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.
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