Daily Clips for December 6, 2011

PROGRESS FLORIDA IN THE NEWS

Intensity of debate over offshore drilling hard to calculate in Fla. Senate race
By Elana Schor
E&E Daily
Excerpt: Even as he quipped that "figuring out where Congressman Mack stands on drilling is harder than cleaning up an oil spill" and predicted that Nelson would tout his case against easing the limits on Floridian coastal oil production, (Progress Florida’s Mark) Ferrulo acknowledged that the debate would not be top-of-mind for swing voters most concerned by unemployment and the state's housing crisis.

FEATURED STORIES

Early agreements on Florida redistricting favor incumbents
By Mary Ellen Klas and Darla Cameron
St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Legislators have reached their first deal in the once-a-decade redistricting battle: Senators will draw Senate maps and House members will draw House maps.

Gov. Rick Scott now touts importance of school funding
By Steve Bousquet
St. Petersburg Times
Related: Scott will find education dollars by squeezing state agencies
As Gov. Rick Scott gets around the state, one message from Floridians comes through loud and clear.

Scott drops plan to 'recapture' pension savings from local governments, sources say
By John Kennedy
Palm Beach Post
Gov. Rick Scott appears to have dropped his push to make counties, school boards and other governments return millions of dollars in cost savings earned this year when public employees were forced to contribute 3 percent to their retirements.

NAACP groups attack new voter rules
By Mark Matthews
Orlando Sentinel
Restrictive new voter laws in 14 states — including Florida — are tantamount to nationwide effort to curtail the participation of black and Hispanic voters, charges new report issued today by the NAACP and the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund.

FLORIDA POLITICS

House to unveil redistricting plans
By News Service of Florida
Ft. Myers News-Press
The House of Representatives panel charged with redrawing the state's political boundaries will unveil a slate of options for the state's congressional and state House districts Tuesday, setting the stage for discussions that could affect the balance of power in Florida for a decade.

Fla. Gov. goes slowly on more changes to pension
By Gary Fineout
Associated Press
Heading into a crucial election year, Florida Gov. Rick Scott won't be pushing any further changes to the state's massive $100 billion plus pension plan.

Haridopolos joins Scott in trip to Israel
By Gary Fineout
Associated Press
Senate President Mike Haridopolos one of the three most powerful people in state government, is joining Florida Gov. Rick Scott on a weeklong trade mission to Israel.

Odds seem stacked against South Florida resort casino bill
By Michael Mayo
South Florida Sun Sentinel
As a betting man, I'll set odds of 50-to-1 against the South Florida resort casino bill co-sponsored by state Sen. Ellyn Bodganoff, R-Fort Lauderdale, from being approved in the legislative session that starts in January.

Florida gambling law filled with barrel-sized loopholes
By Michael Vasquez
Miami Herald
As Florida considers ushering in a new era of casino mega-resorts, a dispute in the tiny Panhandle town of Gretna has focused attention on the state’s existing gambling landscape — and the considerable confusion that surrounds it.

Another committee nod for Thrasher bill that helps client of his former lobbying firm
By Matt Dixon
Florida Times-Union
A bill aimed at expanding a retirement program for university professors and administrators Monday sailed out of its second committee stop.

Sen. Marco Rubio has book deal for memoir
Associated Press
Tampa Tribune
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., has a book deal.

POLITICAL RACES

Cain supporters ask: Where do we go now?
By Marc Caputo
Miami Herald
A new political race has begun: The Herman Cain primary.

Will Connie Mack be the new GOP star?
By Hastings Wyman
Southern Political Report
Last March Congressman Connie Mack IV (R-FL) said he wouldn’t run against two-term US Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL), but as the campaign progressed and none of the announced Republican contenders caught on, Mack changed his mind and jumped into the race in late November.

Residents near RNC convention site concerned about event's impact
By Christian M. Wade
Tampa Tribune
While the Republican National Convention is still months away, representatives of Tampa's civic and homeowners' associations are raising concerns about the impact of the weeklong event on residents who live downtown and in surrounding neighborhoods.

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

Florida farmworkers urge EPA to tighten control of pesticides
By John Lantigua
Palm Beach Post
Jeannie Economos of the Farmworker Association of Florida recalls a woman who walked into her office recently.

