Daily News Clips for February 28, 2013

PROGRESS FLORIDA IN THE NEWS

Interest groups identify “Champions of the Middle Class”
By Jim Stratton
Orlando Sentinel
Business-interest groups have provided report cards on legislators for years, so it naturally follows that pro-labor, pro-worker organizations would do the same thing.

Tuesday: Rallies Planned Outside West Palm Beach Supervisor of Elections Office
By Deirdra Funcheon
Broward New Times
Excerpt: "On Tuesday, Floridians across the state will make it clear: We will not stand for an inadequate and undemocratic elections system hobbled by the antivoter elections law of 2011," said Mark Ferrulo, executive director of Progress Florida.

FEATURED STORIES

Voting Rights Law Draws Skepticism From Justices
By Adam Liptak
New York Times
A central provision of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 may be in peril, judging from tough questioning on Wednesday from the Supreme Court’s more conservative members.

Florida advocates say 2012 proved need for Voting Rights Act
By Mary Ellen Klas
Miami Herald/Tampa Bay Times Tallahassee Bureau
As a skeptical U.S. Supreme Court raised doubts about a central provision of the federal Voting Rights Act on Wednesday, the law’s defenders said the 2012 election provided a vivid example for why it was needed to protect Florida from voter suppression.

Despite dire warnings, radical downsizing of government not imminent
By George Bennett
Palm Beach Post
Wide-ranging federal spending cuts that are set to take effect Friday have been called “severe,” “brutal,” “harsh,” “harmful” and a “meat-cleaver approach” — and that was just in one speech by President Barack Obama.

Competitive Florida Field Shrinks in '14
By Joshua Miller
Roll Call
The Sunshine State has earned its reputation as a political battleground, filled with possibility and peril for Republicans and Democrats looking to pick up seats.

Changing to 401(k) pension plan would be costly for Floridians and public employees
Editorial
Palm Beach Post
A key Florida House committee didn’t wait for facts and figures before moving ahead with a plan to bar new state employees from enrolling in the Florida Retirment System’s most popular pension plan.

FLORIDA POLITICS

Suspect in Rivera campaign-finance probe to change plea to guilty
By Marc Caputo
Miami Herald
A key suspect in a criminal case tied to former Congressman David Rivera will officially switch his plea to guilty in three federal charges for illegal campaign activity.

Universal rolls out red carpet for GOP lawmakers, lobbyists, state-party donors
By Jason Garcia
Orlando Sentinel
Just days before they head to Tallahassee for their annual legislative session, Republican lawmakers from across Florida will descend on Universal Orlando this weekend, where they will raise money from lobbyists amid thrill rides and mugs of butterbeer.

Business lobby lays out session goals
By Bill Cotterell
Florida Cuerrent
Florida's major business lobbying organization Wednesday endorsed Gov. Rick Scott's plans to repeal the sales tax on manufacturing equipment and to continue the phase-out of the state's corporate income tax during the 2013 legislative session.

33-year-old JU grad leads Florida House
Associated Press         
Florida Times-Union
It took Will Weatherford 10 years to catapult from political novice to one of Florida’s most influential legislators.

In Proposed Bill, Questions About the Business of Mug Shots
By Steve Miller
Florida Center for Investigative Reporting
State Rep. Carl Zimmermann, D-Dunedin, is tinkering with a seedy industry that relies on the First Amendment with a bill, HB677, which takes on the mug shot industry.

Our Election Laws Should Be Smart, Efficient, Fair
By Susan Clary
Florida Voices
Who could forget the 102-year-old Miami woman who waited in line for three hours last November to cast her ballot?

In Search of Civility in Our Political Life
By Paula Dockery
Florida Voices
Once upon a time those who were afforded the opportunity to govern treated each other with respect and courtesy while working together to do what was in the best interest of those that elected them.

POLITICAL RACES

Does Rubio want to become the next billion dollar presidential candidate?
By Alex Leary
Tampa Bay Times
A fundraising letter from Sen. Marco Rubio hitting homes nationwide this week ends on a dramatic note: "President Obama raised $1 billion to win. Any help you can give will be most appreciated."

Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer won't run for governor
News Service of Florida
Tampa Bay Times
Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer has decided against challenging Gov. Rick Scott in the 2014 elections, he announced Wednesday.

Five Democrats endorse Rick Kriseman in nonpartisan St. Petersburg mayoral race
By Mark Puente
Tampa Bay Times
While past mayoral elections have gotten ugly at times, party politics largely hasn't mattered when voters cast ballots for a city leader. 

