Daily Clips for January 10, 2012

AWAKE THE STATE IN THE NEWS

Florida Legislature to open with unhappy activists on left and right
By Dara Kam
Palm Beach Post
Excerpt: "Most mainstream voters -- Floridians, Americans -- are extremely frustrated. With the legislature. With the governor. With Congress. They want to see efficient government. They want stuff to work right." said Damien Filer, political director of Progress Florida, a left-leaning organization linked with "Awake the State," which is holding events Tuesday around Florida, including one in West Palm Beach. "Will Florida continue its war on the middle class pushed by Pink Slip Rick and his puppets in the Legislature, or will our state change course and focus on protecting and expanding our middle class? That's the choice we face in 2012…" Florida Watch Action executive director Susannah Randolph wrote (snip).

Florida legislature gearing up for early session
By James L. Rosica
Associated Press
Excerpt: As they did in 2011, the Awake the State coalition, a pro-union movement, and various Florida tea parties are planning rallies and events for the first day of the legislative session. The progressive Occupy Tallahassee and Occupy Florida movements also are expected to attend.

Domestic Violence Survivors Lobby For Unemployment Insurance
By Karen Franklin
NBC 6 News Miami
Excerpt: The 45 women and men on the bus belong to the Sisterhood of Survivors and Families in Distress. They will be at the state's capital through Tuesday to show support and speak at the Awake the State rally, a platform that fights for the middle class, according to Florida New Majority.

5 things you need to know happening in Florida on Tuesday, January 10
By Sean O’Reily
ABC Action News Tampa Bay
Excerpt: The current list of groups supporting the Awake the State Tampa rally include: Awake Tampa, Florida Consumer Action Network, West Central Florida Federation of Labor, Hillsborough Classroom Teachers Association, Moveon.org, Progress Florida, SEIU Florida, Hillsborough County Young Democrats, Hillsborough School Employee Federation, Gulf Coast Building Trades, Planned Parenthood of Southwest and Central Florida, NAACP, Hillsborough County GLBTA Democratic Caucus, DFA Tampa Bay, and Florida Watch Action.

Liberal activists plan Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach rallies
By Anthony Man
South Florida Sun Sentinel
The Awake the State group of liberal political activists is planning rallies around the state on Tuesday to mark the start of the 2012 legislative session.

FEATURED STORIES

5 biggest questions of the 2012 session
By Gary Fineout
The Fine Print
Florida's GOP-controlled Legislature kicks off its annual session on Tuesday amid the backdrop of the looming Jan. 31 presidential primary, a governor still battling low poll numbers, and legislative leaders who so far have shown a desire to keep the agenda limited during a critical election year.

Florida legislative session will kick off with redistricting, budget battles
By Aaron Deslatte
Orlando Sentinel
A legislative session launched two months earlier than usual to redraw Florida's political lines begins Tuesday, with billion-dollar budget problems, destination casino proposals and Gov. Rick Scott's jobs agenda percolating to the surface.

Lawmakers plan controversy-free agenda
By Mary Ellen Klas
Miami Herald/Tampa Bay Times Tallahassee Bureau
Gov. Rick Scott and Florida’s legislative leaders will open the annual legislative session on Tuesday and lay out a bare bones agenda focused primarily on the budget and redistricting.

Scott’s mission still about jobs
By Steve Bousquet and Michael C. Bender
Miami Herald/Tampa Bay Times Tallahassee Bureau
Rick Scott begins his second year as governor surrounded by savvier advisers, stalked by persistently dismal poll numbers and converted to spending a lot more money on schools.

Governor still struggling with low poll numbers
By Associated Press
Ft. Myers News-Press
Gov. Rick Scott remains pretty much under water with Florida voters.

Florida lawmakers make last-minute rush for campaign cash
By David DeCamp
Tampa Bay Times
Florida lawmakers rushed to pull in campaign checks from lobbyists before a deadline today turned off the spigot.

FLORIDA POLITICS

Scott to stress cooperation in State of the State
Associated Press
Tampa Tribune
Gov. Rick Scott will stress jobs, cooperation and improving education in is second State of the State address.

Fla. House narrows proposed redistricting maps
By Bill Kaczor
Associated Press
Subcommittees in the Republican-controlled House narrowed the number of redistricting maps the chamber is considering in separate and largely partisan votes Monday.

Redistricting lines don't always work out as hoped
By Steve Bousquet
Tampa Bay Times
The redrawing of Florida's political boundaries is a highly unpredictable business. Just ask Curt Kiser.

Appeals court set to hear Corrine Brown's redistricting suit
By Matt Dixon
Florida Times-Union
An appeals court in Atlanta Monday will hear oral arguments in a lawsuit filed by U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown challenging a redistricting-related constitutional amendment voters approved in November.

Spokesman: Browning not resigning 'at this time'
Associated Press
Tampa Tribune
A spokesman says Florida Secretary of State Kurt Browning hasn't spoken to Gov. Rick Scott about resigning nor submitted a letter of resignation "at this time."

Real goal is to suppress votes
By Dan Woodard
Florida Today
For more than 70 years, the nonpartisan League of Women Voters has helped citizens register to vote.

POLITICAL RACES

As opponents attack Mitt Romney, he's poised to make history in New Hampshire
By Adam C. Smith
Tampa Bay Times
Related: Mitt Romney leads new Florida poll with 36 percent of vote
Rivals are painting him as a Gordon Gekko Wall Streeter, but history is on Mitt Romney's side as New Hampshire voters cast their ballots today.