Senate panel quizzes fertilizer bill's opponents, supporters for an hour, then passes it
By Bruce Ritchie
Florida Current
Senate Agriculture Committee members spent more than an hour on Monday quizzing supporters and opponents of a bill that would exempt certified landscaping professionals from being subject to local fertilizer ordinances.

Task force releases final strategy for reversing damage from oil spill
By Virginia Chamlee
Florida Independent
The Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Task Force today released its final strategy for long-term ecosystem restoration for the region most affected by the 2009 BP Deepwater Horizon disaster, which sent more than 20 million gallons of oil into the gulf.

Report shows impact of legislation that directs BP oil spill fines to coastal restoration
By Alex Leary
St. Petersburg Times
As legislation directing BP oil spill fines to coastal restoration winds through Congress, advocates are trying to highlight the thing that gets lawmakers' attention these days: jobs.

End the Everglades horror story
Editorial
Miami Herald
Killer pythons in the Everglades are not a joke, a punch line or a great screenplay for a cheesy horror movie.

LGBT

Domestic partner registry wins initial approval
By Mark Schlueb
Orlando Sentinel
Despite warnings that they were risking God's wrath, a unanimous Orlando City Council granted preliminary approval Monday to a domestic partnership registry.

EDUCATION

10th-grade FCAT reading shouldn't get tougher, superintendents say
By Leslie Postal
Orlando Sentinel
Four Central Florida school superintendents today urged the State Board of Education not to make passing the crucial 10th-grade FCAT reading exam too hard.

Proposal would make physical education optional in schools
By Lynn Hatter
WFSU Public Radio Tallahassee
The American Heart Association is opposing a proposal that would remove the physical education requirement from middle school curricula in Florida.

Bill would allow adult education in Florida charter schools
By Matt Dixon
Florida Times-Union
Each of Florida’s 154,780 charter school students shares a common trait: They are traditional, from kindergarten to high school.

JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY

Political parties press rivals' job plans
By Emily Roach
Palm Beach Post
Even as the unemployment rate dipped to its lowest point in 2½ years, Democrats and Republicans touted their jobs initiatives while deflecting taunts from the other side.

Can Rick Scott’s jobs czar bring business to Florida?
By Michael C. Bender
Miami Herald/St. Petersburg Times Tallahassee Bureau
Gray Swoope pulls his hands from his pockets long enough to hold open each door he crosses in the state Capitol for anyone who might want to pass through first.

What did it take to lure Colt to Central Florida?
By Marcos Restrepo
Florida Independent
Colt Manufacturing Company decided to set up a plant that will generate 63 jobs over the next three years in Osceola County, thanks to economic incentives offered by county and state agencies.

'Buy Florida' bill would help in-state companies win contracts
By Travis Pillow
Florida Current
A measure that would give Florida-based companies a leg up when they vie for state government contracts sailed through its first Senate committee on Monday.

State hires top cop to snuff out insurance fraud
By Christine Jordan Sexton
Florida Current
Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater has hired an investigator to head the state’s insurance fraud unit and is paying him $100,000 annually.

HEALTH AND SENIORS

Florida legislator files ‘fetal pain’ bill
By Ashley Lopez
Florida Independent
Florida Rep. Daniel Davis, R-Jacksonville, has introduced a bill for the upcoming legislative session that would outlaw abortions after 20 weeks.

Planned Parenthood calls on state senator to remove religious exemption in contraception bill
By Ashley Lopez
Florida Independent
Responding to a newly introduced contraception bill, Planned Parenthood is calling upon the bill’s sponsor, state Sen. Nancy Detert, R-Venice, to remove an exemption in the bill for religious employers.

Medicare sign-up deadline looms
By Laura Green
Palm Beach Post
Wednesday is the last day for Medicare beneficiaries to choose their health and prescription drug plans for 2012.

CIVIL RIGHTS, PEACE AND SOCIAL ISSUES

New bill would add barrier to welfare, food assistance for people with drug-related felonies
By Ashley Lopez
Florida Independent
A Republican in the state Legislature wants to make it a little harder for someone with a drug-related felony conviction to receive welfare benefits and food assistance.

State agency enlists help from businesses for social service needs
By Dara Kam and Ana M. Valdes
Palm Beach Post
When Mario Rodrigues heard this summer that the Palm Beach County offices of the state Department of Children and Families still used paper spreadsheets and push pins to assign investigators to cases of abuse or neglect, he knew his software development company could help.