Daily Clips for January 30, 2012

PROGRESS FLORIDA IN THE NEWS

U.S. Senate field hearing in Tampa exposes flaws in Florida's new voting law
By Janelle Irwin
WMNF Tampa Bay
Excerpt: One provision in the law reduces the amount of time organizations and other outside parties have to assist people with voter registration…Mark Ferrulo, executive director of Progress Florida said the hefty fines levied for breaking that law have caused some groups to stop voter drives.

Progress Florida collects 11,289 signatures condemning ‘voter suppression’ bill
By Ashley Lopez
Florida Independent
The day before a U.S. Senate judiciary committee will hold a public hearing on Florida’s controversial new elections law in Tampa, a progressive group announced that it had collected 11,289 signatures for a petition denouncing what the group calls the “Voter Suppression Act of 2011.”

FEATURED STORIES

At Tampa hearing, hundreds protest Florida election law changes
By Andrew Abramson
Palm Beach Post
Democratic U.S. Senators Bill Nelson of Florida and Dick Durbin of Illinois left Tampa Friday more convinced than ever that a bill passed by the Republican-dominated Florida legislature last year to counter potential voter fraud was but a "voter suppression act," meant to hurt blacks, Hispanics and young voters at the polls.

House counters critics, passes redistricting maps
By Mary Ellen Klas and David DeCamp
Miami Herald/Tampa Bay Times Tallahassee Bureau
A House committee gave the final tweaks to the state’s redistricting maps Friday and set them up for a final vote this week despite strong criticism from the Fair Districts coalition, which helped bring the new standards into law.

Conservative Florida lawmakers consider abortion waiting period, other restrictions
By Katie Sanders
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Conservative Florida lawmakers who last year passed a landmark bill that requires women seeking an abortion to first have an ultrasound performed are pushing to go further in 2012.

Florida's calendar crashing pays off
By Alexander Burns and Emily Schultheis
Politico
Most of the ballots are still uncast in Florida’s presidential primary, but already Republicans here are declaring: mission accomplished.

A Governor Still Trying to Become a Politician
By Lizette Alvarez
As the Republican presidential candidates darted from city to city in Florida last week stitching up votes for Tuesday’s primary, Gov. Rick Scott stayed largely ensconced in the State Capitol, far from the fray, filling his days with business meetings, receptions and talk of his legislative agenda.

FLORIDA POLITICS

Scott still unpopular, but approval inches up in new Times/Herald/Bay News 9 poll
By Aaron Sharockman
Tampa Bay Times
While Gov. Rick Scott remains generally unpopular, his months-long charm offensive and singular focus on jobs creation may be slowly winning Floridians over, according to a new Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald/Bay News 9 poll.

Rush to Privatization a Danger to Fla.
By Paula Dockery
Lakeland Ledger
In their quest to privatize state prisons, leaders of the Florida Senate, knowing they lacked the support of their members, last year pulled a sneaky move.

POLITICAL RACES

Mitt Romney holds solid lead in Florida, Times/Herald/Bay News 9 poll shows
By Adam C. Smith
Tampa Bay Times
Related: Republicans increasingly worry volatile primary will hurt them in general election
Related: Newt Gingrich sets up battle between conservative activists, Republican establishment
Mitt Romney needed Florida to resuscitate his campaign after a South Carolina routing, and on Tuesday, Florida is poised to deliver big.

In Miami, Gingrich and Romney court Hispanic vote
By Patricia Mazzei and Scott Hiaasen
Miami Herald
After bashing each other in the final debate before the crucial Florida primary, Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich traveled south to Miami on Friday to woo Hispanic power brokers.

Undecided voters may hold key in Tuesday's primary
By Anthony Man
South Florida Sun Sentinel
They're committed Republicans — just not committed yet to any of their party's presidential hopefuls. And with less than 48 hours remaining until Florida's polls open on Tuesday, these voters — let's call them "swing Republicans" — could hold the outcome in their hands.

Poll: Sen. Nelson holds slim lead in Senate race
By Erika Bolstad
Miami Herald
Sen. Bill Nelson faces a tough re-election campaign in a year when Florida voters are dissatisfied with the economy, Congress and President Barack Obama, according to a new Miami Herald/El Nuevo Herald/Times/Bay News 9 poll.

Freddie Mac attack boomerangs on Connie Mack
By Marc Caputo and Scott Hiaasen
Miami Herald
Rep. Connie Mack hit the campaign trail this week to bash Gingrich for saying little about his profitable ties to mortgage giant Freddie Mac – a potent issue in foreclosure-racked Florida.

