PROGRESS
FLORIDA IN THE NEWS
Groups Call for a Middle Class Revival Agenda in Florida
By Robert Lorei
WMNF Tampa
Excerpt: While the Governor has centered his message on appealing to corporate CEO's, what would a budget based on the needs of average people look like? We're joined now by Damien Filer who is with Progress Florida. Along with members of Florida Watch Action and America Votes – they are offering a middle class agenda for Florida.
AWAKE
THE STATE IN THE NEWS
Florida House approves voting changes, but activists in Tampa call for more
By Mitch Perry
Creative Loafing Tampa
On the first day of the Legislative session, activist groups from across the state gathered in Florida's biggest cities calling for electoral reform in the wake of the state's latest embarrassment at the polls. "Awake the State" groups met in 22 cities, including Tampa's Lykes Gaslight Park where an estimated 150 people spoke out for election reform.
Crowd demanding voting rights swells to 200 in downtown Tampa
By Janelle Irwin
WMNF Tampa
Two hundred activists crowded Gaslight Square in downtown Tampa Tuesday to demand comprehensive changes to Florida’s voting law.
FEATURED
STORIES
No facts, no logic, no reality in Will Weatherford's Medicaid stance
By John Romano
Tampa Bay Times
Related: Medicaid program helped Will Weatherford's family after all, he admits
Related editorial: On Medicaid, family facts and fantasies
I think Will Weatherford's heart was in the right place. It was his facts, theories, justifications and conclusions that seemed to wander off aimlessly.
Florida Republicans search for Medicaid expansion alternative
By Tia Mitchell
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Republicans in the Florida House are trying to come up with a plan for the uninsured, something they believe would be better than expanding Medicaid.
Florida House bridles at Senate’s proposed ethics reforms
By Dara Kam
Palm Beach Post
A day after the Senate unanimously passed ethics reforms at the start of the 2013 legislative session, a House committee picked apart the bill, objecting that it went too far in some areas and weakened safeguards in another.
Sen. Greg Evers' proposed bill seeks to ban all abortions
By Louis Cooper
Pensacola News Journal
Three Northwest Florida lawmakers are supporting a proposal that would outlaw nearly all abortions in Florida, close abortion clinics and punish those who perform the procedure with life in prison.
The real GOP voter fraud: Employees admit forging voter registration forms
By Morgan Whitaker
MSNBC
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement revealed Tuesday that two employees of a company hired by the Republican Party of Florida to register voters admitted they committed fraud during the 2012 election season.
FLORIDA
POLITICS
Scott tells House to try again on campaign finance plan
By Mary Ellen Klas
Miami Herald/Tampa Bay Times Tallahassee Bureau
In another sign that Florida Gov. Rick Scott is moving to the populist middle, the govenor's aides told Florida House leaders Wednesday that he cannot support their plan to raise campaign contribution caps from $500 to $10,000 in exchange for more rigorous disclosure.
House panel OKs right-to-speak bill
Associated Press
Tampa Tribune
Florida's citizens would get the right to be heard - and not just seen - at local government meetings under a bill that has cleared a House panel.
Weatherford's woeful campaign finance idea
By Jonathan Backer
Tampa Bay Times
Florida's campaign finance system is not perfect.
Gov. Scott, Cabinet to meet in Tallahassee
Associated Press
Miami Herald
Gov. Rick Scott and members of the Florida Cabinet will meet Thursday in Tallahassee.
POLITICAL
RACES
Jeb Bush more open to a future White House bid
By Ken Thomas
Associated Press
Jeb Bush has long resisted pressure from supporters to run for president.
ENVIRONMENT
AND ENERGY
House committee bill on Everglades condemned by environmental groups
By Bruce Ritchie
Florida Current
The House State Affairs Committee is considering filing a bill that would extend a tax on sugar farming in the Everglades and provide permitting certainty for farmers, Rep. Matt Caldwell, a subcommittee chairman, said Wednesday.
Bills dealing with controversial oil and gas 'fracking' to be heard Thursday
By Bruce Ritchie
Florida Current
Concerns about the practice of oil and gas extraction called hydraulic fracturing or "fracking" are the focus of a pair of bills being heard Thursday by a House subcommittee.
EDUCATION
In-state tuition bill for children of undocumented immigrants moving in Florida House
By Kathleen McGrory
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
2013 may finally be the year for the college-bound children of undocumented immigrants.
Bill sparks parent group to raise 'Orwellian' fears over student privacy
By Leslie Postal
Orlando Sentinel
A move to make it easier for researches to access Florida educational data has some parents worried about an "Orwellian" effort that would violate student privacy.
