Daily Clips for February 9, 2012

PROGRESS FLORIDA IN THE NEWS

Editor's Note: Sample press coverage of the RickMakesMeSick.com Flash Mob and website launch by Organize Now!, Progress Florida, and others fighting for better health care for all Floridians.

Protestors to Scott: Rick makes me sick
By Brittany Davis
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
"Oh, Ricky, what a pity you don't understand, you stab us in the heart when you take our healthcare plan," sang about 30 protesters in front of Gov. Rick Scott's office Wednesday. Chanting to the tune of "Mickey, Mickey, you're so fine," the flash mob protested the privatization of Medicaid and Scott's opposition to the Affordable Care Act. Many donned blue surgical masks with the slogan "Rick makes me sick."

Flash Mob Invades Gov’s Office
By Whitney Ray
Capitol News Service
A planned flash mob stormed Governor Rick Scott’s office today… the group Rick Makes Me Sick is made up of liberals and health care workers who say cuts to Florida’s Medicaid program will hurt all Floridians.

Flash mob sings 'Hey Ricky' outside Gov. Scott's office
By Troy Kinsey
Central Florida News 13
It's not often Scott's office gets a visit like he saw on Wednesday, as a group of Scott's critics fired back with a tune.

FEATURED STORIES

Rick Scott Takes Credit for Jobs, Economic Growth — But Data Shows Wages Fell for Working Poor, Poverty Still Widespread
By Tristram Korten
Florida Center for Investigative Reporting
When Rick Scott ran for governor, he vowed to cut state government, corporate income taxes and business regulations.

Negron: Don't call our budget a cutback
By Christine Jordan Sexton
Florida Current
Related: House tees up budget for final floor vote
Medicaid managed care enrollment is accelerated under a Senate health-care spending plan released Wednesday that also caps the number of emergency room visits for Medicaid patients at six per year.

Budget bill would make USF Polytechnic state's 12th university
By Kim Wilmath
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Senate leaders inserted last-minute language in a budget bill Wednesday to immediately split the Lakeland campus of the University of South Florida into the state's 12th university.

Kill health care shake-up
Editorial
Palm Beach Post
A bill that would eliminate 12,000 Florida Department of Health employees and give counties authority over public health amounts to an unfunded mandate that neither counties nor the state's poorest can afford.

FLORIDA POLITICS

With casino fight over, gambling opponents turn to Internet sweepstakes cafes
By Gray Rohrer
Florida Current
Having just about dispatched the big casino operators for the legislative session, gambling opponents now have their eye on the smaller operations offering slot-like video sweepstakes games as a promotion for Internet and telephone time – the so-called Internet sweepstakes cafés.

Florida Senate chief still pushing for casino vote
Associated Press
Tampa Tribune
Senate President Mike Haridopolos wants his chamber to continue considering a casino resort bill although a companion measure is stalled in the House.

Gov. Rick Scott nearly misses 2012 Florida State Fair opening
By Marissa Lang
Tampa Bay Times
Gov. Rick Scott nearly missed the opening of the 2012 Florida State Fair Thursday morning, arriving seconds after members of his cabinet flipped a large gray and red switch and turned on the lights.

200 protesters welcome Wisc. Gov. Scott Walker to Naples for speaking engagement
Staff Report
Naples Daily News
Related: Protesting is music to her ears
Walker, a Republican, made headlines in 2011 for his controversial efforts to reduce Wisconsin's budget deficits, including requiring state workers to contribute more to the cost of their health insurance and pushing for limits on collective bargaining for public employees.

POLITICAL RACES

Patrick Murphy switches to District 22, will challenge GOP firebrand West for Congress
By George Bennett
Palm Beach Post
Democrat Patrick Murphy, who called U.S. Rep. Allen West, R-Plantation, a "coward" for leaving his Palm Beach-Broward congressional district to run for a more Republican-leaning seat, announced today that he'll continue challenging West by following him to the new district.

John Mica says he'll run against Sandy Adams
By Mark K. Matthews
Orlando Sentinel
After weeks of silence, U.S. Rep. John Mica of Winter Park said Wednesday that he plans to run for re-election in a redrawn congressional district centered on Seminole County — setting up a potentially bruising primary with fellow Republican Sandy Adams of Orlando.

Al Lawson to make another bid for Congress
By Dara Kam
Palm Beach Post
Veteran Tallahassee legislator Al Lawson, a Democrat, intends to run for Congress again, this time with the help of the GOP.

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

Proposed Senate budget language leaves out money for land acquisition, Everglades restoration
By Bruce Ritchie
Florida Current
The Senate appears to be following the House's lead in providing no money for the Florida Forever land acquisition program.

