Daily Clips for February 21, 2012

FEATURED STORIES

Alex Sink regrets defeat to Rick Scott in 2010, thinks about 2014 rematch
By Steve Bousquet
Tampa Bay Times
Alex Sink feels regret. That's understandable when you come within 1 percentage point of being elected governor of Florida.

Following outcry, legislative immunity bill dies in House committee
By Tia Mitchell
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
In a shining example of how quickly the political tides can change, House leaders on Monday backed away from a proposal to clarify legislative immunity shortly after the incoming Senate president expressed his opposition to the idea.

Florida Senate panel advances bill to speed foreclosures
By James L. Rosica
Associated Press
The state's mortgage foreclosure process would be accelerated and streamlined under a proposal cleared by a Senate panel on Monday.

Pam Bondi, 11 other AGs, ready to 'vigorously oppose' Obama contraception rule in court
By Marc Caputo
Miami Herald
Must have misssed this in the ole inbox, but Florida's attorney general, Pam Bondi, is ready to join 12 other colleagues to sue President Obama's administration over its contraception mandate – this after challenging all of the Affordable Care Act.

President Barack Obama back in Florida this week for official events, but also campaigning
By Alex Leary and Adam C. Smith
Tampa Bay Times
President Barack Obama is rewriting Florida's advertising tagline: Come for the sun and soak up the electoral votes.

FLORIDA POLITICS

House lays out rules for the governor's rules
By Brittany Davis
Miami Herald/Tampa Bay Times Tallahassee Bureau
The House set out to clarify the governor’s authority today and lay out how much power the executive office really has in restricting the rules that state agencies must invent in order to carry out new laws.

Texting and driving ban motoring through Florida Senate
Associated Press
South Florida Sun Sentinel
The Senate's budget panel is expected to consider a statewide texting-while-driving ban that has eluded passage for several years.

Don't rush to resurrect private prison proposal
Editorial
Orlando Sentinel
The brawl over prison privatization may be over in the Florida Legislature.

Give public right to speak at public meetings
Editorial
Tampa Bay Times
Florida has a proud tradition of requiring the public's business to be conducted in the open.

POLITICAL RACES

Poll: Florida Senator Marco Rubio favorite VP candidate
By Angela Delli Santi
Associated Press
A new poll released Monday indicates Florida Sen. Marco Rubio is mentioned most often by registered voters when asked who should be the GOP's vice presidential nominee.

GOP contenders look ahead to 13-state test
Associated Press
Tampa Tribune
A resurgent Rick Santorum hopes to spring his next big surprise in Michigan.

Mack pounds Nelson in appearance before GOP group
By George Bennett
Palm Beach Post
Finishing last in Sunday's Florida Federation of Republican Women straw poll did not knock U.S. Rep. Connie Mack, R-Cape Coral, off his strategy of focusing on Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson and barely alluding to his GOP Senate primary.

Homestead exemption could be issue for Mack
By William March
Tampa Tribune
When news broke last week that Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson gets a big tax break because of a small herd of cattle grazing on his family's Brevard County pasture land, his potential Republican opponent, Rep. Connie Mack, called it "appalling" and "disgraceful."

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

Progress Energy settlement agreement praised, criticized at PSC hearing
By Bruce Ritchie
Florida Current
The Office of Public Counsel and the Florida Retail Federation on Monday joined large power customers in supporting an agreement that settles several Progress Energy cases before the Public Service Commission and locks in nuclear cost recovery charges for the next five years.

Judge backs federal agency's decision to set pollution limits but throws out some of those standards
By Bruce Ritchie
Florida Current
A federal judge on Saturday upheld a federal agency's decision to set pollution limits in Florida waterways while also claiming some of those limits are invalid.

Bill sponsor owns land surrounded by state forest where company is exploring for oil
By Bruce Ritchie
Florida Current
A state senator who is pushing a bill that would encourage oil drilling on state lands owns property surrounded by the Blackwater River State Forest, where a company is exploring for oil.

Drill, Baby, Drill: How Mica and Other Florida Republicans Rejected Everglades Protection
Staff Report
FlaglerLive.com
Last Thursday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill that would compel the federal Bureau of Land Management to lease potentially up to half a million acres of federal land in Utah, Colorado and Wyoming to oil companies to “research” and explore oil shale and tar sands development, two largely unproven or prohibitive technologies.

Trails for Sale
By Whitney Ray
Capitol News Service
In an effort to fund state parks, seven Florida trails may soon be open to advertisers.

LGBT

Activists positive, but wary, about Jacobs' registry plan
By Mark Schlueb
Orlando Sentinel
Related editorial: Mayor Jacobs' domestic partners decision
Gay activists said Monday that Orange County Mayor Teresa Jacobs' new plan for a countywide domestic-partnership registry is "a turn in the right direction," but they hadn't yet decided whether they would support it.

EDUCATION

USF, Alexander have 'productive' meeting on cuts
By Lindsay Peterson
Tampa Tribune
The ice broke between University of South Florida President Judy Genshaft and state Sen. JD Alexander on Monday afternoon, but it's still unclear how far Alexander will back away from plans to cut the USF and USF Polytechnic budgets.

University of Florida, Florida State could get power to charge higher tuition
By Kim Wilmath
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
The University of Florida and Florida State University could soon have the power to set higher tuition rates than the state's other 11 universities — a flexibility they have been seeking for years.

Florida early learning bills on move, despite spar over standards
By Margie Menzel
News Service of Florida
Governance of a billion-dollar business is the subject of a heated debate this session, but it’s mostly been under the radar – until now, as bills revamping school readiness programs reach the House and Senate floors this week.

High school sports measure advances to next round in House
By Gray Rohrer
Florida Current
An effort to make it easier for private high school students to compete for a public school in a sport not offered by their own school passed through the House Rules and Calendar Committee on Monday, but concerns the bill will grant loopholes for illegal recruiting still dog the proposal.

JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY

Wage theft bill suffers setback
By Dara Kam
Palm Beach Post
Lawmakers trying to keep counties like Palm Beach from handling "wage theft" claims outside of the courts suffered a setback Monday but a measure barring ordinances similar to one the county is considering is still in play.

Hurricane fund overhaul unlikely with Florida lawmakers
By Brent Kallestad
Associated Press
State lawmakers have gambled with their constituents’ money for years when it comes to dealing with Florida’s property insurance issues.

JUSTICE AND THE COURTS

Supremes set 90-per-side minutes of oral arguments on redistricting
By Bob Shaw
Orlando Sentinel
The Supreme Court of Florida announced Monday it would hear three hours of oral arguments on Feb. 29 about the reapportionment maps for the Florida House and Senate.

Access to the courts
Editorial
Miami Herald
The fund that pays for lawyers to represent poor people in civil cases has seen its budget tank 88 percent since 2008.