Daily Clips for November 15, 2011

FEATURED STORIES

Justices to Hear Health Care Case as Race Heats Up
By Adam Liptak
New York Times
The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear a challenge to the 2010 health care overhaul law, President Obama’s signature legislative achievement, setting the stage for oral arguments by March and a decision in late June as the 2012 presidential campaign enters its crucial final months.

Florida’s push for specific waiver in health-care law could have big implications
By Sarah Kliff
Washington Post
A seemingly obscure regulatory battle in Florida could upend efforts to implement health-care reform nationwide.

Poll: Health policy opinion leaders say states should be implementing health care reform
By Ashley Lopez
Florida Independent
According to a recent poll of opinion leaders in health policy and innovators in health care delivery and finance, almost 90 percent of respondents believe state lawmakers should be implementing the health care reform law.

Fla. largest insurer wants sweeping changes
By Gary Fineout
Associated Press
Florida's largest property insurer wants sweeping changes - including the ability to charge higher rates - in the coming year.

On immigration, Marco Rubio urges the right to tone it down
By Alex Leary
St. Petersburg Times
With growing signs that Hispanic voters are turned off to GOP positions on immigration, Sen. Marco Rubio is trying to use his national profile to deliver a message to his party: Tone it down.

FLORIDA POLITICS

Elections expert says voting law will affect church ‘souls to the polls’ programs
By Ashley Lopez
Florida Independent
Ciara Torres-Spelliscy, a professor at Stetson University College of Law who teaches Election and Constitutional Law, told WMNF that Florida’s new voting laws could affect church efforts to get religious voters to the polls on the Sunday before election day.

Former Gov. Askew says campaign financing is “obscene”
By Nathan Crabbe
Gainesville Sun
Former Gov. Reubin Askew said Monday that politics today is “meanness and money,” and a Constitutional amendment is needed to allow limits on campaign spending.

State diverts cash collected to aid problem gamblers
By Dara Kam
Palm Beach Post
As Florida lawmakers consider a major expansion of gambling in the state, they are spending less than ever to keep gamblers from getting hooked or to help those who have a problem.

Panel: Florida pension chief had no conflict of interest
By Katie Sanders
Miami Herald/St. Petersburg Times Tallahassee Bureau
State pension chief Ash Williams did not have a conflict of interest when he approved a $125 million investment in a hedge fund managed by a private sector colleague, an advisory panel for the State Board of Administration said Monday.

POLITICAL RACES

Wexler: GOP candidates' foreign aid plan would undermine Israel
By George Bennett
Palm Beach Post
Former Democratic Rep. Robert Wexler reemerged as a fiery partisan today, accusing Republican presidential candidates of undermining America's relationship with Israel by supporting a year-to-year reevaluation of U.S. foreign aid.

Foreign policy naivete shows in GOP debate
Editorial
St. Petersburg Times
The simplistic hawkish approach to foreign affairs by the Republican candidates for president reflects a lack of sophistication and thoughtfulness about the nation's role in the world.

Romney’s Christian right Florida team
By Ashley Lopez
Florida Independent
GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney announced the members of his Social Conservatives Statewide Steering Committee today; the list includes prominent anti-gay rights and anti-abortion rights activists in Florida’s Christian right circles.

Sen. Bill Nelson in Islamic-donor whodunit
By Marc Caputo
Miami Herald
In a sign of the fight for the Jewish vote, U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson's campaign is embroiled in a whodunit over a political contribution made by an Islamic activist who has branded Israel a "terrorist state."

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

Feds: Gov. Scott’s Glades plan falls short
By Curtis Morgan
Miami Herald
Good start but it doesn’t go far enough, fast enough.

Officials: Rampant water use depleting resources
By Dinah Voyles Pulver
Daytona Beach News-Journal
Conservation-minded folks save water by taking shorter showers, turning off the tap while brushing their teeth and dutifully following the water rules.

Bill that would enable renewable energy tax breaks clears Senate committee
By Bruce Ritchie
Florida Current
A bill that would allow homeowners to avoid paying higher property taxes on improvements made for wind resistance and renewable energy passed a Senate committee Monday.

