Daily News Clips for February 7, 2013

FEATURED STORIES

Sen. Marco Rubio to deliver GOP response to State of the Union
By Alex Leary
Tampa Bay Times
Florida Sen. Marco Rubio will deliver the nationally televised Republican response to President Barack Obama's State of the Union speech Tuesday, a high-profile assignment adding to the 2016 presidential speculation around him.

Campaign-finance-reform bill has major loophole
By Aaron Deslatte
Orlando Sentinel
Florida House Speaker Will Weatherford says he wants to crack down on the big-money interests that thwart public disclosure by funneling millions of dollars for ads, entertainment and other campaign largesse through obscure, third-party groups.

Crist says he didn't know Greer gave himself cut of each major donation
By Rene Stutzman
Orlando Sentinel
When former Gov. Charlie Crist was grilled by the attorney who is fighting to keep the former chairman of the Florida GOP out of prison, there were no major revelations, but there were hints at the mudslinging that may start next week when Jim Greer goes on trial in Orlando.

Senators question Scott budget on reserves, university funding, pensions
By Gray Rohrer
Florida Current
After the House’s first look at Gov. Rick Scott’s budget recommendations, the Senate got its first crack at the $74.2 billion spending plan Wednesday, with members of the Senate Appropriations Committee.

Charter School Expansion Bill Rankles Dems And Public School Advocates
By Lynn Hatter 
WFSU Tallahassee
Lawmakers in the House Choice and Innovation Committee have crafted a proposal that could allow a big expansion of charter schools.

FLORIDA POLITICS

Judge orders state to release emails in suit over Gov. Scott's plan for Mansion-area park
By Lucy Morgan
Tampa Bay Times
Some governors left bronze statues behind. Others contributed a library or a sunroom to the Governor's Mansion.

Florida Redistricting Scandal Proves Democracy Cannot be Trusted to Politicians
By Dennis Maley
Bradenton Times
It appears that there is now clear evidence of what everyone who followed the once-in-a-decade state legislative redistricting process already knew: despite a new constitutional amendment forbidding legislators from basing boundaries on political calculations, that is exactly what they did.

Truly fair districts
Editorial
Gainesville Sun
If you can't win fair and square, change the rules. That seems to be the motto in Republican-led efforts to change election laws, such as limiting early voting and altering the way that states award Electoral College votes.

Fla: 64,000 voters didn't vote for president
By Gary Fineout
Associated Press
Florida's handing of last year's election has been the target of criticism and will likely spark changes, but election officials say in a new report that there's no indication of voter confusion.

Ban on texting starts torturous path in Legislature
By Jennifer Curington
Orlando Sentinel
A bill banning texting while driving began Wednesday what's expected to be a torturous journey through the Legislature — where it's died for the past four years — with lawmakers questioning why police can't prosecute texters under existing law.

Florida Senate panel approves public comment bill
Associated Press
Tampa Tribune
The public would have a right to be heard at state and local government meetings under a bill that's cleared a Senate committee.

Only in Tallahassee: Six senators take lobbyist out for steak dinner as 'thank you'
By Mary Ellen Klas
Miami Herald/Tampa Bay Times Tallahassee Bureau
The setting was a private room at Shula's 347 Grill on Thursday, arguably the swankiest venue in Tallahassee, and the dinner list included six senators and head of the optometric association and its lobbyist.

Florida's Tea Party Movement Has the Blues
By Rick Outzen
Florida Voices
The Republican Party has learned that crazy no longer sells in general elections, particularly the kooky tea party version of conservatism.

Company headed by Florida GOP’s finance chair files for bankruptcy
By Peter Schorsch
Saint Petersblog
From the party of fiscal restraint and “running government like a business” comes news that Universal Health Care Group, the Saint Petersburg-based health care insurance holding company led by Florida GOP finance chair Akshay “AK” Desai, has declared bankruptcy. 

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

Bills filed to fix glitch caused by 2012 growth management 'glitch bill'
By Bruce Ritchie
Florida Current
Bills have been filed in response to a circuit court ruling in Palm Beach County last October dealing with voter approval of proposed developments.

Nuclear Cost Recovery Law Needs Repeal
By Susan Clary
Florida Voices
With the help of the Florida Legislature, two energy companies have been able to collect more than $1 billion from utility customers for the construction of nuclear power plants with no guarantee they would ever be built.

The leadership drought on water
Editorial
Ocala Star-Banner
Environmental groups heralded Gov. Rick Scott’s proposed 2013-14 state budget for calling for renewed spending on conservation lands, Everglades restoration, state park improvements and a massive fuel tank cleanup.

LGBT

Marco Rubio Walks Fine Line On LGBT Rights
By Chris Geidner
BuzzFeed
In extensive comments on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights, Sen. Marco Rubio on Tuesday avoided taking strong positions for or against — leaving his view on federal legislation unclear even as he expressed opposition to a constitutional amendment banning same-sex couples from marrying while renewing his support for keeping marriage between one man and one woman.

