Daily News Clips for November 29, 2012

FEATURED STORIES

Advocates ask feds to kick state out of health care law decisions
By Charles Elmore and Laura Green
Palm Beach Post
Advocates who once begged Florida lawmakers to embrace President Barack Obama’s health care law are now lobbying federal officials to leave out Florida decision-makers.

Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi blasts health care law at insurance summit
By Tia Mitchell
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Florida Gov. Rick Scott and legislative leaders may have toned down their criticism of the federal health care law since President Barack Obama was re-elected, but not Attorney General Pam Bondi.

Florida's local governments toughening ethics laws
Associated Press
Palm Beach Post
A new report says Florida's cities and counties have been strengthening their ethics laws and enforcement while state laws have essentially been frozen since the 1970s.

Why even have a PSC?
Editorial
Tampa Bay Times
There is no need for a Florida Public Service Commission that rubber stamps upgrading nuclear plants that are broken and building new ones that are too expensive.

FLORIDA POLITICS

Will Legislative Ethics Reform Be Meaningful Reform?
By Paula Dockery
Florida Current
The election is over, new legislators convened in Tallahassee and the incoming leadership of the Florida House and Senate are making ethics reform a top priority.

Bipartisanship touted in Senate committee membership appointments
By Gray Rohrer
Florida Current
Senate President Don Gaetz, R-Niceville, announced committee memberships for the upper chamber on Wednesday, touting tones of bipartisanship by picking five Democrats to chair Senate panels.

Taddeo-Goldstein to challenge Clendenin for state Dem chairmanship
By William March
Tampa Tribune
So far, the only announced challenger to Tampa’s Alan Clendenin for state Democratic Party chairman is South Florida businesswoman and Democratic activist Annette Taddeo-Goldstein.

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

In outreach to large landowners, Gov. Rick Scott finds support for toll road project
By Michael Van Sickler
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
To make way for a proposed network of sprawling toll roads, Florida transportation officials are considering reserving tracts of remote timberlands, cattle ranches and phosphate mines from some of the state's largest landowners.

Feds seek another delay for Fla. water standards
Associated Press
Palm Beach Post
Environmental groups are opposing another delay for new Florida water pollution rules designed to stop algae blooms from choking state waters.

Report: Florida's Water Pollution Costs $10.5 Billion, Annually
By Stephanie Carroll Carson
Public News Service Florida
Florida's water-pollution problem is costing the state more than $10 billion every year, according to an independent report released Wednesday. 

EDUCATION

Florida failing to hold private schools accountable, even with state money
Editorial
Bradenton Herald
Several confounding questions surround yet another alarming situation at a private school owned by a man whose financial track record can only be described as wanting at best.

Is a $10,000 college degree in Florida practical?
By Lloyd Dunkelberger
Gainesville Sun
Gov. Rick Scott's call for state colleges to offer a $10,000 degree has reignited the debate over the cost of higher education in Florida.

State may toughen rules for community-college professors
By Denise-Marie Ordway and Kathleen Haughney
Orlando Sentinel
Life for thousands of community-college professors in Florida could be changing drastically as the state considers making it tougher for them to earn and maintain tenure.

Florida should not penalize liberal arts majors
By Steven Demmler
Palm Beach Post
Gov. Rick Scott recently announced his intention to accept a recommendation from his education task force that state universities should charge less for science, technology, education and medicine (STEM) degrees and more for liberal arts degrees.

Florida education commissioner application deadline nears
By Jeff Solochek
Tampa Bay Times
Just three days remain in the extended application period for Florida's education commissioner job, and the top candidates that State Board of Education members said they've been looking for have yet to join the search.

JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY

Election results, 'fiscal cliff' worries drive down Florida's consumer confidence
Staff Report
Florida Current
Election results and the pending "fiscal cliff" combined to drive down Florida's consumer confidence by 4 points in November, according to the University of Florida’s Survey Research Center in the Bureau of Economic and Business Research.

Florida metros record some of the biggest unemployment drops nationwide
By Jeff Harrington
Tampa Bay Times
Tampa Bay and a dozen other Florida metros have posted among the biggest drops in unemployment nationwide over the past year.

Citizens committee tiptoes around coverage changes
By Gray Rohrer
Florida Current
Citizens Property Insurance Corp.’s Actuarial and Underwriting Committee on Wednesday shied away from reinstating some coverage options for customers who  were phased out this year.

