Daily News Clips for April 30, 2013

PROGRESS FLORIDA IN THE NEWS

The BluVu: Week of April 29, 2013
By Gayle Andrews
The BluVu
Governor Rick Scott thinks he can win by becoming a moderate, Bill Nelson is causing him heartburn, and Damien talks Hypocrite of the Year as political reality comes your way!

FEATURED STORIES

$74.5B state budget comes with something for everyone
By Michael Van Sickler
Times/Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Related: Open memo to Rick Scott: veto entire education budget
The largest budget in state history landed on the desks of Florida lawmakers Monday, brimming with a 6 percent spending increase that includes a tuition hike for university students, pay raises for teachers and state employees and hundreds of millions in new hometown spending.

Senate weakens parent trigger; floor vote likely Tuesday
By Kathleen McGrory
Times/Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Related: 'Grass roots' support hurts credibility of parent trigger backers
The parent trigger bill hit the Senate floor Monday, and as expected, sparked some lively discussion.

Senate, House still at a stalemate over Medicaid expansion alternative
By Tia Mitchell
Times/Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Related: Activists urge Senate to hold firm on 'NegronCare' plan
The Florida Senate effectively rejected the House's alternative to expanding Medicaid on Monday, prolonging a stalemate that may prove too difficult to resolve before the legislative session wraps up this week.

Buck up, Mickey: Disney World fights sick days
By Jason Notte
MSN Money
Perhaps "The Most Magical Place on Earth" is hoping a wave of Tinkerbell's wand can cure employee illnesses.

Assault on environment unabated
Editorial
Tampa Bay Times
Growth management has been gutted, and the water management districts have been neutered.

FLORIDA POLITICS

The absurd idea of Schenck as campaign reformer
By Dan DeWitt
Tampa Bay Times
Rep. Rob Schenck, cleaning up the state's filthy campaign finance system. Rob Schenck, reformer. Stunning, absurd, a flat-out joke — but, on its face, true.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell lobbies lawmakers in Tallahassee to back Dolphins stadium renovation bill
By Toluse Olorunnipa and Charles Rabin
Miami Herald
The Miami Dolphins brought their big guns to Tallahassee on Monday, hoping to persuade the fickle Florida Legislature to approve a taxpayer-supported stadium upgrade in the final days of this year’s session.

Table is set for Sen. Marco Rubio at Pasco Republicans' Reagan Day Dinner
By Molly Moorhead
Tampa Bay Times
U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio will headline Tuesday night's Republican Party of Pasco County Reagan Day Dinner in Port Richey.

Farewell Week for Florida Voices
By Rosemary Goudreau
Florida Voices
I’m sorry to tell you that we’re closing Florida Voices at the end of the week. Our last day of publication will be Friday, May 3.

Good Journalism in Florida Faces a Perilous Future
By Florence Snyder
Florida Voices
In the 1970s, Big Media had more money than the boards of directors knew what to do with.

POLITICAL RACES

Bill Nelson for governor? Maybe.
By Sean Sullivan
Washington Post
“I have no intention of running for governor,” Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) declared Friday morning on MSNBC.

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

Budget agreement disappoints land-buying supporters, pleases beach project backers
By Bruce Ritchie
Florida Current
Environmental groups on Monday expressed disappointment with the  2013-14 state budget agreement on land-buying while petroleum contamination site contractors were concerned about proviso language governing the program.

Knock a hole in dam and just let Ocklawaha River flow
By Diane Roberts
Tampa Bay Times
One of the state's loveliest rivers is being crippled to operate a glorified fishing hole at a yearly cost of half a million taxpayer dollars.

Extreme Weather is Extremely Costly
The Progress Report
Think Progress
We’re now six months out from Superstorm Sandy, which should serve as a reminder that we’re experiencing more damaging extreme weather events linked to climate change.

LGBT

'I'm gay': NBA player Jason Collins breaks barrier
By Howard Fendrich
Associated Press
Last summer, NBA veteran Jason Collins considered joining an old Stanford college roommate, U.S. Rep. Joseph Kennedy III, at Boston's gay pride parade.

