Daily News Clips for March 26, 2013

FEATURED STORIES

Gov. Rick Scott shuts down lieutenant governor's office to save money
By Steve Bousquet
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Related: Florida's next lieutenant governor needs to try harder
Florida Gov. Rick Scott has temporarily shut down the lieutenant governor's office in a money-saving move that will force four employees to scramble to find new jobs.

Despite budget surplus, bill would strip housing aid trust fund
By Michael Van Sickler
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Attorney General Pam Bondi praised Florida House Republicans last week after they unveiled a plan to spend $200 million from a national mortgage settlement on a variety of affordable housing needs for those hardest hit by the foreclosure crisis.

We Need Meaningful Election Reform, Not Window Dressing
By Gihan Perera and Judith Browne Dianis
South Florida Sun Sentinel
When the Florida Legislature began its new session this month, many lawmakers descended upon the Capitol with election reform proposals, and rightfully so.

Arguments in two same-sex marriage cases before Supreme Court likely to differ
By John Lantigua
Palm Beach Post
Related editorial: Supreme Court should allow same-sex couple to marry nationwide
The U.S. Supreme Court Tuesday begins two days of hearings on one the most controversial issues facing the country: same sex marriage.

Outmatched
By Patrick Caldwell
The American Prospect
Conservatives’ support for state-based think tanks is paying off in regressive legislation. Liberals are scrambling to keep up.

FLORIDA POLITICS

Florida flexes political muscle
By Jeremy Wallace
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
After 168 years of seeing their politicians play only minor roles on the national stage, Floridians suddenly have legitimate presidential contenders, an influential national party leader and key voices shaping national policy in both major parties.

Friend of U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan evades prison time for illegal fundraising
By Susan Taylor Martin
Tampa Bay Times
For 20 years, Tampa home builder Timothy Mobley and U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan have been friends.

Florida Democrats expected to hand out money to veterans following discovery of alleged illegal gambling ring
By Toni-Ann Miller
Palm Beach Post
Florida Democrats today are expected to hand out thousands of dollars to veterans groups around the state, most in South Florida.

Jim Greer faces sentencing this Wednesday
By Peter Schorsch
Saint Petersblog
Former Republican Party of Florida Chairman Jim Greer, who pled guilty on the eve of a potentially politically salacious trial that could have aired the laundry of the state GOP and former Governor Charlie Crist, will find out his prison fate Wednesday.

POLITICAL RACES

Sink: Don't count her out of 2014 governor's race
By William March
Tampa Tribune
Don't count her out of the 2014 governor's race, says Tampa's Alex Sink.

Rick Scott releases first ad of 2014 campaign
By Katie Sanders
Tampa Bay Times
Gov. Rick Scott is officially in reelection mode.

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

'Backlash' bill against LEED green-building certification program moving in House
By Bruce Ritchie
Florida Current
A bill that supporters describe as representing a backlash against an environmentally sustainable building certification program is moving through the House.

LGBT

Gay Marriage Rally at State Capitol
By Whitney Ray
Capitol News Service
It’s a big week for supporters of gay marriage. Two Supreme Court cases are putting the issue front and center and as Whitney Ray tells us, the cases could have implications here in Florida where gay marriage is banned in statute and in the state constitution.

A primer on same-sex marriage cases before the Supreme Court
By Louis Jacobson
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald PolitiFact
This week will be pivotal for the future of marriage in the United States.

EDUCATION

Stop the giveaway to charter schools
Editorial
Tampa Bay Times
Once again legislators are looking for ways to undermine Florida's public school system by giving more taxpayer dollars and freebies to charter schools, including those run by for-profit management companies.

Gov. Rick Scott sticks with teacher raise message, notes bargaining will be needed
By Thomas C. Tobin
Tampa Bay Times
In less than an hour Monday with the Tampa Bay Times Editorial Board, Gov. Rick Scott repeatedly stressed that his proposed $2,500 raise for all classroom teachers is one of his top priorities.

House Pursuing Tuition Hike for State Universities Despite Scott's Opposition
By Lloyd Dunkelberger
Lakeland Ledger
The House is pursuing a 6 percent tuition increase for state universities and colleges next year, despite opposition from Gov. Rick Scott and the Senate's decision not to back a tuition increase.

Florida legislators grapple with future of special-needs students
By Kathleen McGrory
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
For an afternoon, Mariah Harris wasn't just the girl with Down syndrome. She was the star of a Senate Education Committee meeting.

Representative says let the children play
By James Call
Florida Curerent
Floridians specifically and Americans generally have a weight problem.

