Daily Clips for February 3, 2012

PROGRESS FLORIDA IN THE NEWS

Educators, healthcare workers say state should increase revenue, not cut spending
By Tia Mitchell
Tampa Bay Times
Excerpt: Jenne took his normally fiery approach when addressing the crowd at a news conference hosted by Progress Florida, a progressive advocacy organization. Attendees rewarded him with cheers and applause that caused the event to take on the air of a church service.

FEATURED STORIES

Opponents to prison privatization should hold firm
Editorial
Tampa Bay Times
Related column: Haridopolos plots and pouts
It's easy to tell when Florida's leaders in Tallahassee are trying to ram through legislation that would not pass on its merits.

Redistricting maps are shuffling Florida’s political landscape
By Mary Ellen Klas
Miami Herald/Tampa Bay Times Tallahassee Bureau
For the last year, Broward Democratic Rep. Marty Kiar planned to run for the state Senate seat being vacated by Sen. Nan Rich of Weston.

Casino bill appears headed for House defeat
By Mary Ellen Klas
Miami Herald/Tampa Bay Times Tallahassee Bureau
A bill that could bring three mega resort casinos to South Florida appeared doomed in the House Thursday, as backers struggled to cobble together a minimum eight-vote majority on the committee that will consider the controversial legislation on Friday.

Hospitals dodge budget cuts
By Carol Gentry
Health News Florida
Spending cuts to health programs will be less than half as much as forecast in the Senate budget, that chamber’s health-spending chief announced today.

Florida attorney general's attempt to subpoena foreclosure mills stalls
By Kimberly Miller
Palm Beach Post
Florida's once-heralded foreclosure mill investigations have fizzled as the attorney general's office has failed to find the right strategy to continue its pursuit and three law firms call for the cases to be dismissed.

BEST OF THE BLOGS

ALEC Exposed, for 24 Hours
By Nick Surgey
Common Cause blog
For almost 40 years now, up to 300 of the largest US corporations—including Koch Industries, Verizon, Bank of America and Exxon—have used ALEC to push model legislation, which is beneficial to their corporate interests, into law in the states.

The breathtaking audacity of the Hasner-Rooney-West shuffle
By Peter Schorsch
St. Petersblog 2.0
So Republican US Senate candidate Adam Hasner is leaving the race and will instead run for the congressional seat of Rep. Allen West, who is leaving that seat to run for Rep. Tom Rooney, who, in turn, plans to run for a new proposed seat that stretches from Charlotte to Martin County.

In Florida GOP Primary, 41% of Tea Party Supporters Voted for Big Government Republican Romney
By Jon Ponder
Pensito Review
Just two years after Florida Republicans elected a corporatist tea-party candidate Rick Scott as governor, with a narrow, 48.9 percent to 47.7 percent win over his Democratic rival Alex Sink, these same voters tacked decisively to the left in their presidential primary election yesterday.

GOP’s Pro-Python Policy Devastates Florida’s Everglades
By Pat Garofalo
Think Progress
Florida, the location of today’s presidential primary, is dealing with a host of problems, including a moribund housing market and long-term unemployment that is the worst in the nation.

GOP presidential primary: does Jeb! fit in?
By Gimleteye
Eye on Miami
Jeb Bush has retained his popularity among voters in Florida.

FLORIDA POLITICS

Florida Prisons Bill Would Expand Private Management, Netting A Big Win For Political Contributors
By Chris Kirkham
Huffington Post
Florida this week faces a choice that is increasingly confronting much of the nation -- whether to hand over a major slice of its prison system to private, for-profit businesses that answer to Wall Street.

POLITICAL RACES

Gingrich challenges Florida GOP winner-take-all rule in attempt to get delegates
By George Bennett
Palm Beach Post
The fight over calendar-crashing Florida's Republican presidential delegates isn't over yet.

After Primary, Scorched Earth Remains In Fla.
By Greg Allen
NPR
There wasn't a Democratic primary contest running in parallel with the Republican race in Florida this year.

Nasty ads worked; now it's a real race
By Scott Maxwell
Orlando Sentinel
Let's kick off the Friday Files with a recap of lesson learned in Tuesday's primary.

Tampa council earmarks $25 million for convention security
By Kevin Wiatrowski
Tampa Tribune
The city council on Thursday set aside $25 million to cover its expenses in preparation for the Republican National Convention.