Those Citizens’ hijinks? Blame the media, of course
By Fred Grimm
Miami Herald
Sorry, Citizens. Not you, fellow citizens. Who cares what you think?

Keep shining light on Florida's budgeting
Editorial
Tampa Bay Times
Information is power. And for too long, the ability of Florida's legislative leaders to control access to budget analysis tools has meant just a few powerful lawmakers make the lion's share of decisions.

HEALTH AND SENIORS

New study: Medicaid expansion could cost Florida $8.9 billion over 10 years
By John Dorschner
Miami Herald
Florida’s lawmakers appear to be facing a choice of adding comparatively few people to the state’s Medicaid rolls at considerable cost or adding a lot more people for not much more money, according to a study by a Washington study group released this week.

Florida needs to get rid of poor assisted-living facilities, panel says
Staff Report
Florida Times-Union
A panel formed to recommend improvements in the assisted-living industry says in a new report that the state should use current regulations to get rid of unethical or incompetent facilities.

Court Voids Teen Abortion Ruling; Student Doesn't Have to Tell Mother of Her Decision
By Jim Saunders
News Service of Florida
In a case that offers a glimpse of the complexity of Florida's parental-notification of abortion law, a divided appeals court this week overruled a Polk County judge and said a 17-year-old girl could receive an abortion without her mother being told.

Fight spurs call for less secrecy
By Sarah Pusateri and Carol Gentry
Health News Florida
The contract dispute between BayCare Health System and UnitedHealthcare forced 74-year-old Mike Dellmore to choose between his doctors and his insurance plan.

JUSTICE AND THE COURTS

Six appeals filed in 'Taj Mahal' art case
By Lucy Morgan
Tampa Bay Times
The Florida Supreme Court has assigned the 5th District Court of Appeal in Daytona Beach to hear appeals in a squabble over an unpaid $357,000 bill for framed photos ordered for the new 1st District Court of Appeal building in Tallahassee.

Judge hearing Fla. prison privatization challenge
Associated Press
Palm Beach Post
A judge is hearing another challenge to plans for privatizing health care services in Florida's prisons.

Daily News Clips for November 28, 2012

FEATURED STORIES

Florida Congressional Democrats want civil rights probe of Florida voting law
By Dara Kam and John Lantigua
Palm Beach Post
All six members of Florida’s Democratic Congressional delegation have written to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights requesting that it convene a hearing to investigate Florida’s 2011 electoral law, HB 1355, after former Republican state leaders and GOP consultants said the law was expressly designed to reduce Democratic voter participation.

Jeb Bush Talks Education, But Politics Comes to Mind
By Beth Reinhard
National Journal
The former governor was passionate and persuasive as he opened his fifth annual education conference in Washington, D.C.

Lawmakers Could Scrap Budget Transparency Program
By Ashley Lopez
Florida Center for Investigative Reporting
Florida has spent nearly $5 million setting up a website intended to shed light on the state budget.

Florida House leadership assignments will test bipartisanship
By Michael Van Sickler and Steve Bousquet
Tampa Bay Times
The bipartisan spirit is already receding from last week's swearing-in ceremony and Florida House Speaker Will Weatherford looked more like a typical conservative Republican with the unveiling of his committee assignments on Monday.

Rick Scott cuts class on ‘$10,000 challenge.’
Editorial
Palm Beach Post
Gov. Rick Scott is trying another gimmick to remake himself as the friend of education.

FLORIDA POLITICS

Republicans finally starting to say, 'Grover who?'
By Daniel Ruth
Tampa Bay Times
A few days ago, Sen. Marco Rubio hedged on this whole silly science thing by claiming he has no clue about the age of the planet.

Florida CFO Jeff Atwater must testify in 'Taj Mahal' case
By Lucy Morgan
Tampa Bay Times
Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater will have to answer questions under oath in a lawsuit filed by the owner of a Tallahassee art gallery that was never paid for framed photographs valued at more than $357,000 for the new 1st District Court of Appeal.

Group to begin reviewing Miami-Dade’s elections practices
By Patricia Mazzei
Miami Herald
A group tasked with making recommendations to improve Miami-Dade elections will begin meeting Tuesday morning, three weeks after Election Day was marked by long lines and a surge of absentee ballots that took several days to count.

