Daily Clips for November 22, 2011

FEATURED STORIES

GOP Derails Super Committee To Protect Millionaires & Billionaires
By Pat Garofalo
Think Progress
The fiscal super committee created by last summer’s deal to raise the debt ceiling was charged with crafting a $1.5 trillion deficit reduction package by Thanksgiving.

Fla. House speaker narrows focus of 2012 session to budget, redistricting
By John Kennedy
Palm Beach Post
Florida House Speaker Dean Cannon said Monday he doesn't plan to delay action on crafting next year's state budget, defusing talk that lawmakers might wait in hopes of improving tax collections.

Redistricting Complaints
By Troy Kinsey
WCTV News Tallahassee
After six months of public hearings, committee meetings, and plenty of promises, a critical redistricting deadline has come and gone.

New bill would nix prohibition against poll workers asking voters for ‘additional information’
By Ashley Lopez
Florida Independent
While civil rights advocates and policy-makers around the country have spoken out against increasingly strict and targeted voting rules levied by GOP-led legislatures, state Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Shalimar, last week introduced a new bill that would allow poll workers to ask voters for “additional information” when they present their mandatory photo IDs.

Fla. chief financial officer wants ok on contracts
By Gary Fineout
Associated Press
The top Florida official in charge of the state's checkbook wants more control over state contracts even though it could set up a clash with Gov. Rick Scott.

FLORIDA POLITICS

House Speaker Cannon talks budget, Brody and working with Gov. Scott
By Katie Sanders
St. Petersburg Times
House Speaker Dean Cannon said there is no reason lawmakers should delay passage of the 2012-13 budget beyond the regular legislative session -- not even to factor in sharper revenue projections available in mid-March.

Bogdanoff warns Palm Beach County Commission against slots for kennel club
By Jennifer Sorentrue
Palm Beach Post
Palm Beach County's push to allow slot machines at the Palm Beach Kennel Club could have far reaching, possibly negative effects on the future of gambling in the state, the chair of the county's legislative delegation warned Monday.

Feds close investigation of Sen. Jim Norman without bringing charges
By Jodie Tillman
St. Petersburg Times
Jim Norman's financial link to a longtime political benefactor nearly derailed his run for state Senate — but, according to federal officials, didn't break the law.

BALLOT INITIATIVES

Medical Marijuana Resolution Now in Both Chambers of Florida Legislature
By Matthew Hendley
Broward New Times
Resolutions to let voters decide on an amendment to the Florida Constitution to legalize medical marijuana have now been proposed in both chambers of the Legislature.

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

Tentative Deal With EPA on Water Standards Could Collapse Over Canal Exemptions
By Dennis Maley
Bradenton Times
Though Florida's Department of Environmental Protection and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency have tentatively agreed on pollution rules to protect Florida's waters, the whole deal could go up in smoke over the issue of canals and whether they will be protected from pollution.

PSC to consider Progress Energy request for replacement power costs for Crystal River plant
By Bruce Ritchie
Florida Current
The Florida Public Service Commission is set to decide Tuesday whether Progress Energy should bill its customers for $140.1 million in replacement power costs while its Crystal River nuclear plant is being repaired.

PSC should delay Progress Energy's fuel cost request
Editorial
St. Petersburg Times
The Florida Public Service Commission today should not grant Progress Energy Florida's request to burden consumers with more of the growing expense of its Crystal River nuclear plant debacle.

Sharks need saving, too
Editorial
Miami Herald
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission should take a bow for living up to the Conservation in its name.

EDUCATION

UF explains its "unique mission'' to governor
By Nathan Crabbe
Gainesville Sun
Rather than simply respond to Gov. Rick Scott's questions, the University of Florida decided to rewrite the test.

Bright Future Changes
By Whitney Ray
Capitol News Service
A plan to encourage college students to finish their undergraduate degrees faster will be laid out for lawmakers before the end of the year.

JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY

Failure of debt supercommittee triggers automatic cuts in 2013
By Laura Green
Palm Beach Post
It was difficult to imagine Congress could do more to tarnish its already sad, do-nothing reputation.

