Daily Clips for February 10, 2012

FEATURED STORIES

Florida redistricting plans get final passage; Democrats file suit
Associated Press
Tampa Tribune
Democrats filed a lawsuit against a congressional redistricting map immediately after that plan and a second one redrawing Florida House and Senate districts received final approval today from the Republican-controlled Legislature.

House passes $69.2 billion budget on party lines
By Steve Bousquet
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Divided along party lines, the state House passed a $69.2 billion budget Thursday that raises college tuition by 8 percent and pays for a $1 billion increase in education by cutting health programs for the needy.

Willing to Testify About Voting Law Slop
By Paula Dockery
Florida Voices
Did you hear the public outcry last year about voting having become too easy?

Florida’s $8.4 billion foreclosure take second highest in nation
By Kimberly Miller
Palm Beach Post
Related editorial: Deal gives Florida a boost
Florida’s $8.4 billion share of a landmark foreclosure settlement announced Thursday is second only to California’s take, which is estimated to be about $18 billion.

Occupy Wall Street: The Future And History, So Far
By Neal Conan
NPR
On September 17, 2011, hundreds of people gathered in Lower Manhattan to protest the growing wealth gap and Wall Street's involvement in the economic crisis.

BEST OF THE BLOGS

Rick Scott and Florida Republicans Look to Privatize Prisons
By Kenneth Quinnell
Florida Progressive Coalition
Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) and his allies in the state legislature are pursuing a plan to privatize dozens of prisons in South Florida.

Foreclosure Fraud: The Job is Not Just the Voting
By Alan Grayson
Daily Kos
People often suggest to me how frustrating it must have been, being a Member of Congress, because things move so slowly in Washington, DC.

The Maps Look Good for Fitzgerald and Kriseman (Part I)
By Benjamin Kirby
The Spencerian
Related: The Maps Look Good for Fitzgerald and Kriseman (Part II)
You may not know it, but Florida is undergoing a massive tectonic political shift.

Rep. Rachel Burgin Exposed
By Inkberries
Beach Peanuts
Last August the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) held their annual meeting in New Orleans.

Will Global Warming Ruin Football in the South?
By Joe Romm
Think Progress
Back in November, GE’s TXCHNOLOGIST blog pointed out that climate change “could ruin Texas football,” indeed all southern U.S. football.

FLORIDA POLITICS

Sen. Marco Rubio sharpens his barbs for conservative audience at CPAC
By Alex Leary
Tampa Bay Times
Sen. Marco Rubio followed the axiom "know your audience" to effect with a speech Thursday that was laced with harder barbs than he typically serves up.

Senate takes another swipe at privatizing prisons next week
By Dara Kam
Palm Beach Post
Senate President Mike Haridopolos will next week resurrect a prison privatization plan he set aside twice, indicating he may have garnered enough support to pass the controversial measure.

Florida State Fair is unorthodox setting for Cabinet meeting
By Tamara Lush
Associated Press
Starting the day with an impromptu square dance and a crack of a bullwhip, Gov. Rick Scott celebrated the opening day of the Florida State Fair and held a cabinet meeting at the fairgrounds Thursday morning.

Rick Scott now our warm and fuzzy governor?
By Sue Carlton
Tampa Bay Times
Seriously, are we that easy?

POLITICAL RACES

Florida primary delegate question unsettled
By Maggie Haberman and Emily Schultheis
Politico
Some call the complaints a publicity stunt. Others argue there’s a legitimate issue at work.

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

Senate gives final passage to bill approve state water quality rules
By Bruce Ritchie
Florida Current
Proposed state water quality rules that would replace controversial federal rules received final approval from the Legislature on Thursday.

Wildlife officials move forward with bear management plan that would explore hunting option
By Bruce Ritchie
Florida Current
State wildlife officials received the OK Thursday to move forward with a draft black bear management plan that would explore allowing hunting to resume.

Progress reported in settlement talks in decades-old Everglades lawsuit
By Christine Stapleton
Palm Beach Post
Settlement talks in the oldest, costliest and most contentious lawsuit over Everglades restoration are going so well that the case should be put on hold to give negotiators more time to talk, government attorneys said in recently filed court papers.

LGBT

Obama tells gay donors more work to be done
By Erica Werner
Associated Press
President Barack Obama told gay and lesbian supporters at a big-ticket fundraiser Thursday that there's more work to do to ensure fairness for all, but he said he "couldn't be prouder" of his track record for them.

