Daily Clips for November 16, 2011

FEATURED STORIES

Fla. hired law firm with ties to Gov. Scott
By Gary Fineout
Associated Press
Florida has spent nearly a half-million dollars - and could spend even more - with a large, well-known law firm that has connections to both the Republican Party of Florida as well as Gov. Rick Scott.

U.S. Senate panel will hold hearing in Florida on new voting law
By Alex Leary
St. Petersburg Times
The head of the U.S. Senate committee overseeing civil rights said Tuesday he will hold a hearing in Florida over the state's controversial new election law.

Senate panel says it's prepared to vote on redistricting plan in December
By Travis Pillow
Florida Current
The Senate Reapportionment Committee wrapped up its hearings on Southwest Florida on Tuesday, and is prepared to unveil its full redistricting proposal after the Thanksgiving holiday.

Health care budget chief wants to move Medicaid patients into managed care sooner
By Christine Jordan Sexton
Florida Current
Although last session's sweeping Medicaid rewrite doesn't require women and children to enter into managed care plans until 2013, that mandate could be ramped up quicker if Sen. Joe Negron has his way.

Danger: Legislature is in session
By Ron Littlepage
Florida Times-Union
The most dangerous time for Floridians — when the Legislature is in session — is upon us earlier than usual.

FLORIDA POLITICS

Orange leaders back plan that could weaken Hispanic, black voter strength
By David Damron
Orlando Sentinel
Activists seeking a majority Hispanic district for the Orange County Commission predicted Tuesday they will file a lawsuit after county commissioners roundly rejected the districting plan they favored.

Florida CFO Jeff Atwater calls for ban on referral services like 1-800-AskGary
By Stephen Nohlgren
St. Petersburg Times
Florida Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater on Tuesday called for a ban on accident lawyer referral services, like 1-800-ASK-GARY and 411-PAIN, which have proliferated on television, Facebook and other media in recent years.

Bill would replace resort casinos with more money from Seminoles
By Mary Ellen Klas
Miami Herald
In an attempt to shift the debate from Miami casinos to the state’s bottom line, state Rep. Joe Abruzzo is filing a bill Wednesday to direct Gov. Rick Scott to give the Seminole Tribe exclusive operation of casino games in Florida for 15 more years in exchange for an annual guarantee of $750 million.

Bogdanoff: Bye Bye Dept. of Lottery
By Kathleen Haughney
South Florida Sun Sentinel
Sen. Ellyn Bogdanoff, R-Fort Lauderdale, said that her destination resort bill will likely replace the Department of Lottery with a new Florida Department of Gaming, which would oversee the lottery, pari-mutuels and potentially new destination casino resorts.

POLITICAL RACES

Is Marco Rubio cleverly making the argument why he should be VP?
By Alex Leary
St. Petersburg Times
Watching Sen. Marco Rubio's appearance on Hannity for a second time, it occurred to me that maybe, just maybe, Rubio is making the argument why he should be on the presidential ticket.

LeMieux raising big bucks from Crist contributors
By Scott Powers
Orlando Sentinel
Republican U.S. Senate candidate George LeMieux has desperately tried to separate his politics from his patron's. But that hasn't stopped him from hitting up former Gov. Charlie Crist's contributors.

Department of Whatchmacallit no easy target
Editorial
Tampa Tribune
After presidential candidate Rick Perry drew a blank when trying to remember all three Cabinet-level departments he would eliminate, the Texas governor made jokes about his oops moment in the debate.

BALLOT INITIATIVES

Does the personhood amendment have a prayer in Florida?
By Gary Stein
South Florida Sun Sentinel
The anti-abortion extremists apparently can't tell which way the wind is blowing.

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

EPA administrator defends decision to allow Florida to write its own water standards
By Virginia Chamlee
Florida Independent
The Environmental Protection Agency has come under fire for its decision to allow the state of Florida to write its own water pollution rules (known as “numeric nutrient criteria”).