HEALTH AND SENIORS

Expansion of kids health insurance program stalled in Florida Legislature
By Margie Menzel
News Service of Florida
With a third of the annual regular legislative session already gone, a bill that would close gaps in access to health care coverage for Florida children has passed just one committee and appears in danger of not passing.

Bill would outlaw gender-and race-based abortions
By Matthew Beaton
Panama City News Herald
A bill in the Florida Legislature would outlaw abortions based on gender and race.

Activists supporting Medicaid expansion march to Will Weatherford's office
By Chrystal Tacker
Creative Loafing Tampa
Around 50 members of Organizing for Action (OFA) marched half a mile down SR54 Saturday afternoon to House Speaker Will Weatherford’s office in Wesley Chapel with signs reading “Where’s there’s a Will, there’s no Way,” and “Patients over Politics.”

IMMIGRATION, CIVIL RIGHTS AND SOCIAL ISSUES

Scott continues welfare drug testing appeal
News Service of Florida
Florida Times-Union
Gov. Rick Scott's administration has asked the full 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to decide whether the state can require drug tests for people seeking public-assistance benefits.

Staring down the NRA
Editorial
Miami Herald
The 30-year-old former business major in Apartment 308 in Tower 1 had pulled the fire alarm to force the building’s 500 students to the outside.

Daily News Clips for March 25, 2013

FEATURED STORIES

Florida House votes to ban internet cafes
By Mary Ellen Klas, Toluse Olorunnipa and Connie Humburg
Miami Herald/Tampa Bay Times Tallahassee Bureau
Related: Florida regulators to probe another charity tied to alleged illegal gambling at Internet cafes
Stung by a criminal investigation into an online gambling ring that poured $1.4 million into legislative campaigns, the Florida House on Friday voted 110 to 6 for a bill aimed at shutting down Internet cafes, adult arcades and Miami’s “maquinitas.”

Florida House pension limits plan follows national conservative group’s lead
By John Kennedy
Palm Beach Post
The Florida House’s push to overhaul the $136 billion pension plan used by more than 600,000 teachers, police, firefighters and other government workers is headed toward tense, end-of-session deal-making with the Senate.

Campaign-Finance Overhaul Passes House, Mostly Along Party Lines
By Jessica Palombo    
WFSU Tallahassee
A sweeping package of changes to the way political candidates can raise money passed the Florida House on a largely party-line vote on Friday.

Marco Rubio brings GOP hope with Hispanics but challenges remain
By Alex Leary
Tampa Bay Times
Related: Poll shows Rubio lagging in popularity around the state
Sorry, Washington superstar, Time magazine coverboy and hip-hop maven, she's never heard of you.

In Push to Close State Tax Loopholes, Gov. Rick Scott the Obstacle
By Ashley Lopez
Florida Center for Investigative Reporting
Plans to close tax loopholes in the state might not come to fruition, because a bill that would close those loopholes doesn’t have the expressed support of Gov. Rick Scott.

EDITORIAL CARTOON OF THE WEEK

By Jim Morin
Miami Herald

FLORIDA POLITICS

Genuine reform
Editorial
Tallahassee Democrat
For the first time since 1976, there is action in the Legislature on comprehensive ethics reform.

Majority rules? Not in Tallahassee
By John Romano
Tampa Bay Times
Somewhere along the line, they stopped caring what you think.

Politicians have air travel defense
By Betty Parker
Ft. Myers News-Press
Elected officials’ use of private planes to travel between Southwest Florida and Tallahassee, a drive that can take six hours or more, with commercial flights little better, has created controversy over the years, and this session has produced its chapter.

Chamber cheers bill to block local sick pay efforts, while churches, police union object
By David Damron
Orlando Sentinel
A bill to block paid sick time referendums such as the one pending in Orange County continued to glide through the state Senate this week while a companion measure now sits on the House calendar, a legislative push the Florida Chamber of Commerce strongly supports.

POLITICAL RACES

Nelson versus Scott in 2014? Maybe
By William March
Tampa Tribune
So important is it to Florida Democrats that they unseat Republican Rick Scott that some are saying the only Democrat holding statewide office, U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, should take on Scott in the 2014 governor's race.

Charlie Crist: The luckiest pol in America
By Maggie Haberman and Alexander Burns
Politico
After a years-long slump, Charlie Crist is starting to look again like one of the luckiest men in professional politics.

BALLOT INITIATIVES

Medical Marijuana Debate Lights Up In Florida
By Tom Parkinson and WMFE
WFSU Tallahassee
It’s a busy afternoon at the NORML table at the University of Central Florida as students stop by to discuss their views on pot legalization and pick up buttons, literature and tote bags.

