Daily News Clips for February 18, 2013

PROGRESS FLORIDA IN THE NEWS

ALEC's political reach comes at the expense of Floridians
By Mark Ferrulo
Orlando Sentinel
Florida's new Legislature has been sworn in, bills are being filed, and the 2013 Florida legislative session is set to begin March 5.

FEATURED STORIES

Building the Marco Rubio brand
By Alex Leary and Adam C. Smith
Tampa Bay Times
Related: Meet Sen. Marco Rubio’s inner circle
Sen. Marco Rubio is on a breathless rise, a testament to his political skill and demographic appeal that last week saw him delivering the Republican State of the Union response and appearing on the cover of Time as "The Republican Savior."

Obama heads to Florida for weekend with the boys
By Darlene Superville
Associated Press
Faced with a long weekend in an empty White House, President Barack Obama figured he needed a getaway, too, so he put together a golf outing with some buddies.

Politically weary, Sink focuses on business growth
By Brendan Farrington
Associated Press
Watch Alex Sink talk with people forming startup technology companies and she's smiling, energetic and confident.

Voting Rights Advocates, Experts Criticize House Campaign Reform Efforts
By Ashley Lopez
Florida Center for Investigative Reporting
Leaders in the the Republican-led Florida Legislature are working to overhaul the state’s campaign finance laws.

Tax incentives are questioned — except when lawmakers want more
By Aaron Deslatte
Orlando Sentinel
There's sort of a politico cognitive dissonance occurring this year in Florida's Capitol when it comes to corporate welfare.

EDITORIAL CARTOON OF THE WEEK

By Jim Morin
Miami Herald

FLORIDA POLITICS

Lobbyists paid $212 million last year to lobby Florida government
By Aaron Deslatte
Orlando Sentinel
Telecom companies, Malaysian casino-builder Genting, sugar concerns, and an Internet sweepstakes cafe company led the crop of corporations and interests that poured $212 million into lobbying Florida government last year, new reports show.

Fla. lawmakers' gift ban might get a few tweaks
By Brendan Farrington
Associated Press
Sen. Tom Lee says he's heard all the complaints about the gift ban law passed seven years ago: Some say it's made it more expensive for lawmakers to do their jobs.

Chamber paints frightening vision of Florida
By Jim Stratton
Orlando Sentinel
Tell me this: When you lay down at night, and pull the comforter up under your chin, are you scared?

Former Congressman Ron Klein to lead state Democratic Party’s effort to reorganize, raise money
By George Bennett
Palm Beach Post
Former U.S. Rep. Ron Klein of Boca Raton will play a key role in the Florida Democratic Party’s attempt to reorganize itself and beef up fundraising for what will likely be a costly effort to topple Republican Gov. Rick Scott in 2014.

Charlie Crist's Wife, Carole Crist: Deadbeat Mom? Crist Loses Custody of Her Children
By Terrence McCoy
Broward Palm Beach New Times
Following an apparent "change of circumstances," a New York County judge awarded temporary full custody of Carole Crist's two teenaged daughters earlier this month to her ex-husband, Todd Rome, who alleges Florida's former first lady has abandoned and ignored her daughters for more than two years.

Debate over red-light cameras heats up in Tallahassee
By Michael Van Sickler
Miami Herald/Tampa Bay Times Tallahassee Bureau
Red-light cameras are an issue that just won’t disappear for lawmakers.

Judges order Orange to put sick time on next ballot
By David Damron
Orlando Sentinel
A three-judge panel Friday ordered Orange County to put a sick-time referendum on the next ballot, ruling that the commission's decision to keep it from voters on the Nov. 6 ballot violated the "plain meaning of its charter."

Carl Hiaasen: Rubio and the GOP’s thirst for leadership
By Carl Hiaasen
Miami Herald
Secret Valentine’s Day memo to Sen. Marco Rubio from the Strategy Office of the Republican National Committee.

Florida voting woes
Editorial
Miami Herald
Desiline Victor wanted desperately to vote in November’s presidential election. She showed up at her North Miami precinct on the first day of early voting and inched along in a six-hour line. 

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

Climate change action within Obama’s grasp
By Christine Stapleton
Palm Beach Post
President Barack Obama needs the Republican Party’s blessing for many of the proposals he outlined in his State of the Union address last week, but climate change is not one of them.

Study panel urges that PSC be allowed to fine private water utilities for bad water quality
By Bruce Ritchie
Florida Current
A legislative study committee on Friday recommended a law change that would allow the Public Service Commission to fine private water utilities that provide poor water quality.

1,600 hunters net 68 pythons in month-long hunt
By John Dorschner
Miami Herald
Bolstered by a harrowing tale of wrestling with a 14-footer, three Fort Myers buddies have won the top general categories in the heavily publicized Python Challenge.