EDUCATION

Senate ready to act on 'parent trigger'
By James Call
Florida Current
The Florida Senate is prepared to vote on a "parent trigger" bill that would provide options for improving poorly performing public schools.

Florida budget has $480 million for teacher raises, but checks wouldn’t arrive until 2014
By John Kennedy
Palm Beach Post
Florida teachers will get a pay raise promised by Rick Scott, but it’s not going to prove as fat – or arrive as fast – as many thought.

Try better ways to grade teachers
By Rosanne Wood
Tallahassee Democrat
And you thought your child was taking a lot of tests now ...

Study: Duval loses half its first-year teachers within five years
By Khristopher J. Brooks          
Florida Times-Union
About half of the first-year teachers that Duval County Public Schools recruits are gone within five years, according to a study released Monday by the Jacksonville Public Education Fund.

Florida lawmakers give schools more leeway to deal with cyberbullying
By Jeffrey S. Solochek
Tampa Bay Times
School leaders often have said their hands are tied when confronted with complaints of students bullying one another online outside of school.

Florida lawmakers agree to 3-percent tuition hike
Staff Report
Orlando Sentinel
Florida lawmakers agreed late Friday night to hike tuition at the state's colleges and universities by 3 percent next year, defying Gov. Rick Scott's call to keep tuition level.

JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY

Florida Workers Fight Back Against Wage Theft
By Stephanie Carroll Carson and Mary Anne Meyers
Public News Service Florida
Across the state, Florida workers say they are being denied pay or being asked to work off the clock by their employers.

Scott: We have a deal on tax cut
By Gray Rohrer
Florida Current
Gov. Rick Scott told reporters Monday he has reached an agreement with lawmakers to pass a measure eliminating the sales tax on manufacturing machinery and equipment, but legislative leaders said the announcement was premature.

Future legislative fights: A tangle over taxes
By Gray Rohrer
Florida Current
Week 8 of the 2013 legislative session ended with what could become a familiar refrain in the years to come: House members resisting Senate attempts to eliminate decades-old tax breaks.

Expedited foreclosure bill clears House
By Gray Rohrer
Florida Current
A bill to speed up the foreclosure process in Florida passed through the House by a vote of 87-26, with Republican Reps. Mike Fasano of New Port Richey and Ross Spano of Dover joining a contingent of Democrats voting against the bill.

Move to let surplus lines companies take over Citizens policies rebuffed in House
By Gray Rohrer
Florida Current
Although the House unanimously passed HB 909 last week, which prevents homeowners being shopped in a “clearinghouse” from being taken over by an out-of-state surplus lines company with unregulated rates, a bill opening up the clearinghouse to surplus lines companies was voted down on the House floor Monday.

Former sweepstakes cafes struggle after ban
By Ray Reyes
Tampa Tribune
One Internet sweepstakes café is now a bingo hall.

HEALTH AND SENIORS

Negron says health care deal 'unlikely'
By Kathleen Haughney
Orlando Sentinel
Related editorial: One million reasons for lawmakers to expand care
The Florida Senate tomorrow will vote on a plan to expand health care to 1 million low income Floridians with $51 billion of federal money, but that seems to be as far as the plan will go.

Bill Bypassing State Rules For Nursing Homes And Hospitals Passes Florida House
By Sascha Cordner      
WFSU Tallahassee
A measure allowing certain hospitals and nursing homes to bypass state rules to fill what they’re saying is an immediate need passed the Florida House Tuesday.

Medical liability bill gets snagged by gun concerns
By Mary Ellen Klas
Herald/Times Tallahassee Bureau
A Senate priority bill to limit the liability of Florida doctors ran into trouble in the House on Monday when opponents suggested that it could be used by insurance companies who represent the doctors to create a private registry of gun owners.

IMMIGRATION, CIVIL RIGHTS AND SOCIAL ISSUES

Fighting Conservative Friends, Rubio Pushes Forward With Immigration Reform
By Ashley Lopez
Florida Center for Investigative Reporting
Sen. Marco Rubio’s plans to pass bipartisan immigration reform this year have put him in the hot seat with conservatives, and Rubio is now trying to claw back into their good graces.