Random audit finds 9-ballot discrepancy in Sachs-Bogdanoff Florida Senate race
By Christine Stapleton
Palm Beach Post
Audits of the voting systems used in the Nov. 6 election reflect none of the ballot-counting turmoil in Palm Beach and St. Lucie counties, where misplaced, misprinted and machine-munched ballots made Florida — once again — the target of wisecracks and lawsuits.

Dorworth has a new career – as a lobbyist
By Jason Garcia
Orlando Sentinel
Chris Dorworth was supposed to become speaker of the Florida House of Representatives in two years.

BALLOT INITIATIVES

Florida lawmakers should limit number of amendments on ballot
Editorial
TC Palm
There is a grievous double standard in the Sunshine State with respect to proposed constitutional amendments.

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

Florida's vanishing springs
By Craig Pittman
Tampa Bay Times
Deep beneath the ground we stand on, below the strip malls and the condos and the lush green of the golf courses, runs a river of water that makes life in Florida possible.

'Community Affairs' disappears from subcommittee name as focus on growth management fades
By Bruce Ritchie
Florida Current
What's in a name? Perhaps a lot less when it no longer includes "community affairs" -- aka growth management.

3 BP employees to be arraigned in oil spill probe
By Michael Kunzelman
Associated Press
Two BP rig supervisors and a former BP executive were scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday on criminal charges stemming from the deadly Deepwater Horizon rig explosion and the company's response to the massive 2010 spill in the Gulf of Mexico. 

EDUCATION

Florida Among States With Lowest High School Graduation Rates
By Gina Jordan
StateImpact
Florida has one of the nation’s lowest graduation rates, according to new federal data released Monday.

Degree program doesn't make educational sense
By Shannon Nickinson
Pensacola News Journal
Don’t mess with Texas indeed. Turns out the Lone Star State is the inspiration for Gov. Rick Scott’s newest foray into “improving” higher education in Florida.

Scott stunt won't fix higher ed
Editorial
Tampa Bay Times
Cheap Gimmicks are no way to improve Florida's higher education system and better prepare students for the work force.

Invest in Florida’s public colleges
Editorial
Miami Herald
It’s hard to argue with Gov. Rick Scott’s challenge to Florida’s four-year colleges and community colleges to create $10,000 four-year degrees in areas that virtually guarantee a job after graduation.

JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY

Citizens president acknowledges ‘dumb’ mistake in firing watchdogs
By Charles Elmore
Palm Beach Post
The president of Florida’s last-resort insurer Citizens admitted Tuesday it was a “dumb decision” to fire internal watchdogs in the way he did.

Florida Consumers Have Post-Election Blues, UF Figures Show
By Elvina Nawaguna
Lakeland Ledger
While consumer confidence across the country rose to its highest level in 4 1/2 years this month, the mood in Florida declined in the aftermath of the elections.

From 'best' to 'worst' run states, Florida fares poorly
By Robert Trigaux
Tampa Bay Times
How's Florida doing? You'd think we would know the status of our own state, but it's not so easy to pin down.

Scott wants to double Florida job training program
Associated Press
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
Gov. Rick Scott wants to double funding for Florida's "quick response" job training program.

Land deal could open way for Wekiva Parkway
By Dan Tracy
Orlando Sentinel
Metro Orlando's road-building agency appears to have settled a land dispute that was threatening to increase costs or delay construction of the $1.6 billion Wekiva Parkway.

HEALTH AND SENIORS

Patients scramble for new coverage
By Carol Gentry and Sarah Pusateri
Health News Florida
Carol White of St. Petersburg and some of her friends spent Monday looking for a new Medicare Advantage plan after BayCare Health System ended its contracts with UnitedHealthcare.

Did your hospital make the grade? Group rates quality of care, more
By Marni Jameson
Orlando Sentinel
Hospitals throughout the nation are receiving their report cards today as The Leapfrog Group, a national nonprofit that advocates for safer health-care delivery, releases its second state-by-state Hospital Safety Scores.

CIVIL RIGHTS, PEACE AND SOCIAL ISSUES

Stand Your Ground panel does just that
By Frank Cerabino
Palm Beach Post
One of my favorite parts in the movie, Casablanca, is at the very end, when Rick, the Humphrey Bogart character, shoots Gestapo officer Major Strasser in the presence of the local police captain.

