Daily News Clips for May 2, 2013

FEATURED STORIES

Florida Runs Out of Time on Medicaid
By Lizette Alvarez and Christine Sexton Jordan
New York Times
Prospects for Medicaid expansion in Florida, which was embraced, improbably, by the state’s Republican governor in February, are all but dead this year.

Lawmakers take off the gloves as tensions mount
By Toluse Olorunnipa and Mary Ellen Klas
Times/Herald Tallahassee Bureau
The Florida House spiralled into chaos Wednesday with Republicans declaring victory on a top priority of Gov. Rick Scott and Democrats vowing a court battle — back-to-back developments that capped off a long and bizarre day in the state Capitol.

Gov. Scott's Unwillingness to Stand for Legislative Priorities
By Allison Tant
Florida Voices
Before the start of the 2013 legislative session Gov. Rick Scott was undergoing a dramatic shift away from everything he ran on in 2010.

It's a deal? Weatherford, Gaetz, Scott all win
News Service of Florida
News 4 Jacksonville
The three highest-profile figures involved in the 2013 legislative session saw their top priorities sewn up Wednesday night in a rapid-fire series of events that left a trail of unanswered legal questions and Democrats crying foul.

Gov. Rick Scott vetoes alimony, signs campaign finance and ethics
By Steve Bousquet
Times/Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Florida Gov. Rick Scott late Wednesday vetoed an emotionally charged bill that would have ended permanent alimony in divorce cases but signed into law ethics and campaign finance measures that were important to legislative leaders.

Buying a House (of Representatives) for fun and profit
By John Romano
Tampa Bay Times
Related editorial: Utility customers keep losing
A house was recently purchased in Florida, and the buyers stand to make hundreds of millions in profits on this very old and exclusive property. The hook is that it is no ordinary house. It is the House.

FLORIDA POLITICS

Tallahassee sticks it to the locals
By Fred Grimm
Miami Herald
Our good ol’ boys in Tallahassee surely do resent those meddlers from Washington sticking their big government noses in Florida’s business. “We know what’s best for Florida,” they’re fond of saying.

House killing Democratic bills, but not those for special-interests
By Aaron Deslatte
Orlando Sentinel
A showdown over expanding health-care to more than 1 million Floridians slowed the Legislature to a crawl for a second day Wednesday, with the fate of an elections reform, a sick-time fight, sports stadium tax breaks and other bills hanging in the balance.

DNC Chair Wasserman Schultz: Scott, Weatherford legacy will be ‘sickness, illness and death’
By Dara Kam
Palm Beach Post
Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz blasted Gov. Rick Scott for failing to use his clout to push the House to approve a Medicaid expansion that could cover 1 million uninsured Floridians.

Group sought to protect Wasserman Schultz’s congressional seat, emails show
By Marc Caputo
Miami Herald
A liberal group involved in a lawsuit to make Florida’s congressional districts less partisan engaged in its own partisan efforts by drawing Democratic-heavy Hispanic seats or trying to "scoop" Jewish voters into a district for U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the Democratic National Committee chair, emails show.

Final Session Crush
By Mike Vasilinda
Capitol News Service
After eight weeks in the nine week legislative session, just 66 bills had been sent to the Governor.

Session’s Ending: Chess, Poker, Lots of Hide & Seek
By Paula Dockery
Florida Voices
Surely with a Republican governor, Senate and House, the legislative session will run smoothly, and agreement, cooperation and mutual goals will highlight a timely and successful conclusion.

Lawmakers may change, but budget tricks stay the same
By Michael Van Sickler and Mary Ellen Klas
Herald/Times Tallahassee Bureau
Legislative leaders promised to make transparency in spending a priority but when it came time to finish their $74.5 billion budget, it was hard to break old habits.

Amendment could doom texting bill
By Rochelle Koff
Times/Herald Tallahassee Bureau
The House on Wednesday voted 110-6 to pass a bill to restrict texting while driving, but the legislation faces an uphill battle if it's going to become law.