JUSTICE AND THE COURTS

Bill reducing delays in implementation of death penalty approved
By Jim Saunders
News Service of Florida
State lawmakers Monday gave final approval to a proposal aimed at reducing delays in carrying out the death penalty, with supporters saying they want justice for victims’ families — but critics warning about executing innocent people.

Daily News Clips for April 29, 2013

FEATURED STORIES

As Legislature limps to close, prepare for pain and little gain
By Michael Mayo
South Florida Sun Sentinel
Whenever I watch the Florida Legislature in action, I usually feel like hurling fruits, vegetables or footwear.

It's Official: House Turns Down $$
By Carol Gentry
Health News Florida
Related: Employers Face Penalty If FL Rejects $
By a 71 to 45 vote, the Florida House of Representatives on Friday passed its own health plan, which relies on state money and bypasses more than $50 billion in federal funds. The vote, as expected, fell almost entirely along party lines.

Does Tallahassee dictate too much to cities, counties?
By Toluse Olorunnipa
Herald/Times Tallahassee Bureau
The Florida Legislature can’t seem to make up its mind about what kind of government is best — small and local, or big and centralized.

Senate passes rewrite of unpopular nuclear fee
By Mary Ellen Klas
Herald/Times Tallahassee Bureau
The Florida Senate on Friday passed a bill that for the first time attempts to scale back the unpopular nuclear fee on customer utility bills by tightening oversight by the state’s utility regulators.

Fla. House not backing down on conservative agenda
By Brendan Farrington
Associated Press
While the GOP on the national level discusses whether it needs to change its messaging to appeal to a broader base, Republicans in the Florida House are clearly sticking with a conservative social agenda.

Meet the new Rick Scott
By Alexander Burns and Jonathan Martin
Politico
In the Republican wave of 2010, you could scarcely have found a more relentless, caustic opponent of President Barack Obama’s policies than Rick Scott.

EDITORIAL CARTOON OF THE WEEK

By Jeff Parker
Florida Today

FLORIDA POLITICS

With 1 week left, fate of Scott's agenda uncertain
By James L. Rosica
Associated Press
With a week left in the legislative session and the outlook still uncertain for Gov. Rick Scott's top priorities, it was time for the governor to apply some pressure.

Rick Scott's budget staff not talking to Legislature, Senate holds up agency bills
By Matt Dixon
Florida Times-Union
As Gov. Rick Scott made clear Thursday he was keeping an eye on earmarks in the budget, word began to circulate his office told agency budget staff to stop communicating with the Legislature until his priorities are addressed.

Legislature approves ethics reform — no joke!
By Carl Hiaasen
Miami Herald
Promise not to laugh? An ethics bill was passed last week in Tallahassee.

Lawmakers putting a few clouds in front of Florida’s Sunshine Laws
By Steve Bousquet
Herald/Times Tallahassee Bureau
In the hyper-partisan Florida Legislature, Republicans and Democrats don’t agree on much, but every year they work agreeably to extend public records exemptions and create new ones.

Rare legislative accord has led to session wins
By Mary Ellen Klas
Herald/Times Tallahassee Bureau
Senate President Don Gaetz often introduces House Speaker Will Weatherford, as the “taller, smarter, better-looking version of the Weatherford-Gaetz” duo.

Democrats also took a role in Florida redistricting battle
By Matt Dixon  
Florida Times-Union
Though Democrats supported a 2010 initiative to take politics out of the process of redrawing Florida’s political lines, emails show some of the party’s biggest political players were involved in drawing maps.

Forum educates voters on latest suppression laws
By Cleveland Tinker
Gainesville Sun
A group of nearly 30 Gainesville residents learned about voter suppression laws from a University of Florida political science professor who is an expert on the subject.

POLITICAL RACES

Sen. Bill Nelson vs. Gov. Rick Scott in 2014?
By Adam C. Smith
Tampa Bay Times
Bill Nelson looked like the heavy favorite for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination to unseat vulnerable Republican Gov. Bob Martinez in April 1990.