With eyes on New Hampshire, Florida GOP voters not sure who they like best
By George Bennett
Palm Beach Post
Florida's Republican presidential primary is still three weeks away, but Sunshine State voters have already requested 413,000 absentee ballots -- a total that should exceed the number of votes cast in last week's Iowa caucuses and Tuesday's New Hampshire primary combined.

RNC to consider additional sanctions against Florida delegation this week
By Alex Leary
Tampa Bay Times
Tampa is hosting the Republican National Convention, but Florida delegates will get inconvenient hotel spots, poor seating and lose guest passes, according to proposed sanctions the national GOP will vote on this week.

Florida GOP says absentee ballot requests double 2008 levels
By George Bennett
Palm Beach Post
Florida voters so far have requested 413,000 absentee ballots for the Jan. 31 Republican presidential primary, says the Republican Party of Florida, which keeps daily tabs on ballot activity in the state’s 67 counties.

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

State officials, industry and utility groups press case in federal court against water rules
By Bruce Ritchie
Florida Current
Attorneys representing Florida and utility groups were in federal court on Monday arguing that a federal agency lacked authority in 2009 when it decided that specific water quality limits were needed in Florida.

Amended septic tank inspection bill passes Senate committee
By Bruce Ritchie
Florida Current
A Senate compromise bill that would repeal a statewide septic tank inspection requirement passed its first committee stop Monday despite concerns among environmentalists.

Jobs, other high-profile issues may overshadow nature's needs
By Jim Waymer
Florida Today
As the Florida Legislature kicks off its annual session today, conservationists fear another rough year on Florida’s environment as jobs once again trump nature.

Orlando claims success turning waste to energy
By Mark Schlueb
Orlando Sentinel
After five years of work, Orlando officials and their private-sector partners think they've succeeded in developing the technology to convert human waste byproducts into clean energy.

LGBT

Orange County mayor says she still doesn't think domestic-partner registry is needed
By David Damron
Orlando Sentinel
Orange County Mayor Teresa Jacobs told reporters Monday that she's still not convinced a domestic-partner registry that gay rights activists are seeking is truly needed.

EDUCATION

Bill expanding Florida school vouchers passes first committee stop
By Brandon Larrabee
News Service of Florida
A bill that would allow an additional 6,500 students to use a state-backed voucher program passed the Senate PreK-12 Education Committee on a party-line vote Monday, the latest step in a long-running battle over the pace of the program's expansion.

Florida lawmakers' focus turns to higher ed
Staff Report
Florida Today
Last year, Florida legislators made historic changes to education.

School Bus Advertising
By Anna Laura Rehwinkel
Capitol News Service
Advertising could soon be coming to a school bus near year.

A federal look at Florida's work with Race to the Top funds
By Marlene Sokol
Tampa Bay Times
Florida and 11 other states have gone a long way in earning their Race to the Top money, the U.S. Department of Education said on Monday.

Teachers, parents meet in Miami to discuss opting out of standardized testing
By Marcos Restrepo
Florida Independent
Ceresta Smith, an educator with Miami-Dade County Public Schools and the University of Miami, spoke Saturday about opting out of K-12 standardized testing to a group of parents from the predominantly African-American neighborhood of Liberty City as part of National Opt Out Day.

JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY

Florida should collect sales tax from online retailers, and spend the money on services
Editorial
Palm Beach Post
There's a way for Florida to get more money and protect more jobs, if the anti-tax ideologues in Tallahassee can just get over themselves.

Fla. Senate panel signs off on gambling expansion
By Gary Fineout
Associated Press
Florida could get three new large casinos, as well as slot machines at every dog and horse track in the state, under a far-reaching gambling bill that passed its first hurdle Monday.

Citizens Insurance CEO Scott Wallace resigns
By Tolu Olorunnipa
Miami Herald
Scott Wallace, the President/CEO and Executive Director of Florida's state-run insurance organization, Citizens, announced his resignation on Friday, the organization announced Monday.

Right-wing think tank releases salaries of public employees via new website
By Ashley Lopez
Florida Independent
The Foundation for Government Accountability debuted a new website today — an online database of the salaries of public employees: FloridaOpenGov.org.

Chamber gets $300K from Workforce Central Florida
By Jim Stratton
Orlando Sentinel
Since 2005, the partnership between Workforce Central Florida, the region's taxpayer-funded, nonprofit jobs agency, and the Orlando Regional Chamber of Commerce has proved to be quite lucrative — for the chamber.

HEALTH AND SENIORS

Sex- and race-based abortion ban picks up Democratic state Senate sponsor
By Ashley Lopez
Florida Independent
State. Sen Gary Siplin, D-Orlando, has introduced the Senate version of a bill that outlaws sex- or race-based abortions.

Medicare delays program to fight fraud, improper payments
By Richard Martin
Tampa Bay Times
Medicare says that more than $34 billion is wasted each year through improper payments to hospitals and doctors.

Negron bill targets fraud at PIP medical clinics
Associated Press
Tampa Tribune
Legislation designed to crack down on the fraud that leads to more expensive personal injury protection insurance required of all Florida drivers was filed by state Sen. Joe Negron on Monday.