Daily Clips for May 25, 2011

FEATURED STORIES

At Republican rally, Rick Scott to celebrate 'jobs budget' that kills c.4,500 jobs
By Marc Caputo
Miami Herald
Related: Q poll: Rick Scott even more unpopular -- 57 percent disapprove
It's long been a staple that a budget is as much a policy roadmap as a political statement, but Gov. Rick Scott is kicking it up a notch with his...er...the Republican Party of Florida's announcement that he'll be signing Florida's "jobs budget" Thursday in the friendliest of GOP places, The Villages retirement community.

Scott plans more budget cuts
By Bill Cotterell
Florida Today
The last time Gov. Rick Scott went to a big public rally at The Villages he signed a giant taxpayer protection pledge promising never to raise taxes.

Democratic upset in New York could expose liability of Medicare votes in Florida
By Alex Leary
St. Petersburg Times
Democrats are ecstatic tonight after taking a House seat in what had been a safe Republican district in western New York. And the results could chasten Republicans in Florida.

Florida Public Service Commission names Curt Kiser interim director
By Mary Ellen Klas and Katie Sanders
St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
The Florida Public Service Commission named an interim executive director Tuesday after accepting the resignation of Timothy Devlin, saying his forced departure was a "private matter."

FSU showing signs it's learning from Koch mess
Editorial
St. Petersburg Times
Florida State University president Eric Barron has seen the light.

FLORIDA POLITICS

Q-Poll: Scott’s job approval numbers get worse, and his budget is ‘unfair’
By Aaron Deslatte
Orlando Sentinel
Quinnipiac University has released its new poll of Gov. Rick Scott’s job approval rating, and the picture doesn’t look good for the rookie governor.

Did campaign cash help pave the way for prison privatization?
By Travis Pillow
Florida Independent
The National Institute on Money in State Politics took a look at the numbers.

POLITICAL RACES

Robaina, Gimenez in runoff for Miami-Dade mayor
By Matthew Haggman
Miami Herald
The race to be the next Miami-Dade County mayor is down to two, after voters threw their support behind former Hialeah Mayor Julio Robaina and former County Commissioner Carlos Gimenez but failed to give either candidate more than 50 percent of the votes required to crown a winner.

Stand of Pawlenty: presidential candidate in South Florida, calls for cuts to retiree benefits
By George Bennett
Palm Beach Post
A day after telling Iowans their beloved ethanol subsidies will have to go, Republican presidential candidate Tim Pawlenty used a stop in senior-heavy Florida to call for reining in Social Security and Medicare benefits for future retirees.

BALLOT INITIATIVES

Under Baxley bill, voters consider ban on state funding for abortions
By Bill Thompson
Ocala Star-Banner
Come November 2012, Florida voters will have an opportunity to enshrine a ban on public funding for abortion in the state Constitution.

Taxpayer-subsidized ads for abortion-funding amendment will cost more than was spent on abortions
By Ashley Lopez
Florida Independent
State Rep. Dennis Baxley, R-Ocala, is the sponsor of a house bill that would amend the Florida Constitution to ban taxpayer funding for abortions.

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

On orders from Gov. Scott, Swiftmud eliminates seven basin boards
By Craig Pittman
St. Petersburg Times
In a move they said was dictated from Tallahassee, Southwest Florida Water Management District board members voted Tuesday to get rid of seven volunteer boards that help with everything from restoring Tampa Bay to planning for future water needs.

Water management district asks governor to ax bill that cuts budget
By Kate Bradshaw
WMNF Community Radio Tampa
The agencies that oversee regional water resources may soon be in a bind if Governor Rick Scott signs a new law limiting how much they can collect from property taxes.

Fishermen Need Answer
Editorial
Lakeland Ledger
Scientists have been pulling an unusual number of sick fish — with skin lesions, fin rot and other symptoms — out of the Gulf of Mexico.

EDUCATION

Thousands of Broward teachers protest job cuts and demand raises
By Cara Fitzpatrick
South Florida Sun Sentinel
Ringing bells, carrying signs and shouting slogans like "Yes, we can," teachers clogged the sidewalks Tuesday around the Broward School District headquarters to protest job cuts, district mismanagement and a lack of raises.

