FEATURED
STORIES
House Medicaid alternative would subsidize far fewer poor Floridians than expansion plan
By Tia Mitchell
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
House Republicans offered a bare-bones alternative to expanding Medicaid on Thursday, bypassing more than $50 billion in federal aid while setting up a clash with Gov. Rick Scott and the more moderate Senate.
Records show overlap between political fundraising and the Legislature's agenda
By Jason Garcia and Kathleen Haughney
Orlando Sentinel
International Speedway Corp. is trying to win millions of dollars in tax breaks from the Florida Legislature this spring for an expansion of Daytona International Speedway.
So-called ‘parent trigger’ bill chartering course similar to privately run state prisons
By Frank Cerabino
Palm Beach Post
Related editorial: No need for “parent trigger.” Florida has “parent empowerment.”
It’s about the guards, not the inmates. That’s the best way to think about the state Legislature’s latest attempt to undermine public education in Florida.
After years of no action, House committee moves to modify nuclear fee law
By Mary Ellen Klas
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
A Florida House committee signaled its willingness Thursday to make official what has already happened in practice and passed a bill that will end the future development of nuclear power plants in Florida.
Fla. House, Senate budget totals close, but details remain to be settled
By John Kennedy
Palm Beach Post
Dueling $74-billion-plus state spending plans are set to be finalized today in the Florida Legislature, sending lawmakers into the last few weeks of the session facing few of the tough dollar choices that marked the past six years of budget slashing.
Marco Rubio goes all-in on immigration bill
By Manu Raju
Politico
Marco Rubio is preparing to go all in to support sweeping immigration legislation, offering himself up as the public face of a bill that will split the Republican Party — but that his allies hope will propel him to the front of the GOP presidential sweepstakes.
BEST
OF THE BLOGS
2013 Florida legislature keeps whipping away at working families
By Daniel Tilson
West Palm Beach Liberal Examiner
Yesterday, while most middle class Floridians remained firmly focused on meeting another week’s worth of work and family obligations, Republicans in the State House of Representatives were busy passing two bills that would make those efforts a lot harder.
Martin Luther King Jr. and St Augustine
By Kartik Krishnaiyer
The Florida Squeeze
Today is the 45th Anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination and this week was the 500th anniversary of Juan Ponce de León’s landing.
Solar panels could destroy U.S. utilities, according to U.S. utilities
By David Roberts
Grist
Solar power and other distributed renewable energy technologies could lay waste to U.S. power utilities and burn the utility business model, which has remained virtually unchanged for a century, to the ground.
How The Right Wing Manufactured A Fake Controversy Over Planned Parenthood’s ‘Infanticide’
By Tara Culp-Ressler
Think Progress
On Wednesday, RNC Chairman Reince Priebus published an editorial lambasting the mainstream media for “covering up” Planned Parenthood’s “support for infanticide.”
The absolute worst story (and video) about standardized testing
By Valerie Strauss
The Answer Sheet
I recently ran a post about how the state of Florida was forcing a 9-year-old blind boy who was born with a brain stem but without most of his brain to take the state’s standardized test, known as the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test.
FLORIDA
POLITICS
State put Jennifer Carroll on a budget after a series of big travel bills
By Steve Bousquet
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Former Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll did not always have a lot to do, but taxpayers still paid nearly $300,000 to keep her safe when she traveled in 2011, records show.
Scott, Rubio Should Take Stands, Take Heat
By Rhonda Swan
Florida Voices
Gov. Rick Scott needs to see a bill to determine whether he believes Florida should ban texting while driving.
Gun control group goes after Rubio with new ad
By Mark Matthews
Orlando Sentinel
U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio — and his presidential ambitions — are the targets of a new attack ad running in Florida this week that looks to pressure the Florida Republican on his gun stance.
Enrique Ros, voice of Cuban exiles and father of Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, passes away
By Marc Caputo
Miami Herald
Enrique Ros, the father of U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, lived the history of the clandestine resistance against Fidel Castro in the early 1960s that he recounted in the 19 books he authored.
Don't quit on ethics
Editorial
Panama City News Herald
When the Florida Legislature convened in early March, ethics reform shot out of the blocks like Usain Bolt in the 100 meters, with the Senate passing a comprehensive bill on the first day.
POLITICAL
RACES
Conservatives look to remake electorate for 2014 election
By James Call
Florida Current
The Faith and Freedom Coalition on Thursday announced a plan to register to vote 250,000 evangelical Christians and John Paul ll Catholics by the end of the year.
Legislators rake in big campaign bucks
By Bill Cotterell
Florida Current
Republican state lawmakers have stockpiled more than $1 million in each chamber of the Florida Legislature, to scare off opposition or assure their party's continued control of the House and Senate.
