PROGRESS FLORIDA IN THE NEWS
Senator makes list of top middle class supporters
Staff Report
Leesburg Daily Commercial
Florida Watch Action, Progress Florida and America Votes recognized 27 members of the Florida Legislature as "Champions of Florida's Middle Class" last week for their unwavering support on behalf of Florida's working families, and only one Republican made the list -- Sen. Paul Dockery (R-Lakeland).
AWAKE THE STATE IN THE NEWS
Tax Day brings Occupy tax protesters in St. Pete
By Janelle Irwin
WMNF Tampa
Excerpt: The protesters representing at least three different advocacy groups said it’s not fair that wealthy individuals and corporations have access to tax credits and loopholes that often let them pay a lower tax rate than the middle class. Jasmine Carter, a member of Occupy St. Pete and Awake the State, said instead tax incentives should help the working class.
Broward Activists Gather for a “Tax Day Rally” in Sunrise
Staff Report
Tamarac Talk
Activists across Broward County met on the corner of University and Sunrise Boulevard for a “Three Stooges Tax Day Rally”…The stooges these teachers, parents, activists, labor groups, and concerned middle class Floridians were protesting about were: Rick Scott, Mitt Romney and Marco Rubio. Organizations such as Florida Watch Action, Awake Broward, Broward AFL-CIO and Organize Now, let the afternoon commuters know how they feel about these three men and by coming out and holding them accountable for their extremist agendas.
FEATURED STORIES
Gov. Rick Scott signs $70 billion state budget after $142.7 million in vetoes
By Steve Bousquet and Kim Wilmath
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Related editorial: Sound bites don't erase budget bites
Surrounded by photogenic 5-year-olds, Gov. Rick Scott on Tuesday signed what he called an "education budget" that adds $1 billion in public school spending and allows higher tuition at state colleges and universities.
Teacher’s union says education budget keeps spending at 2007 levels
By Marcos Restrepo
Florida Independent
Gov. Rick Scott has said that the 2012-2013 state budget he will sign Tuesday, which includes a $1 billion increase for K-12 public education over the 2011 budget, is a significant investment, a statement the Florida Education Association disputes.
Scott's health care vetoes hit young, old across the state
By Christine Jordan Sexton
Florida Current
Gov. Rick Scott may have vetoed a much smaller number of projects from this year's nearly $70 billion budget, but he still axed millions from health care programs that serve the young and old across the state.
Conservative group stops promoting "Stand Your Ground" laws in wake of Florida killing
By Dara Kam
Palm Beach Post
The conservative organization that provides ready-made bills to lawmakers around the country said Tuesday it will quit advocating on issues other than economics, after its support for Florida's "Stand Your Ground" gun law drew fire after the slaying of Stanford teen Trayvon Martin.
Rubio's immigration push a potential lift for GOP
By Donna Cassata
Associated Press
Florida Sen. Marco Rubio's push for a Republican version of immigration legislation looks like the answer to the election-year prayers of the GOP — and Mitt Romney.
FLORIDA POLITICS
Analysis: Is Gov. Scott still an outsider?
By Gary Fineout
Associated Press
Florida Gov. Rick Scott on Tuesday will sign a new $70 billion state budget at a St. John's County elementary school.
Playing ball with lawmakers, Scott eases off his budget vetoes
By Lloyd Dunkelberger
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
With a lighter touch of his veto pen, Gov. Rick Scott underscored a dramatic departure from his first year in office, signing a new $70 billion state budget into law Tuesday while rejecting only $142.7 million spending.
GOP Tries to Recover Lost Ground With Latinos
By Howard Goodman
Florida Center for Investigative Reporting
Republicans have noticed that they aren’t scoring all that well with Latinos — and before the fastest-growing segment of the electorate slips away from them altogether, they’re trying to recover lost ground.
U.S. Rep. David Rivera won’t face criminal charges in state investigation
By Scott Hiaasen and Patricia Mazzei
Miami Herald
U.S. Rep. David Rivera will not face criminal charges following an 18-month investigation of his personal and campaign finances by the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, according to sources close to the probe.
Since You Haven’t Asked...
By Mary Jo Melone
Florida Voices
I haven’t felt this sought after since I was 18 and walked on a college campus in a short skirt for the first time.
POLITICAL RACES
Poll: Rubio, Rick Scott boost Obama's chances in Florida
By Byron Tau
Politico
Democratic pollster PPP finds President Obama leading Mitt Romney in Florida 50 to 45, and finds that Florida politicians Sen. Marco Rubio, Rep. Allen West and Gov. Rick Scott actually boost Obama.
George LeMieux’s Senate campaign in trouble
By Marc Caputo
Miami Herald
In a series of one-two-three blows, George LeMieux's Senate campaign has been staggered by anemic fundraising, the specter of a big-name Republican jumping into the race and new court documents that make him a witness in the criminal case against the former governor’s hand-picked Republican Party of Florida chairman.
Insiders predict Connie Mack would be GOP nominee, if no one new enters
By Adam C. Smith
Tampa Bay Times
When we started to conduct another Florida Insider Poll on Monday to take stock of the U.S. Senate race, we failed to anticipate that news would overtake us.