Daily News Clips for November 27, 2012

FEATURED STORIES

In first big move as House Speaker, Weatherford leans to the right
By Steve Bousquet and Michael Van Sickler
Tampa Bay Times
With the bipartisan spirit receding from last week’s swearing-in ceremony, Florida House Speaker Will Weatherford looked more like a typical conservative Florida Republican with the unveiling of his committee assignments this afternoon.

Florida Water Management District May Sell Off Conservation Land
By Keith Morelli
The Tampa Tribune
Stung by a slashed budget, the agency that oversees water resources in West Central Florida is taking a hard look at its vast land holdings.

Report: Federal expansion of Medicaid makes fiscal sense for Florida
By Donna Koehn
Herald-Tribune
Florida, with its high number of uninsured residents, likely will need to ante up if it decides to go along with a planned federal expansion of Medicaid as part of health care reform, according to a nonpartisan analysis released Monday.

FLORIDA POLITICS

Negron will lead the Florida Senate budget committee
By Lloyd Dunkelberger
Herald Tribune
Sen. Joe Negron, R-Palm City, will lead the Senate Committee on Appropriations for the next two years, Senate President Don Gaetz, R-Niceville, announced today.

Holder to lead House Regulatory Affairs Committee
By Lloyd Dunkelberger
Herald-Tribune
Three state representatives from Southwest Florida will chair new House committees or subcommittees for the next two years, House Speaker Will Weatherford, R-Wesley Chapel, announced today.

Southwest Florida legislators gain political power
By Zac Anderson
Herald-Tribune
Southwest Florida’s political strength is rebounding after a couple of particularly weak years, with three state House members from the region named to lead committees in the spring legislative session.

Florida leaders call for 'sanity' in campaign finance
By Steve Bousquet
Tampa Bay Times
In the world of Florida politics, where cash is king, $500 used to mean something.

Florida lawmakers face challenges in the new legislative session
By Kareem Gantt
Examiner
As a new class of lawmakers were being sworn in on November 20, the road that lays ahead is proving to be a long and winding one.

Slow revolving door to lobbying in Fla. Capitol
Editorial
Orlando Sentinel
Florida legislators make $29,687 a year — not bad for a part-time job, but not exactly king's wages. Their real chance to cash in comes after they leave the state Senate or House.

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

Florida regulators approve nuclear power rates
By Bill Kaczor
Associated Press
Florida's two largest electric utilities won state approval Monday to charge customers $294 million in costs for future nuclear facilities in 2013, despite objections from consumer advocates.

EDUCATION

Jeb Bush, with cash and clout, pushes contentious school reforms
By Stephanie Simon
Reuters
Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush soared to rock star status in the education world on the strength of a chart.

Florida governor calls for $10,000 bachelor degrees at state colleges
By Khristopher J. Brooks
Florida Times-Union
Related: Henderson: Scott's degree gimmick won't help education
Florida’s 28 state colleges, including Florida State College at Jacksonville and St. Johns River State College, should create bachelor degree programs that cost no more than $10,000, Gov. Rick Scott said Monday.

HEALTH AND SENIORS

Obama health law to face religion-based challenge
Terry Baynes and Jonathan Stempel
Reuters
The Supreme Court on Monday cleared the way for a Christian college to pursue a religion-based challenge against part of President Barack Obama's healthcare reform, which it claims forces taxpayers and employers to subsidize abortions and contraception.

Florida must fight harder in war on Medicaid fraud
Editorial
Daytona Beach News-Journal
Florida has a major fraud problem in the Medicaid health care program. What it needs in response is a strong anti-fraud unit and a program that moves recipients into managed care.

Daily News Clips for November 26, 2012

FEATURED STORIES

Scott already filling reelection war chest, as potential rivals fire warning shots
By John Kennedy
Palm Beach Post
While most Floridians were riveted on the presidential race, cash continued to flow Election Day into a political spending committee run by Gov. Rick Scott and focused on his re-election two years away.
Teachers Push Back Against New Merit Pay System
By Ashley Lopez
Florida Center for Investigative Reporting
Related: Confused, discouraged teachers file complaints over new reviews 
Teachers and union leaders in Florida are fighting a new evaluation system that is the major component of an impending merit pay law.
Former Florida GOP leaders say voter suppression was reason they pushed new election law
By Dara Kam and John Lantigua
Palm Beach Post
A new Florida law that contributed to long voter lines and caused some to abandon voting altogether was intentionally designed by Florida GOP staff and consultants to inhibit Democratic voters, former GOP officials and current GOP consultants have told The Palm Beach Post.
New Congress: Fewer moderates make deals harder
By Alan Fram
Associated Press
When the next Congress cranks up in January, there will be more women, many new faces and 11 fewer tea party-backed House Republicans from the class of 2010 who sought a second term.

