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.
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