Sen. Bill Nelson for governor in 2014? ‘Nothing new’ since his ‘no plans to run’ declaration
By George Bennett
Palm Beach Post
The Capitol Hill publication Roll Call says Florida Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson is mulling a run for governor in 2014, but Nelson spokesman Dan McLaughlin says there’s “nothing new” since Nelson told reporters in March that he had “no plans” to run.  

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

Panhandle lawmaker loads bills with environmental deregulation
By Craig Pittman
Tampa Bay Times
Every year during the legislative session in Tallahassee, state Rep. Jimmy Patronis does two things: He organizes a day for everyone to wear seersucker suits. And he pushes a bill to change Florida's environmental regulations, like the one Thursday that passed the House, blocking local governments from protecting thousands of acres of wetlands.

This trail advertisement brought to you by...
By Bruce Ritchie
Florida Current
A late proposal to allow commercial sponsorship and signs along multiuse trails is facing opposition from environmental groups and some trail lovers.

Bill aims to tighten the reins on collecting upfront fees for future nuclear plants
By Susan Salisbury
Palm Beach Post
Collecting nuclear costs from customers in advance would become more difficult for Florida Power & Light Co. and other utilities under a bill the Florida Senate unanimously approved Friday.

Health survey watching cleanup workers from 2010 gulf oil spill
By Craig Pittman
Tampa Bay Times
Three years ago, during the Deepwater Horizon disaster, BP hired thousands of people across the Gulf Coast to don protective suits and go out in boats to collect the oil or to scrape up the tar balls washing ashore.

LGBT

New conservative lobbying push for gay marriage
By Patrick Condon
Associated Press
A national group of prominent GOP donors that supports gay marriage is pouring new money into lobbying efforts to get Republican lawmakers to vote to make it legal.

EDUCATION

Lawmakers agree on education budget
By James Call
Florida Current
The Florida House and Senate Friday night agreed to an education budget of about $20 billion for the fiscal year beginning July 1.

Charter schools land $91 million for facilities
By Kathleen McGrory and Michael Van Sickler
Times/Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Charter schools will receive $91 million for their construction and maintenance needs, state lawmakers agreed late Sunday.

Political fight erupts over national school standards
By Anthony Man
South Florida Sun Sentinel
The high-caliber schools attracted Kristin Matheny and her family to Weston. Now she may not send her kids to public school when they reach school age.

Senate, House agree to 3 percent tuition hike
By Michael Van Sickler and Tia Mitchell,
Times/Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Florida lawmakers Friday agreed to increase tuition for university and college students by 3 percent, setting up a possible clash with Gov. Rick Scott.

Gov. Scott showing erratic behavior with state universities
Editorial
Gainesville Sun
Like an on-again, off-again romance, Gov. Rick Scott has been hot and cold in his interaction with state universities.

JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY

Pre-emption fever threatens local control and economies
By Ricardo McQueen and Fred Barr
Orlando Sentinel
Related: Senate approves bill to prevent local sick-time laws
Related: Disney won’t take sick time letter, group says
Small-business owners have a big stake in the unfolding debate in the Legislature over pre-emption of local workplace measures (HB 655, SB 726).

Disney World Fights Against Paid Sick Days For Florida Employees
By Harry Bradford
The Huffington Post
Pressure from Disney World has influenced the Florida Senate to take a big step back in guaranteeing paid sick days for workers.

Lawmakers approve automatic pay increase for state workers
By Michael Van Sickler
Times/Herald Tallahassee Bureau
For the first time in seven years, state lawmakers have agreed to give Florida’s employees automatic salary increases, ending a bleak stretch for a 150,000-member workforce that’s weathered cutbacks, pay reductions and slashed benefits.

Weatherford: "Plenty of time" for pension reform
By Bill Cotterell
Florida Current
House Speaker Will Weatherford, who wants to close Florida's traditional pension system and require new public employees to join investment plans, said Friday he remains confident that the Senate will make major cost-saving changes this year.