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

Bill condemned by environmentalists as public-land giveaway is likely dead, sponsor says
By Bruce Ritchie
Florida Current
A bill environmentalists say would result in the giveaway of thousands of acres of state land is likely dead this session, the bill's sponsor said Thursday.

'Mother Nature doesn't care about interstate highways'
By Nathan Crabbe
Gainesville Sun
A series of deadly crashes Sunday on a smoke-shrouded Interstate 75 shows the challenge of a major roadway passing through Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park.

LGBT

Same-Sex Partners: Local Writer Challenging Lakeland to Provide Benefits
By John Chambliss
Lakeland Ledger
A Lakeland resident plans to ask commissioners Monday to provide benefits to same-sex partners of city employees.

EDUCATION

State Senate passes bill allowing student-led prayer in schools
By David Royse
News Service of Florida
The Senate on Wednesday passed a measure that will allow school districts to let students offer inspirational messages, including prayer, at school events as long as adults stay out of the way.

Lottery money dwindles for high-performing schools
By Erica Rodriguez
Orlando Sentinel
A special lottery fund created to reward schools for boosting grades has been cut to the point that the state Department of Education wasn't sure there would be enough to go around this year.

Why Gov. Rick Scott Can’t Prevent University Tuition Hikes
By John O'Connor
StateImpact
Gov. Rick Scott has thrown out a handful of education markers for lawmakers this session, most notably threatening to veto any budget that does not increase K-12 funding.

Florida ponders need for faculty tenure
By Scott Travis
South Florida Sun Sentinel
Tenure is supposed to give educators a high level of job security, but many aren't feeling so secure these days.

JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY

House pushing again to change state worker health insurance program
By Christine Jordan Sexton
Florida Current
Florida lawmakers may push a sweeping transformation of the state's health insurance plan for state workers, although the changes would not take effect for another two years.

Lawmakers weigh bills to create online sales tax
By Toluse Olorunnipa
Miami Herald/Tampa Bay Times Tallahassee Bureau
It’s a question that tests the Florida Legislature’s aversion to new taxes and its pro-business bona fides: Should state law require online retailers to pay sales taxes?

House prepares major property tax cut
By Travis Pillow
Florida Current
A proposed "super" homestead exemption for property taxes cleared its first House committee Wednesday, making way for the Senate to advance its version.

Senate PIP reforms get warm reception
By Tia Mitchell
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
The Florida Senate's plan to reform the no-fault auto insurance program has already achieved what its counterpart in the House has not: unanimous approval from a committee.

HEALTH AND SENIORS

Federal grant for child abuse prevention in Florida at risk, again
By Ashley Lopez
Florida Independent
The Florida House has moved to eliminate the $3.4 million in federal grant money for child abuse prevention and maternal care home visiting that advocates fought hard for last year.

CPCs again receive $2 million in state House budget
By Ashley Lopez
Florida Independent
The Florida House of Representatives yesterday passed a budget allocating $2 million, yet again, to the state’s crisis pregnancy center network.

Twenty senators join Rubio’s effort to overturn federal birth control decision
By Ashley Lopez
Florida Independent
Twenty U.S. senators have endorsed Sen. Marco Rubio’s effort to reverse a recent decision by the Obama administration to require that insurance providers — with the exception of religious employers — cover birth control as a preventive service, according to Rubio’s office.

Health care law makes Medicare stronger, more affordable
By Kathleen Sebelius
Tampa Bay Times
When President Barack Obama delivered the State of the Union last week, he talked about American values — the idea that if you work hard and play by the rules, you should be able to make a good life for yourself and family, and have something left for retirement.

Crisis erupts after Susan G. Komen for the Cure foundation halts support for local Planned Parenthood
By Sonja Isger
Palm Beach Post
The Susan G. Komen for the Cure foundation faced a fierce and growing backlash Thursday that reverberated from the Twitter-verse to Congress, in reaction to news that the cancer-­fighting powerhouse had cut off funding for women's breast exams at Planned Parenthood affiliates.

Daily Clips for February 2, 2012

PROGRESS FLORIDA IN THE NEWS

Interview with Damien Filer of Progress Florida (audio)
By Jeff Santos
The Jeff Santos Show
Damien Filer is our next guest, political director of Progress Florida, a nonprofit organization promoting progressive values through online organizing, media outreach and organizing, and we bring Damien to our microphones.

