Daily Clips for July 27, 2012

PROGRESS FLORIDA IN THE NEWS

ALEC under fire
By Mike Vasilinda
Capitol News Service
Excerpt: The report is clear. Language drafted by ALEC shows up in multiple bills in Florida. “What’s wrong with it is that the impetus behind these bills is profit for the corporate partners that are behind this legislation,” Damien Filer, with Progress Florida, said. “It’s not what’s in the best interest of public policy.”

Report claims Florida lawmakers do bidding of corporate-funded ALEC
By Toluse Olorunnipa
Miami Herald/Tampa Bay Times Tallahassee Bureau
Some of the most controversial bills introduced recently in the Florida Legislature were thought up by out-of-state corporate interests with financial motives, according to a report released Thursday by two national watchdog groups and Progress Florida.

Groups Claim Conservative Nonprofit Lobbies Fla. Legislators, Influences State Law
By Jessica Palombo
WFSU Tallahassee
News Service of Florida: Report: ALEC's influence in Florida broad
Florida Current: New report contends state lawmakers linked to ALEC
StateImpact: Report Says ALEC Has Growing Influence In Florida Education Policy
WMNF Tampa: Activist group airs grievances against ALEC's influence in Florida
Creative Loafing Tampa:  New report exposes the work of ALEC in Florida
The groups who sponsored the report include Common Cause and Progress Florida. Progress Florida’s Damien Filer says, 60 of Florida’s 160 state lawmakers have had ties to ALEC since 2010. He says controversial Florida bills, like the so-called “parent trigger” and prison privatization, included word-for-word excerpts from ALEC’s model legislation.

FEATURED STORIES

Secret recording details conversation between RPOF's Jim Greer and Delmar Johnson
By Lucy Morgan
Tampa Bay Times
Delmar Johnson, former executive director of the Republican Party of Florida, brought Easter presents for the children when he arrived at former party chairman Jim Greer's house in Oviedo on the night of March 29, 2010.

Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll apologizes for anti-gay remark
By Mary Ellen Klas
Miami Herald/Tampa Bay Times Tallahassee Bureau
After an online petition drive garnered hundreds of signatures demanding her apology, Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll on Thursday apologized to the head of an advocacy group saying that her anti-gay comment two weeks ago was "wrong and inexcusable."

Health care advocates say 3.8 million Floridians with pre-existing conditions now have access to health care because of ACA
By Mitch Perry
Creative Loafing Tampa
Although Governor Rick Scott has joined with a group of GOP governors who refused to expand Medicaid after the Supreme Court's affirmative ruling on President Obama's health care reform legislation, there are aspects of the 2010 bill that are already taking effect right now.

The GOP's Rick Scott Problem
By Michael C. Bender
BusinessWeek
It would have been hard for the Republican Party to choose a better backdrop for its August national convention than Florida.

BEST OF THE BLOGS

How Florida’s Nastiest Legislative Race Is Dividing the GOP Coalition
By Kartik Krishnaiyer
The Political Hurricane
The potential return of former Senate President Tom Lee to the legislature has become the highest profile primary to be decided on August 14th.

ICYMI: In defense of the Tampa Bay Times’ Adam Smith
By Peter Schorsch
St. Petersblog 2.0
Seeing that Connie Mack’s Campaign is attacking again Adam Smith, I thought it relevant to repost my defense of the Tampa Bay Times reporter.

Rick Scott’s Florida Purge Effort Cost Localities Thousands
By Josh Israel
Think Progress
Now that Gov. Rick Scott’s (R-FL) administration has obtained access to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) database — records that Florida could have received months ago had it provided the necessary information to DHS — it has officially abandoned the error-riddled original purge list.

Connie Mack Attacks Reporter (Again) For Stating Facts
By Inkberries
Beach Peanuts
If you were already somewhat safely employed but had bigger ambitions and wanted to look for another job, would you do things like spend company money sending emails from work with copies of your resume on your employer's dime?

Voter Purge Happening. Be Vigilant Now.
By Jake
Rantings From Florida
Gov. Rick Scott has won the legal battles necessary to move ahead with a disgusting attempt to disenfranchise voters in the state of Florida. 

POLITICAL RACES

Behind Mitt Romney's pro-America rhetoric is subtle portrait that Barack Obama is not
By Alex Leary
Tampa Bay Times
Related: Is Romney giving Rubio a closer look?
Mitt Romney loves America. Not just the land but the word.

Bill Nelson's tax vote could help the budget — of Connie Mack's campaign
By Marc Caputo
Miami Herald
Sen. Bill Nelson’s decision to cast a deciding vote for raising taxes on the wealthy won’t do much to fix the budget deficit, but it could help the campaign coffers of his Republican rival.

