Daily News Clips for May 30, 2013

FEATURED STORIES

Another start-up insurer’s deal with Citizens draws scrutiny
By Charles Elmore
Palm Beach Post
Related: Gov. Rick Scott signs Citizens reform bill, then blasts insurer
A $52 million deal between state-run Citizens and a start-up insurer that gave to $110,000 to Gov. Rick Scott’s political committee may be causing “serious concerns” for Florida’s House Speaker, but state records show another fledgling carrier from South Florida spent more than $650,000 lobbying state legislators and executives to get more — up to $63 million.

Holder vaunted as option for Lt. Gov
By Jeremy Wallace
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
Florida Gov. Rick Scott has been tight-lipped in his search for a new lieutenant governor, avoiding speculation about anyone under consideration and saying only that he expects to name someone soon.

Group asks Scott to veto speedier-foreclosure bill
By Mary Shanklin
Orlando Sentinel
A homeowner-advocacy group is pressuring Florida Gov. Rick Scott to veto a bill that would expedite foreclosures in the state starting July 1.

FLORIDA POLITICS

Critics fret over doubling of campaign-cash cap
By David Damron
Orlando Sentinel
The size of campaign contributions that flow into city and county races across Florida will double this fall, a change that critics say gives deep-pocketed donors even more sway over local elections.

Senator wants documents related to ousted DEP attorneys
By Bruce Ritchie
The Florida Current
Sen. Darren Soto on Wednesday filed a public records request seeking Florida Department of Environmental Protection records related to the dismissals of four attorneys last week.

POLITICAL RACES

Gwen Graham Discusses Her Father, Obamacare
By Abby Livingston
Roll Call
Every year, scores of congressional candidates visit the CQ Roll Call offices to meet with reporters and Contributing Editor Stuart Rothenberg.

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

Consumers Paying For Non-Existent Nuclear Plant
By Matt Horn
Capitol News Service
A bill waiting to be signed by the governor will drastically change how two of Florida’s largest power companies bill customers for a nuclear power plant that doesn’t even exist.

Saving our springs
Editorial
Gainesville Sun
It sounds like some rare good news for our beleaguered springs: The state has allocated $10 million out of the budget for springs protection.

EDUCATION

Manatee parents complain about teacher cuts
By Katy Bergen
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
Anna Maria Elementary School parent Amy Bowes hasn't forgotten the flock of crying children that surrounded a teacher last week in a school lobby, upset that he wouldn't be returning next year because of budget cuts.

State money for teacher raises not enough, Pasco superintendent tells staff
By Jeffrey S. Solocheck
Tampa Bay Times
As soon as the Florida legislative session ended, Gov. Rick Scott hit the road to celebrate the money he had inserted in the 2013-14 budget specifically for teacher raises.

Report: P.E. should be a core subject
By Lisa Gartner
Tampa Bay Times
Reading, writing, 'rithmetic and... kickball? The U.S. Institute of Medicine of the National Academies says yes, arguing in a new report that physical education should be considered a core subject in the nation's public schools.

Summer reading camps and, possibly, more tests on tap for 3rd graders who struggled on FCAT
By Leslie Postal
Orlando Sentinel
Third graders who got bad news about FCAT reading scores Friday will soon be offered a chance to attend a summer "reading camp."

Tuition frozen at Broward College, Palm Beach State
By Scott Travis
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Tuition at Florida's colleges will remain steady after years of big increases.

JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY

Low-income seniors must wait for local action on tax breaks
By Andrew Grant
Daytona Beach News-Journal
When Florida voters went to the ballot box last year, they faced 11 proposed amendments to the state constitution. They voted down most of them — except three.

Affordable housing again in short supply
By Josh Salman
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
When Mike Beller moved to Sarasota three years ago, he didn't expect apartment hunting to be such an arduous chore.

HEALTH AND SENIORS

Vindictive health care bill targets consumers
Editorial
Tampa Bay Times
The federal health care reform law has withstood a court challenge and a presidential election, but the Republican-controlled Florida Legislature is still battling it.

State Workers' Insurance Still Skewed
By Craig Kopp
WUSF
Gov. Rick Scott tried again this past legislative session to make all state employees pay the same amount for health insurance.

IMMIGRATION, CIVIL RIGHTS AND SOCIAL ISSUES

Federal panel rejects state worker drug tests
By Bill Cotterell
The Florida Current
A highly skeptical federal appeals panel on Wednesday refused to approve the "unprecedented scope" Gov. Rick Scott's order for random drug-testing of about 85,000 state employees, but said he can justify urinalysis on a job-by-job basis for government workers whose drug use might endanger coworkers or the public they serve.

Harsh views, few facts on immigration, UF survey shows
by Jeff Schweers
Gainesville Sun
Floridians have strong opinions but few facts about immigration, an extensive survey by the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agriculture Sciences shows.

Time for Boy Scouts to take next inclusive step
Editorial
Orlando Sentinel
As the saying goes, you must crawl before you walk. It certainly applies to the Boy Scouts of America.

JUSTICE AND THE COURTS

Dead Dozier kids finally matter
By Fred Grimm
Miami Herald
No one much cared before. Not when these children were brutalized by the guards at the Dozier School for Boys. Not when their bodies were discarded into unmarked graves.