FEATURED STORIES

$69.2 billion House budget plan trades increased school funding for Medicaid cuts
By Steve Bousquet
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
The House is advancing a $69.2 billion no-new-taxes budget that increases college tuition by 8 percent, cuts payments to hospitals and nursing homes and eliminates 4,700 more state jobs, many from the closing of six prisons.

Florida Senate president ousts committee chair for opposing prison privatization
By Dara Kam
Palm Beach Post
Angered at his inability to win votes to privatize Florida prisons, Senate President Mike Haridopolos on Wednesday ousted a budget committee chairman leading the charge against the bill.

Tuition hikes wear thin on students, administrators
By Lindsay Peterson
Tampa Tribune
When Florida lawmakers proposed steadily increasing university tuition until it hit the national average, students and university officials went along because they saw the promise of a better education.

Districts: A mixture of progress, failure
Editorial
Orlando Sentinel
Two years ago, Floridians voted 63-37 to change the state constitution to stop lawmakers from gerrymandering — drawing congressional and legislative districts with incumbents or parties in mind.

FLORIDA POLITICS

House panel approves budget that cuts jobs, preserves benefits
By Travis Pillow
Florida Current
Related: Haridopolos: Senate budget allocations expected next week, cuts possible
The House Appropriations Committee approved a spending plan Wednesday that would cut more than 4,700 state positions, limit some health care services and raise college tuition, while freeing up more than $1 billion in general revenue for education sought by Gov. Rick Scott.

South Florida gambling plans head for trouble
By Kathleen Haughney
Orlando Sentinel
A controversial plan to massively expand gambling in South Florida appears headed for more trouble as the House and Senate move in opposite directions.

Prison privatization plan may be crumbling in Florida Senate
By Kathleen Haughney
Orlando Sentinel
A massive plan to privatize 28 correctional facilities in South Florida appeared to be crumbling Wednesday as opposition to the plan that would cost the region nearly 4,000 jobs rose in the Florida Senate.

Union groups call senator’s chairmanship loss ‘sad,’ ‘deplorable,’ ‘a shame’
By Ashley Lopez
Florida Independent
Related: Corrections workers express fear as prison privatization vote nears
The AFL-CIO and the Florida Education Association are calling yesterday’s announcement that Florida Senate President Mike Haridopolos removed state Sen. Mike Fasano from a committee chairmanship “a shame,” “sad” and “deplorable.”

Democratic Progressive Caucus of Florida calls this week's ALEC meeting a “democracy killer”
By Sean Kinane
WMNF Tampa Bay
ALEC is holding an education reform academy in the Jacksonville area beginning Friday; the Democratic Progressive Caucus of Florida calling the meeting a “democracy killer” and suggests some Florida lawmakers may attend.

POLITICAL RACES

Rev. Jesse Jackson on Fla. primary: 'One person, one vote' undermined by money
By Jeff Weiner
Orlando Sentinel
In all the attack ads Florida voters saw before the Florida primary, not a single one attacked the plight of poor Americans, the Rev. Jesse Jackson said in Orlando on Wednesday.

Romney, Gingrich dig in for long run
By Adam C. Smith and Alex Leary
Tampa Bay Times
Related: More than 40 percent of Florida primary vote was in before polls opened
Had enough of the Republican presidential primary? There's only 95 percent of the race left to run.

Did Floridians vote for Mitt Romney or against Newt Gingrich?
By Doug Sword and Kevin O’Horan
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
Nowhere in Manatee or Sarasota counties did Mitt Romney do better than on the well-to-do southern half of Longboat Key, where he walloped Newt Gingrich by 54 percentage points.

Mitt Romney boosts Connie Mack’s Senate bid
By Erika Bolstad and Marc Caputo
Miami Herald
One of the unexpected winners in Tuesday’s Republican presidential primary in Florida wasn’t even on the ballot: Congressman Connie Mack.

Hasner officially switches races, drops Senate bid
Associated Press
Tampa Tribune
Former State Rep. Adam Hasner is making it official and dropping out of the Republican U.S. Senate primary.

Musical chairs in S. Fla. District 22: Hasner enters, Murphy may leave, 2 Broward Dems ponder
By George Bennett
Palm Beach Post
Related editorial: This battle is for survival
Redistricting-fueled intrigue continues to swirl around Palm Beach-Broward congressional District 22.