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

Big Sugar’s subsidy — how sweet it is
By Carl Hiaasen
Miami Herald
Cut by cut, the forced budget reductions known as the sequester are beginning to affect millions of Americans.

Petroleum tanks bill moving amid concerns about cleanup program
By Bruce Ritchie
Florida Current
Florida has more than 7,000 contamination sites in its petroleum tanks cleanup program with a potential cost of $2 billion to the state.

Beach habitat designated for sea turtles, but feds say they expect no changes in permitting
By Craig Pittman
Tampa Bay Times
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced Friday that it is proposing to designate more than 700 miles of coastline around the South — including a large chunk of Florida's beaches — as critical habitat for the loggerhead sea turtle.

LGBT

Rapid change in public opinion of gay marriage challenges GOP
By Adam C. Smith
Tampa Bay Times
Related editorial: Embrace marriage equality
Opponents of same-sex marriage will march en masse outside the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday as justices hear arguments on two cases.

Same-sex marriage attitudes show times are-a-changin'
By Howard Simon
South Florida Sun Sentinel
It should be obvious to everyone that America is in the midst of a fast-moving revolution in the way that lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals are perceived and treated by the law.

EDUCATION

'Parent trigger' bill is cocked and loaded for House floor
By James Call
Florida Current
Opponents to HB 867 in the House Education Committee Friday attacked the “parent trigger” bill on two fronts but failed to stop its march to the House floor.

Florida lawmakers propose three kinds of high school diplomas
By Kathleen McGrory
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
What if high school were less like an assembly line and more like a Choose Your Own Adventure novel?

Lawmakers seek access to empty public schools
By Bill Cotterell
Tampa Tribune
Two state senators from opposite parties, sharing a professional interest in public education, are working on a compromise this week in Florida's high-stakes political struggle over charter school funding and operation.

Florida Private Schools Do Not Want FCAT Requirement For McKay Scholars
By John O'Connor
StateImpact Florida
A coalition of private schools which accept publicly funded scholarships for students with disabilities says a majority of their members would no longer take the scholarships if they were required to administer the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test.

JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY

House passes major pension revamp
By Bill Cotterell
Florida Current
Related: Policy Note: Pension Reform
By a straight party-line vote, the state House passed legislation Friday closing the Florida Retirement System to newly hired public employees after next Jan. 1, sending one of Speaker Will Weatherford's top legislative priorities to an uncertain fate in the Senate.

Gov. Scott tells Republicans that GOP is turning economy around
By Curtis Krueger
Tampa Bay Times
By cutting taxes and slicing government regulations, Florida's Republican leaders have turned the state's economy in the right direction, Gov. Rick Scott said Saturday.

Despite campaign promises, government has grown under Scott
By Aaron Deslatte
Orlando Sentinel
On the campaign trail, Rick Scott made it sound like such common sense: career politicians had driven the train in Tallahassee, and it was headed off a cliff because of spiraling government growth.

Fla. lawmakers consider wage theft bill
By Christine Armario
Associated Press
Businesses and workers-rights advocates are fighting over a bill that would set uniform state standards for employees who say they haven't been paid their full wages to seek compensation.

House, Senate close on budget numbers, timeline, not policy
By Gray Rohrer
Florida Current
The House and Senate budget allocations revealed this week show the two chambers aren’t far apart on overall funding for education and health care, but differ significantly on specific policy proposals in those areas, as well as taxes.

HEALTH AND SENIORS

Planned Parenthood to FL Lawmakers: Bring Focus Back to Women's Health
By Stephanie Carroll Carson and Deb Courson Smith
Public News Service Florida
More than two million women and teenaged girls in Florida lack access to health care.

Senate Republicans, Democrats Back 'Healthy FL'
By Carol Gentry
Health News Florida
State Sen. Joe Negron's "Healthy Florida" plan, officially launched without dissent Thursday by the Senate Appropriations Committee, has already attracted support from a broad swath of industries and leaders of both political parties.

House Speaker Will Weatherford says 85 percent of people covered by Medicaid expansion are “single, childless” adults: Mostly False.
By Katie Sanders
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald PolitiFact Florida
Florida House Speaker Will Weatherford offered a compelling personal story to emphasize his support for a robust social safety net despite his stance against expanding Medicaid under the federal healthcare law.

Adopt Florida Senate’s plan to cover the state’s uninsured
Editorial
Palm Beach Post
One week after a Senate committee rejected an Affordable Care Act provision to extend Medicaid to 1 million uninsured Floridians, Sen. Joe Negron, R-Stuart offered an alternative to provide those individuals with private insurance using the same pot of federal money.