As super committee fails to reach deal, here are winners and losers in Florida
By William E. Gibson
Orlando Sentinel
A congressional super committee's failure to agree on a debt-reduction plan Monday disappointed sugar growers and alarmed defense contractors in Florida while bringing a sense of relief to proponents of Social Security and Medicare.

Florida home prices dip, condos bounce back in October
By Gray Rohrer
Florida Current
Sales for existing Florida homes and condominiums rose last month, but although the median sales price rose for condos, home prices dipped slightly, according to a report released Monday by the Florida Association of Realtors.

Florida revenue officials spike idea to tax business leases
Staff Report
St. Petersburg Times
After lobbying by commercial real estate groups, Florida's Department of Revenue spiked a plan that could have imposed more taxes on business leases.

Feds give out $2.4M grant for SunRail planning
By Dan Tracy
Orlando Sentinel
The federal government awarded a $2.4 million grant Monday to a Metro Orlando planning agency to help devise development around 12 of the 17 stops that will serve the SunRail commuter trains.

HEALTH AND SENIORS

Commission is asked to require the sale of all public hospitals and their assets
By Christine Jordan Sexton and Travis Pillow
Florida Current
A proposal to require the sale of all public hospitals and their assets to the private sector got a chilly reception Monday from a majority of those on the state panel charged at looking at public hospitals.

Census: 23% of all Florida children live in poverty
By Mary Ellen Klas
Miami Herald
Here’s a piece of data that missed our radar last week: Nearly one in four Florida children under age 18 live in poverty, higher than the national average and a 1.2 percent increase over the previous year, according to data released last week by the U.S. Census.

Anti-abortion Democrats want religious exemption in birth control decision
By Ashley Lopez
Florida Independent
Democrats opposed to abortion are asking the Obama administration to uphold an exemption for religious employers in its recent decision requiring health insurers to cover contraception without co-payments.

New Prescription Drug Monitoring Program stats released
By Virginia Chamlee
Florida Independent
A statewide prescription drug monitoring program continues to be successful in Florida, where it was only recently implemented.

Legislator files bill to increase access to fresh produce for underserved communities
By Ashley Lopez
Florida Independent
State. Sen Gary Siplin, D-Orlando, introduced legislation earlier this month that would increase access to fresh vegetables and fruits for low-income and struggling communities.

CIVIL RIGHTS, PEACE AND SOCIAL ISSUES

Police at Odds With Miami’s Black Community — Again
By Ralph De La Cruz
Florida Center for Investigative Reporting
We probably shouldn’t be surprised that aggressiveness and violence are part of a police culture.

JUSTICE AND THE COURTS

Cannon puts damper on push to fund courts
By Tom Flanigan
WFSU Public Radio Tallahassee
During the 2011 Florida lawmaking session, House Speaker Dean Cannon was pushing big changes to the state's courts, especially the Supreme Court.

Pennsylvania private prison scheme has familiar ring to it
By Frank Cerabino
Palm Beach Post
It seems only fitting that Michael Conahan became a Florida resident this month.

Drug law case on fast track in Fla. Supreme Court
By Bill Kaczor
Associated Press
A case that could result in the release of hundreds, if not thousands, of drug offenders is on a fast track in the Florida Supreme Court.

Daily Clips for November 21, 2011

PROGRESS FLORIDA IN THE NEWS

November 14th Weekly Show
By Gayle Andrews
The BluVu: Florida’s Political Reality Show
The Governor keeps funneling badly needed taxpayer dollars to his friends, Republicans keep letting the 1% get away with billions in tax loopholes and Damien tells us what’s up with Marco Rubio.

FEATURED STORIES

Alarming Climate Change Effects on Florida
By Les Coleman
Public News Service Florida
"Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters to Advance Climate Change Adaptation" is out, and none too soon: 2011 has been one of the most costly years on record for extreme weather events worldwide, and the U.S. has had more "billion dollar events" than ever before.

In Florida, Anonymous Attack Money Floods Elections
By Ralph De La Cruz
Florida Center for Investigative Reporting
In 2008, $4 billion was spent on political campaigns in the United States.

Florida's Oct. jobless rate drops to 10.3 percent
By Bill Kaczor
Associated Press
Florida's unemployment rate dropped to its lowest point in 28 months in October but remained significantly higher than the national rate, state officials said Friday.

