Daily Clips for February 28, 2012

FEATURED STORIES

Florida House and Senate leaders look to reconcile budget conflicts
By Dara Kam and John Kennedy
Palm Beach Post
Differences about spending on road-building projects and whether to squeeze state universities' reserves are the main sticking points in GOP House and Senate leaders' budget talks, quietly going on before the conference committees begin to meet.

Lawmakers listen to Jeb Bush, whose foundation affects education in Florida
By Kathleen McGrory
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
When Sen. David Simmons needed his colleagues' support on the education budget last week, he dropped a powerful name on the Senate floor.

Hospitals, families lobby against state's proposed funding cuts
By Kathleen Haughney
Orlando Sentinel
Susie Elmore's daughter Brooke was born at 29 weeks. Two weeks later, she became septic and her organs began to shut down.

Anti-abortion bill with ‘fetal pain’ language nears final House vote
By Ashley Lopez
Florida Independent
A bill containing a slew of anti-abortion rights measures, including a highly controversial “fetal pain” provision, is on its way to a final vote on the House floor.

Bill to break up foreclosure backlog heads to Senate floor
By Gray Rohrer
Florida Current
A measure designed to speed up the foreclosure process in Florida is headed to the Senate floor, despite vocal opposition from distressed homeowners and a narrow 6-4 vote in the Senate Banking and Insurance Committee on Monday.

FLORIDA POLITICS

Detzner confirmed as Florida's new Secretary of State
By Lynn Hatter
WFSU Radio Tallahassee
The Senate has signed off on a new chief elections officer for Florida. Lynn Hatter reports Ken Detzner has been confirmed as the new Secretary of State.

Vern Buchanan: Exonerated or tainted?
By Jeremy Wallace
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
Nearly four years have elapsed since complaints were first filed with the Federal Election Commission that U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan received illegal campaign donations that supported his first two campaigns for Congress.

POLITICAL RACES

Gaffes, miscalculations weigh on Romney after Florida win
By Marc Caputo
Miami Herald
Florida crowned Mitt Romney the unofficial Republican nominee last month. Now he’s on the precipice of losing the race in Michigan, his native state.

GOP's Christie, Barbour: Contested Tampa convention possible
Associated Press
Tampa Tribune
Two key Republicans could not rule out the possibility that their party's presidential race may end in a contested convention in Tampa.

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

Hearing begins on challenge to proposed state water quality rules
By Bruce Ritchie
Florida Current
A scheduled eight-day hearing on a challenge to proposed state water quality rules began Monday with a marine scientist testifying that the guildelines would not protect coral reefs or prevent toxic red tides.

Florida zoos could be allowed to breed herds of giraffes, rhinos and elephants on state land
By Craig Pittman
Tampa Bay Times
Florida's state-owned lands already are coping with pythons, monkeys and walking catfish.

Special interests trump Florida's environment in wetlands bills
Editorial
Tampa Bay Times
It would be one thing if Florida lawmakers genuinely tried to improve an ineffective wetlands mitigation policy.

EDUCATION

University budget cuts divide lawmakers
By Aaron Deslatte
Orlando Sentinel
With time running out on the 2012 session, Florida House and Senate leaders said Monday that they remained at odds on how deeply to cut Florida's colleges and universities.

Florida school officials: $1 billion not enough
By Matt Dixon
Florida Times-Union
From the earliest days of this year’s Legislature, the conversation surrounding public education funding has been driven by Gov. Rick Scott.

Commissioner Robinson offers changes to proposed school grading rules
By Jeff Solochek
Tampa Bay Times
Several proposed rule changes for Florida's school grading system riled educators and parents.

Bills could wreak havoc on high school sports
By Linda Robertson
Miami Herald
If you think recruiting in high school sports is rampant now, wait and see what happens if two bills snaking their way through the Florida House and Senate become law.

JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY

Labor activists speak out against proposed state legislation that could slash servers' pay
By Janelle Irwin
WMNF Radio Tampa
A proposed state bill would cut tipped workers’ wages by more than half; from $4.65 per hour to $2.13.

Keep hands off Miami-Dade ordinance
Editorial
Miami Herald
Some employers refuse to pay their workers after the job’s been done.

Publix to build $188.5M distribution center in Orlando, add 156 jobs
By Sandra Pedicini
Orlando Sentinel
Publix Super Markets will get $3.6 million in taxpayer money from the state and city to build a distribution center in south Orlando that is expected to employ 156 people.

Records: Workforce contract skirted state restrictions
By Jim Stratton
Orlando Sentinel
When the region's taxpayer-funded jobs agency decided last year to give $50,000 to a project led by a Central Florida business group, its leaders realized the deal needed state approval.

HEALTH AND SENIORS

Healthcare groups ramp up criticism of proposed hospital cuts
By Tia Mitchell
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
A long list of healthcare advocacy organizations have joined together to lobby against proposed budget cuts they say will be devastating to hospitals and have a trickle down effect to Florida families.

Children’s Hospitals Face Life-threatening Cuts
By Mike Vasilinda
Capitol News Service
Florida’s fourteen children’s hospitals are facing cuts ranging from 98 million in the Senate budget to just under 50 million in the House budget.

State moves forward with revamp of health department -- and possible A.G. Holley closing in Lantana
By John Kennedy
Palm Beach Post
The state's stalled effort to close A.G. Holley Hospital, the last of its tuberculosis sanatoriums, edged closer to reality Monday, with the sponsor of a House proposal predicting this would be the 62-year-old facility's final year.

State lawmakers continue to risk federal intervention as they delay creating state exchanges
By Ashley Lopez
Florida Independent
With the end of this legislative session a mere two weeks away, state lawmakers are no closer to implementing a state health insurance exchange program that is mandated through the Affordable Care Act.

Poll: Public Opinion Sharply Divided On Health Law Repeal
Staff Report
Kaiser Health News
Politico reports on a new poll that shows the nation is almost evenly split on whether, if elected, a Republican president should repeal the health law.

Florida’s AIDS drug program has the longest waiting list in the U.S.
By Marcos Restrepo
Florida Independent
Advocates launched a campaign to urge the Florida legislature to secure funding for the state’s AIDS Drug Assistance Program, the same week it was announced that almost 1,100 Floridians who live with HIV are on the drug assistance programs waiting list.

CIVIL RIGHTS, PEACE AND SOCIAL ISSUES

Bill bans kickbacks in urine testing
By Carol Gentry
Health News Florida
In Florida, where drug-testing is a growth industry, the rush for market share in urine has led some companies to pay doctors for the right to grab the cups as soon as they’re filled.

JUSTICE AND THE COURTS

For some, justice; for others, anguish
By Steve Bousquet
Tampa Bay Times
How much is a man's life worth? For William Dillon, it's $1.35 million.