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

Under pressure from environmentalists, water privatization proposal scrapped
By Brittany Alana Davis
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Under pressure from environmentalists, Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn and Rep. Dana Young, R-Tampa, scrapped a controversial proposal Wednesday to "privatize" the state's treated wastewater.

Environmentalists call Florida congressman’s bill ‘a gift to polluter-lobbyists’
By Virginia Chamlee
Florida Independent
A coalition of Florida environmental groups is speaking out against a new bill introduced by Rep. Steve Southerland, R-Panama City, that would, he says, “empower Florida officials, rather than bureaucrats at the EPA” to implement water pollution standards.

Department of Environmental Protection completes oil spill inspections of state beaches
By Virginia Chamlee
Florida Independent
The Florida Department of Environmental Protection today announced it has completed a series of post-hurricane season beach inspections, as part of the response to the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

EDUCATION

Florida college, university students to pay 8 percent more tuition under House plan
By Michael Peltier
Naples Daily News
Pitting the chamber against the wishes of Gov. Rick Scott, the House Appropriations Committee on Wednesday approved a spending plan that calls for an 8 percent tuition increase at state colleges and universities.

Rising college costs leave middle class behind
By Scott Maxwell
Orlando Sentinel
Nine years ago, when my son was born, we decided to enroll him in Florida's prepaid tuition plan.

Florida eyes school bus ads for extra money
By Leslie Postal and Lauren Roth
Orlando Sentinel
Florida school districts mired in budget woes might soon get a new fundraising option — selling ad space on their fleets of yellow school buses.

Parent trigger bad policy
Editorial
South Florida Sun Sentinel
It's understandable that parents who have seen little improvement in their children's poor-performing Florida schools would have itchy trigger fingers.

JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY

Florida Ranks Near Bottom for Income, Financial Security of Residents
By Howard Goodman
Florida Center for Investigative Reporting
In the run-up to Tuesday’s Florida Republican presidential primaries, our state’s distressed economy got national attention from the likes of the New York Times, NBC News and Bloomberg News.

Business-tax breaks exceeding $125 million clears key committee
By Jason Garcia
Orlando Sentinel
An influential state House committee unveiled plans Wednesday for more than $125 million a year worth of new business-tax breaks, ranging from broad cuts sought by Republican Gov. Rick Scott to narrower ones for everyone from manufacturers to private-airplane owners and oil-drilling concerns.

HEALTH AND SENIORS

Senate proposal could reduce hospital plans by 9.5 percent
By Christine Jordan Sexton
Florida Current
Senate Health and Human Services Apropriations Subcommittee Chairman Joe Negron is expecting to have to make $850 million in general revenue reductions next week when his committee meets.

Proposed cuts to Medicaid will impact us all
By Larry Bishop
Florida Today
The reason I write this monthly column is to bring issues to your attention that I believe will impact your health.

Florida's shift to private managed care means longer Medicaid waiting lists, study finds
By Stephen Nohlgren
Tampa Bay Times
When the Legislature decided last year to cap Medicaid funding and turn long-term care over to private managed care companies, some experts warned that growing waiting lists would drive people into expensive nursing homes.

Rep. Stearns at center of Planned Parenthood funding dispute
By Bill Thompson
Ocala Star-Banner
The major player in the fight against breast cancer has cut off funding to Planned Parenthood, reportedly because U.S. Rep. Cliff Stearns is investigating Planned Parenthood for possibly using taxpayer money to pay for abortions.

New Attacks in the Right-Wing War on Women
The Progress Report
Think Progress
Right-wing attacks on abortion and access to basic women’s health care aren’t anything thing new, but in the year since Republicans took control of the House of Representatives and state legislatures across the country, we’ve seen these attacks turn into a full-fledged war on women.

CIVIL RIGHTS, PEACE AND SOCIAL ISSUES

ACLU, Anti-Defamation League denounce state Senate’s school prayer vote
By Ashley Lopez
Florida Independent
Civil rights groups are speaking out against a recent vote in the Florida Senate in favor of a bill that would allow students in public schools to pray during any school event.