Tampa seeks clean break from RNC protest zone
By Kevin Wiatrowski
Tampa Tribune
Mayor Bob Buckhorn wants to put the city's best foot forward for the Republican National Convention, but he might have stepped in it with his "clean zone."
State splits blame for election error in Wellington
By Adam Playford
Palm Beach Post
They think they know what happened. But they can't make it happen again.
BALLOT INITIATIVES
Deception is on the ballot
Editorial
Palm Beach Post
If you find some of the proposed constitutional amendments on Florida's November ballot confusing, that's because you're supposed to be confused.
ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY
More than $12 million in water projects vetoed, but Scott keeps $5.6 million for St. Johns River
By Bruce Ritchie
Florida Current
Gov. Rick Scott on Tuesday vetoed more than $12 million in environmental, water and stormwater projects but spared other key projects such as $5.6 million for St. Johns River restoration and $8.3 million for the Florida Forever land-acquisition program, which he vetoed last year.
Protection of Central FL River and Wildlife One Step Closer
By Stephanie Carroll Carson
Public News Service Florida
After 44 years of damming up a river for a project that was never completed, central Florida is one step closer to removing the dam over the Ocklawaha River.
Conservation Can Save Big $
By Mike Vasilinda
Capitol News Service
A new report says Florida home and business owners can reduce energy use and fight climate change through energy conservation and efficiencies.
LGBT
'Gay Days At Disney World' Under Fire By Florida Right-Wing Group
Staff Report
Huffington Post
Walt Disney World's unofficial "Gay Day" tradition is coming under fire yet again from a rightwing Florida-based group.
EDUCATION
Scott touts — and hypes — school spending before budget signing
By John Kennedy
Palm Beach Post
Gov. Rick Scott began touting the state budget’s $1 billion boost for Florida classrooms early Tuesday — as he made his way toward his scheduled noon budget-signing at a St. Johns County elementary school.
Scott agrees to $300 million cut in university funding
By Nathan Crabbe
Gainesville Sun
Gov. Rick Scott gave state universities some good news Tuesday by sparing the kind of building construction and maintenance funding that he vetoed last year.
Polytechnic nonsense
Editorial
Tampa Tribune
At the same time Gov. Rick Scott signed a budget Tuesday slashing higher education by $300 million, he let slip through $33 million for Florida Polytechnic University, a school with no students, faculty or legitimate purpose.
Florida public school students in the midst of high-stakes testing
By Marcos Restrepo
Florida Independent
This week, Florida students will take part in the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test, known as the FCAT, a cornerstone of outcome-based education, strongly promoted by Florida GOP leaders since the late 1990s.
FCAT glitches add to the test's stress
By Marcia Lane
St. Augustine Record
Students in some St. Johns County schools had trouble signing on for the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test on Tuesday morning, adding to pre-test nerves.
Honesty pledge on FCAT enrages parents
By Marc Freeman
South Florida Sun Sentinel
The addition of an honesty pledge in this year's FCAT is generating a mix of criticism and support from parents and education advocates.
Dade School Board to consider new deals with cities, charters
By Laura Isensee
Miami Herald
With more than $4 million in needed improvements - and the school district’s coffers dry - West Homestead Elementary is turning to an unlikely investor.
JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY
Taxpayers protest ''unfair tax system''
By Laura Byrne
Tampa Bays 10 News
As soon as the clock struck noon, angry taxpayers gathered at the corner of 1st Avenue North and 31st Street North in St. Petersburg to protest what they call an unfair tax system.
In Florida, women's pay still not equal to men's, advocates say
By Marcia Heroux Pounds
South Florida Sun Sentinel
Working women in Florida make 80 cents for every $1 paid to men, according to a report Tuesday based on U.S. Census data.
HEALTH AND SENIORS
3 counties join effort to sue over disputed Medicaid bills
By David Breen
Orlando Sentinel
Several Central Florida counties plan to join a lawsuit to block a change in state law they say would force them to pay millions more than they owe for Medicaid services.
CIVIL RIGHTS, PEACE AND SOCIAL ISSUES
Rep. Frederica Wilson calls for tougher laws to prohibit racial profiling
By Erika Bolstad
Miami Herald
The U.S. Senate has been looking at racial profiling by law enforcement since early 2001 when then-President George Bush called for its end, and then immediately after the Sept. 11 attacks when many Arab-Americans and American Muslims were targeted by the practice.
ALEC Ends Its Guns And Voter Suppression Task Force
By Scott Keyes
Think Progress
In the face of mounting pressure from progressive activists and its own corporate sponsors, the American Legislative Exchange Council, a right-wing group funded by corporations like ExxonMobil and Koch Industries, announced today that it will shut down a task force that deals with “non-economic issues,” like voter suppression efforts and “stand your ground” gun laws.
Welfare applications jump after injunction on drug testing
By Gray Rohrer
Florida Current
One month after a federal court judge in Miami issued a temporary injunction against a state law requiring welfare applicants to pass a drug test before receiving benefits, the number of applications and the amount paid out by the state rose significantly.
JUSTICE AND THE COURTS
Why Florida should abolish the death penaltyBy Charles M. Harris
Gainesville Sun
Wake up, Florida. We have been sold a pig in the poke.
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