Daily News Clips for February 19, 2013

FEATURED STORIES

Marco Rubio: The Electable Conservative?
By Nate Silver
New York Times
Some commentators have expressed surprise upon learning about the very conservative voting record of Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, who delivered the Republican response to the State of the Union address last week.

Obama’s immigration reform frays nerves, but shows similarities with Marco Rubio’s plan
By Marc Caputo
Miami Herald
President Obama’s administration drafted legislation this month that could give undocumented immigrants a pathway to citizenship in eight years, require employers to check workers’ immigration status and increase penalties for those who break immigration law.

Obama’s golf swing through Treasure Coast tees off critics
By George Bennett
Palm Beach Post
President Barack Obama departed from an exclusive Treasure Coast club on Monday after three days of golfing and male bonding that drew criticism from the right, shrugs from the left and complaints about lack of access from the White House press corps.

Weatherford's plan for pension reform hits a snag
By Michael Van Sickler
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
House Speaker Will Weatherford's push to close the state's $136 billion pension system to new state employees is on hold.

10K Petition State Lawmakers for Medicaid
By Whitney Ray
Capitol News Service
They couldn’t make the trip to Tallahassee so instead they signed a petition.

FLORIDA POLITICS

Legislature appeals Florida redistricting ruling
By Bill Kaczor
Associated Press
The Republican-dominated Legislature has asked the Florida Supreme Court to throw out a legal challenge to its 2012 redistricting plan for the state Senate.

Tallahassee's tentative teamwork on voting
By Steve Bousquet
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Bipartisanship is back in vogue in Tallahassee. That's a good sign.

Sen. Richter: Gaming committee likely won't meet again during session
By Jenna Buzzacco-Foerster
Naples Daily News
Don’t bet on a comprehensive gaming bill to come out of Tallahassee this legislative session.

Rouson covers ground in quest for leadership post
By John Romano
Tampa Bay Times
The job stinks, relatively speaking. If it isn't faceless, then it's thankless. If it isn't powerless, then it's rudderless.

Lawmakers consider revising claims law to help those wronged by governments get paid
By Dara Kam
Palm Beach Post
Carl Abbott could be the poster child for a fractured system that makes it extremely difficult for people to get compensated when they’ve been harmed by the government.

Judges to Orange County: You blew it on sick time
Editorial
Orlando Sentinel
Ever since the Sept. 11 meeting when they derailed a citizens' sick-leave initiative, Orange County commissioners — and the lobbyists who cheered them on — have insisted they did nothing wrong. 

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

Company offers Florida a free state park, but state DEP says no
By Craig Pittman
Tampa Bay Times
The 4,100-acre Peaceful Horse Ranch lies along seven miles of the Peace River, its banks thick with sabal palms, cypress and live oak, its woods and wetlands full of bald eagles, gopher tortoises, wood storks, sandhill cranes and ospreys.

Senate bill would expand role of agriculture in water supply planning
By Bruce Ritchie
Florida Current
The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services would have an expanded role on par with utilities in regional water supply planning under a Senate bill filed Monday.

Forever and ever, amend?
By Chad Gillis
Ft. Myers News-Press
Environmental groups are pushing for a constitutional amendment that would secure funding for what was once the nation’s premier land conservation program: Florida Forever.

LGBT

Florida Sen. Eleanor Sobel, D-Hollywood, proposes statewide domestic partners registry
By Steve Rothaus
Miami Herald
Florida's Children, Families and Elder Affairs Committee on Tuesday will discuss proposed legislation from state Sen. Eleanor Sobel, D-Hollywood, SB 196: Families First, which would create a statewide domestic partners registry.

Amid Boy Scout turmoil over gay ban, other groups hope to grow
By David Crary
Associated Press
With the Boy Scouts of America entangled in a furor over its ban on gays, lesser-known youth organizations across the ideological spectrum see an opportunity.

EDUCATION

Education leaders worry schools won't be ready for new standards
By Leslie Postal
Orlando Sentinel
Florida schools are scrambling to be ready for new Common Core academic standards — and the new computer-based tests that go with them — by 2015.

Florida lawmakers look to expand online, digital education options
By Jeffrey S. Solochek
Tampa Bay Times
There's a move afoot in the Florida Legislature to expand access to the state's virtual schooling options, similar to efforts that were tried and failed in several past years.

Why don't Florida school grades, teacher evaluation ratings match?
By Jeffrey S. Solochek
Tampa Bay Times
"Something is terribly wrong," Florida Board of Education member Sally Bradshaw said Monday during the board's meeting in Orlando.

JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY

Lawmakers blast regulators, Citizens for letting few buy lower-cost policy
By Charles Elmore
Palm Beach Post
A committee chairman blasted regulators and Citizens Monday for what he called a brazen failure to comply with a law requiring the state-run insurer to offer a lower-coverage policy in 2013 — one that costs up to 23 percent less.

Governor Scott doles out $2.6 million for military support
By Michael Peltier
News Service of Florida
Citing the military’s role as an economic engine across the state, Governor Rick Scott on Monday awarded over two million dollars in grants to projects ranging from wounded veteran assistance and technology seed money to buffers around military installations.

Q & A with: Karen Woodall
By James Call
Florida Current
The executive director of the Florida Center for Fiscal and Economic Policy, a Tallahassee-based research organization focused on how policy decisions affect low- and moderate-income individuals, Woodall has been lobbying the Florida Legislature since 1979.

Florida tourism sets record in 2012
By Jeff Harrington
Tampa Bay Times
Visit Florida, the state's tourism marketing corporation, said a record 89.3 million visitors came to the state in 2012, up 2.3 percent from the prior year.

HEALTH AND SENIORS

Decisions could be nearing on Affordable Care Act
News Service of Florida
Florida Times-Union
A Senate select committee could make recommendations March 4 about key parts of the federal Affordable Care Act, including whether Florida should move forward with a major expansion of the Medicaid program.

Lawmakers zeroing in on Obamacare cost
By James Call
Florida Current
The Affordable Care Act means billions of dollars for Florida hospitals, if state lawmakers agree to lower Medicaid eligibility to include people making up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level.

Florida hospitals back Medicaid expansion
By John Kennedy
Palm Beach Post
Florida hospital leaders urged state lawmakers Monday to endorse the Medicaid expansion allowed under the federal health care overhaul, saying the move will improve patient care and save both the industry and taxpayers millions of dollars.

Campaign Launched To Reduce Hit And Run Crashes After Florida Sees Increase
By Sascha Cordner      
WFSU Tallahassee
A new campaign is underway to reduce the number hit and run crashes across the state.

JUSTICE AND THE COURTS

Dying on Death Row
By Whitney Ray
Capitol News Service
Many death row inmates in Florida will die of natural causes not by an executioner’s needle.