Nasty state House race turns nastier
By Marc Caputo
Miami Herald
Florida’s most-brutal state House race is unfolding in Miami amid vicious attack mailers, phone calls and a whisper campaign involving pornography, divorce, a stalking claim, an arrest warrant and a reference to the recent Colorado shootings.

Private eye’s tip led to absentee ballot fraud probe in Hialeah
By Scott Hiaasen and Christina Vega
Miami Herald
The latest investigation of potential absentee ballot fraud in Miami-Dade County was triggered by a private investigator who went to police with his suspicions that a woman active in Hialeah politics was illegally collecting absentee ballots from voters.

Strip Clubs in Tampa Are Ready to Cash In on G.O.P. Convention
By Lizette Alvarez
New York Times
Over at the back door of the 2001 Odyssey, a limo-size tent with flaps — especially designed for discretion and camera-shy guests — is ready to go up. Déjà Vu is welcoming extra “talent” from around the country in its V.I.P. rooms.

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

Scientists warn Florida grasshopper sparrows on the brink of extinction
By Olivia Kabat
WMNF Tampa
Scientists are warning that a type of sparrow native to Florida is on the brink of extinction. There is an emergency effort to save Florida grasshopper sparrows before it’s too late.

Dying springs are gaining attention
By Ron Littlepage
Florida Times-Union
The message to Gov. Rick Scott and his team was clear: Save our springs and save them now.

Hearing officer recommends denial of Bay County permit in region's new water war
By Bruce Ritchie
Florida Current
A state hearing officer on Thursday recommended denial of a proposed permit that would allow Bay County to pump up to 30 million gallons per day of water along the Washington County line.

LGBT

Does anyone really care if Lt. Gov. Carroll looks like a lesbian?
By Frank Cerabino
Palm Beach Post
I was talking to Florida’s ranking black lesbian, if there is such a thing.

EDUCATION

Scott's higher ed panel spends day discussing a vague vision for reforms
By Kim Wilmath
Tampa Bay Times
Florida's higher education system should be the best value in the nation, should contribute to the state's economic success and should be governed with a spirit of collaboration between its leaders.

University Funding: Cutbacks Hurt Florida
Editorial
Lakeland Ledger
Gov. Rick Scott's vision for a revamped State University System is not clear yet.

Private Schools Choosing To Opt Out Of State ‘School Choice’ Programs
By John O'Connor
StateImpact
Just 64 percent of Florida private school participate in the state’s tax credit scholarship program, according to a Stateline analysis.

FCAT accountability
Editorial
Ocala Star-Banner
When the Florida Department of Education announced last week that it had incorrectly calculated school grades for 213 elementary and middle schools around the state — including three in Marion County — officials tried to pass it off as a minor hiccup in a lengthy and complex process.

JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY

Citizens' $6.1 billion surplus may draw private insurers
By Toluse Olorunnipa
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
After six years without a hurricane, Citizens Property Insurance Corp. has built up a massive cash surplus of about $6.1 billion. And private insurance companies want to get their hands on it.

Citizens lambasted for inspection program
By Gray Rohrer
Florida Current
Florida’s consumer advocate scolded Citizens Property Insurance Corp. officials Thursday for their handling of an inspection program that has generated more than $100 million in added premium for the state-run insurer.

HEALTH AND SENIORS

Florida Slips Even Lower in Mental Health Funding
By Ashley Lopez
Florida Center for Investigative Reporting
Even though Florida was already at the bottom of the list for mental health funding, it seems to have slipped even lower.

Florida pharmacists accuse state of shutting them out of Medicaid
By Tia Mitchell
Tampa Bay Times
The Florida Pharmacy Association announced today that it has filed a lawsuit in Leon County's Circuit Court in an attempt to nullify state procedures they say is beginning to leave Florida pharmacists out of the business of fullfilling prescriptions for Medicaid patients.

Jackson Health System becomes center for tuberculosis cases
By John Dorschner
Miami Herald
With the closing of Florida’s only hospital dedicated to tuberculosis, Jackson Memorial has taken all of the state’s TB patients that health officials believe need hospitalization — a mere 21.

DCF reviews three deaths at GEO-run psychiatric facility
By Sascha Cordner      
WFSU Tallahassee
Over medication and improper supervision may have caused the deaths of three patients at a privately run mental health facility in Florida last year.

JUSTICE AND THE COURTS

Sen. Nan Rich seeks to block prison outsourcing deal
By Steve Bousquet
Tampa Bay Times
Senate Democratic Leader Nan Rich, D-Weston, has lodged a formal objection to the Legislature giving final approval to budget transfers that would allow the prison system to privatize health care for 100,000 inmates.