There's something about 'Mary' — if you can take the voice
By Toluse Olorunnipa and Mary Ellen Klas
Herald/Times Tallahassee Bureau
For more than 10 hours Wednesday, lawmakers sat and listened to the drone-like voice of "Mary," a robotic auto-reader used to speed through hundreds of pages of legislative text.

Waste of time
Editorial
Gainesville Sun
It was a bit juvenile for Democrats to employ a stalling tactic to protest Florida House leaders’ opposition to Medicaid expansion, but it’s really no bigger of a waste of time than what conservatives in the chamber have been pulling all session.

New America held hostage by Old America
By Joy-Ann Reid
Miami Herald
There have been so many essays written dissecting the state of conservatism, the notion that it is in decline has become cliché. But decline doesn’t mean disappearance.  

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

Nuclear bill passes House, returns to Senate as critic says legislation was "hijacked"
By Bruce Ritchie
Florida Current
A bill revising the 2006 law allowing utilities to charge customers for costs of nuclear power projects passed the House on Wednesday and was sent back to the Senate.

House approves water pollution bill
Associated Press
Tallahassee Democrat
Florida lawmakers on Wednesday wrapped up legislation authorizing the state's Department of Environmental Protection to start enforcing rules to reduce water pollution.

New US interior secretary in Palm Beach County, tours Everglades
Associated Press
Palm Beach Post
New Interior Secretary Sally Jewell took an airboat ride through the Everglades In Palm Beach County on Wednesday during one of her first official trips as leader of the agency responsible for national parks and other public lands, highlighting the importance of a massive wetlands restoration project.

LGBT

ACLU sues Fla. school board over gay-straight club
Associated Press
Miami Herald
The American Civil Liberties Union sued a Florida school board Wednesday, claiming its delay in allowing the formation of a gay-straight alliance club at a middle school is a violation of free speech and equal access.

Miami Heat players support gay colleague Jason Collins
By Joseph Goodman
Miami Herald
Heat players offered support for Jason Collins and championed him as a pioneer on Tuesday, one day after the 12-year NBA veteran announced he was gay.

EDUCATION

Parent trigger: Senate kills a bill that goes too far
Editorial
Tallahassee Democrat
Who could argue against parents’ involvement in their children’s education?

Similar "parent trigger" bill language added to charter school proposal
By Leslie Postal
Orlando Sentinel
About 2.5 hours after a tie vote in the Senate killed the controversial "parent trigger" bill Tuesday, Senators amended another education bill to include provisions similar to some some of those in the failed proposal.

Five GOP senators say Scott had no role in 'trigger' bill's defeat
By Steve Bousquet
Times/Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Five Republican senators who voted to defeat the so-called parent trigger bill said Gov. Rick Scott did not lobby them to oppose the controversial legislation.

Lawmakers tweak teacher pay raises
By Kathleen McGrory
Times/Herald Tallahassee Bureau
The House and Senate tweaked the language on the teacher pay raises Wednesday, meaning educators won't have to wait until June 2014 for their payouts.

Lawmakers end subsidized tutoring program
By Michael LaForgia and Kathleen McGrory
Times/Herald Staff Writers
A last-ditch effort by South Florida lawmakers to keep millions of dollars flowing to private tutoring companies suffered a resounding defeat on Wednesday, giving Florida school districts control over $100 million in federal education money for the first time in a decade.

Florida public online school gets small budget increase
By Kathleen McGrory
Herald/Times Tallahassee Bureau
School districts, teachers and parents are celebrating the $1 billion addition to the state’s education budget.

JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY

Manufacturer tax bill unconstitutional? Dems say challenge is coming
By Matt Dixon
Florida Times-Union
The House Wednesday voted to pass legislation carrying language eliminating the sales tax paid by manufactures on equipment purchases, one of Gov. Rick Scott’s top priorities.