EDUCATION

Florida educators praise waiver from federal No Child law
By Leslie Postal
Orlando Sentinel
Florida has been granted a waiver from the federal No Child Left Behind law, which will free the state from complicated school-accountability rules and allow it to use its school grading system as the sole judge of public education.

Federal waiver for Florida schools could shake up tutoring industry
By Jeffrey S. Solochek and Ron Matus
Tampa Bay Times
Thousands of low-income Florida students who have received hundreds of millions of dollars in free, private tutoring may no longer have that option in the fall.

Florida offers look at problems with education law
By Christine Armario
Associated Press
By almost any measure, Norma Butler Bossard Elementary is a top performing school in Miami: It has consistently been rated an 'A' by the state, and students have achieved high scores on Florida's standardized math and reading exams.

State colleges fear they're becoming unaffordable
By Scott Travis
South Florida Sun Sentinel
Florida's cheapest colleges aren't feeling so affordable to many students any more.

Reaction mixed on bill to make Florida Polytechnic state's 12th university
By Kim Wilmath
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Not only does a surprise bill to create "Florida Polytechnic" not match a plan already laid out by state university system leaders, but it flies in the face of the Board of Governors' central mission: to oversee the system without outside influence from legislators.

Senate moves to give governor the power to appoint Board of Governors student member
By Marcello Iaia
Florida Independent
A joint resolution that would give the governor the power to appoint the student member of the Board of Governors — the body that oversees the Florida university system — passed through the state Senate’s Higher Education Committee Thursday.

JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY

Gov. Scott announces $45 million petroleum expansion for Port of Tampa
By Tom Scherberger
Tampa Bay Times
The state will help pay for a $45 million upgrade to the petroleum facilities at the Port of Tampa, Gov. Rick Scott announced Thursday.

Public television survives despite Gov. Rick Scott's budget cut
By John LaBonia
South Florida Sun Sentinel
Funding — one of the major lifelines for public radio stations in Florida — was severed last year when Gov. Rick Scott eliminated state funding for NPR and PBS member stations.

Senators tweak economic development budget, but housing corporation still de-privatized
By Gray Rohrer
Florida Current
After heavily criticizing their own budget this week, members of the Senate Budget Subcommittee on Transportation, Tourism, and Economic Development Appropriations agreed to changes Thursday, but the fate of the Florida Housing Finance Corp. remained a point of contention.

Lawmakers trying to tame Amazon in sales tax fight
By Richard Mullins
Tampa Tribune
Florida lawmakers want Internet retailers such as Amazon to start collecting and handing over sales taxes when consumers in the Sunshine State shop online.

HEALTH AND SENIORS

Proposed cuts in health care for Florida's poor draw fire in budget hearings
By John Kennedy
Palm Beach Post
A proposed $69.2 billion state budget, which pulls millions of dollars from health care programs and pours them into public schools, cleared the House on Thursday over opposition from outnumbered Democrats.

Doctors, optometrists reach truce to push through medical malpractice bill
By Christine Jordan Sexton
Florida Current
Top Republican senators have cobbled together a health care compromise in an effort to finally resolve a long-running battle involving medical doctors, lawyers and optometrists.

Business, FMA reach work-comp deal
By Carol Gentry
Health News Florida
After business groups and the Florida Medical Association hammered out a compromise on a controversial workers' compensation issue, the drug-dispensing bill swept through a House committee today on its way to the floor.

Nelson, Ros-Lehtinen also oppose birth control decision
By Ashley Lopez
Florida Independent
Florida lawmakers Bill Nelson (a Democrat) and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (a Republican) have expressed opposition to an Obama administration decision requiring health insurers to cover contraception as a preventive service.

Make nursing home owners more accountable
Editorial
Tampa Bay Times
Every nursing home should be legally and financially responsible for what happens to its vulnerable residents.

JUSTICE AND THE COURTS

Chief justices will be able to serve eight years
By Jim Saunders
News Service of Florida
The Florida Supreme Court said Thursday it will change the way chief justices are selected, allowing them to serve successive two-year terms and moving away from seniority as the key factor.

Stereo Law Challenged In State’s Highest Court
By Whitney Ray
Capitol News Service
The Florida Supreme Court will decided if police can continue to ticket drivers with loud stereos.