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

Stop Legislature's land grab
Editorial
Tampa Bay Times
It would be foolish to deny the public access to hundreds of thousands of acres of waterfront property in a misguided attempt to clarify where state waterways end and private property begins.

Conservation land-buying cut out of House's proposed budget
By Bruce Ritchie
Florida Current
The $69.1-billion proposed 2012-13 budget released by the House of Representatives on Friday includes no money for conservation land-buying and it cuts the governor's request for Everglades restoration.

Oil drilling set to begin off Cuba
By William E. Gibson
South Florida Sun Sentinel
A giant oil rig floating off the north shores of Cuba is expected to begin drilling an exploratory well as early as this weekend about 56 miles south of Key West.

Environmentalists speak out against Obama’s plan for offshore drilling
By Virginia Chamlee
Florida Independent
The U.S. Department of the Interior announced yesterday morning that it will begin selling leases to allow offshore oil drilling in 38 million acres in the central Gulf of Mexico.

LGBT

Called 'self loathing,' Log Cabin Republicans struggle for respect in the LGBT community
By Steve Rothaus
Miami Herald
Miami-Dade political activist Miriam “Mimi” Planas says it’s easier to tell her Republican friends she’s gay than to tell gay friends she’s a Republican.

EDUCATION

Lawmaker Proposes Grading Florida’s Parents
By John O'Connor
StateImpact
Florida law requires grades for students, teachers, schools and districts. So why not parents as well?

Florida Prepaid deadline is Tuesday
By Scott Travis
South Florida Sun Sentinel
If you want to prepay for college, you have only until Tuesday to lock in this year’s prices.

Behind the FCAT numbers, a need to improve
Editorial
Tampa Bay Times
Rising FCAT scores show a larger portion of Florida public school students have mastered reading and math at grade level than just a decade ago.

JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY

House budget spreads cuts across agencies
By Travis Pillow
Florida Current
The Florida House of Representatives on Friday released a $69.2 billion budget that frees up money for schools and avoids the deep cuts to hospitals proposed by Gov. Rick Scott.

Florida jobs chief quits own job
By Toluse Olorrunipa
Miami Herald/Tampa Bay Times Tallahassee Bureau
Doug Darling, executive director of the state’s main agency for job creation, resigned abruptly from his own job this week, six months after Gov. Rick Scott appointed him.

Advocacy groups say Bondi going too soft on big banks
By Tia Mitchell
Miami Herald
A coalition of clergy and community leaders plans to pay Attorney General Pam Bondi an unfriendly visit on Monday.

Maybe Florida’s governor needs glasses
By Fred Grimm
Miami Herald
Normally the grand opening of an eyeglass store at a suburban mall on Kendall Drive would not be so very grand.

HEALTH AND SENIORS

Republicans plan alternate health care law
By Laura Green
Palm Beach Post
Less than two months before the Supreme Court begins hearing arguments in the landmark health care overhaul case, Republicans are formulating a new law to replace the Affordable Care Act.

Caring about life shouldn't end at birth
By Scott Maxwell
Orlando Sentinel
I don't spend much time writing about abortion for two reasons.

Nursing homes affected by salary bill
Staff Report
Health News Florida
The Florida Health Care Association says non-profit nursing homes may be unintentionally hurt by a bill intended to cap salaries in child-protection agencies that receive funding from the state.

Will FMA defeat its former chief?
By Carol Gentry
Health News Florida
When doctors are arrested or indicted for “pill-mill” violations, the public expects the state health agency to restrict their licenses.

CIVIL RIGHTS, PEACE AND SOCIAL ISSUES

Escaping Jim Crow in Florida
By Desmond Meade
Huffington Post
As I landed in South Carolina last night, I couldn't help but to think that I am in a state where I will be able to practice law.

JUSTICE AND THE COURTS

Costs of running private prisons hard to quantify
By Aaron Deslatte
Orlando Sentinel
Florida's Republican-dominated Legislature is fast-tracking the most sweeping prison privatization plan in the country. Lawmakers had to respond after a circuit judge last summer dared to declare their last attempt had unconstitutionally used the state's budget as a vehicle for implementing policy.

Fla. prison closings are legacy of wrong guess
By James L. Rosica
Associated Press
When Florida's prison system announced it was closing 11 facilities, it flew in the face of conventional wisdom that the state's prison population was high and rising.