Daily News Clips for May 31, 2013

PROGRESS FLORIDA IN THE NEWS

The BluVu: Week of May 31, 2013
By Gayle Andrews
The BluVu
Is Rick Scott marching to the drumbeat of defeat? Is former Democratic Leader Nan Rich the only one tough enough to call the Republicans out ?  Damien tells us how the sequester could put you at risk as political reality comes your way!

FEATURED STORIES

Pension bill stuns counties, could force tax increases
By Bill Varian and Michael Van Sickler
Times/Herald Tallahassee Bureau
A bill passed in the waning moments of the 2013 legislative session with little discussion and signed two weeks later by Gov. Rick Scott will cost state and local governments nearly $900 million in additional expenses next year, hitting county governments especially hard as they struggle to emerge from a prolonged economic slump.

Gov. Scott approves controversial bill opposed by environmental groups
By Craig Pittman
Tampa Bay Times
Gov. Rick Scott has signed HB 999, a bill so detested by a host of environmental groups that they brought in former Sen. Bob Graham to try in vain to stop it.

Citizens deal with Heritage Insurance is $52 million of corporate welfare.
Editorial
Palm Beach Post
In December, Florida’s state-run insurance company dropped a $350 million policy take-out plan after widespread criticism that it amounted to corporate welfare.

BEST OF THE BLOGS

RPOF Rolls Out Attack On Nan Rich And Florida Women
By Martha Jackovics
Beach Peanuts
In spite of boasting to the contrary, is the Republican Party of Florida not so sure they have a winning incumbent in Rick Scott?

Florida High Court Pushes Back Against State Underfunding Of Public Defenders
By Nicole Flatow
Think Progress
In Florida’s Miami-Dade County, lawyers often meet their criminal defendant clients moments before they walk into the courtroom, without having visited the crime scenes or interviewed witnesses.

Red states rejecting Obamacare Medicaid expansion need it most
By Jon Perr
Daily Kos
From the beginning, the defining irony of the never-ending debate over Obamacare is this: health care is worst in those states where Republicans poll best.

Throwback Tuesday: How Florida Happened; The Political Education of Buddy MacKay
By Kartik Kraishaiyer
The Florida Squeeze
Buddy MacKay is one of the most influential and underrated figures in Florida’s development from backwater to thriving mega-state.

A banner year for Big Sugar billionaires
By gimleteye
Eye On Miami
What a blessed year if you love Big Sugar.

FLORIDA POLITICS

GOP recruiting minorities for 2014
By James Call
The Florida Current
Floridians will play a key role in the national Republican Party’s effort to recruit the next generation of elected officials devoted to limited-government principles.

Gov. Rick Scott signs bill to help human trafficking victims
By Lauren Carr
Tampa Bay Times
Florida victims of human trafficking will now be able to petition the court to expunge arrests and convictions from their record if the acts were committed under duress from a trafficker.

BALLOT INITIATIVES

Florida Medical Marijuana Effort Could Get Help From Aging Baby Boomers
By Maggie Clark
Stateline
Florida lawmakers made it clear this session that they are not interested in legalizing marijuana.

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

Outside appraisal boosts Citrus County's tax claim against Duke Energy
By Ivan Penn and Drew Harwell
Tampa Bay Times
Duke Energy's attempt to slash its Citrus County tax bill might have backfired: A new appraisal says the utility owes more than three times what it paid last year.

EDUCATION

Orange County Opting For More K-8 Schools
By Gina Jordan
StateImpact Florida
The popularity of K-8 schools is growing in one of Florida’s largest districts. Orange County Public Schools will add up to five kindergarten through 8th grade schools to the three already in place.

Online Pasco budget town hall meeting outdraws face-to-face sessions
By Jeffrey S. Solocheck
Tampa Bay Times
The Pasco County School Board turned to the internet Wednesday evening for its first interactive online budget town hall meeting.

CF eliminates 28 positions
By Joe Callahan
Ocala Star-Banner
College of Central Florida can no longer rely on reserve funding to balance its budget, so it has eliminated 28 positions for the 2013-14 year.

JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY

Forecasters face furloughs during hurricane season
By Eric Heisig
Pensacola News Journal
Fueling concerns about their ability to respond if disaster strikes, two federal agencies with key roles protecting the public during hurricane season will do so with fewer employees because of this year’s sequester.

Transportation dominates town hall meeting in Tampa
By Richard Danielson
Tampa Bay Times
The importance of having a regional approach to transportation was something on which everyone agreed Thursday night.

Consumer advocate: Rate decisions should include falling reinsurance costs
Staff Report
The Florida Current
Regulators should consider the drop in reinsurance costs when deliberating rate increase requests from insurers, Insurance Consumer Advocate Robin Westcott said Thursday.

HEALTH AND SENIORS

It's Deadline Day for Doctors' Bonus
By Carol Gentry
Health News Florida
Primary-care physicians who treat Florida Medicaid patients are eligible for a big, fat retroactive bonus thanks to the Affordable Care Act -- as long as they file for it by Friday, May 31.

IMMIGRATION, CIVIL RIGHTS AND SOCIAL ISSUES

Scott's Drug Test Overreach
Editorial
Tampa Bay Times
A complex ruling in federal appellate court over Gov. Rick Scott's employee drug testing program left both sides claiming victory as the case heads back to district court.

Exonerated death row inmates call on Scott
By Bill Cotterell
The Florida Current
Two men exonerated and freed after spending years on Florida's death row delivered a letter and petition to Gov. Rick Scott's office Thursday, urging him to veto a pending "Timely Justice Act" that legislators approved this year to end decades-long delays in executions.

JUSTICE AND THE COURTS

'Just an amazing man': Sandy D'Alemberte honored on his 80th birthday
By Bill Cotterell
Tallahassee Democrat
Retired Supreme Court Justice Parker Lee McDonald pulled his necktie forward Thursday and pointed out the little alternating pattern of judicial scales and maps of Florida on it.

Pam Bondi wants a say in dismissed Brooksville red-light camera cases
By Tony Marrero
Tampa Bay Times
Motorists with pending red-light camera citations rejoiced this month when a Hernando County judge decided to toss out right-on-red cases that came before him.