Daily News Clips for April 10, 2013

AWAKE THE STATE IN THE NEWS

Florida Senate moves on election reform
By Chad Oliver
WBBH Fort Myers
Excerpt: At rallies across the state last month, dubbed "Awake the State," demonstrators urged lawmakers to shorten the ballot. "That has to change. We need to shorten the number of words that are allowed on each issue," said Joy Sokeitous from Fort Myers. SB 600 would cap ballot amendments at 75 words.

FEATURED STORIES

Gov. Scott's opposition to raising campaign contribution caps may also jeopardize ethics reform
By Dara Kam
Palm Beach Post
Gov. Rick Scott’s opposition to a House bill that would increase campaign contribution limits appears to have jeopardized not only that bill but also a Senate bill creating stricter ethics rules for elected officials.

In Weatherford's "transparent" House, only Democrats meet publicly
By Michael Van Sickler
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
House Republicans and Democrats both agreed Tuesday night would be a good time to huddle with their respective party members.

Medicaid Funding Frenzy Grows at Capitol
By Carol Gentry
Health News Florida
Republicans who control the Florida House hint they're about to unveil their version of a health plan for the state's low-income uninsured between now and Monday.

Gun action in Washington could be no action, as filibuster is threatened
By Laura Green
Palm Beach Post
The gun debate in Washington is heating up, as Democrats push for a vote this week on a package of laws. A growing number of Republicans, including Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, meanwhile, threaten to block any gun proposal.

Finally, a step for utility customers
Editorial
Tampa Bay Times
A Florida Senate plan won't reimburse Progress Energy customers who have been paying for years for a nuclear power plant that may never be built, but at least it would ensure that in the future, utilities can't earn profits on such failures.

FLORIDA POLITICS

Lights grow dim for campaign finance, ethics bills
By Brendan Farrington
Associated Press
The Florida House's efforts to raise campaign contribution limits while forcing candidates to file finance reports more frequently took a hit when a Senate committee voted Tuesday to strip proposed higher limits from its bill.

Are Florida’s Ethics Reform Bills Too Weak?
By Ashley Lopez
Florida Center for Investigative Reporting
An ethics law expert says a provision in the Florida Senate’s ethics reform bill would allow a state lawmaker to shield conflicts of interest from public disclosure.

Elections bills set for Senate debate
By Bill Cotterell
Florida Current
Gov. Rick Scott's opposition to raising the $500 cap on political contributions to candidates will probably sink campaign-finance reform for the 2013 session, the Senate sponsor of a new elections package said Tuesday.

Fla. Democratic Women: 'We Continue To Be Under Assault In This State'
By Jessica Palombo    
WFSU Tallahassee
Democratic women from all over Florida came to the state Capitol on Tuesday to let lawmakers know, they’re watching what’s happening this session.

With ban on Internet cafes, gambling operators scramble to hang on
By Mary Ellen Klas
Miami Herald/Tampa Bay Times Tallahassee Bureau
For Rick Scott, the “jobs” governor, the bill he will sign Wednesday to ban Internet cafes is as awkward as it gets.

Stearns, other lawmakers handed out significant bonuses to aides
By Bill Thompson
Gainesville Sun
Despite their rhetoric about out of control spending in recent years, a handful of Republican lawmakers from Florida, including former U.S. Rep. Cliff Stearns, doled out significant bonuses to their aides at the close of 2012. 

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

Environmentalists cheer proposed amendment to restore land-buy funding
By Chad Gillis
Ft. Myers News Press
A land conservation amendment that would put $500 million toward Everglades restoration and other environmental projects will be reviewed by a state Supreme Court justice, likely in the next 60 days, to see if it meets requirements.

Fla. considers changes in nuclear utility rates
Associated Press
Ocala Star-Banner
Florida's large utility companies could be forced to change how much they charge customers for future nuclear power plants.

Senate bill repealing ethanol requirement rewritten with only 'nice words'
By Bruce Ritchie
Florida Current
A Senate bill that would repeal the 2008 requirement that gasoline in Florida contain about 10 percent ethanol was rewritten on Tuesday to remove the repeal.

LGBT

Equal protection
Editorial
Gainesville Sun
Twenty years ago seems like an eternity in terms of changing attitudes in Alachua County and the country as a whole.

EDUCATION

Reforms in Florida early-learning program advancing
By Leslie Postal
Orlando Sentinel
Bills intended to make Florida's early learning programs more accountable to taxpayers and to overhaul their governance are advancing in the Florida Legislature.

