FEATURED
STORIES
Gov. Scott defends Medicaid stand, teacher pay raises, entry into FAU controversy and more
By Andrew Abramson and George Bennett
Palm Beach Post
Related editorial: Scott is running for reelection but standing for…not much.
Florida college students shouldn’t be asked to step on the name of Jesus or Buddha or Mohammed or “any spiritual leader’s name,” Gov. Rick Scott said during a Monday interview with The Palm Beach Post editorial board.
Lawmakers eye ‘blind trust’ in ethics reform bill
By Mary Ellen Klas
Miami Herald/Tampa Bay Times Tallahassee Bureau
Tucked into a bill hailed by Senate leaders as the “most sweeping ethics reform” in decades is a provision that could shield elected officials from disclosing conflicts of interest or questionable assets.
Senate advances bill to put brakes on nuclear fees
By Mary Ellen Klas
Miami Herald/Tampa Bay Times Tallahassee Bureau
For the first time in seven years, a Senate committee has stood up to the state’s utility companies and unanimously passed a bill that would weaken a law that has allowed them to charge customers for nuclear projects before they are built.
Sick-leave preemption bill clears final Senate committee
By James Call
Florida Current
A bill to create a task force to recommend a statewide employee medical leave policy and which would prohibit local ordinances Monday continued its march to the Senate floor.
How long did you wait to vote? Depends on your race
By Rachel Weiner
Washington Post
Long lines to vote in last fall’s November have gotten a lot of attention — so much that President Obama has established a commission to tackle the issue.
FLORIDA
POLITICS
Texas, Florida governors team up at West Palm economic growth forum
By George Bennett
Palm Beach Post
Texas Gov. Rick Perry and Florida Gov. Rick Scott brought their tax-cutting, job-creating bromance to the stage of an international business gathering here on Monday, mixing gubernatorial trash talk with professions of mutual admiration.
Thrasher's name floated for lieutenant governor
By Matt Dixon
St. Augustine Record
Gov. Rick Scott needs to pick a new lieutenant governor and Steve MacNamara, his former chief of staff, says he knows the perfect guy for the job: Sen. John Thrasher, R-St. Augustine.
Gov. Scott kills higher campaign contribution limits
Staff Report
Tampa Tribune
Efforts to raise campaign contribution limit could be dead for this year after Gov. Rick Scott's office said today he is unlikely to approve any increase.
Elder Affairs attorney quits amid questions about hiring, arrests
By Brittany Alana Davis
Tampa Bay Times
A top-level attorney at the Department of Elder Affairs has resigned after a lawsuit filed by a former human resources employee accused the state of bending rules to hide his arrest history.
Senate committee gives green light to texting ban
By John Kennedy
Palm Beach Post
Legislation that would make Florida the 40th state in the nation to ban texting while driving was approved Monday by a Senate committee, with the full House expected to follow suit later this week.
Stop the music, says Senate panel
By Jim Saunders
The News Service of Florida
Sometimes the sound can be felt as much as heard — car-vibrating, teeth-rattling sound.
U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor: Lift Cuba embargo, travel limits
By Richard Danielson
Tampa Bay Times
Saying "It's time to try something new," U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor on Monday called for the Obama administration and Congress to lift travel restrictions and the 51-year-old trade embargo on Cuba.
Cuban-American politicians decry Beyonce Cuba trip
By Chrsitine Armario
Associated Press
Beyonce and Jay-Z's trip to Cuba has angered two Cuban-American politicians who are demanding information on whether the couple's visit to the communist island was licensed.
POLITICAL
RACES
Marco Rubio's big 2016 decision
By Alex Leary
Tampa Bay Times
Sen. Marco Rubio has alluded to the decision that faces him: Does he make a run for president or seek another term in the senate?
ENVIRONMENT
AND ENERGY
Permitting bills moving despite environmental opposition
By Bruce Ritchie
Florida Current
A pair of bills that critics say would restrict the ability of water districts to reduce pumping during droughts are moving through the House and Senate.
Springs bills appear dead but bills ratifying DEP approach on water quality are moving fast
By Bruce Ritchie
Florida Current
Legislation that would require five year plans for restoring Florida's springs is likely dead this session after an amendment was withdrawn last week, the Senate bill sponsor said.
Ag budget proposals respond to citrus industry call for fight against greening disease
By Bruce Ritchie
Florida Current
What would Florida be without its citrus industry? Citrus farmers and Agriculture Commissioner Adam H. Putnam don't want that to happen.
LGBT
Florida, U.S. Will Embrace Same-Sex Marriage in Time
By Bill Cotterell
Florida Current
When Gov. Lawton Chiles decided to let Florida's "Defense Of Marriage Act" become law in 1997, he foresaw what's going on in America today regarding same-sex marriage.
Equality Florida director Nadine Smith says gay couples can face $300,000 in added costs: Mostly True
By Amy Sherman
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald PolitiFact
First comes love, then comes marriage ... then comes the potential savings of a joint tax return.
