FEATURED STORIES
Early sparring aside, Florida House and Senate appear closer on narrowing their budget gap
By Dara Kam and John Kennedy
Palm Beach Post
After opening the day with tough talk that fueled speculation that the Legislature was headed toward overtime, House and Senate budget-writers ended Tuesday working toward closing a $1.5 billion difference between their spending plans.
Redistricting is creating rifts in the state’s non-partisan high court
By Mary Ellen Klas
Miami Herald/Tampa Bay Times Tallahassee Bureau
Related editorial: New districts need court's scrutiny
As the Florida Supreme Court opens redistricting arguments Wednesday over the Legislature’s proposed redistricting maps, recent deliberations of the normally subdued court have signaled an internal feud over how to handle the issue.
Blocking the Vote
By Ashley Lopez
Florida Independent
Ruthelle Frank, an 84-year-old resident of a small town in Wisconsin, is suing her home state because, for the first time in her adult life, she might not be able to vote.
Jim Greer sues two law firms over RPOF ouster, consulting contract
By Lucy Morgan
Tampa Bay Times
Former GOP Chairman Jim Greer has filed lawsuits against two Tallahassee law firms seeking damages for advice he says he got before he lost his job as head of the state party.
The mauling of Florida's environment
By Pam McVety
Tampa Bay Times
Let's take a minute to assess how the Legislature would like to maul the environment.
FLORIDA POLITICS
After years of bashing, Scott sends Obama ‘thank you’ letter on taxes
By John Kennedy
Palm Beach Post
Republican Rick Scott has spent much of the past few years ridiculing President Obama — leading the Conservatives for Patients Rights campaign against the federal health care overhaul and — as governor — refusing millions of dollars in federal grants linked to the effort.
Florida lawmakers defeat proposed increase in their health insurance rates
By Dara Kam
Palm Beach Post
Sen. Joe Negron wants Florida legislators to pay as much for health insurance as state employees do.
Dog-Lover Bondi New Pit Bull For Extreme Right
By Mary Jo Melone
Florida Voices
Few people other than Tampa political junkies know of the terrible event that took place under a city highway overpass in November 2000.
Ranks of moderate Republicans shrink with Sen. Dennis Jones leaving after 32 years
By Michael Van Sickler
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Never known to bask in the limelight, Dennis Jones promised he wouldn't make a big deal about his farewell speech to the Florida Senate on Tuesday.
POLITICAL RACES
Victories give Romney pre-Super Tuesday momentum
Associated Press
Tampa Tribune
Mitt Romney is trying to capitalize on twin victories in Arizona and Michigan as the GOP nomination race expands to the 10 states that vote on Super Tuesday.
ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY
Growth bills moving in House, Senate as opposition fades
By Bruce Ritchie
Florida Current
A pair of growth management bills that had raised concerns with regional planning councils and environmentalists were amended to reduce opposition and passed by a Senate committee.
Swiftmud to open more land to hunters next year, but not as much as they'd like
By Craig Pittman
Tampa Bay Times
In a move that left people on both sides dissatisfied, the Southwest Florida Water Management District voted Tuesday to open two of its preserve properties for hunting but keep two others closed.
LGBT
Domestic partner registry may be coming soon to Tampa
By Janelle Irwin
WMNF Tampa
Tampa city council member Yvonne Yolie Capin has proposed an ordinance that would give unmarried couples some similar rights to those who are married.
EDUCATION
Report: New standards would crash school grades
By Christopher O'Donnell
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
Even with the same teachers, learning materials, students and FCAT results, hundreds of Florida schools could find themselves with a lower school grade this summer.
Botched vote silences critics of 'parent empowerment' bill
By Ben Wolford
Naples Daily News
A state Senate panel botched voting rules and shut down public input on a bill Tuesday that would give parents more say in school district decisions.
State overturns Orange, Seminole charter-school rejections
By Dave Weber
Orlando Sentinel
Orange and Seminole school districts should be forced to allow two charter schools they turned down, the state Board of Education ruled Tuesday.
University tuition bill clears two more hurdles
By Lynn Hatter
WFSU Tallahassee
Plans to let the University of Florida and Florida State University to break free of the state’s tuition caps moved forward in both the House and Senate Tuesday. Lynn Hatter reports.
USF president Judy Genshaft, Sen. JD Alexander differ on accreditation time line for USF Poly
By Kim Wilmath
Tampa Bay Times
University of South Florida president Judy Genshaft went to Atlanta on Tuesday, where she and other state higher education leaders met with the president of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.
No Matter No Students, JD Wants New University
By Florence Snyder
Florida Voices
The Battle of USF Poly surprises nobody who has been paying attention to higher education in Florida since the mid-20th century.
JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY
Legislature set to pass $124 million in tax cuts
By Zac Anderson
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
Special tax breaks are in the works for industries ranging from airplane manufacturers to fruit packers and broad reductions are planned for corporations throughout the state under a $124 million tax cutting plan nearing final passage in the Legislature.
PIP changes stall in Senate, but leaders remain hopeful
By Tia Mitchell
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Heavy lobbying by massage therapists temporarily derailed one of the major issues of the legislative session: the high level of fraud in Florida's no-fault car insurance program.
Jacobs asks for breakdown of business-group funding
By Jim Stratton
Orlando Sentinel
Orange County Mayor Teresa Jacobs has become the second official to ask for an accounting of public money going to the parent organization of the Orlando Regional Chamber of Commerce.
State consumer confidence dips, faces critical test
By Anthony Clark
Gainesville Sun
Florida consumer confidence dropped one point to 76 in February after two months of increases, equaling last year’s trend, according to a University of Florida survey.
HEALTH AND SENIORS
Health care legislation divides House
By Christine Jordan Sexton
Florida Current
A divided Florida House on Tuesday waged a fierce and bipartisan fight over a lengthy health care bill.
House tackles kickbacks in lab tests
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.
Jackson Health System to cut 1,115 jobs
By John Dorschner
Miami Herald
Jackson Health System announced Tuesday it is cutting 1,115 jobs, for a net savings of $69 million annually in an attempt to turn-around the struggling public hospitals that have lost $420 million the past three years.
Blame game starts on VA hospital delays
By Marni Jameson
Orlando Sentinel
Touring the much-delayed VA Medical Center construction site at Lake Nona on Monday, U.S. Rep. John Mica, R-R-Winter Park, said, "I didn't come to point fingers."
CIVIL RIGHTS, PEACE AND SOCIAL ISSUES
Scott-backed state employee drug-testing bill clears committees
By Ashley Lopez
Florida Independent
A bill backed by Gov. Rick Scott that would allow state agencies to adopt a random drug testing policy passed its last committee stop in the Florida Senate today – moving it closer to a final vote in the Senate.
Senate panel passes anti-sharia bill without public testimony during ‘Muslim Day’ at Capitol
By Ashley Lopez
Florida Independent
A Senate panel ended emotionally today after a group of people attending “Muslim Day” at the Capitol were shut out of speaking against a bill aimed at outlawing “foreign law” in family court cases.
JUSTICE AND THE COURTS
Scott signs death warrant for serial killer GoreBy Brendan Farrington
Associated Press
Gov. Rick Scott is ordering the execution of a central Florida serial killer who raped and dismembered five women before murdering a teenager almost 30 years ago.
Florida government slow to right wrongs on claims bills
By Jane Musgrave
Palm Beach Post
By any measure, Carl Abbott should be dead.
No crony courts for Florida
Editorial
Palm Beach Post
Another year, another terrible bill from the Florida House that would give the governor too much control over the state's court system.
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