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.
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