Tavares approves domestic partnership registry
By Ludmilla Lelis
Orlando Sentinel
City Council members approved a domestic partnership registry today, making Tavares the first city in Lake County to offer unmarried couples some legal rights.

Florida School District Might Cut All School Clubs Rather Than Approve Gay-Straight Alliance
By Kyle Munzenrieder
Miami New Times
Florida's Lake County School Board might ban all extracurricular clubs as a way to avoid having to approve the formation of a Gay-Straight Alliance.

It's time for Boy Scouts to end outdated ban on gays
By Michael Mayo
South Florida Sun Sentinel
Just when it looked like the Boy Scouts of America would finally join the 21st century and end its longstanding ban against gays, it punted on the issue.

EDUCATION

Gov. Rick Scott's proposed $15 million UF bonus heats up rivalry with FSU
By Michael Van Sickler and Tia Mitchell
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
The rivalry between the University of Florida and Florida State University is heating up over millions of dollars Gov. Rick Scott is proposing in next year's budget.

GOP bill would require school districts to offer unused building space to charter schools for free
By John Kennedy
Palm Beach Post
An effort backed by Gov. Rick Scott to expand charter school education in Florida cleared a state House committee Wednesday on a strict, party-line vote.

Stop teaching to the test, Florida groups urge with petition
By Jeff Solochek
Tampa Bay Times
University of South Florida professor Sherman Dorn, an expert on (and critic of) education accountability policies, has started a petition urging the Obama administration to pay more than lip service to its proclamations that schools should not teach to given tests.

Bright Futures Savings
By Whitney Ray
Capitol News Service
State lawmakers may once again look to the Bright Futures Scholarship Program to save money.

Lawson eyes bid for FAMU top job
By Bill Cotterell
Florida Current
Quietly, diplomatically, former state Sen. Al Lawson is preparing a bid for the presidency of Florida A&M University -- contending that his troubled alma mater needs a politically savvy leader who knows how to work the Legislature for funding and programs that attract student growth.

JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY

Citizens Insurance reform plan could cost property owners more money
By Toluse Olorunnipa
Miami Herald/Tampa Bay Times Tallahassee Bureau
Property insurance rates across the state could shoot up much faster beginning next year under a massive new proposal being drafted in the Florida Legislature.

Senators look to revamp local pension plans
By Kathleen Haughney
Orlando Sentinel
A panel of Florida lawmakers on Wednesday debated how best to revamp 492 municipal pension plans across the state.

Hey, Big Spender! How the Budget Process Works
By Paula Dockery
Florida Voices
Much has been written since Gov. Rick Scott released his budget – that’s right, the $74.2 billion budget.

Customers are 'dumb money' for utilities
By Beth Kassab
Orlando Sentinel
If you're a Progress Energy customer and you've looked yourself in the mirror lately, you're looking at "dumb money."

Bill lets HOAs foreclose fast if dues unpaid
By Mary Shanklin
Orlando Sentinel
Homeowners behind on their community-association dues would have to make good on the full amount before fighting the charges, under proposed legislation that would also bring state oversight to Florida's homeowner associations.

For two hundred grand, we could do better than an orange tie
By Fred Grimm
Miami Herald
We’ve now been officially rebranded. With an orange necktie.

HEALTH AND SENIORS

Defying Expectations, GOP Governors Embrace Medicaid Expansion
By Julie Rovner
Health News Florida
Top-ranked archrivals Michigan and Ohio State faced off Wednesday night on the basketball court for the second time in this season (Michigan won in overtime to split the series).

Hospitals say they had no input on Medicaid payment plan
By James Call
Florida Current
Implementation of a new Medicaid payment method to hospitals may have been slowed by complaints from the state’s 200-plus hospitals.

Lawmakers ask AHCA to tweak new Medicaid formula for hospitals
By Tia Mitchell
Tampa Bay Times
Saying they want teaching and safety net hospitals to come out as winners instead of losers, members of the Senate’s Health Policy Committee have asked to state to provide more options for implementing a new Medicaid payment system for hospitals.

CIVIL RIGHTS, PEACE AND SOCIAL ISSUES

Lawmakers consider tuition break for children of illegal immigrants
By James Call
Florida Current
Florida lawmakers Wednesday started wrestling with a federal court ruling prohibiting the state from charging out-of-state tuition rates to U.S.-born Florida residents whose parents are illegal immigrants.

Cops and Drones
By Mike Vasilinda
Capitol News Service
Florida could soon be the first state in the country to prohibit police from flying unmanned planes and helicopters to spy on citizens.

JUSTICE AND THE COURTS

Fla. agrees to pay $7 million to avoid lawsuit
By Gary Fineout
Associated Press
Florida is offering to pay a business technology company $7 million to avoid a potentially costly lawsuit over plans to consolidate the state's email systems.

Limiting Death Row appeals would mean executing the innocent
Editorial
Palm Beach Post
Today, when the Florida House Subcommittee on Criminal Justice discusses limiting Death Row appeals, it all will sound sadly familiar.