Deadline arrives for education chief applicants
By Leslie Postal
Orlando Sentinel
The national search for Florida's next education commissioner has yielded three applicants so far, but several more are expected before the deadline Wednesday.

JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY

Group finds $203M in 'turkeys' in Florida's budget
By Bill Kaczor and Laura Wides-Munoz
Associated Press
A research and advocacy group with close business ties Tuesday recommended that Gov. Rick Scott veto 105 "turkeys" worth $203 million because they were added to Florida's budget after bypassing normal vetting processes or had not been requested by an agency or the governor.

Scott signs port security clearance bill in Tampa
By Ted Jackovics
Tampa Tribune
Gov. Rick Scott today signed into law an employee security-clearance bill to eliminate the requirement for duplicative state and federal security standards that have added costs to employers at Florida's seaports.

Expressway, state reach deal to build Wekiva Parkway
By Dan Tracy
Orlando Sentinel
Metro Orlando's major road-building authority and the state are joining forces to build the Wekiva Parkway, $1.8 billion missing link in the region's beltway.

State regulators reach settlement over phone service for low income households
By Susan Salisbury
Palm Beach Post
The Florida Public Service Commission on Tuesday accepted Associated Telecommunications Management Services, LLC's settlement offer to resolve apparent violations of Florida Statutes and Commission rules in providing Lifeline service.

HEALTH AND SENIORS

Poll: More Americans favor abortion rights
By Lynda Waddington
Florida Independent
Related: Report: Economic recession, poverty had biggest effect on abortion rates
The number of Americans who self-identify as abortion rights supporters grew while the number identifying as anti-abortion rights advocates shrank, according to a new national poll.

DCF Layoffs, What’s Next
By Whitney Ray
Capitol News Service
Five hundred Department of Children and Families employees are losing their jobs due to state budget cuts.

‘Turkeys’ include health projects
Staff Report
Health News Florida
Some of the priciest projects listed in the Florida TaxWatch “Turkey Watch Report,” which labeled $203 million worth of budget items as superfluous, are related to health and social services.

Pain clinics challenging raids
By Jim Saunders
News Service of Florida
When police in March swooped down on the Total Medical Express of Orange Park, they seized $42,000 in cash and medical records --- and closed what was billed as a pill mill.

JUSTICE AND THE COURTS

More to be charged in Scott Rothstein Ponzi scheme
By Jay Weaver
Miami Herald
Four people will be charged in connection with the $1.2 billion Ponzi scheme orchestrated by Fort Lauderdale attorney Scott Rothstein, federal sources said Tuesday.

Daily Clips for May 24, 2011

FEATURED STORIES

$4.6 billion in federal stimulus money stays unspent in Florida
By Scott Powers
Orlando Sentinel
More than two years after the controversial federal-stimulus program began, Florida has yet to spend more than $4.6 billion of its stimulus money, even as the state starts seeing new layoffs of teachers and others paid with stimulus money the past two years.

State law limits citizens' ability to get amendments on ballot
By Catherine Whittenburg
Tampa Tribune
A controversial new law has made it easier for the Legislature -- but harder for citizens -- to change Florida's constitution.

Director of PSC resigns under pressure
By Mary Ellen Klas
Miami Herald/St. Petersburg Times Tallahassee Bureau
The executive director of the Public Service Commission, hired by four consumer-friendly commissioners who were ousted last year, has been ousted himself.

Out-of-state school choice cash winning votes, splitting Democrats
By Matt Dixon
Florida Times-Union
Over the past five years, a multimillion-dollar effort by a small number of deep-pocketed school-choice advocates has tried to sway state-level elections and rewrite education laws across the country.

FSU faculty group plans review of Koch deal
By Katie Sanders and Kris Hundley
St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Related: The Koch brothers' ideological war
Stung by widespread criticism of its unusual contract with a conservative billionaire donor, Florida State University has turned to its faculty for guidance on avoiding such a fiasco in the future.