Rubio's bill imposes religious agenda in workplace
Editorial
Tampa Bay Times
U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio believes that women who work for religiously affiliated hospitals, universities and charities should be subject to a religious agenda as a condition of their employment.

Daily Clips for February 1, 2012

PROGRESS FLORIDA IN THE NEWS

University Students Recoil at Koch Influence
By Howard Goodman
Florida Center for Investigative Reporting
Could it be that students at Florida State University have a deeper understanding of academic freedom than their professors do?

FEATURED STORIES

Mitt Romney wins Florida primary
By Alex Leary
Tampa Bay Times
Related: What we learned from Fla's GOP primary
Related: Florida GOP sends signal: Defeat Obama, stop infighting
Mitt Romney scored a blowout win in Florida's Republican presidential primary Tuesday, steadying a campaign that was jarred by a loss in South Carolina just 10 days ago and again staking his claim to the nomination.

West, Rooney and Hasner remix congressional, Senate races
By Erika Bolstad, Amy Sherman and Marc Caputo
Miami Herald
The political dominoes are tumbling in South Florida, reconfiguring the state’s U.S. Senate race and recalibrating the region’s congressional contests.

After Decades, Journo Still Covers Fla. Legislature
By Noah Adams
NPR
Seventy-one-year-old journalist Lucy Morgan is an institution in Florida.

Short on support, Senate leader holds off on prison privatizing vote
By Dara Kam
Palm Beach Post
A split Senate GOP caucus is threatening a prison privatization effort despite the support of GOP leaders, including President Mike Haridopolos, Rules Chairman John Thrasher and budget chief JD Alexander.

Court shoots down anti-Fair Districts appeal
By Cooper Levey-Baker
Florida Independent
A three-judge panel today denied an appeal filed by Reps. Corrine Brown and Mario Diaz-Balart and the Florida House in their quest to have one of Florida’s two Fair Districts amendments thrown out.

FLORIDA POLITICS

Groups speak out against prison privatization ahead of final state Senate vote
By Ashley Lopez
Florida Independent
Labor groups, corrections employees and legislators held a press conference today denouncing the state’s plan to privatize prisons.

Bill to publish foreclosure notices online only dies in committee
By Katie Sanders
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Lawmakers on Tuesday killed a Republican-backed push to move legal notices of foreclosures to the Internet and away from the newspaper industry, which has benefited from the notice requirement for decades.

POLITICAL RACES

Economic Issues Drove Florida Voters
By Marjorie Connelly
New York Times
The economy, not social issues, mattered most to the Republican voters in Florida.

Some things to take away from Florida primary (other than who won)
By Gary Fineout
The Fine Print
Well if everything goes according to plan Mitt Romney will leave Florida's Jan. 31 primary with a convincing victory that could likely give him the GOP nomination for president.

Gingrich to supporters: I won't give up
By Mark Schlueb
Orlando Sentinel
Newt Gingrich suffered a huge loss Tuesday, but the former speaker told a crowd of supporters in Orlando that he wouldn't give up, saying: "This is the most important election of your lifetime."

Charlie Crist: I might vote for Obama
By Mackenzie Weinger
Politico
Former Florida Gov. Charlie Crist said Tuesday he wouldn’t rule out voting for President Barack Obama in November.

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

Has the Gulf oil disaster fallen off America's radar?
By Sue Sturgis
Facing South
For residents of the Gulf Coast, the BP oil spill is an ongoing disaster that's still causing serious health problems, environmental damage and economic hardship in one of the nation's key fisheries and tourism centers.

House panel backs off investor-owned water utilities bill, creates study committee
By Bruce Ritchie
Florida Current
Legal concerns prompted a House committee Tuesday to rewrite a bill that would have clamped down on investor-owned utilities, opting instead to appoint a study committee.

EDUCATION

GOP K-12 education bill faces opposition by teachers, parent organizations
By Marcos Restrepo
Florida Independent
A coalition of Florida teachers and PTA organizations are opposing a K-12 education bill filed by state Sen. Lizbeth Benacquisto, R- Fort Myers, and known as “Parent Empowerment in Education.”

Lawmaker pitches school tax swap
By Kathleen McGrory
Miami Herald/Tampa Bay Times Tallahassee Bureau
Cash-strapped school districts may soon have an alternative to the property tax revenue that currently funds construction and maintenance.