There's support for wage increase
By Tim Engstrom
Ft. Myers News-Press
National small business advocacy groups traditionally have campaigned against increases to the federal minimum wage, but a survey released this past week indicates wage increases have some support from small business owners.

HEALTH AND SENIORS

House Republicans' Medicaid argument ignores logic
By John Romano
Tampa Bay Times
Not long ago, I was invited to be a judge in a middle school debate.

House Approves Medicaid Alternative But Issue Could Be Dead This Session
By Lynn Hatter 
WFSU Tallahassee
The chances of insuring more low-income Floridians is fading. Florida lawmakers could adjourn the 2013 legislative session next Friday without an agreement on accepting $50 billion dollars from the federal government to insure a million more poor Floridians.

House and Senate address concerns about hospital Medicaid funding
By Tia Mitchell
Times/Herald Tallahassee Bureau
The House and Senate have compromised on how much money to put toward hospital Medicaid funding, allaying many of the concerns raised by safety net hospitals.

Floridians passionate about alimony bill, which is now in governor's hands
By Lloyd Dunkelberger
Gainesville Sun
The fate of Florida’s alimony laws rests with a governor who recently celebrated his 41st anniversary.

IMMIGRATION, CIVIL RIGHTS AND SOCIAL ISSUES

Rubio confronts myths and fears on immigration bill
By William E. Gibson
Orlando Sentinel
No, immigrants who cross the border illegally would not get free cellphones paid for by American taxpayers.

Lawmaker offended by morning prayers in Weatherford's House
By Michael Van Sickler
Miami Herald/Tampa Bay Times Tallahassee Bureau
Friday’s morning House Session opened as it usually does. A religious leader invited by a House member offers a prayer for guidance to the lawmakers.

JUSTICE AND THE COURTS

Florida House approves speeding up executions
By Mary Ellen Klas
Times/Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Despite warnings that Florida will shrink the appeals of the innocent, the Florida House passed a bill Thursday designed to accelerate the execution of many of the 404 inmates on Florida's death row.

Negotiators agree to remove clerks of court from state budget, differences remain
By Matt Dixon
Florida Times-Union
Negotiators have made progress hashing out differences on how to end a three year funding spat over the clerk of court’s budget, but the issue is not yet finalized.

Daily News Clips for April 26, 2013

FEATURED STORIES

House Republicans say no to Senate health care plan, compromise uncertain
By Tia Mitchell
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
House Republicans rejected a bipartisan Senate proposal to accept $51 billion in federal health care money on Thursday, diminishing hopes that lawmakers will reach a health care compromise before the legislative session ends next week.

Florida Governor Scott issues veto threat over legislators' pet projects
By Gary Fineout
Associated Press
Gov. Rick Scott, who has been ratcheting up his criticism of the Republican-led Legislature the last few days, warned Thursday that he could veto projects legislators have stashed in the state budget.

Florida Tea Party's Unemployment Tests Get Flunked by the Feds
By Stephanie Mencimer
Mother Jones
Tea partiers revere the Constitution, which they often study like the Bible, in small groups.

Gov. Rick Scott signs bill limiting drones' use into law
By Michael Van Sickler
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Look up in the sky, Florida. It's okay. The odds of getting caught on a state or local government-operated camera just went down.

Nelson "considering" run for governor
By Jeremy Wallace
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
With one word, U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson has set Florida’s political world on its ear.

BEST OF THE BLOGS

Who opposes the Florida nuclear tax? Florida seniors!
By Sara Barczak
Southern Alliance for Clean Energy
Did you know that, according to a recent poll by the Florida AARP of its members (see page 3), a majority of seniors agreed that raising electric rates for new nuclear reactor proposals that may never be completed is bad business?

Paid Sick Leave: A Reform that Makes Sense
By Laura Reyes
AFSCME
Paid sick leave would help millions of American families, would reduce the high cost of health care and would eliminate an unnecessary drag on our country’s economic recovery.

Has Jeb Bush’s Foundation Created a Faux Parents Group to Support Parent Trigger?
By Bob Sikes
Scathing Purple Musings
Scathing Purple Musings discovered last August that Jeb Bush’s Foundation for Florida’s Future (FFF) had created a petition to support its efforts to pass Parent Trigger.

