FEATURED
STORIES
After 2010 campaign, Gov. Rick Scott gave back dog Reagan
By Lucy Morgan
Tampa Bay Times
Shortly after winning the GOP nomination in 2010, Rick Scott announced to the world through Facebook that his family had rescued a Labrador Retriever.
Supervisors blame lawmakers for long Election Day lines
By Aaron Deslatte
Orlando Sentinel
Florida election supervisors taking heat for last fall's elections woes pointed the finger Monday at two sources of confusion and angst that were outside of their control -- the length of last fall's ballot and limits on early voting days and locations.
With Sen. Marco Rubio's immigration ideas in the middle, prospects for reform look promising
By Alex Leary
Tampa Bay Times
The plan calls for tougher border enforcement and cracking down on employers who hire illegal immigrants.
Educators want more specifics from Gov. Rick Scott
By Steve Bousquet
Tampa Bay Times
“Education changed my life," Gov. Rick Scott said Monday.
Florida lawmakers ponder state’s move into Obamacare
By John Kennedy
Palm Beach Post
Gov. Rick Scott and the Republican-led Legislature have spent months resisting the federal health care overhaul, challenging its legality, its cost and now, how it will be implemented.
FLORIDA
POLITICS
Early support in Florida Senate for expanding early voting
By Michael Van Sickler
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
More than two months after Florida's election system drew national scorn for its long lines and tardy vote tabulation, state lawmakers said Monday they supported reforms in hopes to avoid a repeat performance.
Lawmakers question Florida election supervisors on problem-filled November voting
By Dara Kam
Palm Beach Post
Under scrutiny by a Senate panel probing Florida’s problem-scarred general election, election supervisors from counties where voters waited the longest blamed lawmakers for an over-long ballot and a squeezed-down early voting period that they said gave the state yet another electoral black eye.
League of Women Voters of Florida suggests elections law changes
By Sean Kinane
WMNF Tampa Bay
In a letter sent Friday to Secretary of State Ken Detzner, the League of Women Voters of Florida laid out suggestions for improving the state’s elections.
Don Gaetz: Time for an ethics makeover
Editorial Board interview with Florida Senate President Don Gaetz
Orlando Sentinel
Senate President Don Gaetz, a Niceville Republican, is laying down the law in Tallahassee, placing a premium on higher ethical standards for Florida's elected officials.
Sen. Richter: Data to drive gaming decisions
By Gray Rohrer
Florida Current
Florida’s gambling decisions historically have been compulsive, but will now be based on numbers, data and reason, Sen. Garrett Richter, chairman of the Senate Gaming Committee, said Monday.
Satanists say, ‘Thank Scott!’ for inspirational message law giving them chance to spread the word
By Frank Cerabino
Palm Beach Post
I spoke to a guy on Monday who goes by the title “Overlord.”
BALLOT
INITIATIVES
Amending amendments
Editorial
Panama City News Herald
It sounds like a rejected Marx Brothers routine: Put a constitutional amendment on the ballot to fix a problem with having too many constitutional amendments on the ballot.
ENVIRONMENT
AND ENERGY
Water district proposes 11-year delay in setting flows for Wakulla Springs
By Bruce Ritchie
Florida Current
The Northwest Florida Water Management District is seeking to delay setting minimum flow levels for Wakulla Springs and other springs in the district by 11 years, raising concerns among environmentalists.
Environmental protection at stake in high court case
Editorial
Tampa Bay Times
The U.S. Supreme Court hears oral arguments today in a Florida case that could severely limit the tools that states and government authorities use to protect sensitive lands.
EDUCATION
New education commissioner faces skeptical crowd
By Steve Bousquet
Miami Herald/Tampa Bay Times Tallahassee bureau
Florida's new education commissioner, Tony Bennett, sought to hold his own Monday before a skeptical crowd of public school officials attending their annual legislative conference in Tallahassee.
Court battle heats up over merit pay
By Travis Pillow
Tallahassee Democrat
The lawsuit challenging Florida’s law that ties teachers’ pay to student performance lay dormant in the state courts for about a year, but it’s gotten more interesting as its days in a Leon County courtroom approach this week.
Report Says Florida A National Leader In Charter School Growth — Another Says It’s Not Fast Enough
By Gina Jordan and John O'Connor
StateImpact
The number of charter schools operating in the United States has surpassed 6,000 for the first time, according to the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools.
State looking to improve school security
By Lloyd Dunkelberger
Ocala Star-Banner
Lawmakers and Gov. Rick Scott are looking at ways to improve security at Florida public schools following the tragic school shooting in Connecticut, but the scope and cost of those improvements remain unclear.
JOBS,
BUDGET, AND ECONOMY
Governor announces state funding to fix JaxPort's Mile Point problem
By David Bauerlein and Matt Dixon
Florida Times-Union
Gov. Rick Scott delivered money and a message at Jacksonville’s port Monday.
Should Florida do a foreclosure favor for lenders?
Editorial
Palm Beach Post
Five years after the housing market crash saw thousands of Floridians lose their homes — fraudulently, in many cases — state legislators are poised to consider yet another bill designed to expedite foreclosures through the court system, where cases often languish for more than a year.
HEALTH
AND SENIORS
It's decision time on federal health care plan
By James Call
Florida Current
The Florida Legislature started work Monday on implementing the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
States Will Be Given Extra Time to Set Up Health Insurance Exchanges
By Robert Pear
New York Times
The White House says it will give states more time to comply with the new health care law after finding that many states lag in setting up markets where millions of Americans are expected to buy subsidized private health insurance.
Florida business owners wonder what health care law means for them
By Tia Mitchell
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
As the Legislature decides whether Florida will implement certain provisions of the Affordable Care Act, businesses of all sizes are also grappling with the impacts of the law.
Rollout Posted for Frail Elderly to Enter HMOs
By Carol Gentry
Health News Florida
The region that includes Orlando and Melbourne will be the first in the state to enroll its frail elderly patients who are on Medicaid into managed-care plans, the Agency for Health Care Administration announced Monday.
Florida health employees become do-it-yourself movers
By Mary Ellen Klas
Miami Herald/Tampa Bay Times Tallahassee Bureau
A state office complex became a giant game of musical chairs Monday as dozens of Department of Health employees stopped their workday to wheel desk chairs and computers across a parking lot in the first day of a weeklong agencywide reorganization.
CIVIL
RIGHTS, PEACE AND SOCIAL ISSUES
Rubio, Obama, Diaz-Balart, Ros-Lehtinen, Jeb Bush — oh my! Everyone’s talking immigration now
By Marc Caputo
Miami Herald
Related editorial: Immigration reform can’t wait
The fiscal cliff debate is on hold. Now comes the demographic cliff debate: Immigration.
Obama backs gun limits, concedes tough fight ahead
Associated Press
Tampa Tribune
President Barack Obama endorsed controversial bans on assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines today, as well as stricter background checks for gun buyers — but conceded he may not win approval of all in a Congress reluctant to tighten restrictions.
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