FLORIDA POLITICS

Are Florida Democrats regaining momentum?
By Jeremy Wallace
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
Florida Democrats gained something in Jacksonville this week that they have not felt in more than a year.

Florida's early voting remains at 96 hours
By Kurt Browning
St. Petersburg Times
Related PolitiFact article: Flexibility in early voting could mean fewer hours to vote
One of my most important responsibilities as secretary of state in Florida is preserving the integrity of the voting process while increasing access to the ballot box.

It’s not just Florida pushing tougher voter laws
By Travis Pillow
Florida Independent
The Wall Street Journal published a review over the weekend of states pushing tighter elections laws.

Lobbyists spent $55 million to lobby Florida lawmakers and governor, analysis shows
By Kathleen Haughney and Aaron Deslatte
South Florida Sun Sentinel
Florida utilities, casino operators, local governments and a host of other interests spent more than $55.1 million to lobby Tallahassee lawmakers and the governor during the first three months of the year, according to a Sun Sentinel-Orlando Sentinel analysis of lobbyist compensation data released this month.

POLITICAL RACES

Gov. Rick Scott says he won't run for president
Associated Press
Tampa Tribune
Florida Gov. Rick Scott has added his name to the list of prominent Republicans who say they are not running for president.

GOP's best 2012 hope spelled J-E-B
By Keith Koffler
Politico
Republicans are not happy about their choices for the 2011 presidential nomination.

Jeb ignores home cooking; still ‘no’ to prez run
By John Kennedy
Palm Beach Post
With former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty making a beeline to Florida for a Tampa fund-raiser on the heels of making his presidential candidacy official Monday, Florida’s own former Republican Gov. Jeb Bush, was — again — quick to rule out his own potential run.

Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty makes Tampa a first campaign stop
By Adam C. Smith
St. Petersburg Times
He is the son of a truck driver with a record of slashing spending, taking on public employee unions and quoting the Will Ferrell movie Talladega Nights: The Ricky Bobby Story.

Polls open for Miami-Dade election; voters show low interest
By Matthew Haggman and Martha Brannigan
Miami Herald
As election day begins Tuesday morning to pick a new mayor for Miami-Dade County, voters are showing less interest in choosing a replacement than they did in throwing the previous officeholder out.

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

Environmentalists decry plan to do away with Florida DCA
By Kate Bradshaw
WMNF Community Radio Tampa
Since 1986, the Florida Department of Community Affairs has tried to prevent sprawl throughout the state, often to the chagrin of developers.

Regulators raised new concerns about reactor
By Curtis Morgan
Miami Herald
Citing “technical issues,’’ federal regulators have delayed approval of a next-generation nuclear reactor design picked by Florida Power & Light for its proposed expansion at Turkey Point in South Miami-Dade County.

EDUCATION

Broward Teachers Union organizes public protest
By Carli Teproff
Miami Herald
More than 2,000 teachers, parents and students are expected to gather outside of the Broward School Board building in downtown Fort Lauderdale Tuesday evening in protest of recent budget cuts.

Baker County school board adopts abstinence-only sex ed program
By Ashley Lopez
Florida Independent
Last week the Baker County school board unanimously voted to adopt a strict abstinence-only sex education program.

JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY

DCF to lay off 500 workers
By John Kennedy and Ana Valdes
Palm Beach Post
About 500 state employees who work for the Department of Children and Families will lose their jobs by the end of next month to cover a $48 million budget cut, according to the agency's secretary.

Group hunting for 'turkeys' in Florida's budget
Associated Press
Bradenton Herald
Florida TaxWatch is conducting its annual 'turkey' hunt.

Business groups press governor to veto cuts they say will cost jobs
By John Kennedy
Palm Beach Post
Road builders heightened the pressure Monday on Gov. Rick Scott, delivering close to 3,600 petition signatures opposing a proposed $150 million shift of gas tax dollars they warn will cost thousands of jobs.

HEALTH AND SENIORS

Report: Lawmakers divert funds from public hospitals to for-profit and faith-based hospitals
By Ashley Lopez
Florida Independent
According to The Miami Herald, Florida’s legislature has redirected millions of dollars for low-income hospital patients in South Florida to private and faith-based hospitals.