State lands presentation to Cabinet bolsters environmentalists’ hopes
By Bruce Ritchie
Florida Current
Environmentalists said Tuesday their hopes for Florida's land-buying program were raised by a Department of Environmental Protection presentation about state-owned lands.

Planning Meltdown Results in $2.5 Billion Nuclear Mistake
By Ralph De La Cruz
Florida Center for Investigative Reporting
One of the most expensive nuclear accidents in United States history happened right here in Florida a little over two years ago. And chances are, you probably never even heard about it.

Fertilizer flap stirs again in House committee
By Bruce Ritchie
Florida Current
Several bills that have sparked past fights passed out of the House Agriculture and Natural Resources Subcommittee on Tuesday, including a measure to exempt from local fertilizer regulations those workers who apply fertilizers on lawns.

LGBT

Study: Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender youth at schools with gay-straight alliances have better mental health
By Steve Rothaus
Miami Herald
A new study shows that LGBT youth who go to schools with gay-straight alliances have better mental health, are less likely to drop out of high school and more likely to attend college.

EDUCATION

Chancellor Brogan talks STEM degrees with House Dems
By Katie Sanders
St. Petersburg Times
Frank Brogan, chancellor of the State University System and former lieutenant governor, spoke at length with members of the House Democratic Caucus on Tuesday, stressing the need for more STEM graduates to improve Florida's future economy.

Prominent anthropologist schools Rick Scott, who pitches job advice column to college newspapers
By Jeff Gore
Orlando Weekly
On Oct. 10, Florida governor Rick Scott met with reporters from the Sarasota Herald-Tribune.

Growing poverty is an education problem too
Editorial
St. Petersburg Times
New data from the U.S. Census and the Pasco School District affirm the harsh realities facing thousands of Pasco families.

JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY

Uncollected online sales tax costs Florida up to $455 million a year
By Mark Albright
St. Petersburg Times
Armed with a new study showing Florida's revenue-challenged state government will miss out on $450 million to $455 million in sales tax collections due in 2012, some big trade groups will step up their campaign today to prod the Legislature to go after taxes not collected by out-of-state online retailers.

Lawmakers question economic development efforts, want accountability
By Gray Rohrer
Florida Current
Enterprise Florida CEO Gray Swoope spent the better part of his day Tuesday defending the state’s economic development efforts to lawmakers, and at times, the very idea of economic development itself.

For state workers, 'above average' benefits are too good
By Eric Ernst
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
They haven't gotten a raise in five years.

Latin Builders Association join chorus to endorse casinos
By Mary Ellen Klas
Miami Herald
Joining Hispanic contractors and the Florida United Business Association, the Latin Builders Association announced Tuesday that it will also be endorsing the "destination resorts" casino bill sponsored by Sen. Ellyn Bogdanoff and Rep. Erik Fresen.

Free Market Sugar Act challenges sugar subsidies, price controls
By Virginia Chamlee
Florida Independent
A bill recently introduced by congressmen from Pennsylvania and Illinois could have a far-reaching impact on the U.S. sugar industry, much of which is based in South Florida.

HEALTH AND SENIORS

New study shows millions of women rely on birth control pills for non-contraceptive purposes
By Ashley Lopez
Florida Independent
A new study from the Guttmacher Institute find that 14 percent of birth control pill users take the pill for non-contraceptive purposes.

Planned Parenthood has its eye on Florida
By Ashley Lopez
Florida Independent
Planned Parenthood has included Florida in its list of “states at risk” for the upcoming election.

CIVIL RIGHTS, PEACE AND SOCIAL ISSUES

Proposed law would make it illegal to protest at funerals
By Matt Dixon
Florida Times-Union
Organizations or people who want to protest any funeral would face greater limitations and potential criminal penalties under a bill considered by a Florida House panel Tuesday.

JUSTICE AND THE COURTS

Haridopolos seeks $1.35 million for William Dillon
By Aaron Deslatte
Orlando Sentinel
Senate President Mike Haridopolos is reviving his efforts to pass a claims bill for a former Brevard County man convicted of murder on the strength of faulty evidence and lying witnesses.