Debate heats up over bill allowing private school athletes to play at public schools
By Gray Rohrer
Florida Current
A bill making it easier for private high school students to play for public schools that offer a sport not offered by the private school moved through two committees this week, but even some lawmakers voting for the proposal are wary of the legislation.

Florida lawmakers wrestle with ways to fix STEM-degree shortage
By David DeCamp
Tampa Bay Times
Gov. Rick Scott and top lawmakers want universities to find ways to produce more science and technology graduates to fill higher-paying jobs.

Tuition time-out
Editorial
Orlando Sentinel
As students at Florida's public universities and their families have been buffeted by a tough economy over the past few years, they've also been clobbered with annual 15 percent tuition increases — a combination of hikes ordered by lawmakers and approved by the system's Board of Governors.

JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY

Primary Battleground Florida Is The Worst State For The Long-Term Unemployed
By Amanda Peterson Beadle
Think Progress
As Floridians head to the polls for today’s GOP primary, it is likely that many of Florida’s unemployed voters have been looking for a new job for a while.

Wage Theft: A Multi-Million Dollar Problem Here In Florida
By Robert Lorei
WMNF Tampa Bay
Coming up today we’ll talk about wage theft here in Florida—are employers paying fair wages to employees.

Objections to pension changes take sponsor by surprise
By Travis Pillow
Florida Current
One of the architects of sweeping government pension legislation passed last session said he was taken by surprise on Tuesday, when a host of public employees opposed a measure that would walk back one of its most contentious provisions.

Senate panel to move on Internet sales tax bill
By Gray Rohrer
Florida Current
Online retail companies such as Amazon.com will start paying sales tax on goods sold in Florida later this year under a bill filed late Monday by the Senate Budget Subcommittee on Finance and Tax.

Voters approve slot machines in two rural counties, but legal battle looms
By Mary Ellen Klas
Miami Herald/Tampa Bay Times Tallahassee Bureau
Voters in the rural counties of Gadsden and Washington became the first in the state Tuesday to agree to install slot machines outside of Miami-Dade and Broward, as voters approved referendums to bring Las Vegas-style slot machines to their local horse and dog tracks.

HEALTH AND SENIORS

Rubio introduces bill to overturn federal birth control decision
By Ashley Lopez
Florida Independent
The Hill is reporting that Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., has introduced a bill that would roll back a recent decision by the Obama administration to require that insurance providers — with the exception of religious employers — cover birth control as a preventive service.

Many In High-Risk Insurance Pools Face Lifetime Coverage Limits
By Michelle Andrews
WFSU Public Radio Tallahassee
Thanks to the health care overhaul, most people no longer have to worry about getting sick and running out of health insurance coverage.

House Democrats: ‘Fetal pain’ bill ‘gives a legal right to a rapist’
By Ashley Lopez
Florida Independent
One of two anti-abortion bills that passed through a justice committee in the state House this morning would grant “a legal right to a rapist,” Democratic members of the committee argued today.

Florida House panel OK's ban on food aid for snacks
By News Service of Florida
Ft. Myers News-Press
A proposal to prevent poor people from using federal assistance to buy certain snack foods was narrowly approved by a House committee Monday, but the sponsor said after heavy debate that he may change sections of the bill dictating what foods the aid can be used for.

DEA sees sharp drop in Florida oxycodone sales
By Amy Pavuk and Bob LaMendola
Orlando Sentinel
The crackdown on Florida's pill mills, rogue doctors and drug abusers — through a range of new legislation, law enforcement efforts and other programs – is having a significant impact, federal officials say.

CIVIL RIGHTS, PEACE AND SOCIAL ISSUES

Committee kills bill that would give illegal immigrants' kids in-state tuition
By Kim Wilmath
Tampa Bay Times
A bill that would have given in-state tuition to students who live in Florida for two years -- regardless of their parents' residency -- died in the Senate's higher education committee.

School prayer bill expanded to include elementary school students
By Ashley Lopez
Florida Independent
A school prayer bill was today expanded to include elementary school students during one of its final readings on the state Senate floor.

JUSTICE AND THE COURTS

Retooled ‘foreign law’ bill sparks Sharia debate in Florida House committee
By Ashley Lopez
Florida Independent
Florida’s anti-Sharia activism made its way into the state Legislature this morning, as a bill that would regulate the “application of foreign law in certain cases” passed through a House justice committee.