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.