FEATURED
STORIES
Internet cafe campaign cash flooded state capitol, lawmakers’ coffers
By Mary Ellen Klas
Miami Herald/Tampa Bay Times Tallahassee Bureau
Related: Officials: Fla. lawyer at center of $300 million scheme
Florida sheriffs had pleaded for years with the Legislature to close the loophole that fueled the fastest expansion of illegal gambling in decades — so-called “Internet cafes.”
Ethics commissioner: Bill might make ethics looser
Associated Press
Tampa Tribune
A member of the Florida Commission on Ethics believes the Senate's effort to tighten ethics may have the opposite effect if it becomes law.
House-Senate split on pension hints at deal-making to come
By John Kennedy
Palm Beach Post
An effort by leading House Republicans to close the Florida Retirement System’s traditional pension plan to new employees cleared its final committee stop Thursday — after undergoing some changes that did little to ease overwhelming opposition from public workers’ unions.
House budget committee approves sweeping charter school bill
By Kathleen McGrory
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
The House Appropriations Committee on Thursday approved a sweeping charter school bill that would, among other things, require traditional public schools to share empty classroom space with charter schools.
Amended Campaign Finance Bill Cuts Original House Proposal In Half, But Still Draws Concerns
By Regan McCarthy
WFSU Tallahassee
Florida’s efforts to reform the state’s elections system are moving forward.
At CPAC, Rubio gets big applause for stances on marriage, abortion
By George Bennett
Palm Beach Post
Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, in a speech widely seen as an early audition for a potential 2016 presidential run, got big applause from the Conservative Political Action Conference today when he defended traditional marriage and voiced opposition to abortion.
BEST
OF THE BLOGS
Help Wanted: Florida Lt. Governor Without Ties To Corruption
By Martha Jackovics
Beach Peanuts
Amid news this morning that Florida Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll was resigning over her ties to Allied Veterans of the World which is currently under a criminal investigation, resulting in the arrest of the head of that company on racketeering and money laundering charges, there was nothing but silence from Republicans in Florida.
Lt. Gov Carroll Resigns: Progressives Need To Make Cronyism and Corruption A Major Issue
By Kartik Krishnaiyer
Florida Political Squeeze
Last night I spoke to a conservative friend in Jacksonville who told me this scandal would soon engulf the state. I didn’t really believe it would be as far and wide as he claimed but he was on the mark.
Suburban Sprawl In South Florida: a game of musical chairs
By Gimleteye
Eye On Miami
"Every time we get close to the 24 hour mark, they move the goal post," Girard said.
SWFWMD Employee Survey: 71% say morale is poor; over 300 say why
By Sandspur
SWFWMD Matters
There was a time at the Southwest Florida Water Management District when staff members were valued, and whether or not they felt good about their jobs was believed to be strategically important to how well they did them.
Economic impacts of climate change adding up in Florida
By DWG
Daily Kos
Human intelligence is highly overrated. Let's take a trip to Florida for a little proof.
FLORIDA
POLITICS
Scandal's reach not yet known
By Lloyd Dunkelberger
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
The Internet cafe scandal that led to the surprise resignation of Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll Wednesday has the potential to taint Gov. Rick Scott — and other state political leaders — through campaign contributions by the firm at the focus of a broad federal, state and local fraud and racketeering investigation.
Choosing a Lt. Governor
By Mike Vasilinda
Capitol News Service
Governor Rick Scott has said he will wait until after the legislative session to choose a Lt. Governor to replace Jennifer Carroll, who abruptly resigned Monday night.
More than $1M in political contributions linked to Internet cafes
By Amy Pavuk and Aaron Deslatte
Orlando Sentinel
Millions of dollars in bank accounts were frozen, dozens of luxury cars and boats were seized, and the government has taken claim over dozens of Florida properties as part of the criminal case against the controversial nonprofit Allied Veterans of the World, newly released case documents show.
Rick Scott Turnover: 17 Staffers Who've Resigned Since Florida Governor Took Office
By Amanda McCorquodale
Huffington Post Miami
Although Rick Scott campaigned on job creation, the Rick Scott Blog Watch calls the governor "the Typhoid Mary to careers."
Florida Gov. Rick Scott's Unfortunate Opportunity
By Paula Dockery
Florida Voices
It’s never good news for a governor and his party when a lieutenant governor resigns under fallout from a federal probe on racketeering.
Details deserved
Editorial
Gainesville Sun
Floridians deserve details on why their elected lieutenant governor, Jennifer Carroll, resigned.
Lawmaker mum on expose of Rep. Jamie Grant's company
By Michael Van Sickler
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
The non-denial denials continue on a WTSP-Ch. 10 report on a $2.6-million grant awarded in Hardee County to a company owned by Rep. Jamie Grant, R-Tampa.
Judge: Former Lt. Gov. Carroll must testify in taping case
Associated Press
Tampa Tribune
A judge told lawyers Thursday that former Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll can provide information in a case against an ex-employee charged with illegally releasing taped conversations from the lieutenant governor's office.
