Daily Clips for March 2, 2012

FEATURED STORIES

U.S. judge hears registration groups' case against voter sign-up law
By John Lantigua
Palm Beach Post
The League of Women Voters and other nonprofit organizations that wage voter registration campaigns challenged the state of Florida in a Tallahassee federal court Thursday, in a fight that could determine how many Floridians vote in November.

Abortion measure passes House, prospects in Senate uncertain
By Katie Sanders
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Women seeking an abortion would first have to wait 24 hours and new clinics would be physician-owned as part of a sweeping antiabortion measure passed by the House on Thursday.

Legislature's preening on health care enough to make you sick
By Daniel Ruth
Tampa Bay Times
Leave it to the Confederacy of Dunces, otherwise known as the Florida Legislature, to expose its self-importance.

'Parental trigger,' teacher organization bills pass House
By Gray Rohrer
Florida Current
Two bills that are drawing the ire of the Florida Education Association, the largest teachers’ union in the state, passed through the House on Thursday along largely party line votes.

Controversial school prayer bill heads to governor’s desk
By Ashley Lopez
Florida Independent
A bill that would allow “inspirational messages,” including prayers, to be given during any school event, was passed on the House floor today with an 88-27 vote.

BEST OF THE BLOGS

Personhood Is Back In Florida
By Inkberries
Beach Peanuts
Defeated once before in Florida, the issue of Personhood is making a comeback.

Prayer Bill Is Merely Election Year Pandering
By Bruce Seaman
Daily Marion
Democratic State Senator Gary Siplin of Orlando is term limited and has his eye on the new Congressional district being drawn as part of the decennial redistricting process.

Marco Rubio Says He Used to be a Mormon
By Trish Ponder
Pensito Review
Not since Justin Bieber’s biopic, “Never Say Never” has an autobiography been so premature.

Florida Senate Committee Passes Bill To Speed Up Foreclosure Process
By Travis Waldron
Think Progress
The housing crisis remains one of the biggest drags on the nation’s economy, with millions of Americans mired in the foreclosure process or delinquent or underwater on their mortgages.

FLORIDA POLITICS

Clock is ticking on more than 2,000 pending bills in Tallahassee
By Kathleen McGrory
Miami Herald/Tampa Bay Times Tallahassee Bureau
It’s graveyard time for legislation.

Florida House passes new restrictions on welfare
Associated Press
Tampa Tribune
The Florida House has voted to prohibit welfare recipients from using debit-like electronic cards to access cash benefits at strip clubs, liquor stores, bars and gambling establishments.

Florida House votes to ban so-called Internet cafes
Associated Press
Tampa Tribune
The Florida House today voted to shut down more than 1,000 storefront operations known as Internet cafes that sprouted across the state in the last five years.

State Budget Reflects Earmarks, Egos and Excess
By Paula Dockery
Florida Voices
Every year the Florida Legislature is called into session to do one thing: pass the state’s annual budget.

POLITICAL RACES

USA Today/Gallup poll: Republicans more excited to vote
By Tim Mak
Politico
Republicans hold an enthusiasm advantage over Democrats, as a majority of them say they are “more enthusiastic than usual about voting” for president, according to a new poll Thursday.

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

Everglades may get boost from lawmakers
By Curtis Morgan and Steve Bousquet
Miami Herald
A year after slashing Everglades funding, Florida lawmakers appear poised to give some back.

House poised to repeal parts of sweeping 2008 energy legislation
By Bruce Ritchie
Florida Current
In 2008, the Legislature approved HB 7135, a sweeping energy bill that Republicans and Democrats said would make Florida a leader in renewable energy.

Cuba drills for oil, but U.S. unprepared for spill
By William Booth
Washington Post
As energy companies from Spain, Russia and Malaysia line up to drill for oil in Cuban waters 60 miles from the Florida Keys, U.S. agencies are struggling to cobble together emergency plans to protect fragile reefs, sandy beaches and a multibillion-dollar tourism industry in the event of a spill.

EDUCATION

House, Senate reach education-funding deal
By Brandon Larrabee
News Service of Florida
House and Senate negotiators struck a deal on the state's education budget Thursday, little more than 24 hours after the first offers were exchanged on the $12.8 billion spending plan.

Charters may be exempt from Florida's merit-pay law
By Leslie Postal
Orlando Sentinel
Charter schools would be exempt from some sections of Florida's sweeping teacher merit-pay law under a bill the Florida House is considering.

JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY

Road JD Alexander fought for tucked into state budget
By Michael Van Sickler
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
JD Alexander is close to getting the university he has wanted for Polk County.

Whether in overtime or on time, leaders predict changes to auto insurance will pass
By Christine Jordan Sexton
Florida Current
As time runs short, the focus on making changes to personal injury protection insurance has sharpened.

With chamber groups, it's spin over substance
By Scott Maxwell
Orlando Sentinel
The Sentinel simply asked some questions about how public money was being spent — and Jacob Stuart and his Chamber of Commerce buddies went into attack-and-spin mode.

Stripped-down contracting bill would ease Scott's objections
By Travis Pillow
Florida Current
An overhaul of state purchasing laws championed by state Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater is getting stripped down to ease concerns raised by Gov. Rick Scott.

HEALTH AND SENIORS

Senate's defeat of opt-out measure on birth control pleases local advocates
By Lona O'Connor
Palm Beach Post
Local birth-control advocates were jubilant this afternoon to hear that an opt-out measure for birth control and other "morally objectionable" medical coverage was defeated in the U.S. Senate by three votes.

Bondi drags state on crusade
Editorial
Palm Beach Post
Into the feverish fray over birth control and religious rights comes Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, never one to shy from a social crusade she can dress in legal garb.

Florida joined lawsuit to uphold religious liberty
By Pam Bondi
Tampa Bay Times
Recent assertions that the Obama administration's controversial Health and Human Services mandate is merely about guaranteeing women's access to contraceptive services are completely unfounded.

Bigger Medicaid bills may hit county taxpayers
By David Damron
Orlando Sentinel
Florida lawmakers could push an additional $148 million in added Medicaid costs to county taxpayers next year based on budget plans moving in Tallahassee, and Orange County taxpayers would take one of the harder hits.

Simply shifting costs is poor Medicaid policy
Editorial
Tampa Bay Times
State budget gimmicks are nothing new for the Florida Legislature.

Gov. Scott needs to push Legislature for ALF reforms
Editorial
Miami Herald
Gov. Rick Scott needs to either get behind state lawmakers and push — or jump out front and lead.

CIVIL RIGHTS, PEACE AND SOCIAL ISSUES

Bill banning foreign law passes House over protests
By Brittany Alana Davis
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
A proposal critics say targets Islam passed the House on Thursday despite heated opposition from two Jewish Democratic lawmakers who called the bill unnecessary and discriminatory.

Veto student-led prayer
Editorial
Orlando Sentinel
With all the fiscal challenges facing Florida lawmakers, they can't seem to resist squandering their limited time on divisive social issues.

JUSTICE AND THE COURTS

Probation officers alarmed by quiet policy reversal on oversight of offenders
By Steve Bousquet
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Probation officers are alarmed by a cost-saving policy reversal by the state Department of Corrections scaling back oversight of offenders.

Governor approves $1.35 million for man wrongfully convicted
Staff Report
Palm Beach Post
William Dillon didn't believe the day would come when he would be compensated for sitting in a Florida prison nearly three decades for a crime he didn't commit.

Restore needed prison funding
Editorial
South Florida Sun Sentinel
State lawmakers talk a good game when wringing hands over the growing expenses in operating prisons