IMMIGRATION, CIVIL RIGHTS AND SOCIAL ISSUES

Banning Internet Cafes While Gambling on Guns
By Pierre Tristam
Florida Voices
It’s a tale of two triggers. It didn’t take long, after the resignation of Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll, for the Legislature to get busy banning those low-stakes gambling parlors called “Internet cafes.”

Daily News Clips for March 22, 2013

FEATURED STORIES

House approves big pension changes
By Bill Cotterell
Florida Current
Related: Policy Note: Pension Reform
After a long and starkly partisan debate, the House advanced a bill Thursday to close the Florida Retirement System to public employees hired after next Jan. 1, requiring them to join an investment systems similar to the 401(k) plans popular in the private sector.

Florida Senate offers privatized alternative to Medicaid expansion
By John Kennedy
Palm Beach Post
A Senate panel on Thursday introduced a proposal to broaden Medicaid coverage to about 1 million low-income Florida residents through a privatized plan that would use money available under the federal health care law.

After three years, healthcare reform is closing the gap
By Kathleen Sebelius
Miami Herald
This week marks the third anniversary of the Affordable Care Act. For Floridians, that means a healthcare system that is stronger than it was three years ago — and a future that looks even brighter.

Florida House set to vote Friday on banning gaming centers
By Matt Dixon  
Florida Times-Union
The Florida House is ready to pass legislation banning the type of gaming centers used by Allied Veterans, which is accused of perpetrating a $300 million money laundering scheme.

Hillary's the favorite for president in Fla. in new Q poll
By Steve Bousquet
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Hillary Clinton is the most popular pick for president among Florida voters -- more popular than Jeb Bush or Marco Rubio -- and Floridians overwhelmingly support mandatory background checks on gun buyers.

BEST OF THE BLOGS

The Medicaid Expansion Dilemma in Florida: Does No Mean No?
By Gary Stein
Huffington Post
To say that the future of Florida's health care assistance plan is in flux is a gross understatement.

How ALEC Legislators Are Fueling Efforts To Block Paid Sick Leave And Other Pro-Worker Policies
By Rachel Curley
Think Progress
The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), which has been described as a “collaboration between multinational corporations and conservative state legislators”, is waging a campaign against workers, especially those in minimum wage jobs with few to no benefits.

Florida’s Lt. Gov. Resigns After Questioning in Gambling Investigation
By Trish Ponder
Pensito Review
The ground is shifting under the feet of Florida Republicans, as Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll resigns after being questioned in a federal racketeering investigation.

House Republicans Reeling From Opposition and Weak Defense of Parent Trigger
By Bob Sikes
Scathing Purple Musings
Most observers say that Rep. Carlos Truillo (R-Miami) was bested by a handful of Florida democrat legislators in this week’s Parent Trigger debate in the House.

Florida Senator Marco Rubio goes after wrong government extremists
By Daniel Tilson
West Palm Beach Liberal Examiner
Marco Rubio took to the U.S. Senate floor yesterday and made an interesting series of statements about the trouble that radicals in government can cause.

FLORIDA POLITICS

Florida Governor Rick Scott dodges question on vetting of Jennifer Carroll
By Preston Rudie
First Coast News Jacksonville
Gov. Rick Scott dodged a question about the vetting of former Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll Tuesday when he declined to answer whether he reviewed Carroll's financial disclosures before selecting her as his running mate.

Scott noncommittal on Internet cafe ban
By Mary Ellen Klas
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
As the Florida House prepares to vote on its bill to ban Internet cafes in Florida, Gov. Rick Scott told the Miami Herald editorial board Thursday that he had not made up his mind on whether to support it or not.

Florida Dems torch Scott over voting lines in Web ad
By Aaron Sharockman
Tampa Bay Times
The Florida Democratic Party today released a Web ad attacking Gov. Rick Scott over the long lines some Floridians faced during the 2012 election.

Two more witnesses cooperating in David Rivera campaign-finance investigation
By Marc Caputo
Miami Herald
A former aide of U.S. Rep. David Rivera and a printing company have both become witnesses in the federal investigation of the Republican politician’s ties to an illegally funded congressional campaign, The Miami Herald and El Nuevo Herald have learned.

Florida House Remembers Rep. Clay Ford
By Sascha Cordner      
WFSU Tallahassee
The Florida House held a special session Thursday to remember State Representative Clay Ford, who passed away Monday.

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

Everglades compromise hailed, passes Senate committee
By Bruce Ritchie
Florida Current
Related: Policy Note: The Everglades
A Senate committee voted Thursday to rewrite Everglades legislation to win support from environmental groups and sugar farmers.

