Daily Clips for February 14, 2012

PROGRESS FLORIDA IN THE NEWS

February 6th Weekly Show
By Gayle Andrews
The BluVu: Florida’s Political Reality Show
This week we look at how the Senate Republican leadership is losing control, Republican primary madness, and Damien comments on the Governor getting flash mobbed for his health care positions.

FEATURED STORIES

Senate sets stage for do-or-die vote on South Florida prison privatization
By Kathleen Haughney and Aaron Deslatte
Orlando Sentinel
After more than four hours of deliberation Monday, Florida lawmakers are set to vote on a massive prison privatization plan for South Florida in what will likely be an emotionally fraught debate and a severe test of Senate President Mike Haridopolos' leadership.

Battle lines drawn in Tallahassee over push for prayer in schools
By John Kennedy
Palm Beach Post
The Florida Legislature is on course for another culture wars fight, after a House panel approved a measure Monday that could authorize student-led prayer in elementary, middle- and high schools.

Florida's missed opportunities to improve health care
Editorial
Tampa Bay Times
Despite the hostility of Gov. Rick Scott and the Republican-controlled Legislature to the federal health care reform law, Florida organizations have received $119.6 million in funds from it over the last two years.

FLORIDA POLITICS

Justices set Florida redistricting argument for Feb. 29
Associated Press
Tampa Tribune
The Florida Supreme Court will hear oral argument on a redistricting plan for the state House and Senate later this month.

Smart policy is to lock up fewer people, not more
By David M. Shapiro
Palm Beach Post
A plan to privatize nearly 30 state prisons hangs in the balance, with the Legislature closely divided and a bill headed for a possible Senate vote today.

NAACP, corrections workers denounce prison privatization as it resurfaces in Senate
By Ashley Lopez
Florida Independent
The NAACP and employees with the Department of Corrections spoke out against the Legislature’s renewed efforts to privatize state prisons during a press conference at the capitol today.

Florida plans more vending-machine lotto games
By Dara Kam
Palm Beach Post
Powerball lovers soon will have an easier way to pick their tickets, after action by Gov. Rick Scott and the Florida Legislature.

State Sen. Gary Siplin: political survivor in state capitol
By Tia Mitchell
Miami Herald/Tampa Bay Times Tallahassee Bureau
State Sen. Gary Siplin charts his own path through the Florida Legislature.

CREW asks Department of Justice, FBI to further investigate Buchanan
By Virginia Chamlee
Florida Independent
The legal watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington has asked the Department of Justice and the FBI to investigate Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Sarasota, over allegations contained in a new Office of Congressional Ethics report.

POLITICAL RACES

Connie Mack talks ‘thugocrats,’ touts top congressional support in Hialeah
By Marc Caputo
Miami Herald
Bashing the “thugocrats” in Venezuela and Cuba, U.S. Senate candidate Connie Mack touted the support of Miami-Dade’s Cuban-American congressional representatives Monday in a speech that highlighted his foreign-policy chops.

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

$232M proposed for Everglades restoration
By Matt Sedensky
Associated Press
President Barack Obama's budget proposal released Monday includes $231.75 million for Everglades restoration projects.

Senate panel narrows scope of bill that would allow oil drilling on state land
By Bruce Ritchie
Florida Current
A bill that seeks to encourage oil and gas exploration and drilling on state lands passed a Senate committee amid questions and some opposition.

Senate panel mulls, then kills alternative power plant funding
By James Call
WFSU Public Radio Tampa
A proposal to revamp the state’s energy policy passed out of the Senate agricultural committee Monday and is one stop away from the Senate Floor.

EPA disputes Free Market Florida claims, says water rules will save state money ‘in the long run’
By Virginia Chamlee
Florida Independent
In a new statement to The Florida Independent, the EPA defends its Florida-specific water pollution rules against charges in a new ad by the group Free Market Florida that the standards will cost the state “billions” and “eliminate 14,000 farming jobs.”

EDUCATION

Senate budget includes nearly 60 percent cut for USF
By Kim Wilmath
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Related column: Droppings from the lamest of lame ducks
Related editorial: USF in crosshairs of vendetta
Days after the Florida Senate surprised the University of South Florida with a proposal to immediately spin off its Lakeland branch campus into the state's 12th university, Senate budget writers proposed slashing USF's state funding nearly 60 percent.