Sen. Marco Rubio draws roaring applause at CPAC
By Alex Leary
Tampa Bay Times
With presidential speculation swirling around him — and a surging potential rival at his heels — U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio told a gathering of conservatives Thursday that the GOP does not need to search for new ideas.
Change conservative values? ‘Malarkey’ says Allen West
By George Bennett
Palm Beach Post
Former U.S. Rep. Allen West urged conservatives this morning not to compromise their principles and to supplement their criticism of government handouts by drawing more attention to their own private acts of charity.
Widespread support for Dolphins stadium bill, except in Miami-Dade
By Toluse Olorunnipa
Miami Herald/Tampa Bay Times Tallahassee Bureau
The Miami Dolphins’ push for a bill to help pay for stadium renovations sailed through another committee of the Florida Legislature on Thursday with the support of lawmakers hailing from Umatilla to Sebring.
ENVIRONMENT
AND ENERGY
Everglades bill headed to House floor amid talks between sugar farmers, environmentalists
By Bruce Ritchie
Florida Current
An Everglades bill that environmentalists are opposing easily passed its final committee stop Thursday on its way to the House floor.
Committees introduce bills to allow land-buying to buffer military bases
By Bruce Ritchie
Florida Current
A Senate committee on Thursday passed a committee bill that would expand the state's military base protection program to include the purchase of land to prevent development conflicts with bases.
Ten percent of BP's $100 million for Florida has been spent
By Craig Pittman
Tampa Bay Times
Two years ago the company at the center of the Deepwater Horizon disaster, BP, agreed to put up $1 billion to pay for environmental restoration projects in the Gulf Coast states hit by the 2010 oil spill.
EDUCATION
Florida lawmakers want to weed out education laws
By Kathleen McGrory
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Remember the highly touted policy requiring every high school student in Florida to choose a major? It's about to be canned.
Sequestration to take its toll on Florida school construction funds
By Jeffrey S. Solochek
Tampa Bay Times
Florida public schools have watched their PECO funds shrink in recent years, with the small amount remaining funnelled by lawmakers to charter schools.
FAMU Gets New Trustee In School Choice Group's Gilzean
Staff Report
WFSU Tallahassee
Today, Governor Rick Scott announced the appointment of Glen Gilzean to the Florida A&M University Board of Trustees.
JOBS,
BUDGET, AND ECONOMY
House, Senate take differing pension paths
By Bill Cotterell
Florida Current
The House and Senate are taking widely divergent tracks in revamping the Florida Retirement System.
Sick-time bill loses unpaid time-off provision
By David Damron
Orlando Sentinel
A Republican legislative push to block Orange County's sick-time referendum cleared a Florida Senate panel Thursday without a measure to guarantee unpaid time off for ailing workers.
Senators want a study on sick leave
By James Call
Florida Current
A Senate committee voted Thursday to create a statewide task force on employee medical leave policies to preempt ordinances approved by city and county governments.
Small versus large insurers' fight over Cat Fund plays out on Senate panel
By Gray Rohrer
Florida Current
A Cat Fund fight broke out at the Senate Banking and Insurance Committee Thursday, as small, Florida-based insurance companies fought with larger carriers and reinsurance companies over two approaches to the state’s reinsurance coverage.
Help courts, not banks, to resolve Florida’s foreclosure crisis
Editorial
Palm Beach Post
State courts must deal with nearly 1 million foreclosure cases over the next three years.
HEALTH
AND SENIORS
Feds to FL: We're Flexible; Show Us Your Plan
By Carol Gentry
Health News Florida
Medicaid expansion for 1 million low-income adults in Florida may technically be dead, after committees in both the House and Senate voted to kill it.
Fasano calls for public engagement on Medicaid expansion
By James Call
Florida Current
A Republican representative is calling on Florida's residents to help persuade his fellow GOP lawmakers to extend Medicaid coverage to nearly a million Floridians who have no health insurance.
Alternative plan could give health care to working poor
Editorial
Palm Beach Post
Despite rejection by Florida House and Senate committees studying implementation of the Affordable Care Act, Medicaid expansion is not yet dead.
CIVIL
RIGHTS, PEACE AND SOCIAL ISSUES
Tomato pickers pass through Seffner on 200-mile march
Staff Report
Tampa Tribune
A protest march that started in Fort Myers made its way through Seffner today.
Bill allowing poor to use government debit cards to buys guns, ammunition off target
By Frank Cerabino
Palm Beach Post
A proposal from the Florida Legislature to restrict gun and ammo sales?
Once time is served, restore offenders' rights immediately
By Mark R. Schlakman
Orlando Sentinel
Hundreds of thousands of Floridians who have completed their sentences for felony convictions are prohibited from exercising their right as U.S. citizens to vote under the state's civil-rights restoration scheme.
JUSTICE
AND THE COURTS
Lawyer: Florida missing out on millions by ignoring bail bond law
By Lucy Morgan
Tampa Bay Times
Could Florida be missing out on millions of dollars in revenue?
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