Daily Clips for January 25, 2012

FEATURED STORIES

President urges 'fair shot for everyone'
Washington Post
Tampa Bay Times
Related: Florida reacts to the SOTU
Related editorial: Obama's state of the campaign
President Barack Obama warned the nation Tuesday that the decades-old promise of a secure and rising middle class is under threat because of growing disparities between the rich and everyone else in America.

Florida hospitals bracing for more Medicaid cuts
By Richard Martin and Tia Mitchell
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Gov. Rick Scott's plan to cut about $2 billion in public funding to hospitals that care for the poor is devastating and even ridiculous, say hospital leaders who predict patient care will suffer if it is enacted.

Florida lawmakers file new round of anti-abortion bils
By Dara Kam
Palm Beach Post
After passing five anti-abortion measures last year, lawmakers are again considering measures that opponents say would make it more difficult for women to get access to the procedures.

Furor erupts over bills to let parents decide poorly performing schools' fate
By Leslie Postal
Orlando Sentinel
Florida lawmakers want to give parents the power to dictate the future of poorly performing public schools, sparking criticism from parent advocates and others that the effort is part of a continuing campaign to privatize education.

House higher education plan includes tuition increases, budget cuts
By David DeCamp
Tampa Bay Times
Florida college students can start bracing for higher tuition bills again come fall.

FLORIDA POLITICS

Personal agendas at stake with redistricting maps
By Mary Ellen Klas
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Personal ambitions have been kept off the record in the Legislature's once-a-decade redistricting fight, but the carefully choreographed plan could implode this week if a House committee proposes and accepts changes to the Senate map.

Closing prisons would hurt communities
By Rod Smith
Orlando Sentinel
The Orlando Sentinel recently wrote an editorial ("Emptying prisons," Jan. 18) regarding the closure of 11 Florida correctional facilities, including seven state prisons.

Wage theft bill moves through Florida Senate committee despite no agreement
By Michael Peltier
News Service of Florida
A measure that would set up statewide standards to address wage theft passed in a Senate committee today with both sides agreeing over the need for legislation but at odds over how to do it.

Lawton Chiles' Prague spring
By John Coggin
Tampa Bay Times
Florida's governor must have the courage to believe in ideas.

Legislator found by grand jury to be acting on behalf of billboard company in 2009
By Craig Pittman and Bill Varian
Tampa Bay Times
State Sen. Greg Evers "was actively advocating" on behalf of a billboard company that had been talking about hiring his wife when he intervened with the state Department of Transportation about cutting down 2,000 trees, according to a grand jury report released Tuesday.

Florida Legislature to talk openness
By Michael Braun
Ft. Myers News-Press
Florida’s Legislature will undertake bills this year that will make it easier for individuals to speak at government meetings and define record-keeping for newly elected officials.

POLITICAL RACES

Gingrich draws thousands in Fla. while Romney's, Santorum's crowds number in hundreds
By Andrew Abramson, Jane Musgrave and George Bennett
Palm Beach Post
Related: Newtmentum: Q poll says Gingrich has erased Romney’s Florida lead
If former Florida frontrunner Mitt Romney hoped Newt Gingrich's rise in popularity was a temporary blip, Gingrich's campaign appeared to prove otherwise Tuesday as it drew crowds estimated at 4,000 in Sarasota and 6,000 in Naples.

Miami becomes battleground for Gingrich, Romney
By Erika Bolstad and Marc Caputo
Miami Herald
A sign it’s getting close to Election Day in Florida: Mitt Romney softens his immigration stance and his opponent’s new ads end with “Soy Newt Gingrich y apruebo este mensaje.’’

Newt who? Democrats attack Romney harder than they hit his rivals
By Scott Powers
Orlando Sentinel
Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich has an unlikely ally this week in his Florida primary battle against Mitt Romney: the Democratic National Committee.