Fasano again calls on Progress Energy to explain nuclear costs
By Bruce Ritchie
Florida Current
Sen. Mike Fasano said Monday he is again asking a Senate committee to call in Progress Energy officials to explain repair costs at the utility's nuclear power plant.

LGBT

After 33 years, same-sex adoption ban is lifted and first one takes place in Martin County
By Rochelle Ritchie
WPTV 5 News West Palm Beach
A Martin County judge has cleared the way for a same-sex couple to build a new life with a child who now has a new place to call home.

EDUCATION

State launches charter school competition
By Kathleen McGrory
Miami Herald
The state Department of Education and a national nonprofit are rolling out a $30 million fund to help grow high-performing charter schools in Florida.

Future FCAT to be harder to pass
By Jackie Alexander
Gainesville Sun
State Board of Education members will raise the scores necessary for Florida students to pass the newly revised FCAT, but members and panel participants were divided as to how high is high enough to ensure students are ready for college.

Lawmakers ponder juvenile justice education
By Sascha Cordner
WFSU Public Radio Tallahassee
A bill that would make changes to how education is taught in juvenile detention centers was the topic of several hours of discussion at an open meeting Monday.

Florida applies for NCLB waiver
By Lynn Hatter
WFSU Public Radio Tallahassee
Florida is applying for an exemption to the federal No Child Left Behind Law.

JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY

Senate advancing a re-tooled property tax amendment for 2012
By Aaron Deslatte
Orlando Sentinel
Sen. David Simmons is advancing a re-worked and slightly less generous commercial property tax constitutional amendment than the version the Florida Legislature last spring voted to place on the 2012 ballot.

Scott hails 100-job expansion in South Florida
Associated Press
Ocala Star-Banner
Gov. Rick Scott is praising a South Florida medical device company for a planned 100-job expansion.

Florida's fight against automobile insurance fraud
By Julie Patel
South Florida Sun Sentinel
Fighting automobile insurance fraud is a top priority for Gov. Rick Scott, key legislators, regulators and the insurance industry this year because they say it's driving up premiums.

HEALTH AND SENIORS

Allen West featured on Planned Parenthood’s list of ‘chumps’
By Ashley Lopez
Florida Independent
Planned Parenthood’s new “Women are Watching” campaign features Allen West on its list of “chumps,” a designation reserved for congressmen and congresswomen with the lowest scores on women’s health policies.

Bad News for a Graying State: Worldwide Rise in Diabetes Expected
By Ralph De La Cruz
Florida Center for Investigative Reporting
When an organization such as the International Diabetes Federation issues a distressing report about a chronic disease such as diabetes, it’s particularly bad news in a state like Florida, with an aging population vulnerable to such illnesses.

U.S. Deportees to Haiti, Jailed Without Cause, Face Severe Health Risks
By Jacob Kushner
Florida Center for Investigative Reporting
The United States has deported more than 250 Haitians since January knowing that one in two will be jailed without charges in facilities so filthy they pose life-threatening health risks.

U.S. Supreme Court can add clarity to health care law
Editorial
St. Petersburg Times
To no one's surprise, the U.S. Supreme Court said Monday it will decide the fate of health care reform that holds so much promise and already has helped millions of Americans.

CIVIL RIGHTS, PEACE AND SOCIAL ISSUES

Restore the Right to Vote
By Susan N. Herman
New York Times
More than five million Americans are barred from voting as an automatic consequence of criminal convictions.

Farmworkers protest at new Publix in Sarasota
By Doug Driscoll
WMNF Community Radio Tampa
Yesterday, about 250 protestors packed the sidewalks in front of Sarasota’s newest Publix.

JUSTICE AND THE COURTS

Oba Chandler execution scheduled for today
Associated Press
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
Oba Chandler, the 65-year-old man who was convicted of killing an Ohio woman and her two teen daughters, is scheduled to die by lethal injection Tuesday at the Florida State Prison.