Child Death Exposes Failure of Attorney General’s Office
By Ralph De La Cruz
Florida Center for Investigative Reporting
“Agency Fails Another Child,” read the headline in Saturday’s St. Petersburg Times, referring to the Department of Children and Families.

Study: Florida still failing children's dental health
By Kimberly Moore Wilmoth
Ocala Star-Banner
For the second year in a row, Florida has received an F grade for the oral health care of the state's children, although The Pew Center on the States, which issued the report, said things are improving.

Fill gaps in Florida's child protection system before more kids perish
Editorial
St. Petersburg Times
A judge tried to intervene. So did social workers and the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office.

JUSTICE AND THE COURTS

Yeah, but they still get to keep the 'Taj Mahal'
By Howard Troxler
St. Petersburg Times
So now there are formal misconduct charges against Paul M. Hawkes, the main judge in the "Taj Mahal" courthouse scandal in Tallahassee.

Trimmed-down version of Florida's foreclosure court to remain in service
By Roger Bull
Florida Times-Union
The funding that created Florida's foreclosure courts is gone but, at least in Jacksonville, the court will continue — with a change.

Daily Clips for May 23, 2011

PROGRESS FLORIDA IN THE NEWS

Commissioners should opt out of retirement, some say
By Bill Thompson
Ocala Star-Banner
Excerpt: Damien Filer, political director of the liberal advocacy group Progress Florida in Tallahassee, didn’t see a problem with the system as is…“The real insult to injury is that the money was there, but they chose to take it out of pockets of teachers, firefighters and police and give it to big corporations.”

FEATURED STORIES

State budget awaiting Scott’s sig to cause pain before any gain, economists say
By John Kennedy
Palm Beach Post
The $69.7 billion state budget now before Gov. Rick Scott will send tremors through Florida’s struggling economy, with school districts, hospitals and other big employers soon cutting jobs and programs because of a sharp drop in taxpayer dollars, economists say.

Rick Scott, CEO, unfazed by criticism of 'employees'
By Aaron Deslatte
Orlando Sentinel
Florida's CEO governor is getting an earful from the company, but Rick Scott appears unflinching in his vision.

Florida cracks down on democracy
By Howard Troxler
St. Petersburg Times
At first I thought this crackdown on democracy in Florida, signed Thursday by Gov. Rick Scott, was mostly about Republicans sticking it to Democrats.

What grand jury? Florida Legislature fails to pass 'essential' ethics reform
By Steve Bousquet
St. Petersburg Times
Reform is essential to remedy the perception that those in leadership roles fail to set a noble example of service and are instead assumed to be egotistical and corrupt.

Florida: ground zero for Republican candidates
By Adam C. Smith
St. Petersburg Times
Where does one go after announcing a candidacy for president? Florida, of course.

EDITORIAL CARTOON OF THE WEEK

By Doug MacGregor
Ft. Myers News-Press

FLORIDA POLITICS

Scott meets with secretive religious right group
By William March
Tampa Tribune
Gov. Rick Scott went to Tyson’s Corner in northern Virginia today for a meeting of the Council for National Policy, a secretive and sometimes controversial religious right group.

Browning continues media in support of elections bill
By Travis Pillow
Florida Independent
Florida Secretary of State Kurt Browning took to the airwaves Friday, continuing his defense of a controversial elections bill signed Thursday by Gov. Rick Scott.

Tea party leaders celebrate a session with limited victories
By Michael C. Bender
St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Tea party leaders are cheering one of the most conservative legislative sessions in recent history, even if it was only a fraction of what they wanted.

Vote-killing regulations
Editorial
Tampa Tribune
Florida Gov. Rick Scott hates regulations. Indeed, the phrase "job-killing regulations" has become a virtual motto.

POLITICAL RACES

Tensions among Republicans rise over 2012 candidates
Associated Press
Tampa Tribune
Some leading Republicans are trying to entice a more established candidate to jump into the presidential race, a courtship that's aggravating tensions between tea partyers and the GOP's traditional business wing, a deep-pocketed source of financial support in the campaign.