Fertilizer bill dead in House, sponsor says; concerns raised with water district bill
By Bruce Ritchie
Florida Current
The sponsor of a House fertilizer bill said Wednesday he thinks the issue is dead for the session.

No money for Everglades clean-up in Senate budget – yet
By Dara Kam
Palm Beach Post
The Florida Senate hasn’t included any money for Everglades restoration in its spending plan, but the money may soon flow to the “River of Grass.”

Small jolt for Florida energy policy
Editorial
Tampa Bay Times
The Florida Legislature has never been serious about renewable energy, or conservation for that matter, and pending bills in the House and Senate would only modestly advance the discussion.

EDUCATION

Should Florida Charter Schools Receive Equal Funding?
By John O'Connor
StateImpact
Charter schools receive about 70 cents for every dollar budgeted to a traditional district schools, per student, according to a new analysis from Florida TaxWatch.

Paranoia is justified on charter-school bill
By Fred Grimm
Miami Herald
In their despair, people who care deeply about public education in Florida sometimes get a little carried away.

Fla. officials urge 2-year hiatus on new buildings
Associated Press
Florida Today
Top Florida officials are recommending a two-year hiatus on new school buildings in order to deal with the state’s depleted school construction fund.

Florida ranks 6th in students passing AP exam
By Leslie Postal
Orlando Sentinel
Florida's public high school students took more Advanced Placement classes than ever in 2011 and also aced more of the AP exams, meaning more students who graduated were likely ready for college, according to a new national report released this morning.

Report: Florida to get NCLB waiver
By Jeff Solochek
Tampa Bay Times
The Associated Press is reporting that Florida is one of 10 states that will gain an exemption from many of the facets of the No Child Left Behind Act.

Break the cycle of cuts for Florida universities
Editorial
Orlando Sentinel
Florida lawmakers seem poised to approve a state spending plan for next year that meets Gov. Rick Scott's demand to put up at least $1 billion more for public schools — enough to make up most of the money they cut from this year's budget.

JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY

Pam Bondi agrees to foreclosure settlement
By Beth Kassab
Orlando Sentinel
Attorney General Pam Bondi signed on to a multistate settlement late Wednesday with the nation's five largest banks that will provide up to $25 billion in relief for homeowners and help end some of the industry's most corrupt foreclosure practices.

Condemned Florida prison gets second chance at life in House
By John Kennedy
Palm Beach Post
After hearing pleas from residents and workers and getting some last-minute lobbying from the widow of a former Florida Republican chairman, the House added $10.2 million to its budget Wednesday to spare a North Florida prison targeted for shutdown.

HEALTH AND SENIORS

Legislature shoots down amendment that would strip CPCs of state funding
By Ashley Lopez
Florida Independent
During debate before the House’s final approval of the appropriations bill, state Rep. Chuck Chestnut, D-Gainesville, introduced an amendment that would remove the $2 million crisis pregnancy centers are slated to receive.

Consumer seats at risk
By Carol Gentry
Health News Florida
One of the consumer seats on each of Florida’s medical boards would be taken away and given to a physician assistant under bills pending in House and Senate budget committees.

Food stamp proposal still limits junk food
By Tia Mitchell
Tampa Bay Times
A second Senate panel has signed off on a proposal that would limit the use of cash assistance benefits for the needy, including a new list of junk foods Floridians can no longer purchase using food stamps.

Mia Jones losing fight over the Office of Minority Health
By Matt Dixon
Florida Times-Union
In October, state Rep. Mia Jones, D – Jacksonville, filed legislation to strengthen the Office of Minority Health, which oversees health programs geared toward minority populations.

Debate intensifies over requiring insurers pay for birth control
By Erika Bolstad and Lesley Clark
Miami Herald
The White House insisted Wednesday that the president’s commitment to contraceptive access for women is "absolutely firm" even as Republicans from Capitol Hill to the presidential campaign trail assailed the policy as an attack on religious liberty.

Court case tests state's cap on med-mal damages
By Jim Saunders
News Service of Florida
Suffering from a serious condition known as preeclampsia, 20-year-old Michelle McCall went to a Fort Walton Beach hospital in February 2006 to give birth to a son.

CIVIL RIGHTS, PEACE AND SOCIAL ISSUES

Democrat lawmakers want in-state tuition for immigrant students
By Sascha Cordner
WFSU Public Radio Tallahassee
Several Democratic lawmakers gathered at the Capitol Wednesday to garner support for a bill that would grant in-state tuition to undocumented students if they meet certain conditions. Sascha Cordner has more.

E-Verify adds self-check in Florida, nationwide
By Laura Newberry
Orlando Sentinel
A federal database that allows businesses to check the employment eligibility of newly hired workers is expanding its online "Self Check" service to individual job seekers in Florida.