Daily Clips for June 29, 2012

PROGRESS FLORIDA IN THE NEWS

Supreme Court upholds Constitutionality of individual mandate in federal health care law
By Sean Kinane
WMNF Tampa
The Supreme Court of the United States found the Affordable Care Act's individual mandate to be Constitutional if there are tax penalties, but not if it’s interpreted as a fee through the Commerce Clause…We spoke with Darden Rice, communications director for Progress Florida’s Protect Your Care Campaign.

FEATURED STORIES

U.S. Supreme Court upholds health care law
By Alex Leary
Tampa Bay Times
Related: Supreme Court ruling could bring relief for many Floridians, uncertainty for others
Related: Health care law upheld: What's next for Florida?
Related: What they're saying about the health care ruling
Editorial: Landmark step toward universal coverage
The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the bulk of the federal health care law, including its controversial mandate that most Americans have insurance, a sweeping victory for President Barack Obama and Democrats who had struggled for decades to enact reform.

Fla. GOP disappointed in health law ruling, but ready to use it to block Medicaid expansion
By John Kennedy
Palm Beach Post
Related: Gov. Scott says health-care ruling is 'disappointing'
The U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling Thursday upholding key portions of the federal health care overhaul was a major defeat for Gov. Rick Scott and Florida Republican leaders, who helped spearhead the legal fight against the 2010 law.

More state employee cuts coming in new fiscal year
By Bill Cotterell
Florida Current
Continuing the fulfillment of Gov. Rick Scott's campaign promises, Florida government will shrink a bit more in the new fiscal year.

Impact of lobbying contracts on children's education
By George Spencer
Tampa Bay News 9
Despite late scores and questions about grading practices, the state pays International Pearson Incorporated hundreds of millions of dollars to administer the FCAT.

BEST OF THE BLOGS

The Ten Most Interesting Fla State Leg Races
By Steve Schale
Steve Schale
With qualifying over, there is now a chance to look at the field as a whole and the races to watch.

The One Percent’s Efforts to Control the 99%
By Brughart
Hrrumph
Information can bring you choices and choices bring power – educate yourself about your options and choices.

Pro-Voucher Democrats Fundraising Helped By Out of State Right-Wing Interests
By Kartik Krishnaiyer
Political Hurricane
I have often been asked what happened on the school voucher issue to create a dynamic where the number of legislative Democrats who supported corporate tax credit vouchers grew from 1 to 24 between 2001 and 2011.

All the world in a grain of sand: how the Growth Machine ate the Florida Department of Community Affairs
By Gimleteye
Eye on Miami
John DeGrove was the father of land use planning in Florida and the principal architect of the state land use agency, the Florida Department of Community Affairs.

FL-16: Buchanan facing at least four investigations, including witness tampering
By Christian Dem
Daily Kos
Last night, CNN's Anderson Cooper dropped a bombshell--Congressman Vern Buchanan is in very hot water.

FLORIDA POLITICS

Florida votes party line on contempt resolution against AG Holder
By Alex Leary
Tampa Bay Times
Florida Republicans all voted in favor of a contempt resolution against Attorney General Eric Holder.

At Disney, Holder touts record in speech to Hispanic group
By Scott Powers
Orlando Sentinel
U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder was in Central Florida on Thursday preaching civil rights, voting rights and justice but saying nothing about Congress' prospects of holding him in contempt.

Insurance, health care changes among new laws
By Bill Cotterell
Florida Current
A major revision of personal injury protection insurance requirements, aimed at curbing rampant auto-insurance fraud in Florida, is among 150 new laws taking effect this weekend.

POLITICAL RACES

Court ruling buoys President Barack Obama, fires up Mitt Romney
By Lesley Clark
Miami Herald
The Supreme Court’s decision to uphold the most significant achievement of President Barack Obama’s first term delivers a major boost to his legacy and political fortunes. It comes with a price, however: the risk of galvanizing conservative critics who rose up in the aftermath of the law’s passage, delivering the first tea party lawmakers to Congress.

Sharpton urges Central Florida pastors to engage voters
By Anika Myers Palm
Orlando Sentinel
Churches have a unique role to play in educating and preparing voters for the November election, the Rev. Al Sharpton told dozens of pastors and political activists who gathered at an Eatonville church Thursday.

For Connie Mack, it's good to be the IV
By Daniel Ruth
Tampa Bay Times
It occurred to me the other day that I might like to become a United States senator.