Michelle Obama and Jill Biden booed at NASCAR race in Florida
By Shannon Owens
Orlando Sentinel
First Lady Michelle Obama and Jill Biden, wife of Vice President Joe Biden, got a cold reception in warm Miami at the Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Casino debate revives concerns over broken promises
By Mary Ellen Klas
Miami Herald/St. Petersburg Times Tallahassee Bureau
Related: Florida’s proposed 10% casino tax called jackpot for industry
Related: In casino fight, all bets are off
The press conference called by the heads of South Florida’s horse and dog tracks in October 2004 had one goal in mind: to counter voter skepticism.

EDITORIAL CARTOON OF THE WEEK

By Jim Morin
Miami Herald

FLORIDA POLITICS

In Florida politics, it's hard to tell who gave cash, who got it
By Aaron Deslatte
Orlando Sentinel
Florida's flood of unregulated political spending by independent groups is vast, expanding and characterized by anonymous attacks, bogus or inflated allegations and often-untraceable cash.

NAACP redistricting maps have familiar look
By Aaron Deslatte
Orlando Sentinel
Republican lawmakers say voters who last year endorsed the anti-gerrymandering Fair Districts constitutional reforms may be in for a rude awakening when the first drafts of congressional and legislative maps are released in the coming weeks.

Carroll bill shields loan agency records
By Matt Dixon
Morris News Service
A Florida taxpayer-funded program designed to give loans to African-American-owned businesses that can’t qualify for bank financing has been plagued by shoddy bookkeeping, unreliable job-creation figures and numerous bad reviews from state auditors.

Vern Buchanan’s legal troubles linger
By Jeremy Wallace
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan indirectly suffered a pair of legal setbacks this week that will likely prolong the litigation that has swirled around him for more than three years.

Official who received overpayment resigns
By Gary Fineout
Associated Press
An official with Gov. Rick Scott’s administration who had been given three years to repay the state more than $21,000 is no longer on the job.

In new alimony bill, wealthy, cheating men could pay less
By Scott Maxwell
Orlando Sentinel
If a Brevard County legislator gets his way, Florida will completely overhaul its alimony laws.

POLITICAL RACES

Mack topping Nelson in latest poll
By John Kennedy
Palm Beach Post
Republican Connie Mack is shaping up as big trouble — not only for his fellow GOP contenders for the U.S. Senate nomination, but two-term Democratic incumbent Bill Nelson, a poll shows Friday.

Pawlenty should have stayed in presidential race, some say
By Adam C. Smith
St. Petersburg Times
What goes through the mind of Tim Pawlenty these days?

St. Petersburg Mayor Bill Foster wonders about security costs if RNC party comes to Tropicana Field
By Richard Danielson
St. Petersburg Times
The prospect is exciting: a showcase party at Tropicana Field on the eve of next year's Republican National Convention.

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

Climate change begins to affect South Florida
By David Fleshler
South Florida Sun Sentinel
The debate over global warming tends to focus on future perils — scary maps of flooded suburbs, the northward creep of tropical diseases, rich farmland turning into desert.

EPA tells Florida: Enforce rules on fertilizer in canals
By Christine Stapleton
Palm Beach Post
After years of legal ink-slinging, missed deadlines and countless hours of mind-numbing scientific testimony, Florida's Department of Environmental Protection and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency tentatively agreed this month on pollution rules to protect Florida's lakes, rivers, estuaries, streams and springs.

Progress Energy defends failed Crystal River nuclear plant project in letter to state legislators
By Ivan Penn
St. Petersburg Times
Progress Energy moved last week to calm growing concern about its idled Crystal River nuclear plant, telling state lawmakers the problems that shut down the reactor two years ago "could neither have been predicted nor prevented."

A $1 billion upgrade for Turkey Point
By Curtis Morgan
Miami Herald
Way down where East Palm Drive cuts through the mangroves lining southern Biscayne Bay, Florida Power & Light is ramping up one of South Florida’s largest construction projects — a $1 billion upgrade of the nuclear power plant at Turkey Point.

