PROGRESS
FLORIDA IN THE NEWS
Palm Beach County Dems get high marks from lefties
By Dara Kam
Palm Beach Post
Excerpt: “These eighteen lawmakers deserve Floridians’ thanks for their unwavering support and leadership on the issues that matter most to middle class families,” said Progress Florida Executive Director Mark Ferrulo.
Champions of the Middle Class
Staff Report
WOFL-FOX TV Orlando
Excerpt: “…three of our areas legislators are Champions of The Middle Class. Florida House members Karen Castor Dentel, Joe Saunders and Randolph Bracy all scored perfect 100s in votes to strengthen the middle class.”
Champions of the Middle Class, or Bad for Business? Lawmakers earn conflicting grade cards
By Aaron Deslatte
Orlando Sentinel
Excerpt: Today, the Orlando-based liberal activist group Florida Watch Action and Progress Florida released a 2013 "Middle Class Champions" list of 18 legislators who voted for 100 percent of the groups' 16 targeted bills, a list that includes voting against an economic-incentives bill (HB 7007), the "parent trigger" bill that failed in the Senate, and the Orange-inspired sick-leave bill awaiting Gov. Rick Scott's signature or veto.
Saint Petersblog: Florida Watch Action, Progress Florida recognize 18 Florida lawmakers as champions of the middle class
The Florida Squeeze: 2013 ‘Champions of Florida’s Middle Class’ Awardees Announced
FEATURED
STORIES
Rubio, Nelson join large majority to proceed on immigration debate
By Alex Leary
Tampa Bay Times
Related editorial: On immigration bill, go for balance
Sens. Marco Rubio and Bill Nelson joined an 85-15 majority vote this afternoon to proceed on debate of the immigration debate.
Marco Rubio Waivers On Immigration Reform Over Border Security
By Ashley Lopez
Florida Center for Investigative Reporting
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Florida, one of the members of the bipartisan group working to pass immigration reform in the U.S. Senate, is changing his tune as the bill faces its last few hurdles in the Senate.
Orange Superintendent Barbara Jenkins being considered for lieutenant governor
By Scott Powers, Lauren Roth and Aaron Deslatte
Orlando Sentinel
Orange County Schools Superintendent Barbara Jenkins is a leading candidate to be chosen by Gov. Rick Scott as Florida's next lieutenant governor.
Benefits bill will have Scott deciding between workers and businesses
By James Call
Florida Current
Gov. Rick Scott has until June 25 to decide the fate of a bill representing a simmering argument between big business and local control.
As GOP targets Crist, Katherine Harris takes hits
By Jeremy Wallace
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
When Charlie Crist became a Democrat after a lifetime as a Republican, his former party made no secret it would come after him if he ran for public office.
FLORIDA
POLITICS
Politicians in Tampa protest Scott's immigration veto
By Charles Scudder
Tampa Bay Times
When he was 18, Carlos Segovia wanted to take his girlfriend on a date.
Another Florida newspaper urges Scott: Veto bill blocking paid sick time
By David Damron
Orlando Sentinel
The Tampa Bay Times Monday joined most of Florida's other major newspapers in urging Gov. Rick Scott to veto a bill that would block local efforts to require paid sick time, such as the referendum pending in Orange County.
President Obama's fundraising trip comes with a price tag
By Marc Caputo and Alex Leary
Times/Herald Staff Writers
President Barack Obama travels to Miami Beach on Wednesday to raise money for the Democratic Party at a private event where donations could reach as high as $32,400 per person.
Fla. legislative leaders hit the road again
Associated Press
Lakeland Ledger
Florida's two legislative leaders are hitting the road again to tout the recent session.
Governor honors Schwarzkopf as Great Floridian
By Charles Scudder
Tampa Bay Times
What do Jeb Bush, Tim Tebow and H. Norman Schwarzkopf have in common? They've all been named Great Floridians by Gov. Rick Scott.
Grayson wants to halt government collection of citizens' phone, Internet records
By Mark K. Matthews
Orlando Sentinel
Prompted by recent reports of widespread government collection of telephone and Internet records, U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson, D-Orlando, has filed legislation that would prohibit the Department of Defense, which includes the secretive National Security Agency, from spying on Americans while they were inside U.S. borders.
