, Fair Districts Act Could Aid Bennett's Congressional Run
By Dennis Maley
Bradenton Times
Though he vehemently opposed Amendments 5 and 6, which required that legislative districts be drawn according to counties and defined municipalities whenever possible (rather than for political purposes), Florida Senator Michael Bennett may now benefit from the new voter-driven referendums which were cleared by the Department of Justice this week.

LeMieux fares better than Haridopolos on conservative talk show
By Dara Kam
Palm Beach Post
Despite differences of opinion, U.S. Senate candidate George LeMieux managed to stay on the air with conservative talk-show host Ray Junior this evening, unlike one of LeMieux’ GOP primary opponents, Senate President Mike Haridopolos.

Pasco Republicans prepare for presidential event
By Geoff Fox
Tampa Tribune
Almost 90 Pasco County Republicans will have the opportunity to speak face-to-face with the GOP's 2012 presidential hopefuls at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Sept. 22 to Sept. 24.

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

Florida's new growth law could produce 'scattershot' rules
By Adam Playford
Palm Beach Post
With the state suddenly handing control over growth to counties and cities, local officials who work on planning say one likely result is a patchwork of regulations, with the rules governing new development changing every time you cross a city's border.

Growth may be more than they can bear
By Frank Cerabino
Palm Beach Post
Apparently, things are looking up for Florida's black bears.

Putnam: Florida has to ‘get out of the litigation business’ when it comes to environmental policy
By Virginia Chamlee
Florida Independent
Calling it the “base of a Floridian identity,” Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam said that Florida’s water was a “limited precious resource” that citizens are “burning through at too big a rate” during Friday’s 2011 Water Forum, held in Orlando.

Feinberg says no claims filed on cleanup illnesses
Associated Press
Tampa Tribune
The attorney overseeing the payments from a $20 billion compensation fund for victims of the massive BP oil spill said Monday that he hasn't seen any claims filed suggesting that the cleanup has caused medical illnesses.

Florida beach nourishment gets funded after all
By Steve Huettel
St. Petersburg Times
A program prized by Pinellas tourism businesses escaped Gov. Rick Scott's veto pen.

EDUCATION

FCAT scores in science increase but remain low
Staff Report
Florida Tribune
New Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test results released on Monday show small increases in science scores that still remain low, while math scores are slightly down in the state.

Third-grade FCAT scores mostly flat as test changes
By Tom Marshall
St. Petersburg Times
Third-grade scores on this year's Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test appeared little changed from last year as the state moves to a tougher set of academic standards.

State looks into parents' Edison Prep complaints
By Melanie Payne and Dan DeLuca
Ft. Myers News-Press
Related editorial: Edison Prep should close
A private Fort Myers high school, operating on city property without legitimate accreditation and owned by a headmaster with a felony record, received almost 25 percent of its tuition fees last year from a taxpayer-funded state scholarship program.

Flagler schools may sue state over funds
By Annie Martin
Daytona Beach News-Journal
The Flagler County School Board is expected to meet today with a Tallahassee attorney to discuss suing the state of Florida.

JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY

If so many Americans can't raise $2,000 in 30 days, what lies ahead?
By Robert Trigaux
St. Petersburg Times
Better send some anti-depressants to the folks at the National Bureau of Economic Research.

Jackson Lab quits effort to expand in Florida
By Michael Sasso
Tampa Tribune
Jackson Laboratory, a prestigious biomedical institute from Maine, has pulled the plug on its Florida expansion, the company said Friday.

This fight’s not over yet
Editorial
Miami Herald
It’s remarkable how little some members of Congress have learned from the economic meltdown that produced the Great Recession.

HEALTH AND SENIORS

Guttmacher highlights health and fiscal benefits of public women’s care
By Ashley Lopez
Florida Independent
Three new reports from the Guttmacher Institute highlight the importance of publicly subsidized women’s health services for many low-income women in the United States.

Planned Parenthood affiliate loses thousands for teen sex health programs
By Ashley Lopez
Florida Independent
Planned Parenthood of South Florida and the Treasure Coast has lost thousands of dollars for teen sexual health programs servicing young people in Palm Beach County this year.

Brady Center and doctors join forces to shoot down new gun law
By Christine Jordan Sexton
The Florida Current
A U.S. district court in Miami is being asked to block the state from enforcing a new law that limits a doctor’s ability to ask patients about gun ownership.

JUSTICE AND THE COURTS

4 Rothstein associates set Ponzi guilty pleas
Associated Press
Palm Beach Post
Four former associates of convicted South Florida swindler Scott Rothstein are scheduled to plead guilty for their roles in a $1.2 billion Ponzi scheme.