Game changer
Editorial
Gainesville Sun
Mike Joiner, Florida's assistant commissioner for agriculture, nailed it on Wednesday when he said, at the Alachua County Farm-City luncheon, that water shortages will be a “game changer” for Florida agriculture.

EDUCATION

Going cheap is no bargain
Editorial
Palm Beach Post
Gov. Scott is taking Florida Higher Ed 101, amassing information on the state university system as part of his push for an overhaul during the 2012 legislative session.

Florida university students don't want Gov. Rick Scott's signature
By Jeff Solochek
St. Petersburg Times
It's not likely that they'll get their demand.

Trying to clarify school grading system, Florida seeks waiver from No Child Left Behind law
By Leslie Postal
Orlando Sentinel
Related: FCAT scoring system: State Board asks for another panel to consider plan before it votes
Florida has been grading its public schools A-to-F for more than a decade, using a system most educators and parents find easy to understand.

JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY

Tax Hike Could Yield Major Tax Cut
By Lloyd Dunkelberger
Lakeland Ledger
With the state's struggling finances, Gov. Rick Scott's plan to eliminate the $1.8-billion-a-year corporate income tax seems unreachable.

Florida growing but some still left behind
By Michael Peltier
Naples Daily News
With Thanksgiving just days away, a few more Floridians will have something to be thankful for as the state's economy continues to rumble, albeit slowly, back to life.

Members of Congress are Getting Richer – Why Aren't You?
By Dennis Maley
Bradenton Times
According to analysis by the Capitol Hill newspaper Roll Call, members of Congress saw their average net worth rise by nearly 20 percent between 2008 and 2010.

Gambling in Florida may be set to explode
By Kathleen Haughney
Orlando Sentinel
With the Legislature set to consider allowing Vegas-style casinos, even as smaller operators seek a rash of new pari-mutuel permits, Florida finds itself at a gambling crossroads.

Fake food stamp websites scam poor Floridians, officials say
By Alexia Campbell
South Florida Sun Sentinel
Even poor Floridians are getting ripped off these days.

HEALTH AND SENIORS

Florida Sanctions Top Medicaid Prescribers — But Only After A Shove
By Tracy Weber and Charles Ornstein
ProPublica
At Dr. Huberto Merayo’s bustling psychiatry practice in Coral Gables, Fla., hundreds of poor patients on Medicaid walked away each year with prescriptions for powerful antipsychotic drugs.

27% pay cut unlikely: experts
By Brittany Davis
Health News Florida
Every year, doctors in Florida and around the U.S. sweat out possible deep cuts to their Medicare payments.

Jackson Health System board to hold private meeting on system’s future
By John Dorschner
Miami Herald
After months of preparation and years of discussion, Jackson Health System’s executive team has crafted a strategic plan to turn around the financially distressed public hospitals, which have lost more than $400 million over the past three years.

CIVIL RIGHTS, PEACE AND SOCIAL ISSUES

Upscale Fla. town in fight over immigrant prison
By Laura Wides Munoz
Associated Press
In one of South Florida's upscale, rural enclaves, where peacocks roam and horse trails are as common as sidewalks, town leaders decided to bring in much of their money from an unusual business: a prison.

Family Policy Council starts campaign to help pastors register ‘pro-life and pro-family’ voters
By Ashley Lopez
Florida Independent
John Stemberger, the president of the anti-gay and anti-abortion Florida Family Policy Council, has started a new project to get as many religious voters to the polls as possible.

JUSTICE AND THE COURTS

Proposed Parole Changes
By Whitney Ray
Capitol News Service
56-hundred inmates sentenced to life before 1994 are eligible for parole every two years.

Even with life terms for most juvenile criminals banned, many still face long sentences
By Jane Musgrave
Palm Beach Post
Jenny Clark was a 17-year-old student from Switzerland in 1994 when she was grabbed at gunpoint on North Flagler Drive and raped by two teens.

Daily Clips for November 18, 2011

FEATURED STORIES

Scott meets with 'The Post': Hot for jobs, lukewarm on casinos
By George Bennett
Palm Beach Post
Related editorial: Scott must start to buy in
While saying he remains focused on his campaign pledge of creating jobs, Scott told The Palm Beach Post editorial board today he doesn't necessarily want to see those jobs coming from new casinos in South Florida as touted by some lawmakers.