Saunders: exempt Orange County from Precourt's sick time preemption bill
By David Damron
Orlando Sentinel
State. Rep. Joe Saunders, D-Orlando, has offered up an amendment to exempt Orange County from a bill that would block local governments from adopting mandatory paid sick time benefits for workers.

Lawmakers cut a deal on Citizens reforms
By Aaron Deslatte and Maria Mallory White
South Florida Sun Sentinel
Sen. David Simmons said Wednesday he has cut a deal with the House to pass a Citizens Property Insurance Corp. reform bill that will mirror the House's less aggressive version in exchange for revisiting the problems with "wind-only" policy rates next year.

Time running out for lawmakers to stop insurance practice homeowners and advocates call abusive
By Charles Elmore
Palm Beach Post
Melody and Ronald Ward say Florida’s largest private property insurer “betrayed” them.

Florida still leading nation in foreclosures
By John Hielscher
Associated Press
Florida again led the nation with the highest percentage of homes in foreclosure in March, according to a new report.

Dolphins may concede state dollars in stadium fight
By Douglas Hanks
Miami Herald
The Miami Dolphins may drop their fight for state dollars to renovate Sun Life Stadium in a last-minute bid to win legislative approval to use Miami-Dade hotel taxes for the project.

HEALTH AND SENIORS

Will House bite on potential Medicaid compromise
By Kelli Kennedy and Gary Fineout
Associated Press
Senate leaders are working on a compromise proposal that would expand health coverage to an estimated 1.1 million residents using more than $50 billion in federal funds, in hopes of ending a contentious debate with less than three days left in the Legislative session. But it seems unlikely House Republicans will bite.

Sides entrenched, health care deal likely dead
By Tia Mitchell
Times/Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Related: Crist: Governor should force Legislature to keep working on Medicaid expansion
Lawmakers are likely to return home this week without an agreement on meaningful health care reform, despite the early endorsement of Gov. Rick Scott and the pleas of businesses and hospitals.

States skipping Medicaid expansion may favor new immigrants over US citizens
By Michael Ollove
McClatchy News Service
The Republican governors who decline to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act may give not-yet-naturalized immigrants a benefit that American citizens in their states can't get.

Medical malpractice gets past House slowdown to Gov. Rick Scott's desk
By Gray Rohrer
Florida Current
House Republicans blocked a move by Democrats to kill legislation (SB 1792) aimed at making it harder to bring medical malpractice lawsuits.

Bill extending foster care to age 21 goes to Gov. Rick Scott for signature
By Margie Menzel
News Service of Florida
The Florida House passed a bill Wednesday giving young adults in state custody the option of remaining until age 21 – three years longer than in current law – to reduce their chances of ending up homeless, jobless or in jail.

IMMIGRATION, CIVIL RIGHTS AND SOCIAL ISSUES

Rubio, in St. Lucie County, says immigration bill does not offer amnesty to illegals
By George Bennett
Palm Beach Post
At least 25 foes of immigration reform were protesting in the rain before Republican Sen. Marco Rubio arrived here to speak at tonight’s St. Lucie County GOP Lincoln Day dinner.

S. Fla. activists take part in a caravan to urge for speedy immigration reform
By Alphonce Shundu
Miami Herald
Immigration activists in Miami on Wednesday marked International Workers Day with a vehicle caravan from Little Havana to Doral to urge Congress to speed immigration reform and President Barack Obama to halt deportations of undocumented immigrants.

Should We Let Terrorists Buy Guns?
The Progress Report
Think Progress
Meet the Guns Rights for Terrorists caucus.

JUSTICE AND THE COURTS

House, Senate reach funding deal that clerks of court wanted
By Dara Kam
Palm Beach Post
Florida’s 67 clerks of courts — and lawmakers — hope a deal reached by House and Senate leaders late Tuesdaymeans the clerks no longer will have to seek a mid-year budget boost from the Legislature as they have for the past four years.

Gov. Scott should slow roll on speeding up executions
Editorial
Orlando Sentinel
Feeling the need for speed, the Florida Legislature has sent Gov. Rick Scott a bill that would hasten executions.