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

BP exec back on the stand in oil spill trial
By Michael Kunzelman
Associated Press
Another BP executive was expected on the witness stand Thursday to face more questions from attorneys for the U.S. government, which is trying to prove the oil company is mostly to blame for a deadly explosion on the Deepwater Horizon rig that led to a massive oil spill.

Everglades Foundation beefs up Tallahassee lobbying team as governor dines with board
By Bruce Ritchie
Florida Current
The Everglades Foundation has beefed up its lobbying team in advance of a legislative session that is expected to include debate over who pays for Everglades restoration.

Fred Grimm: Billboards trump trees when you have powerful pals
By Fred Grimm
Miami Herald
Flout the law, you pay the price. Unless the transgressor happens to be a politically connected outdoor-advertising enterprise, happy to splash the mug of an influential state legislator across 32 billboards in his district.

EDUCATION

Florida Democrats seek to cushion expected changes to charter school law
By Jeffrey S. Solochek
Tampa Bay Times
Majority Republicans in the Florida House and Senate have made no secret of their desire to expand the reach of charter schools in the state, with legislation filed to give charters more access to construction funds and to allow even more growth of the publicly funded, privately run schools.

Bennett looking for partners in Common Core rollout
By James Call
Florida Current
National and state business leaders gathered in Orlando on Wednesday to discuss Florida’s implementation of Common Core Standards in the public school system.

Florida House Speaker Clarifies Remarks on Florida Poly
By Mary Toothman
Lakeland Ledger
Florida House Speaker Will Weatherford said Wednesday his intentions are not for the Legislature to turn its back on Florida Polytechnic University but to support its efforts for a successful outcome.

JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY

Scott says Obama to blame for pending budget cuts
By John Kennedy
Palm Beach Post
Gov. Rick Scott lashed out Wednesday at President Obama, saying it is up to the White House to resolve the congressional deadlock over looming budget cuts that could slash millions of dollars from Florida’s economy.

More misconduct allegations arise at Citizens
By Toluse Olorunnipa
Miami Herald/Tampa Bay Times Tallahassee Bureau
In an attempt to clear its name after a series of scandals involving corporate misconduct and improper spending, Citizens Property Insurance Corp. released a laundry list of 474 internal complaints Wednesday.

Bill to shrink hurricane fund would make homeowners pay more
By Charles Elmore
Palm Beach Post
Home insurance premiums would rise statewide under bills filed Wednesday that aim to shrink the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund.

Gov. Scott pledges state help to secure spring training
Associated Press
Palm Beach Post
Gov. Rick Scott wants to spend $5 million in the coming year to help keep spring training alive in Florida.

HEALTH AND SENIORS

Will a Medicaid expansion create jobs? A review of the evidence
By Amy Sherman
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald PolitiFact
In an about-face, Gov. Rick Scott announced that he would support a massive Medicaid expansion, providing health care coverage to an additional million Floridians thanks to billions of federal dollars.

CIVIL RIGHTS, PEACE AND SOCIAL ISSUES

Florida bill would broaden 'stand your ground'
By Rene Stutzman
Orlando Sentinel
A Polk County legislator who once fired a warning shot to scare away burglars has introduced a bill in the Florida House that would expand the state's "stand your ground" law.

Newtown "Changed America," But Will Congress Change Gun Laws?
By Gavin Aronsen
Mother Jones
"Newtown changed America," said Sen. Richard Blumenthal during Wednesday's Judiciary Committee hearing on the proposed Assault Weapons Ban of 2013.

Ex-lawmaker Adams says gun-control ideas simply "feel-good" efforts
By Mark K. Matthews
Orlando Sentinel
Former U.S. Rep. Sandy Adams returned to Capitol Hill Wednesday, defending gun rights at an emotional — and occasionally combative — U.S. Senate hearing that examined new proposals to ban military-style guns and high-capacity magazines.

JUSTICE AND THE COURTS

High Court weighs whether elections in Florida and other states need continued federal oversight
By John Lantigua
Palm Beach Post
Deirdre Macnab, president of the Florida League of Women Voters, says the electoral laws passed by Florida’s GOP-controlled legislature in 2011 provide the best evidence nationwide for why the U.S. Supreme Court should not strike down Section 5 of the 1965 Voting Rights Act.

State vows better monitoring of antipsychotics in juvenile jails
By Joel Engelhardt
Palm Beach Post
The state agency that oversees juvenile prisons is changing the way it distributes powerful antipsychotic medications in response to a series published two years ago in The Palm Beach Post.