Finally released Romney tax filings leave some voters saying, 'so what?'
By George Bennett
Palm Beach Post
Mitt Romney's release of his tax returns Tuesday appears to have removed a Republican primary issue that tripped him up in South Carolina last week.

In St. Petersburg, Newt Gingrich attacks Mitt Romney, Barack Obama, Charlie Crist
By Alex Leary
Tampa Bay Times
Newt Gingrich stepped onto a podium at the Tick Tock Restaurant with a hometown message.

Santorum using 'ObamaCare' to highlight his conservative bona fides
By Scott Powers
Orlando Sentinel
Rick Santorum pushed his long and deep opposition to President Barack Obama's health-care plan Monday as the defining difference between himself and the two Republican candidates he's trailing in Florida presidential primary polls.

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

State, environmental groups continue to wrestle over water cleanup plan
By Brittany Alana Davis
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
A lawsuit-fueled four-year battle over safety and health standards for Florida waters inched toward a possible resolution in the Legislature Tuesday.

Bill to undo Senate role in picking Citrus chief moves in House with Alexander's support
By Bruce Ritchie and Travis Pillow
Florida Current
A bill that would eliminate a law change last year requiring Senate confirmation of the Department of Citrus director passed a second House committee stop on Tuesday -- with support from powerful Sen. JD Alexander.

EDUCATION

Parent Empowerment Act
By Whitney Ray
Capitol News Service
Parents could fire teachers or ask a charter school company to take over their child’s school under legislation moving in Tallahassee.

School prayer bill on its way to the Senate floor
By Ashley Lopez
Florida Independent
A bill that would allow students to pray during school events passed through its final state Senate committee yesterday.

Are the Koch brothers teaching you?
By Robert Greenwald
Huffington Post
What's happening to academia in Florida demands national attention.

US education chief Arne Duncan visiting Florida
Associated Press
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
U.S. Education Commissioner Arne Duncan is visiting Florida to talk about job creation and making college more affordable.

FCAT fails as a measure, again
Editorial
Ocala Star-Banner
If Gov. Rick Scott’s and state Education Commissioner Gerard Robinson’s goal in ranking Florida’s 67 school districts based on their latest FCAT scores was to start a dialogue, they have succeeded mightily.

JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY

Amazon may bring jobs to state if deal is reached
By Gary Fineout
Associated Press
Amazon.com is promising to bring between 2,500 jobs and 3,000 jobs to Florida if state lawmakers and Gov. Rick Scott agree to a deal that would exempt the online retailer from collecting sales taxes for the next two years.

Citizens assessment bill moves ahead as its concerns stall Cat Fund proposal
By Gray Rohrer
Florida Current
A bill to allow private insurance companies more time to recoup losses from customers in the aftermath of a storm passed swiftly through a House panel Tuesday.

Banks would reduce mortgage debt as part of federal inquiry settlement
By Paul Owers
South Florida Sun Sentinel
About 1 million homeowners could get their mortgages reduced by an average of $20,000 if major lenders agree to settle a government inquiry of improper foreclosure practices.

Occupy demonstrators arrested; protests continue against investor conference (Updated)
By Marcos Restrepo
Florida Independent
Three protesters from the Occupy movements of Palm Beach and Miami were arrested Monday evening after they blocked the Camino Real bridge in Boca Raton to protest the 2012 GAIM conference, a major investor industry event.

HEALTH AND SENIORS

House forfeits $170M from feds
Staff Report
Health News Florida
Today House health budget chief Matt Hudson presented his proposed budget, which would include cuts of more than $290 million in Medicaid fees to hospitals for next year.

Bill outlawing race- and sex-based abortions moves forward
By Ashley Lopez
Florida Independent
A controversial bill that would outlaw sex- or race-based abortions in Florida passed a state House health committee today.

Senate proposes sweeping overhaul of disabled care
By Travis Pillow
Florida Independent
A Senate panel on Wednesday is slated to take up a sweeping set of changes proposed by the agency that provides care to the developmentally disabled.