Politicians wake up on environmental issues
By Scott Maxwell
Orlando Sentinel
Last week — when most Florida politicos were still buzzing about the guilty plea of former GOP party boss Jim Greer — some of the state's biggest names were throwing a party.

LGBT

Gay-Rights Advocates: 'Times Are Changing' For LGBT Issues In Fla. Legislature
By Jessica Palombo    
WFSU Tallahassee
It’s been five years since Floridians voted to define marriage as one man and one woman in the state constitution.

Nationwide gay and lesbian population count breaks new ground
By John Glionna
Orlando Sentinel
A new study tracking the percentage of gay and lesbian adults in America has established a first-ever demographic atlas of the group, finding that state populations range from a low of 1.7% of in North Dakota to a high of 10% in the District of Columbia.

EDUCATION

FSU students rally against Scott's policies
By K. Maxwell Greenwood
Tallahassee Democrat
A group of Florida State University students marched from downtown Tallahassee’s Kleman Plaza into the Florida State Capitol Friday to present the opinion of the FSU student senate on the Blue Ribbon Task Force’s recommendations for improving higher education in Florida.

Parent Empowerment or Parent Trigger
By Whitney Ray
Capitol News Service
Battle lines are being drawn once again over a bill giving parents the ability to take over their child’s failing school.

Despite last year’s promises, Florida Polytechnic asking for more cash
By Tia Mitchell
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
One of the biggest selling points Sen. JD Alexander made as he pushed to create a new state university last year is that it would cost little to no extra money initially.

JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY

Amid higher premiums, Citizens execs land big raises
By Toluse Olorunnipa
Miami Herald/Tampa Bay Times Tallahassee Bureau
When the president of Citizens Property Insurance Corp. learned that his chief financial officer had used corporate funds to finance a luxurious weekend at a $633-a-night resort in Bermuda, he initially described the expenses as “absolutely appropriate.”

Florida House plan to close traditional pension to new workers carries costs, study concludes
By John Kennedy
Palm Beach Post
The Florida Retirement System — used by more than 600,000 state workers, teachers, police officers and firefighters — would change dramatically under a state House proposal to close the plan’s traditional pension to new employees, according to a state study released Friday night.

Florida hit by 'tsunami' of tax identity fraud
By David Adams
Reuters
Bruce Parton was only a few weeks from retirement after 30 years as a mail carrier in sunny Florida.

Loophole lets big companies avoid millions in Florida taxes
By Jason Garcia
Orlando Sentinel
Recognized across much of the country by its bright-red logo, Circle K has hundreds of convenience stores in Florida, selling everything from coffee and engine oil to ice cream and potato chips.

HEALTH AND SENIORS

Feds will run Florida health exchange after state misses another deadline
By Dara Kam
Palm Beach Post
As expected, Florida missed a Friday deadline to sign up for a partnership with President Barack Obama’s administration to operate a health exchange, an online marketplace that is required for each state under the 2010 federal health care law.

Now is the time to expand Medicaid
By John Romano
Tampa Bay Times
Chances are, the governor would like Linda Deyber.

What impact will ACA have on state insurance plan?
Associated Press
Palm Beach Post
A Senate committee will consider what impacts the federal health overhaul will have on the state health plan that covers nearly 400,000 state employees, retirees and their dependents.

Managed-care dispute resolved, AHCA says
By James Call
Florida Current
The Agency for Health Care Administration  announced Friday afternoon it has reached agreements with two companies that filed protests for  not being selected to participate in a long-term managed care program.

State should grab chance to expand, improve care
Editorial
Orlando Sentinel
Health care is almost always one of the most important issues confronting Florida lawmakers.

CIVIL RIGHTS, PEACE AND SOCIAL ISSUES

Report: Bill would set an eight-year path to residency
Associated Press
Tampa Tribune
The White House is circulating a draft immigration bill that would create a new visa for illegal immigrants living in the United States and allow them to become legal permanent residents within eight years, according to a report published online Saturday by USA Today.

Grassroots push to revamp immigration grows in Florida
By John Lantigua
Palm Beach Post
Belle Glade farmer Rick Roth is preparing to do some planting, although he’s not speaking about seeds.

Voting Rights Act Is Challenged as Cure the South Has Outgrown
By Adam Liptak
New York Times
Jerome Gray, a 74-year-old black man, has voted in every election since 1974 in this verdant little outpost of some 4,000 people halfway between Mobile and Montgomery.

Graphing the Great Gun Debate
By Christie Thompson
ProPublica
In Tuesday’s State of the Union address, President Obama again called for Congress to take quick action on gun control.

Florida Rep. Dennis Baxley says kids will be safer if teachers are armed
By Lisa Marzilli
WMNF Tampa
In the aftermath of the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary legislators in states across the country are calling for changes in laws that prohibit guns from being brought on to school campuses.