St. Petersburg Times, POLITICO team up for 2012 coverage
Staff Report
St. Petersburg Times
The St. Petersburg Times and POLITICO have formed a partnership to cover presidential politics in Florida and the 2012 Republican National Convention in Tampa.

Alvin Brown won it on issues, advisers, ground game
By Timothy J. Gibbons
Florida Times-Union
Tom Bacote remembers the day, about three weeks before the election, when he knew Alvin Brown would win the race to become Jacksonville's next mayor.

BALLOT INITIATIVES

7 constitutional measures reach ballot; critics say some aimed at luring GOP voters to polls
By Dara Kam
Palm Beach Post
As they cast their ballots for president in 2012, Florida voters also will decide on at least seven proposed constitutional amendments.

Scholars: Florida's constitution "easiest" to amend
By Regan McCarthy
WFSU Public Radio Tallahassee
Pick up a copy of the state's constitution and chances are it'll be out-dated.

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

Powerful interests checkmated Florida's growth management agency
By Craig Pittman
St. Petersburg Times
In its 35 years, the state Department of Community Affairs has irritated some of Florida's most powerful people, including developers, lawyers, the Florida Chamber of Commerce, the Florida Farm Bureau and a coalition of the state's biggest landowners.

Florida growth agency "boogeyman" disappearing without debate
By Bruce Ritchie
FloridaEnvironments.com
With some state planners being handed their pink slips this week, the question arises over what really happened to the debate over the fate of Florida's growth management agency -- the Department of Community Affairs?

Haridopolos still favors offshore oil drilling
By Jeremy Wallace
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
The Deepwater Horizon accident is doing nothing to stop one of the leading GOP candidates for the U.S. Senate in 2012 from calling for more oil drilling closer to Florida's coastline.

Gulf Coast lawmakers split over BP oil spill money
By Deborah Barfield Berry
Florida Today
Gulf Coast lawmakers agree on this much: Almost all the money BP will pay in fines related to last year's Gulf of Mexico oil spill should be spent restoring the environment and local economies in their states.

Lake Okeechobee drops to point where pumping likely needed to keep water flowing
By Christine Stapleton
Palm Beach Post
Water levels in Lake Okeechobee dropped to 10.48 feet on Friday, below the critical 10.5 feet mark that triggers plans to pump water to growers south of the lake.

Endangered species list dotted with Florida entries
By Maia McGuire
Daytona Beach News Journal
The third Friday in May was designated as Endangered Species Day.

LGBT

For First Time, Majority of Americans Favor Legal Gay Marriage
By Frank Newport
Gallup
For the first time in Gallup's tracking of the issue, a majority of Americans (53%) believe same-sex marriage should be recognized by the law as valid, with the same rights as traditional marriages.

EDUCATION

Public education hurt by Scott’s broken promise
By Ron Littlepage
Florida Times-Union
You may recall that when he campaigned, Rick Scott promised that his budget cutting ways wouldn’t affect spending for public schools.

Protest held to save teachers' jobs
By Richard Jordan
WSVN News South Florida
Parents, teachers and students came together Friday with a loud lesson to save teachers' jobs.

Educators: Funding cuts will hurt Florida's voluntary pre-K programs
By Mary Kelli Palka
Florida Times-Union
Early learning advocates worry that Florida budget cuts next year will continue to hinder efforts to help better prepare children for school.

How School-Voucher Lobbyist John Kirtley Buys Florida Lawmakers’ Votes
By Lilly Rockwell
News Service of Florida
When Florida voted in 2001 to create a corporate tax credit voucher program for low-income students, only one Democrat supported the idea.

Charter school movement exploding in Florida
By Kathleen McGrory
Miami Herald
Mornings at the Charter School of Excellence are an all-out attack on reading.

Students and teachers at Mission High School weigh in on the California STAR Test.
By Kristina Rizga
Mother Jones
"The big bad California STAR Test is in 27 days, everyone!" Mission High School history teacher Robert Roth announces at the beginning of an honors class in March.

