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.
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