POLITICAL
RACES
GOP targets Democrats with robo calls urging them to 'free Nan Rich'
By Mary Ellen Klas
Miami Herald
Putting its money where its mouth is, the Republican Party of Florida on Tuesday launched a robo-call campaign aimed at loyal Democrats urging them to "free Nan Rich" and let the underdog candidate for governor speak at the party’s annual fundraising dinner this weekend.
Republican wins Panhandle House race
By Bill Cotterell
Florida Current
A former tea party leader with strong support from the Republican Party of Florida coasted to a lopsided victory Tuesday in a special election for a state House seat in the far west Panhandle.
ENVIRONMENT
AND ENERGY
Protecting Florida's greatest treasure: Our ocean
By Rebecca Marques
South Florida Sun Sentinel
Every Floridian can remember watching as oil gushed into the Gulf of Mexico just three short years ago.
LGBT
SAVE Dade seeks transgender protections in Miami-Dade County; hopes to pass law by end of the year
By Steve Rothaus
Miami Herald
SAVE Dade on Tuesday launched a "TransEquality" campaign to add gender identity and expression to Miami-Dade County’s current human rights ordinance.
EDUCATION
58 Florida schools face turnaround plans
By Jeffrey S. Solochek
Tampa Bay Times
We've reported quite a bit about the Pasco and Pinellas county schools that are revamping their staffs as part of state-mandated turnaround plans that come with persistently poor performance on state assessments.
Florida schools should have prepared for tougher standards, state board vice chairman says
By Jeffrey S. Solochek
Tampa Bay Times
Florida superintendents' request for more relief in the state's school grading system isn't getting a warm reception from the State Board of Education's newly named vice chairman.
JOBS,
BUDGET, AND ECONOMY
Fast-track coverage changes for property insurers to continue
By Gray Rohrer
Florida Current
A temporary order issued by Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty allowing property insurance companies to make changes to their coverage without a thorough review by regulators was codified into law by legislators during session this year.
Bondi sets deadline for Wells Fargo to respond to settlement complaints
By Kimberly Miller
Palm Beach Post
Possible violations of the National Mortgage Settlement by Wells Fargo forced a meeting last month with an oversight task force and raised the ire of Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi.
Scott sets a watchdog to find a watchdog for Citizens
By Gray Rohrer
Florida Current
Gov. Rick Scott is tapping his inspector general, Melinda Miguel, to help search for an inspector general for state-backed Citizens Property Insurance Corp.
HEALTH
AND SENIORS
Did rejection of Medicaid expansion help House Republicans?
By Michael Van Sickler
Times/Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Florida Democrats hoping the fight over Medicaid expansion and the sequester would win them support with those who depend on federal funding won’t find much encouragement in Tuesday’s special election for House District 2.
Pushed Off the Job While Pregnant
By Jennifer Ludden
Health News Florida
At a time when most pregnant women work, there are new efforts to keep companies from unfairly targeting employees because of a pregnancy.
War on drugs casualty: private RX info of thousands in FL database gets leaked
By Marc Caputo
Miami Herald
To keep dangerous prescription drugs controlled, the government maintains a database to make sure that it monitors who gets what pills from what doctors and how often.
IMMIGRATION,
CIVIL RIGHTS AND SOCIAL ISSUES
Rubio says legal immigration system is broken and ignores skills U.S. needs
By Jeremy Wallace
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
As the U.S. Senate cranks up the floor debate over immigration reform, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio is staying right in the middle of the debate.
Dozier School Questions Remain
By Mike Vasilinda
Capitol News Service
Friday is the deadline for the state to decide whether researchers can resume exhuming bodies at a former north Florida boys school.
JUSTICE
AND THE COURTS
Business donations to judges’ campaigns often equal friendly rulings
By Michael Doyle
McClatchy Washington Bureau
State supreme court justices are favoring the corporate interests that finance their election campaigns, a comprehensive new study concludes.
Condemned killer William Van Poyck faces execution today, nearly 26 years to the day of his crime
By Jane Musgrave
Palm Beach Post
Related editorial: As Van Poyck awaits death, new reason to veto death penalty bill
Like each day of the roughly 25 years he has spent on death row at Florida State Prison, William Van Poyck’s final day will be carefully scripted.
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