FLORIDA POLITICS

Jeb Bush in 2016? Not Too Early for Chatter
By Jim Rutenberg and Jeff Zeleny
New York Times
Now that the Obama and Romney campaigns have closed their headquarters in Chicago and Boston, the attention of the political world is shifting to an office suite tucked behind the colonnades of the Biltmore Hotel complex here.
Texting-while-driving ban among first bills filed for 2013 legislative session
By Brittany Alana Davis
Tampa Bay Times
Florida lawmakers have filed their first bills of the season. Most of the proposals are familiar: a ban on texting while driving, a requirement that parasailing operators carry insurance and a "foreign law" bill criticized by opponents as being anti-Islamic.
Lawmakers hear voters, say they'll work together
By Tia Mitchell
Tampa Bay Times
They come from big cities and small towns across this sprawling state, and from vastly different backgrounds. Some are new and some are seasoned. Some Democrats. Even more Republicans.
Former House Speaker Dean Cannon jumps from legislating to lobbying
By Jason Garcia
Orlando Sentinel
Now that his time as speaker of the Florida House of Representatives has ended, Dean Cannon is making his next career move: lobbying the state government that he spent the past two years helping to lead.
Florida lawmakers ready to shelve $5M budget-tracking program
By Mary Ellen Klas
Tampa Bay Times
Florida's new legislative leadership team and the 44 new legislators who took the oath of office in Tallahassee last Tuesday pledged to keep close tabs on the state budget and weed out waste in government contracts.
Trio of teachers headed for state House
By Jerome R. Stockfisch
The Tampa Tribune
There are always plenty of lawyers within the legislative ranks. Real estate developers and insurance execs? Ditto. The Florida House even has a couple of funeral directors.
Rubio, Earth and the Elections Industrial Complex
By Marc Caputo
Miami Herald
Don’t let the calendar fool you. It’s already 2016. Like it or not, the Elections Industrial Complex has unofficially declared it so.

EDUCATION

Florida already funnels millions in tax dollars to religious schools
By Dave Weber
Orlando Sentinel
On Election Day, voters turned down a proposed amendment to the Florida Constitution that critics said could have cleared the way for taxpayer-funded vouchers for religious schools. What many voters likely didn't know is that millions of tax dollars already are being funneled to those schools.
Next education commissioner will tell us a lot about Florida's commitment to reform
By Beth Kassab
Orlando Sentinel
With any luck, this week will bring a stop to the revolving door in the office of Florida's education commissioner. This state is on its fourth commissioner in 18 months and going on its fifth.
Central Florida homeless students' numbers rise for 5th year
By Erica Rodriguez
Orlando Sentinel
At the start of every weekend, Tony Wilson, a 38-year-old citrus-plant worker, gathers the family's belongings from a cramped hotel room in Clermont, loads them into the family van and checks out for a couple of days.

JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY

State incentives for lower-wage jobs? Bad idea
By Scott Maxwell
Orlando Sentinel
Sometimes I mis-type things. Like, the other day, I told a co-worker I needed to finish "pooping my column."

CIVIL RIGHTS, PEACE, AND SOCIAL ISSUES

Justices’ reconsideration of Voting Rights Act alarms liberals
By John Lantigua
Palm Beach Post
Liberals and at least some conservatives are lining up for an important legal battle early in 2013, as the country decides whether a key portion of the civil rights era legislation that offers special protection to minority voters is still necessary.
Justices Issue Split Decision on Immigrant Issue in Florida Supreme Court
By Bill Kaczor
The Associated Press
Non-U.S. citizens can appeal convictions resulting from guilty or no-contest pleas on grounds that defense lawyers failed to warn them they'd face almost certain deportation, the Florida Supreme Court said in three opinions Thursday.