New Everglades bill contains fewer favors for farmers
Editorial
Palm Beach Post
The Everglades cleanup bill still would give farmers more than they deserve, but it no longer would sell out the “River of Grass.”

LGBT

|Poll: 74% of Fla GOPers back gay marriage or civil unions
By Adam C. Smith
Tampa Bay Times
It was barely four years ago that nearly 62 percent of Florida voters passed a state constitutional ban on same-sex marriage and civil unions.

Florida gay students find school unwelcoming
By Jeffrey S. Solochek
Tampa Bay Times
Florida's gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender students find the state's public schools hostile and unsafe places for them, according to a survey report released Thursday by GLSEN (the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network).

EDUCATION

Key education issues move through Florida legislative committees with little fanfare
By Jeffrey S. Solochek
Tampa Bay Times
Parent trigger and teacher raises have garnered the lion's share of the attention being paid to education issues under debate in the Florida Legislature.

Will Weatherford: 'Obvious' our budget includes money for teacher salaries
By Matt Dixon
Florida Times-Union
Gov. Rick Scott’s Tuesday said it was “interesting” House Speaker Will Weatherford’s budget does not include pay raises for teachers.

Group critical of FCAT encourages parents to 'opt out'
By Tracy Jacim
WOFL Fox 35 Orlando
The Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test, or FCAT, will be administered until 2014, at which time a new standardized test is set to take its place. 

Florida Poly future unclear, Weatherford says
By Michael Van Sickler
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
So perhaps JD Alexander should be worried that his dream of a 12th university in Polk County will get dashed.

New UF students will be required to have health insurance
By Clare Lennon
Gainesville Sun
Students at the University of Florida will have to find health insurance or find another school, starting with the incoming students in fall 2014.

JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY

House poised to end guaranteed pension plan
Associated Press
Palm Beach Post
The Florida House is poised to pass a bill that would end traditional pensions for new state and county employees and teachers.

Gov. Scott defends car insurance overhaul but does not rule out scrapping PIP
By Charles Elmore
Palm Beach Post
After a court injunction against one of his signature legislative initiatives, Gov. Rick Scott on Thursday defended attempts to fix Florida’s auto insurance problems but said it was “appropriate” for legislators to consider options including ditching the no-fault system in place for more than four decades.

Red light camera fines survive in Senate
By Michael Van Sickler
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Red light runners would have paid less for getting violations and had more time to pay them under SB 1342 by Sen. Joe Abruzzo, D-Wellington, but the lobbying muscle of the agencies and governments that produce revenue from the fines overturned it.

Legislature looks at lower car registration fees
Staff Report
Tampa Bay Times
The Florida Senate is considering lowering fees that car owners pay when they register their vehicles, a reversal from 2009, when lawmakers increased fees to raise revenue.

Bill raising caps on sovereign immunity claims moves in the House
By Gray Rohrer
Florida Current
After surviving attempts to water it down, a bill to increase caps on liability claims subject to sovereign immunity passed through the House Select Committee on Claims Bills on Thursday.

HEALTH AND SENIORS

Negron offers alternative to Medicaid expansion
By James Call
Florida Current
Related: Policy Note: Medicaid Expansion
Lobbyists lined the walls of the Senate Appropriations Committee meeting room to watch Sen. Joe Negron attempt to walk a narrow path on Medicaid expansion.

Senate finds compromise in optometrists vs. ophthalmologists dispute
By James Call
Florida Current
A compromise has been found in a long-running dispute between optometrists and ophthalmologists.

Courthouse Steps Getting Steeper for Patients, Families
By Carol Gentry
Health News Florida
In Florida, medical-negligence cases already take more time, money and evidence to bring than any other kind of civil suit.

Struggling with Illness, Irony in Health Debate
By Susan Clary
Florida Voices
It’s hard to imagine Palm Beach County in the late 1800s.

IMMIGRATION, CIVIL RIGHTS AND SOCIAL ISSUES

Survey finds 6 in 10 Floridians support pathway to citizenship
By Alex Leary
Tampa Bay Times
More than 6 in 10 Floridians support allowing illegal immigrants to become citizens if they meet certain requirements, according to a new poll. The finding matches national support.

Poll: 9 of 10 Fla. voters favor background checks
Associated Press
Daytona Beach News-Journal
A new poll shows Florida voters - by better than a 9-to-1 margin - say they would like to see the state require background checks on those who want to buy guns.

JUSTICE AND THE COURTS

Bill against Shariah law in courts passes panel
By James L. Rosica
Associated Press
After it failed last year, lawmakers on Thursday revived a bill that would ban Shariah, or Islamic, law and other foreign laws from Florida courts.