ENVIRONMENT
AND ENERGY
Crude cleanup: BP funds project to excavate oil from Pensacola Beach
By Kimberly Blair
Pensacola News Journal
Escambia County officials have long suspected that pockets of oil from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon spill were submerged in the soft sand along the shoreline.
Judge indicates he may rule against delay of federal water quality rules
By Bruce Ritchie
Florida Current
A federal judge in Tallahassee said Thursday he's inclined to reject a federal request to delay implementing water quality standards while Florida is working to propose its own, and he may have to decide whether a 2009 legal agreement was violated.
Florida House pitches plan to phase out pre-charging for nuclear plants
By Jim Turner
News Service of Florida
Electric customers in the future wouldn't be required to front the costs of nuclear power plants, but charges already being paid to the state's two largest utilities for proposed reactors could continue under legislation advanced by a House committee today.
Cluster bombs
Editorial
Gainesville Sun
Far-reaching legislation that would relax or eliminate a long list of critical environmental regulations is winding its way through both chambers of the Florida Legislature and, amazingly, is stirring virtually no debate among lawmakers, let alone resistance.
LGBT
Same-sex couples deserve equal justice under the law
By Mary Meeks
Orlando Sentinel
The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in two historic civil-rights cases recently involving the issue of marriage equality. The court will issue rulings in June that will profoundly impact this nation's slow but steady march toward equality for all of its citizens.
EDUCATION
Senate Revises 'Parent Trigger' Bill
By Bruce Schreiner
Associated Press
A Florida Senate panel made changes Thursday to a bill aimed at giving parents a voice in charting a turnaround course for failing public schools, removing a role for the State Board of Education to settle disputes between parents and local school boards.
State grapples with what to do with student data
By Kathleen McGrory
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Schools have grades. Students have test scores. Teachers have performance metrics.
House Rules chairman won't allow 'Dreamer' amendment
By Kathleen McGrory
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Rep. José Javier Rodríguez, D-Miami, made a last-minute attempt to include undocumented students in a proposal that would enable more Florida college students to qualify for in-state tuition.
Tough Bright Futures standards likely to remain in place
By Kathleen McGrory
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Two Democrats have a plan that would prevent thousands of black and Hispanic students from losing out on Bright Futures scholarships.
Online learning plan out of line
Editorial
Tampa Bay Times
The Legislature's stampede to significantly expand online learning for students in public schools has nothing to do with offering more options and meeting unmet needs.
JOBS,
BUDGET, AND ECONOMY
Bill to raise new Citizens rates up to 85 percent moves within one step of Senate passage
By Charles Elmore
Palm Beach Post
People trying to buy or sell properties covered by state-run insurer Citizens could be in for an unpleasant surprise courtesy of Florida lawmakers: Insurance rates could be sharply higher than they were expecting within the next year.
Amendment decreasing House's state worker raises sparks partisan clash
By Matt Dixon
Florida Times-Union
Remember the kumbaya moment Republicans and Democrats found on pay increases for state workers? Well, consider that gone.
HEALTH
AND SENIORS
House Medicaid Alternative Plan Gets A Skeptical Reception
By Lynn Hatter
WFSU Tallahassee
Reactions to a house plan expanding health insurance coverage to an additional 115,000 uninsured Floridians is getting the cold shoulder from Governor Rick Scott and healthcare groups.
Child Healthcare Rally
Staff Report
WCTV Tallahassee
The group KidsWell Florida was out at the Capitol Wednesday looking to help insure thousands of children.
Florida laws advance to buttress safety in child welfare system
By Margie Menzel
News Service of Florida
The state foster care system is about to loosen up on kids who want to live more normal lives, but may soon also offer more protection to those nervous of stepping out of its protective wrap.
IMMIGRATION,
CIVIL RIGHTS AND SOCIAL ISSUES
AP source: Immigration bill could exclude many
By Erica Werner
Associated Press
A bipartisan immigration bill soon to be introduced in the Senate could exclude hundreds of thousands of immigrants here illegally from ever becoming U.S. citizens, according to a Senate aide with knowledge of the proposals.
Florida's senators split on gun vote
By Ledyard King
Ft. Myers News-Press
The Senate voted to move ahead Thursday with the most comprehensive proposal to overhaul gun laws in nearly two decades.
Myths & Facts About Background Checks
The Progress Report
Think Progress
This morning, the Senate took one of its most bipartisan major votes in years when senators voted 68-31 to begin debating a package of gun violence prevention measures.
New Florida law bans protests at all funerals
Staff Report
Tampa Tribune
Gov. Rick Scott has signed into law a bill that expands a current ban on protesting to all types of funerals.
JUSTICE
AND THE COURTS
Watered Down 'Smart Justice' Bill Gets 'Gutted'; Takes Bill Sponsor By Surprise
By Sascha Cordner
WFSU Tallahassee
The Senate version of an inmate re-entry bill looks a little different now.
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