State senator proposes crackdown on tutoring companies
By Michael LaForgia
Tampa Bay Times
Criminals would be banned from running subsidized tutoring firms and state education officials would be required to track complaints and bar providers who cheat or commit fraud under a bill filed Tuesday in the state Senate.
Common Core testing will take 8-10 hours over several days
By Jeffrey S. Solochek
Tampa Bay Times
As Florida and other states debate their readiness for the Common Core State Standards, the group designing the tests that would replace the FCAT has announced that its tests will last 8-10 hours and schools will need up to 20 days to administer them.
JOBS,
BUDGET, AND ECONOMY
Scott wrong on his role in Florida’s recovery
Editorial
Palm Beach Post
Gov. Rick Scott has a story he would like to tell about the state’s economic recovery, but it isn’t the true story.
House speaker calculates pension savings in billions
By Bill Cotterell
Florida Current
House Speaker Will Weatherford's plan to close the traditional Florida pension system to new employees, making them enroll in the now-optional 401(k)-style investment plan, would start slowly but soon start saving billions of dollars per year, according to projections released Wednesday by his office.
Foreclosure speed-up bill continues House trek; courts ask for funding to tackle backlog
By Gray Rohrer
Florida Current
A bill to expedite the foreclosure process passed its second committee Wednesday in the House, and court administrators are also asking lawmakers to use money from a foreclosure fraud settlement with major banks to help clear Florida’s foreclosure backlog.
House panel passes bills to shrink Citizens
By Gray Rohrer
Florida Current
The House Insurance and Banking Subcommittee began its efforts to reduce the risk of Citizens Property Insurance Corp. on Wednesday, passing a series of bills to reduce coverage of high-end homes and set up a clearinghouse to funnel customers away from the state-backed insurer.
Poll: Dolphins stadium-tax deal highly unpopular
By Marc Caputo and Toluse Olorunnipa
Miami Herald
About 73 percent of likely Miami-Dade voters oppose a Miami Dolphins tax-break plan for stadium improvements, according to a new poll obtained by The Miami Herald that indicates the issue is politically damaging for lawmakers.
HEALTH
AND SENIORS
Jeb Bush opposed to Florida Medicaid expansion
By Jake Tapper
CNN
Florida's former governor Jeb Bush isn't in alignment with the Sunshine State's current Republican executive on the issue of accepting federal dollars to expand Medicaid coverage to more lower income residents.
Bill would equalize insurance payouts on oral, IV meds
By James Call
Florida Current
Cancer patients, survivors and their supporters gathered Wednesday just outside Senate chambers to demonstrate support for a proposal mandating that insurance companies equalize coverage of oral medicine with IV-administered medicine.
Looming physician shortage prompts medical turf wars
By Kathleen Haughney
Orlando Sentinel
With more people likely to seek access to health care under the Affordable Care Act, medical professionals and legislators are worried that there won't be enough physicians in Florida to treat patients.
Optometrists bill advances with caution
By James Call
Florida Current
A Senate panel voted 10-3 on Wednesday to approve a bill granting more prescription authority to optometrists.
CIVIL
RIGHTS, PEACE AND SOCIAL ISSUES
Universal gun background check bill filed, sponsor admits its a tough sell
By Toluse Olorunnipa
Miami Herald
Sen. Maria Sachs, D-Delray Beach, introduced the “Universal Background Check Act” on Wednesday, filing a gun control bill that requires virtually all sales of firearms to be conducted through licensed dealers.
Second Amendment not unlimited
By Hubert C. Normile
Florida Today
Recently, I attended the Space Coast Progressive Alliance Forum on Gun Control and Public Safety.
Immigration Group Visits Senator Rubio's Office
By Yoselis Ramos
WUSF Tampa
Various immigration activists have come together into what they're calling The Florida Caravan for Immigration Reform.
JUSTICE
AND THE COURTS
'Anti-Sharia' law resurfaces in Florida Legislature
By Rochelle Koff
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
A renewed attempt to pass a controversial "foreign law" bill proposed by Sen. Alan Hays, R-Umatilla, and Rep. Larry Metz, R-Yahala, was approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee Wednesday, after more than an hour of sometimes emotional public testimony.
Sick-time legal fights could make taxpayers ill
By David Damron
Orlando Sentinel
For taxpayers, the legal bills from Orange County's decision to keep a sick-time initiative off the fall ballot are just starting to arrive.
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