Longer recovery forecast for Florida
By Kimberly Miller
Palm Beach Post
With 24.5 percent of the nation's foreclosures, Florida remained in the lead this week for housing woe – an unenviable position it will hold long after other regions of the country recover, economists said Thursday.

Democrats want Florida to drop law firm contract
By Bill Kaczor
Associated Press
The Florida Democratic Party on Thursday called for the state to drop its contract with a law firm that includes a one-time business associate of Republican Gov. Rick Scott.

Florida "reformers" use decoys, spread unions thin to shield their virtual schooling efforts, new report claims
By Jeff Solochek
St. Petersburg Times
The Nation magazine has just published an investigative report, How Online Learning Companies Bought America's Schools, that is sure to get Florida's education and policy communities talking.

Study: Health insurance at work rises fast in Florida
By Bob LaMendola
South Florida Sun Sentinel
The price of family health coverage at work has risen faster in Florida than any state except Mississippi, squeezing workers and employers alike, a nonprofit research group said Wednesday.

BEST OF THE BLOGS

High Priced Firm Defending Rick Scott's Pension Law Has Ties...To Scott
By Inkberries
Beach Peanuts
For someone who says we have to be really careful how we spend "our" money, Gov. Rick Scott is running up quite a "bill" for taxpayers who will have to pick up the tab.

From Occupy Wall Street To Organizing Main Street
By Daniel Tilson
West Palm Beach Liberal Examiner
As police in riot gear swept through makeshift tent cities from sea to shining sea, making arrests and clearing encamped Occupy protesters from public parks, the fast-accelerating new movement was already shifting gears.

Blam! Blam! Ka-blooey!
By Benjamin Kirby
The Spencerian
What in the hell is the deal with the violent language and imagery which seems to seep and ooze out of the political right like a festering sore that never heals, abetted by our pathetic media apparatus?

Already A Lap Behind: A Closer Look at Florida’s Refusal to Implement the Affordable Care Act
By Greg Mellowe
Florida Center for Economic and Fiscal Policy
In March 2010, Congress enacted the Affordable Care Act (ACA), sweeping legislation tackling the long-pressing crisis of inadequate and continuously eroding access to affordable, quality health coverage.

FLORIDA POLITICS

Fundraiser: Crist wanted Greer to take over party fundraising
By Rene Stutzman
Orlando Sentinel
A lobbyist who was Charlie Crist's chief fundraiser Thursday told attorneys for ousted Florida GOP Chairman Jim Greer that the then-governor authorized Greer in early 2009 to take over party fundraising and to be paid extra for it, a Greer attorney reported.

Pitiful legislators woo companies with wads of cash
By Scott Maxwell
Orlando Sentinel
In today's Friday Files, we are talking about the wrongfully convicted and broken campaign promises.

Governor Scott Sends Legal Defense Work Out of State – to a Firm with Ties to both Him and GOP
By Dennis Maley
Bradenton Times
Law firms seem to be among the chief benefactors of Governor Scott's reign, though not all of them are Florida firms.

Several hundred hold Occupy protest in Miami
Associated Press
Tampa Tribune
Several hundred people have gathered at a downtown Miami park in solidarity with Occupy Wall Street protests taking place around the nation.

Toll collection merger plan could be dead on arrival
By Gray Rohrer
Florida Current
A new plan to merge the toll collection functions of all the expressway authorities throughout Florida could be dead already, as even those supporting the plan doubt its staying power.

POLITICAL RACES

Is he ready? Cain's gaffes raise some questions
By Charles Babington
Associated Press
Many Republican voters are drawn to Herman Cain's forceful campaign style.

Gingrich tells Florida crowd he welcomes scrutiny
By Brendan Farrington
Associated Press
Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich knows that he is going to be more closely scrutinized now that he's rising in the polls and told a crowd Thursday that he welcomes the questions.

Congress OKs security funding for GOP convention in Tampa
By Christian M. Wade
Tampa Tribune
Congress has signed off on a spending package that will provide $50 million in security funding for the 2012 Republican National Convention in Tampa next August.