Academic freedom at risk
By Waldo Proffitt
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
You don't have to look very hard to find bad news in your daily newspaper.

JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY

Florida's unemployment rate falls to 10.8 percent in April
By Jeff Harrington
St. Petersburg Times
Florida appears headed toward a steady but slow economic recovery, enjoying seven straight months of job growth and falling below the psychological barrier of 1 million jobless statewide for the first time in 18 months.

Plan sends inmates, jobs to low bidder
By Bill Cotterell
Pensacola News Journal
Florida's prison system is poised for a leap of fiscal faith, betting that competition will seriously cut the cost of keeping more than 102,000 criminals locked up, despite well-documented doubts that the private sector does it cheaper.

State workers' outlook: Bad to worse
By Bill Cotterell
Tallahassee Democrat
If you'd like to get some idea of where state employment is headed in the next several years, just look around.

Florida now checking if jobless are looking for work
By Jim Stratton
Orlando Sentinel
When out-of-work Floridians apply for unemployment, they are required by law to look for a job to maintain their eligibility.

States shorten duration for unemployment benefits
By Kevin Freking
Associated Press
Some of the states that have drained their unemployment insurance funds are cutting the number of weeks that a laid-off worker can count on those benefits.

Lieutenant Governor Jennifer Carroll, a stimulus critic, cut ribbon on Delray apartments built with $7.3 million in stimulus money
By George Bennett
Palm Beach Post
Gov. Rick Scott has repeatedly slammed the $787 billion federal stimulus bill and Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll has been a critic as well, telling conservative website NewsMax last fall that the stimulus "has clearly shown that it has not created sustainable jobs. What it has done is grow government even larger."

Rubio's REFUND Act is a superficial political tool
Editorial
St. Petersburg Times
Don't be fooled by U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio's latest scheme to reduce the federal deficit.

HEALTH AND SENIORS

Fla. nursing home watchdogs see turmoil in agency
By Matt Sedensky
Associated Press
Florida, long one of America's most revered retirement spots, has launched what critics call an unprecedented assault on watchdogs for its oldest and sickest they believe amounts to political kowtowing to the powerful nursing home industry.

Florida Medicaid Privatization Under Fire
By Les Coleman
Public News Service Florida
The state of Florida and federal authorities are on track for a head-on health-care collision when all provisions of the Affordable Healthcare Act go into effect in 2014, observers say.

Huge doses of potent antipsychotics flow into state jails for troubled kids
By Michael LaForgia
Palm Beach Post
Florida has plied children in state juvenile jails with heavy doses of powerful antipsychotic medications.

Judicial bypass legislation has ties to current circuit court judge
By Ashley Lopez
Florida Independent
A bill currently awaiting signature from Gov. Rick Scott aims to restrict access for minors seeking a judicial bypass for the state’s mandatory parental notification for abortion law.

Waiting lists still growing for AIDS drug assistance
By Marcos Restrepo
Florida Independent
Waiting lists have continued to grow for programs that help supply life-saving drugs to HIV/AIDS patients who are uninsured and unable to afford their medications.

Lengthy and expensive, pill mill investigations carry no assurance of conviction
By Emily Nipps and Danny Valentine
St. Petersburg Times
Investigators spent two years building the case against Dr. Jacinta Gillis.

CIVIL RIGHTS, PEACE AND SOCIAL ISSUES

Florida business groups look at guest worker program
By John Lantigua
Palm Beach Post
Representatives of Florida's largest business organizations, who helped defeat tough, Arizona-style immigration bills in this year's legislative session, are looking at alternative measures debated in other states that would create state-administered guest worker programs.

States' immigration efforts fizzle
By Laura Wides-Munoz
Associated Press
Nearly every state in the union tried to tackle immigration on its own this year in the absence of any federal movement on the matter, and more than half considered Arizona-style enforcement measures, up from just six in 2010.

JUSTICE AND THE COURTS

Lawyer takes red light cameras to court, again and again
By Stephen Nohlgren
St. Petersburg Times
There's no doubt Cheryl Hill's Ford Focus ran a red light last November.