EDUCATION
Bill filed to exempt Florida's value-added teacher data from public
By Topher Sanders
Florida Times-Union
About a week after an appeals court agreed to hear the Times-Union’s lawsuit to obtain the state’s value-added teacher data, a bill aimed at exempting the data from the public has been filed in the Legislature.
Should Florida lawmakers revive the "critical needs" tax?
By Jeffrey S. Solochek
Tampa Bay Times
As part of this year's education budget discussions, Florida lawmakers have proposed reinstituting the "critical needs" millage rate that school districts were able to levy three years ago.
Parents want schools to be allowed to stock life-saving EpiPens
By Kathleen McGrory
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Tom Bohacek has an EpiPen at his Tampa preschool in case he accidentally eats a peanut product.
Survey: Floridians believe college out of reach for most
By Jeff Schweers
Ocala Star-Banner
More than half of Floridians polled in a new survey believe a college education is out of reach for most people, and only a third believe Florida colleges are affordable, even though tuition at the state’s public schools is among the lowest in the nation.
Boiling point
Editorial
Gainesville Sun
Florida lawmakers have never been accused of being the most politically courageous bunch.
JOBS,
BUDGET, AND ECONOMY
Sen. Soto, housing advocates rail against foreclosure bill, settlement spending plans
By Gray Rohrer
Florida Current
Sen. Darren Soto, R-Orlando, flanked at a press conference Monday by housing advocates and representatives of PICO United Florida, an advocacy group for low-income families, denounced a bill designed to expedite the foreclosure process and a plan to spend $200 million in foreclosure fraud settlement money.
Gov. Scott says fix not kill PIP, but repeal effort gathers steam on auto insurance
By Charles Elmore
Palm Beach Post
Gov. Rick Scott said Monday he would prefer to mend instead of end the state’s no-fault auto insurance system, but the state Senate is scheduled to resume a workshop today to scrap what some lawmakers see as a 1970s-era dinosaur that effectively forces Florida drivers to pay twice for medical insurance — at more than $2 billion a year.
Activist argues Florida should reform regressive tax structure
By Jason Garcia
Orlando Sentinel
Karen Woodall, 55, is executive director of the Florida Center for Fiscal and Economic Policy in Tallahassee.
On Equal Pay Day, let's honor women
By Linda Meric
Bradenton Herald
April 9 is Equal Pay Day, and for the first time in many years, the weekly earnings gap is widening for all women.
State of Florida says Allianz subsidiary committed fraud
By Toluse Olorunnipa
Miami Herald/Tampa Bay Times Tallahassee Bureau
Florida regulators have filed a lawsuit accusing financial services giant Allianz of gutting a Miami property insurer, falsifying its documents and then cashing in on more than $20 million in fees as the company plunged into insolvency.
HEALTH
AND SENIORS
Activists urge expanded health coverage in Florida
Associated Press
Bradenton Herald
Women's-rights activists rallying in Tallahassee are calling on lawmakers to expand health insurance coverage to more Floridians.
Huge test for health law: getting the word out
By Laura Green
Palm Beach Post
Since the Affordable Care Act was passed into law, health care advocates have thwarted dozens of Republican attempts to repeal it. They have faced down 26 states, including lead challenger Florida, and won at the U.S. Supreme Court.
Controversial Medicaid reform pilot continues in Broward
By Maria Mallory White
South Florida Sun Sentinel
Three hours after finishing dialysis, Fort Lauderdale Medicaid patient Ella Thomas sat in her wheelchair outside the DaVita Dialysis Center, still waiting for the transportation company that was supposed to take her home.
Actions at 3 State Agencies Draw Scrutiny
Staff Report
Health News Florida
The Department of Children and Families Deputy Secretary Suzanne Vitale ignored the recommendation of a negotiating team and chose the more expensive company to upgrade and run the Medicaid eligibility system, the Florida Current reports.
IMMIGRATION,
CIVIL RIGHTS AND SOCIAL ISSUES
Young Republicans try to lure gun magazine maker to Hillsborough
By Richard Danielson
Tampa Bay Times
Related: Hillsborough attorney says commission can't limit gun sales
Related editorial: On guns, enforce laws on the books
he Tampa Bay Young Republicans organization wants to recruit a firearms accessories manufacturer planning to leave Colorado because of a new ban there on its high-capacity gun magazines.
NRA’s task is to frighten, sell more guns
By Carl Hiaasen
Miami Herald
The National Rifle Association wants to give me a “heavy-duty” duffel bag.
Immigration reform supporters agree on the big points and tangle over the details
By John Lantigua
Palm Beach Post
Two local Democratic members of Congress led a roundtable discussion Monday that brought together supporters of immigration reform — and despite agreement on major points, they found at moments the experience was like herding cats.
'Anti-sharia' legislation narrowly passes Senate committee
By Tia Mitchell
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Legislation known as the "anti-sharia" law passed its second-to-last committee in the Senate on a slim 5-4 margin Monday.
JUSTICE
AND THE COURTS
Advocates Make Last-Ditch Plea For Juvenile Justice Bills To Be Heard
By Ryan Benk
WFSU Tallahassee
Florida’s 2013 legislative session is more than halfway over and that has some advocates of legislation scrambling to get their bills heard.
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