Daily Clips for July 25, 2012

FEATURED STORIES

Florida GOP racking up legal bills in Jim Greer case
By Lucy Morgan
Tampa Bay Times
It has been two years since officials at the Republican Party of Florida signed a controversial agreement to pay ousted chairman Jim Greer the remainder of his 2010 salary.

No gag order in case involving ex-aide to Jennifer Carroll
By Tia Mitchell
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
As the state prepares to interview witnesses in the case against a former aide to Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll, a judge has warned attorneys to watch what they say.

Appeal court rebuffs Bondi on prison privatization
By Bill Cotterell
Florida Current
Florida's attorney general has wide legal latitude to intervene in policy matters before the courts, but she can't start in the playoffs if she didn't take part in the regular season, a state appeal court ruled Tuesday.

Budget office: Obama health law reduces deficit
Associated Press
Tampa Tribune
President Barack Obama's health care overhaul will shrink rather than increase the nation's huge federal deficits over the next decade, Congress' nonpartisan budget scorekeepers said today, supporting Obama's contention in a major election-year dispute with Republicans.

FLORIDA POLITICS

Florida legislators want to renegotiate tribal gambling compact
News Service of Florida
Palm Beach Post
State legislative leaders said they plan to renegotiate Florida’s revenue sharing compact with the Seminole Tribe at least a year early, the Miami Herald reported Tuesday.

Republicans take magnifying glass to Wasserman Schultz
By Anthony Man
South Florida Sun Sentinel
Her place in the national spotlight is prompting Republicans to focus like never before on everything about South Florida's most prominent Democrat, U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Weston.

RPOF attacks "two faces" of Charlie Crist
By Brittany Davis
Miami Herald
"Charlie Crist demonstrates he has two faces. One is the face of what he says, and the other is his record," reads a blistering Republican Party of Florida e-mail sent out Tuesday afternoon.

POLITICAL RACES

Had enough of the 2012 election cycle? How about 2016?
Staff Report
Florida Current
Public Policy Polling is excited about the election. The 2016 election.

Dems rip Rep. David Rivera — then each other
By Marc Caputo
Miami Herald
The Democrats running to unseat Republican Congressman David Rivera ripped the scandal-plagued incumbent on Tuesday.

Aronberg’s opponents in state attorney race slam him for secret campaign
By Joel Engelhardt
Palm Beach Post
In a debate Tuesday, no-party candidate Robert Gershman and Republican Dina Keever slammed Democrat Dave Aronberg, their opponent for Palm Beach County state attorney.

BALLOT INITIATIVES

Fla.’s Amendment 8 threatens separation
By Shayne Cheshire
Central Florida’s Future
It is the view of credible historians and academic scholars that the founding fathers, in order to preserve true religious freedoms, determined our government should separate and isolate itself from religious faith and practice.

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

Coalition presents 15,000 petition signatures urging Gov. Scott to protect Silver, Rainbow springs
By Bruce Ritchie
Florida Current
Members of the Florida Conservation Alliance on Tuesday gave Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Herschel T. Vinyard Jr. petitions they said were signed by more than 15,000 people calling for more protection for Silver and Rainbow springs in Marion County.

Audit finds Florida poorly spent federal stimulus grants meant for energy projects
By Dara Kam
Palm Beach Post
Florida received the third-highest amount of energy-related stimulus money in the nation but ranks nearly last in the amount spent thus far on the programs, according to an audit released by Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam’s office Tuesday.

System for stopping an oil spill is tested in Gulf
By Cain Burdeau
Associated Press
The first deep-sea test of a state-of-the-art containment system for stopping an oil spill akin to BP's catastrophic 2010 spill began on Tuesday, regulators said.

EDUCATION

Thousands in Miami-Dade face loss of child-care subsidies
By Caroline Navarro And Carol Marbin Miller
Miami Herald
More than 1,000 Miami-Dade children may be evicted from their child-care programs — and thousands more may be added to an already burgeoning wait list — as Florida early-learning administrators cut millions from a county program that provides subsidized child care for working poor and needy families.

School Board Officials Pan Education Chief's Explanation of School Grades Miscalculation
By Merissa Green
Lakeland Ledger
School Board members are "disgusted" with the response from Education Commissioner Gerard Robinson about the miscalculation of school grades for 213 schools across the state, including 14 in Polk.

Move over, FCAT: The SCATS are here
By Scott Maxwell
Orlando Sentinel
Once again, the Florida Department of Education has fouled up on a grand scale — this time handing out the wrong grades to 213 different schools.

Senator wants a time-out on statewide tests
By James Call
Florida Current
A top lawmaker wants to call a time-out on statewide testing of Florida’s students and grading of public schools.

Fed gov. wants FSU to repay $3 million
Associated Press
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is looking to get some $3 million back from Florida State University.

JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY

Better opportunities drawing entrepreneurs from Florida
By Stephanie Wang
Tampa Bay Times
From one of Tampa's most blighted neighborhoods, Garrett Johnson triumphed with a tremendous success story.

Report: Florida overpaid jobless benefits by nearly $500M
By Jim Stratton
Orlando Sentinel
From 2008 to 2011, as officials struggled to handle Florida's ballooning jobless rate, the state overpaid unemployment recipients by $486 million, according to a new analysis by the U.S. Department of Labor.

Global factors to weigh Florida economy down in coming years, state economists say
By Gray Rohrer
Florida Current
Debt crises in Europe and a struggling housing market at home will remain a drag on the Florida economy for the foreseeable future, state economists said Monday during a meeting to adjust their long-term economic forecast.

Regulators plan State Farm hearing Wednesday over renters insurance hike
By Jeff Harrington
Tampa Bay Times
State Farm policyholders will be able to air concerns over a proposed 58 percent average rate hike in renters insurance at a public hearing in Tallahassee today.

Today Is the Anniversary of the Last Time the Minimum Wage Was Raised
By Robert Lorei
WMNF Tampa
Today (July 24) is the anniversary of the last federal minimum wage increase to $7.25 in 2009.

HEALTH AND SENIORS

Giving Healthcare to the Poor Lowers Health Costs for Everyone
By Scott Randolph
US News and World Report
The federal government has long allowed many states to let lapse basic healthcare for the poor, even as states handed out billions in unnecessary corporate tax breaks.

Florida 50th out of 51 in Mental Health Funding
By Mike Vasilinda
Capitol News Service
Mental health funding in Florida ranks 50th out of 50 states and the District of Columbia.

Florida toughens child abuse reporting laws
By Dale White
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
In the wake of the child abuse scandal that continues to rock Penn State University, Florida is toughening and broadening its laws about mandatory reporting of suspected child abuse.

Stearns blocks new health care fees for vets
By Bill Thompson
Ocala Star-Banner
U.S Rep. Cliff Stearns wanted to make his point clear last week: no new health care fees on aging veterans. 

JUSTICE AND THE COURTS

State loses yet another round in private privatization saga
By Steve Bousquet
Miami Herald
Yet another legal setback for Gov. Rick Scott and the Florida Legislature in their efforts to expand privatization in state prisons.

Florida appeals Miami federal judge ruling blocking law prohibiting hiring of companies tied to Cuba
By Patricia Mazzei
Miami Herald
The state of Florida on Tuesday appealed a Miami federal judge’s decision to block the implementation of a new state law prohibiting governments from hiring companies with business ties to Cuba.