FHSAA restructuring bill clears final House committee
By James Call
Florida Current
A bill overhauling regulations for high school athletics cleared its final House committee stops with a unanimous vote.

Demonstrators at FAU support ‘step on Jesus’ instructor, academic freedom
By George Bennett
Palm Beach Post
About 60 demonstrators on Tuesday accused Florida Atlantic University administrators of abandoning academic freedom when they apologized for and abandoned a controversial classroom exercise in which students were asked to write Jesus’ name on a piece of paper and step on it.

JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY

Lucky few Floridians get $125,000 from foreclosure settlement, most to get $300
By Kimberly Miller
Palm Beach Post
More than 1,100 homeowners nationwide will get the maximum payout of $125,000 in foreclosure reparations through a $3.6 billion federal settlement that critics call nonsensical and capricious.

Premiums for new Citizens customers could rise up to 84 percent under Senate bill
By Charles Elmore
Palm Beach Post
Premiums could rise up to 84 percent for new Palm Beach County customers of state-run Citizens Property Insurance Corp. under a bill on the Florida Senate’s special order calendar today.

Savings uncertain if PIP is repealed
By Kathleen Haughney
Orlando Sentinel
The Florida Senate is examining whether to repeal the state's controversial no-fault auto insurance requirement and replace it with another type of compulsory insurance: bodily injury liability.

Union reps protest wage-theft bill in Tampa
By Bill Varian
Tampa Bay Times
Representatives of labor unions staged a protest in Tampa Tuesday to proposed legislation that would preclude local governments from passing laws against so-called "wage theft."

NFL could contribute $150 million toward Miami Dolphins’ stadium renovation
By Patricia Mazzei and Douglas Hanks
Miami Herald
Related: House, Senate differ on how to structure tax break for Dolphins
The National Football League could contribute $150 million toward the Miami Dolphins’ proposed stadium renovation, lowering the direct costs to the team for the estimated $350 million project, according to a county report released Tuesday.

HEALTH AND SENIORS

Advocates push Legislature to expand Medicaid
By Zac Anderson
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
Health care advocates stepped up the pressure this week on state lawmakers to strike a deal that would extend government-subsidized health insurance to an another 1 million low-income Floridians.

Senate Medicaid plan would cut funding for Jackson, safety-net hospitals
By Kathleen McGrory and Tia Mitchell
Miami Herald/Tampa Bay Times Tallahassee Bureau
Miami’s Jackson Health System could see its crucial Medicaid funding cut by $46 million, or about 13 percent of what it was expecting, under a bill that is scheduled for a floor vote in the Senate by the end of the week.

Wait for GOP House plan on health care could be over
By Michael Van Sickler
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Are Florida House Republicans ready to unveil their long-awaited alternative to Medicaid expansion?

Florida House, Senate may find common ground on medical malpractice
News Service of Florida
Palm Beach Post
Florida lawmakers appear to be inching closer on changes to the state’s medical-malpractice system, with a House committee Tuesday scrapping proposals that likely would have run into opposition in the Senate.

Villages retirement community asks Legislature for nursing home
By Tia Mitchell
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
The Villages is a 95,000-person retirement mecca that caters to your every need. Restaurants when you get hungry, movie theaters when it's too hot out, golf courses for Sunday mornings, florists for anniversaries, even a funeral home for when you die.

IMMIGRATION, CIVIL RIGHTS AND SOCIAL ISSUES

Senators apply brakes to fast-moving immigration talks
McClatchy Newspapers
Tampa Bay Times
The bipartisan group of senators who last week proclaimed the imminent release of the most sweeping immigration overhaul in decades may have hit some political snags.

Conservative Evangelicals Step Up for Immigration Reform
By Stephanie Carroll Carson
Public News Service Florida
Conservative political activist Ralph Reed is joining the ranks of other evangelicals who are pushing for immigration reform in Florida and across the nation.

Senate showdown vote on gun curbs set for Thursday
Associated Press
Tampa Bay Times
The Senate's top Democrat has set Congress' first showdown vote for Thursday on President Barack Obama's gun control drive as a small but mounting number of Republicans appear willing to buck a conservative effort to prevent debate from even beginning.

Equal Rights Amendment resurfaces as issue
By Bruce Schreiner
Associated Press
Women's-rights activists in Florida are trying to revive the proposed Equal Rights Amendment that was a high-profile issue in the 1970s but has been out of the spotlight in recent years.

Senate could pass anti-drones bill on Wednesday
By James L. Rosica
Associated Press
A bill that would limit Florida law enforcement agencies' use of drones is set for passage in the Florida Senate.