Will House Democrats Stick Together In Final Weeks of Session?
By Kartik Krishnaiyer
The Florida Squeeze
As we enter the home stretch of the legislative session concerns are abound about the cohesion and discipline of the House Democratic Caucus.

What The Frack Are Scott And The Legislature Thinking....Or Drinking?
By Martha Jackovics
Beach Peanuts
Today Rick Scott added Illinois to the list of states he's trying to lure businesses from, by sending out letters filled with flowery optimism to business owners in the Land Of Lincoln.

FLORIDA POLITICS

Scott grumbles about his agenda adrift; hints at vetoes
By John Kennedy
Palm Beach Post
Gov. Rick Scott grumbled some and hinted Thursday at vetoing some hometown spending sought by top lawmakers if the Legislature fails to act on his legislative proposals.

House approves bill to keep voters' email addresses private
By Steve Bousquet
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Email addresses of voters will be secret under a bill the House passed and sent to the Senate Thursday.

Scott vague on alimony limits issue
By Keith Morelli
Tampa Tribune
Alimony haters were encouraged earlier this month when a bill to end permanent alimony passed the Florida Legislature by a nearly 3-1 margin, but the battle over the legislation’s fate now has shifted to the governor’s office.

Miami-Dade prosecutor to Latvala: I'm 'disappointed' election bill's fraud-fighting was weakened
By Marc Caputo
Miami Herald
A letter from Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez-Rundle to Sen. Jack Latvala:

Florida's best and brightest, in Scott's eyes
By Daniel Ruth
Tampa Bay Times
Apparently Gov. Rick Scott has a rather flexible bar when it comes to determining "greatness."

Gov. Scott will meet with Washington media Friday
By Steve Bousquet
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
As the Florida Legislature prepares to complete the next-to-the-last week of the session Friday, Gov. Rick Scott will be in Washington, conducting a round of interviews with national media outlets.

Clinton heading to Florida for second paid speech
By Maggie Haberman
Politico
Hillary Clinton’s second paid speech will be next week in Florida, a source involved in planning the event told POLITICO.

POLITICAL RACES

Sen. Bill Nelson for governor in 2014? ‘Nothing new’ since his ‘no plans to run’ declaration
By George Bennett
Palm Beach Post
The Capitol Hill publication Roll Call says Florida Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson is mulling a run for governor in 2014, but Nelson spokesman Dan McLaughlin says there’s “nothing new” since Nelson told reporters in March that he had “no plans” to run.

Immigration Rubio’s path to presidency? In media blitz, he aims to convince conservatives first
By John Lantigua
Palm Beach Post
Of the four Democratic and four Republican senators who wrote the immigration reform bill, only one is considered a serious contender for the presidency: Florida’s Sen. Marco Rubio.  

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

Senate amends nuclear fee bill
By Mary Ellen Klas
Miami Herald/Tampa Bay Times Tallahassee Bureau
The Florida Senate on Thursday made minor changes to its plan to rework the unpopular nuclear fee on customer utility bills to tighten the oversight of the state’s utility regulators and make other changes with an amendment by Sen. John Legg, R-Lutz.

Permitting bill passes House despite continued environmental opposition
By Bruce Ritchie
Florida Current
A wide-ranging environmental permitting bill passed the House on Thursday with continued environmental opposition after an amendment supported by critics was rejected.

Petroleum contamination cleanup contractors warn that House budget language would shut down program
By Bruce Ritchie
Florida Current
Disagreement over the state program that handles cleanup of petroleum contamination sites has moved from Senate legislation to negotiations between the House and Senate over budget proviso language.

With Apalachicola Bay funding uncertain, UF task force says oysters need help
By Bruce Ritchie
Florida Current
Precise restoration, management a must to restore production, experts say.

EDUCATION

A compromise for parent trigger?
By Kathleen McGrory
Miami Herald/Tampa Bay Times Tallahassee Bureau
Could a compromise be coming for the parent trigger?

Fix teacher evals
Editorial
Gainesville Sun
First the Legislature had an evaluation plan to identify which Florida teachers deserved “merit” pay raises, but it had no money.

JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY

House passes wage theft bill
By James Call
Florida Current
The House Thursday passed a sweeping bill defining wage theft and providing workers with a course of action for taking employers to courts.

Senate dumps 'living wage' provision of sick-time bill
By Aaron Deslatte
Orlando Sentinel
In response to Orange County's legal fight over sick time, the Senate is ditching a connected legislative push to nullify "living wage" laws on the books in several cities and counties.

New Citizens Property customers — not current — to see rate increases under bill approved by Senate
By Toluse Olorunnipa
Miami Herald/Tampa Bay Times Tallahassee Bureau
A contentious overhaul of Citizens Property Insurance Corp. passed the Florida Senate on Thursday, after the bill’s sponsor made key changes to protect hundreds of thousands of current policyholders from large rate hikes.

Time running out on manufacturers tax cut, Central Florida Expressway
By Aaron Deslatte
Orlando Sentinel
With Gov. Rick Scott flying to Washington D.C. Friday to do national media, the sponsor of his manufacturing tax cut conceded one of his top priorities -- a $141 million tax cut for manufacturers -- was unlikely to pass.

Scott's concerns spamming Internet sales tax bill, sponsors say
By Gray Rohrer
Florida Current
Newfound concerns from Gov. Rick Scott are holding up legislation that would prompt the collection of a sales tax on goods purchased online, sponsors of the measure said this week.

Bill to open up public private partnerships with local governments clears House
By Gray Rohrer
Florida Current
Legislation favored by the construction industry that would allow private businesses to make unsolicited bids to local governments passed through the House on Thursday by a vote of 98-19.

One in four Floridians live near poverty line
By Douglas Hanks
Miami Herald
Most Floridians living in poverty have families, and the situation has been made worse by an 11 percent decline in incomes during the downturn.

HEALTH AND SENIORS

House Says No to Fasano, Federal Funds
By Carol Gentry and Lottie Watts          
Health News Florida
State Rep. Mike Fasano, a longtime Republican legislator from New Port Richey, pleaded with his GOP colleagues to vote for the Senate's "bipartisan plan" to cover 1.1 million low-income uninsured Floridians.

House shoots down plan to offer health care to 1 million
Associated Press
Tampa Tribune
The Florida House rejected an amendment Thursday that would have accepted tens of billions of federal dollars and provided health coverage to an estimated 1.1 million residents, setting up a standoff between the House and Senate in the final week of the legislative session.

Will Tampa Bay Republicans stand for Floridians on Medicaid?
Editorial
Tampa Bay Times
Two Pasco County Republicans, House Speaker Will Weatherford and Rep. Richard Corcoran, are expected to ram through the House their health care proposal today that would cover too few, cost too much and offer false hope to the uninsured.

Elderly, disabled targets for more abuse
Editorial
Miami Herald
Do Florida’s elderly, disabled and mentally ill have great big targets on their backs to be abused or worse?

IMMIGRATION, CIVIL RIGHTS AND SOCIAL ISSUES

Poll: 67 percent of Republicans support Senate “Gang of Eight” immigration bill
By John Lantigua
Palm Beach Post
According to poll sponsored by anti-tax crusader Grover Norquist’s Americans for Tax Reform and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s Partnership for a New American Economy, 67 percent of Republicans support the Senate “Gang of Eight” immigration bill and 61 percent of Republicans believe immigration reforms will improve the economy.

JUSTICE AND THE COURTS

House votes to speed up executions
By Mary Ellen Klas
Miami Herald/Tampa Bay Times Tallahassee Bureau
Despite warnings that Florida will shrink the appeals of the innocent, the Florida House passed a bill Thursday designed to accelerate the execution of many of the 404 inmates on Florida’s death row.

Prosecutors Want Zimmerman’s Immunity Hearing Plans
Associated Press
CBS 4 Miami
Prosecutors want the attorney representing George Zimmerman, the Sanford neighborhood watch volunteer charged in the death of Trayvon Martin, to decide whether he intends to seek an immunity hearing.