Siplin v Thompson Senate race could be a war
By Aaron Deslatte
Orlando Sentinel
One of the closest watched political contests this summer is a fight over a newly drawn minority Florida Senate seat that encompasses much of the political turf of term-limited Orlando Sen. Gary Siplin.

Police, protests, pedibuses set for RNC
By Kevin Wiatrowski
Tampa Tribune
The Republican National Convention is only two months away, and the Tampa City Council was busy Thursday getting ready. 

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

As deadline looms for growth policies, development near military bases worries state officials
By Bruce Ritchie
Florida Current
Living near military bases with live artillery fire or falling bombs may be a headache for some residents. But some military supporters have said those house-rattling booms are the sound of freedom.

Wright to chair Florida Conservation Commission
Associated Press
Miami Herald
Winter Park lawyer Kenneth Wright is the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission's new chairman.

‘Surplus' water
Editorial
Gainesville Sun
Tropical Storm Debby provided a refresher course on the importance of wetlands; natural areas capable of absorbing and storing excess water.

EDUCATION

Brevard joins anti-FCAT movement
By Mackenzie Ryan
Florida Today
Brevard School Board members Thursday called on state leaders to overhaul a school accountability system that they say over-emphasizes and over-uses the FCAT as a measure of student, teacher, school and district performance.

Miami-Dade schools bracing for new letter grades
By Laura Isensee
Miami Herald
Up until the last week of school, Ofelia Martinez drilled her students on spelling. Especially tricky were words like “knight” with letters hidden in plain sight.

USF Employees Struggle With Closing, Would-Be Celebration Ends Up a Grim Affair
By Mary Toothman
Lakeland Ledger
The University of South Florida treated Lakeland campus employees to a luncheon Thursday, as a way of "Celebrating the Past and Embracing the Future."

JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY

Florida can now apply to $1 billion mortgage assistance program
By Kimberly Miller
Palm Beach Post
Florida homeowners can now apply to a $1 billion mortgage assistance program under new eligibility guidelines created to allow more people to benefit from the federal plan.

Faced with backlog, regulators fast track property insurance forms
By Gray Rohrer
Florida Current
Changes in property insurance coverage waiting to be approved by state regulators can now be given a swift OK thanks to an order issued this week by Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty.

HEALTH AND SENIORS

Ruling impacts millions of health care consumers
By Alex Kane Rudansky and Tony Pugh
Miami Herald
Related: Analysis: Health care ruling won’t stop arguments
Related: Healthcare ruling could have big impact on south Florida
Having survived its most serious threat, the 2010 health care law moves forward, dented and dinged by the Supreme Court’s forensic-style ruling but still standing as the most comprehensive, costly and controversial overhaul that the nation’s fractured medical system has ever known.

Supreme Court ruling on health care sets stage for policy, funding decisions
By Travis Pillow
Florida Current
Related: Business leaders ready to continue fight
Related: McCollum: The debate has just begun
The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the 2010 federal health care law, but also held states like Florida should have flexibility in deciding  whether to expand Medicaid.

FL may resist Medicaid expansion
By Carol Gentry
Health News Florida
Florida elected officials have been griping about the forced expansion of Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act ever since it was passed in 2010.

Impact of Supreme Court Decision on Women's Health in FL
By Stephanie Carroll Carson
Public News Service Florida
Almost one million women in Florida will gain access to health insurance as a result of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday. The ACA also broadens their access to birth control and preventive health screenings.

Get to Work, Governor, and Implement Health Care Reform Now
By Dan Gelber
Florida Voices
Since early 2010, when Congress passed health care reform, Florida Republican leaders have been obsessed with its overthrow.

JUSTICE AND THE COURTS

Attempt to remove Fla. justices is worst judicial activism
Editorial
Palm Beach Post
While the U.S. Supreme Court was exercising judicial restraint in its health care ruling, Florida’s high court remains the target of extreme judicial activism.

Fund the courts to avoid wrongful convictions, panel tells state high court
By David Ovalle
Miami Herald
Lawmakers must come up with better funding for the state police’s DNA lab and the overburdened court system, according to a panel created by the Florida Supreme Court to examine wrongful convictions.

Zimmerman will be back in court Friday to seek bail
By Rene Stutzman and Jeff Weiner
Orlando Sentinel
The judge who threw George Zimmerman back in jail four weeks ago, stopping just short of calling him and his wife liars, will listen again Friday to Zimmerman's plea to be freed.