Daily News Clips for January 16, 2013

FEATURED STORIES

Don't blame me for election law, Rick Scott tells black lawmakers
By Steve Bousquet
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Facing a highly critical group of black legislators, Gov. Rick Scott largely defended his record Tuesday but distanced himself from a controversial election law that led to fewer early voting days and long lines.

Report: Gov. Rick Scott's ex-dog Reagan now Pluto, living on horse ranch
By Aaron Sharockman
Tampa Bay Times
Reagan, the yellow Labrador Gov. Rick Scott adopted in 2010 then quickly gave away, apparently is now living on a horse ranch somewhere in Southwest Florida, WTSP-Ch. 10 reported Tuesday.

Ethics bill takes shape in Florida Senate
By Brendan Farrington
Associated Press
Each year, as many as 800 elected officials ignore a law that requires they submit a form detailing their financial interests, according to the state Ethics Commission, but there's not much the panel can do about it.

Honest numbers support case to expand Medicaid
Editorial
Orlando Sentinel
Finally Florida can have an honest conversation about the costs and benefits of adding more uninsured residents to the state's Medicaid rolls under the federal health reform law known as Obamacare.

FLORIDA POLITICS

Black lawmakers find no common ground in meeting with Gov. Scott
By Dara Kam
Palm Beach Post
Gov. Rick Scott’s third meeting with black lawmakers left them disgruntled and with low expectations for his assistance on issues ranging from restoration of rights for felons to the federal health care law.

Support mounts to allow unlimited political contributions in Florida
By Mary Ellen Klas
Miami Herald/Tampa Bay Times Tallahassee Bureau
Florida’s campaign finance system is so riddled with holes that a state ethics watchdog group will urge lawmakers Wednesday to open the spigot and let an unlimited amount of campaign cash gush into campaign coffers.

Governor's Mansion battle drags on in court
By Lucy Morgan
Tampa Bay Times
A Leon County circuit judge Tuesday rejected accusations by Gov. Rick Scott and members of the Cabinet that challenged the integrity of John K. Aurell, a prominent North Florida lawyer and son-in-law of former Gov. LeRoy Collins.

Orange leaders struggle over texting reforms
By David Damron
Orlando Sentinel
Orange County leaders wrestled Tuesday over text messaging but failed to agree on how to handle public accounting of the popular technology.

To get shorter voting lines, have shorter amendments
Editorial
Palm Beach Post
We will have much to say about the debate in Tallahassee over Florida’s election laws, and about what the county elections supervisors told the state Senate on Monday.

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

Senate panel told that Florida lacks quarterback on Apalachicola Bay issues
By Bruce Ritchie
Florida Current
Florida lacks a quarterback to lead it in its battle with Alabama and Georgia over water in the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River system, a Senate committee was told Tuesday.

Florida python hunters kill 11 snakes in 3 days
Associated Press
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
Florida wildlife officials say 11 Burmese pythons were killed during the first three days of a public hunt for the invasive species in the Everglades.

State’s consumer advocate not decided yet on FPL rate case appeal
By Susan Salisbury
Palm Beach Post
Florida Power & Light Co. customers’ bills for January will reflect the $350 million base rate increase the Florida Public Service Commission granted the utility in December.

LGBT

Pinellas County approves domestic partner registry
By Anna M. Phillips
Tampa Bay Times
Pinellas County commissioners voted Tuesday to create a domestic registry, giving unmarried couples, gay and straight, legal recognition of their relationships.

EDUCATION

The Florida Senate’s 2013 Agenda So Far: In-State Tuition; Teacher Pay; Disabilities
By John O'Connor
StateImpact Florida
While the Florida House has plenty of education-related bills to consider, Senators have introduced even more.

Florida superintendents ask for more money, flexibility to improve school safety
By Tia Mitchell
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
In the month since the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, officials nationwide have reviewed safety and security plans with fresh, newly sobered eyes.

Researchers spar over the worth of Florida's education accountability measures
By Jeff Solochek
Tampa Bay Times
Two national education researchers are staking opposing claims over the value of Florida's education accountability model as former governor Jeb Bush continues to tour the country promoting the system for other states.

FAMU abruptly cancels plans to name new band director
By Tia Mitchell
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Florida A&M University abruptly canceled plans to name a new Marching 100 band director Tuesday morning, leaving an auditorium full of curious students, faculty and media wondering why the school couldn't agree on a contract with the remaining finalist.

JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY

Sandy aid passes House with help of three Florida Republicans
By Alex Leary
Tampa Bay Times
The U.S. House tonight approved a $50.7 billion in emergency funding for Hurricane Sandy victims, sending the package to the Senate for likely passage.

Rubio says no debt ceiling raise without spending cuts
By William March
Tampa Tribune
In an op-ed piece today in USA Today, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio declared he opposes raising the federal debt ceiling without imposing spending cuts—a position squarely in opposition to President Barack Obama.

Critics say unemployment rules create barrier
By Lloyd Dunkelberger
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
Nearly two years after Florida changed its jobless benefits program, critics contend unemployed workers have a harder time getting compensation.

Rep. Nelson eyes increase of Citizens' rate cap
By Gray Rohrer
Florida Current
Rep. Bryan Nelson, R-Apopka, is zeroing in on raising the cap on annual increases of state-run Citizens Property Insurance Corp. rates by 3 percent.

Viva Florida 500th anniversary campaign unveiled, as state seeks fountain of tourism dollars
By John Kennedy
Palm Beach Post
Juan Ponce de Leon’s landing in Florida in 1513 could have a billion-dollar payoff for Floridians, state officials told a Senate committee Tuesday.

HEALTH AND SENIORS

3 Companies Win Big in FL Medicaid
By Carol Gentry
Health News Florida
Three companies stand out as major winners in Florida’s competition for contracts in the Statewide Medicaid Managed Care Program for Long-Term Care, a market worth an estimated $3 billion.

New Medicaid system shifts from 'safety net' hospitals, some say
By Liz Freeman
Naples Daily News
State regulators have unveiled a new Medicaid payment system to hospitals so they will be paid the same for the same medical care.

Wood wants more choices for consumers in health care
By James Call
Florida Current
The chair of the House Health Innovation Subcommittee wants more choices for consumers in the health insurance market.

CIVIL RIGHTS, PEACE AND SOCIAL ISSUES

Mother of Trayvon Martin to demand repeal of Stand Your Ground law
Staff Report
Miami Herald
The mother of Trayon Martin, along with state lawmakers, plan to hold a news conference on Wednesday morning to decry the state’s controversial Stand Your Ground law and demand that the Florida Legislature repeal it.

The Fault Lies With Smirking Gun Lobbyists
By Martin Dyckman
Florida Voices
In the month since the Newtown massacre, people the world over have overwhelmed the small Connecticut community with messages of love, condolence and grief, and enough gifts -- 4,600 boxes full -- to fill a warehouse.

JUSTICE AND THE COURTS

Group wants private prisons to rehab Fla. inmates
By Bill Kaczor
Associated Press
A group with strong business ties urged Florida lawmakers to divert nonviolent felons into privately operated prisons for substance abuse and mental health treatment to cut costs and help prevent them from returning to crime when they are released.

U.S. Supreme Court sides with Florida man who said his boat was a home
By Dan Sullivan
Tampa Bay Times
A few years back, a man in Riviera Beach bought a house made out of plywood and let it float on the water and local officials were not happy about that.