Robbing public schools
Editorial
Miami Herald
As roofs sag in old school buildings, air conditioners break, electric panels blow and mold grows in classrooms where students are expected to learn, the maintenance costs keep adding up in this unwinnable game of catch-up for Florida public school districts facing billions of dollars in needed repairs.

Florida Virtual School's revenues falling short of expectations
By Rebecca Catalanello
Tampa Bay Times
Hailed as a money-making model, Florida Virtual School's effort to bring in millions in extra income is falling short and the venture may soon be in the red.

JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY

Municipal pension measure gets tangled up in committee
By Travis Pillow
Florida Current
The plot thickened on Monday for a measure affecting local pensions after a Senate panel killed an amendment backed by police unions.

NASA budget has money for big rocket, space telescope
By Mark K. Matthews
Orlando Sentinel
President Barack Obama proposed what amounts to a continuation budget for NASA on Monday, including $3 billion to begin building a rocket and capsule that could someday lift astronauts to an asteroid but killing two Mars missions to help pay for a new space telescope that's way over budget.

Analysis: Obama sets up clash with GOP in budget
By Tom Raum
Associated Press
President Barack Obama's new federal budget showcases the major priorities of his presidency and sets up the top battles that will be waged on both sides in the presidential campaign.

HEALTH AND SENIORS

Florida lawmakers advance bill to limit medical malpractice lawsuits
Associated Press
Tampa Tribune
The Republican-controlled Florida Legislature is pushing ahead this year with changes meant to curb medical malpractice lawsuits against doctors.

Florida House panel rejects food stamp sweets ban
Associated Press
Tampa Bay Times
A proposal to prevent food stamps from being used to buy sweets and salty snacks died Monday in a Florida House subcommittee.

Congressman, patient advocates concerned about future of AIDS Drug Assistance Program
By Marcos Restrepo
Florida Independent
Despite a significant drop in the number of patients on Florida’s AIDS Drug Assistance Program waiting list there are still concerns about that number rising over the coming months.

Pill mills rules would get stricter under proposed regulations
By Sara Kennedy
Bradenton Herald
An average of 13.5 deaths per day resulting from prescription drug abuse in Florida has spurred county officials to consider stricter regulation of pain management clinics.

Jackson Health System, union agree on $52 million in concessions
By John Dorschner
Miami Herald
Negotiators for Jackson Health System and SEIU Local 1991 agreed Tuesday to a contract that calls for $52 million in concessions for each of the next three years, but workers could get some of that money back if they find ways of saving the hospitals money or gaining new revenue.

CIVIL RIGHTS, PEACE AND SOCIAL ISSUES

Senate budget maintains homeless coalition grants eliminated by the House
By Ashley Lopez
Florida Independent
The Florida Senate’s budget bill, so far, maintains a line item that directs more than $2 million to local homeless coalitions in the state.

State lawmakers cast symbolic vote for Haitians
By Toluse Olorunnipa
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
The Florida Legislature has been mostly mum on immigration this year, but state Senators on Monday moved to ask the federal government to make it easier for Haitians to join their family members in the United States.

JUSTICE AND THE COURTS

Church leaders ask Gov. Rick Scott to stop execution
By Matt Dixon
Florida Times-Union
Bishop Felipe Estevez of the Diocese of St. Augustine and five other Catholic leaders in Florida signed a letter to Gov. Rick Scott asking him to stop the scheduled execution Wednesday of convicted murderer Robert Waterhouse.

Miami federal judge likely to be confirmed, but in messy process
By Erika Bolstad
Miami Herald
A dispute in the U.S. Senate over President Barack Obama’s executive branch nominees threatens to snag the appointment of the first Cuban-born judge to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Florida Supreme Court ruling limits Belvin Perry's term as chief judge
By Anthony Colarossi
Orlando Sentinel
A new Florida Supreme Court ruling means long-serving Chief Judge Belvin Perry cannot be chief judge of the Ninth Judicial Circuit beyond June 30, 2013.