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

Fla. streamline tortoise relocation permits
Associated Press
Tampa Tribune
Developers will have an easier time getting permits to relocate Florida gopher tortoises from prematurely cleared land inhabited by the threatened reptiles.

EDUCATION

Schools face $16M shortfall next year
By Joe Callahan
Ocala Star-Banner
The Marion County School District could face as much as about a $16 million shortfall for the 2012-13 school year if predictions from statewide economic forecasters hold true.

Rick Scott's Signature on University Diplomas Is Now the Subject of a Petition
By Matthew Hendley
Broward New Times
Apparently Gov. Rick Scott's positions on the state's higher-education system isn't impressing all of the students in Florida's public universities.

Tensions continue in USF Poly independence debate
By Kim Wilmath
St. Petersburg Times
State Sen. J.D. Alexander stood to the side of the room Thursday, watching as University of South Florida president Judy Genshaft spoke to faculty at her embattled Lakeland campus.

JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY

With 1 week left, GOP, Dems far apart on deficit deal
Associated Press
Tampa Tribune
The top Republican on a special deficit-cutting panel says GOP negotiators have "gone as far as we feel we can go" on tax hikes, a public signal that a debt bargain could be out of reach despite weeks of negotiations.

Lawmakers will try again to curb PIP insurance fraud
By Steve Bousquet and Katie Sanders
St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
For Gov. Rick Scott and state legislators, the problem is painfully obvious: Car insurance fraud costs drivers nearly $1 billion a year in increased premiums.

Welfare drug testing law makes list of top five efforts to ‘kill the American dream’
By Ashley Lopez
Florida Independent
The Center for American Progress recently highlighted what it considers to be the “Top Five Efforts by Conservatives to Make It Harder to Escape Poverty.”

Teamsters take over Florida prison union, after workers go years without raises
By John Kennedy
Palm Beach Post
The Teamsters union Thursday ousted the Florida Police Benevolent Association as the labor organization representing 22,000 state correctional and probation officers, ending almost four decades of dominance by the PBA.

Money for delinquent girls misspent, state says
By Carol Marbin Miller
Miami Herald
State investigators say Vicki Lopez Lukis used her contracts with juvenile justice administrators for personal gain, buying meals at a steakhouse, a sushi restaurant and a raw bar, gifts for friends and lawmakers, doughnuts, tickets to a film festival and flowers, spending taxpayer dollars on cell phone roaming charges in Europe, gift cards, and paying off staffers’ parking tickets.

HEALTH AND SENIORS

Florida health care waiver request delayed
By Michael C. Bender
St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
A state request to free Florida health insurance companies from spending at least 80 percent of premiums on medical costs has been delayed by the federal government.

Reversing course, lawmakers now want tougher regulations for ALFs
By Katie Sanders and Michael Sallah
St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Just months after Florida lawmakers tried to strip away crucial protections for residents of assisted-living facilities, legislators are now radically reversing course in what could lead to the biggest changes in state law in a generation.

Medicare plan to be shut down
By Vincent Kuntz
Health News Florida
Quality Health Plans, a Medicare HMO with 10,000 Florida members, has been ordered into liquidation after failing to come up with the cash reserves the state says were needed.

Workers' comp panel votes to limit drug, outpatient charges
By Christine Jordan Sexton
Florida Current
A panel charged with keeping Florida's workers' compensation delivery system running smoothly wants the state to cap how much physicians can charge for dispensing prescriptions to injured workers.

Florida not alone with Medicaid prescription problems
Staff Report
Florida Current
Florida isn't the only state with a Medicaid program that has for years had evidence of huge bills racked up by physicians who have prescribed drugs in excess and perhaps to the wrong patients, ProPublica reports.

CIVIL RIGHTS, PEACE AND SOCIAL ISSUES

Decision on South Florida immigration detention center delayed till December
By Marcos Restrepo
Florida Independent
A proposal to cancel a contract that obligates the city of Pembroke Pines to supply fire, rescue, water and sewage services to a new privately managed 1,500 bed immigration detention center was defeated in the the city commission Wednesday night.

Florida: Justice Department Investigates Miami Police
Reuters
New York Times
The Justice Department said Thursday that it was investigating allegations of excessive use of deadly force by the Miami police.