Daily News Clips for April 25, 2013

FEATURED STORIES

Legislators send campaign finance and ethics bills to governor
By Mary Ellen Klas
Miami Herald/Tampa Bay Times Tallahassee Bureau
Shamed by a series of ethics and campaign finance abuses, Florida lawmakers sent to the governor on Wednesday a bill that eliminates political slush funds and imposes new ethics rules for elected officials across the state.

Florida Senate passes elections reform on party-line vote
By Steve Bousquet
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Responding to the long lines and long ballots that tarnished Florida's 2012 election, the Senate passed a set of voting fixes Wednesday along party lines, with Republicans voting yes and Democrats voting no.

Could Pension Reform In Florida Be In Jeopardy? Ball's In Senate Sponsor's Court
By Sascha Cordner      
WFSU Tallahassee
Pension talks between the House and Senate appear to be at an impasse, after the Senate’s pension overhaul bill never got taken up Wednesday.

Simmons may opt for sick time bill that kills local wage rules too
By David Damron
Orlando Sentinel
State Sen. David Simmons, R-Altamonte Springs, said he may abandon his bill that would block local governments from adopting mandatory sick time benefits, such as one pending in Orange County, and go for something broader.

FL Medicaid: Why Doesn't House Take the Money?
By Carol Gentry
Health News Florida
The hottest issue of this legislative session has been the question “Will Florida take $50 billion in federal Medicaid funds to cover over 1 million uninsured?”

Florida will suffer if House Republicans don’t bend on Medicaid
Editorial
Palm Beach Post
House Republicans still insist on denying health insurance coverage to 975,000 Floridians and sticking taxpayers with a $2 billion tab for a substandard insurance program — just to snub the Obama administration on Medicaid. That is heartless and irresponsible.

FLORIDA POLITICS

'The Right Thing to Do'? Really, Governor?
By Paula Dockery
Florida Voices
When Rick Scott first broke onto the scene in 2010, he hit the airwaves with brilliant campaign ads that sent the simple but effective message to a weary electorate.

Deal on campaign finance, ethics doubles contributions
By Dara Kam
Palm Beach Post
Florida House and Senate leaders have reached a deal on campaign finance and ethics reforms, Senate Ethics and Elections Committee Chairman Jack Latvala announced on the floor this morning.

Latvala: House insisted on political party loophole
By Aaron Deslatte
Orlando Sentinel
Senate elections chairman Jack Latvala said House leaders were insistent that any campaign-finance bill requiring additional disclosure of cash by candidates keep a major loophole that will likely allow soft-money givers to channel their cash through political parties.

Former Florida Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll gets new job
Associated Press
Tampa Bay Times
Former Florida Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll is getting a new job.

Dangerous bills help Big Sugar pollute, quash government transparency
Editorial
Miami Herald
With less than two weeks left to wrap up the session, the Florida Legislature is moving some controversial and destructive bills forward at warp speed while allowing others of paramount importance — expanding Medicaid to 1 million more Floridians, for instance — to languish and go nowhere.

Orange leaders who lost or deleted records added to 'textgate' lawsuit
By David Damron
Orlando Sentinel
Four Orange County leaders who lost or deleted phone text messages in the wake of a paid sick time voting controversy were individually added to an open government lawsuit Wednesday.

Willfully blind
Editorial
Gainesville Sun
It’s nothing new for Florida lawmakers to try to pull down the shades on the state’s Sunshine Law, creating exemptions that hide information from public view.

POLITICAL RACES

Bush, Clinton speak, stoke speculation about political futures
Associated Press
Tampa Bay Times
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush urged the nation to change its immigration and education systems to ensure a robust American economy in remarks Wednesday before the World Affairs Council in Dallas.

Jeb battles Bush fatigue
By Anna Palmer
Politico
Jeb Bush can check the boxes needed to win the White House — money, résumé and connections. But he’s also got a problem: his last name.

BALLOT INITIATIVES

Why Florida needs the Water and Land Conservation Amendment
By Will Abberger
Saint Petersblog
With an eye toward conserving Florida’s rich natural beauty for future generations to enjoy, our state has had an excellent and long-standing commitment to protecting public land and water through acquisition and management.

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

Senate passes water quality bill, House passes fertilizer amendment -- and Sierra Club slams both
By Bruce Ritchie
Florida Current
The Senate on Wednesday passed a bill that could help the state implement water quality standards while the House amended a permitting bill to add a moratorium on new fertilizer ordinances.

Fla. House passes bill requiring registry to track fracking in Florida
By Jenna Buzzacco-Foerster
Naples Daily News
Hydraulic fracturing may not be on the immediate horizon, but a Southwest Florida lawmaker is hopeful his bill will put disclosure requirements in place before it happens.

Lawmakers Debate Underground Natural Gas Storage
By Regan McCarthy      
WFSU Tallahassee
Natural gas companies want to take advantage of Florida’s already existing resources and use once-mined and now empty underground natural gas and petroleum reservoirs as a place to store natural gas.

Collier, Lee, others sue BP for economic losses from 2010 oil spill
By Aisling Swift
Naples Daily News
Collier and Lee counties have sued BP, Transocean and Halliburton Energy Services to recoup economic losses caused by the 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill.  

EDUCATION

Fla. online school target of cuts from legislators
By Gary Fineout
Associated Press
Florida's highly-successful online school is battling proposed cutbacks at a time when state legislators are bragging about boosting money for schools by more than $1 billion.

High school sports bill gets a 'Hail Mary' in the Florida House
By Kathleen McGrory
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
The body that oversees high school sports in Florida is preparing its fourth-quarter defense.

Details of subsidized tutoring deal remain elusive
By Kathleen McGrory
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Florida lawmakers told reporters Tuesday that they will free school districts from requirements to pay for subsidized tutoring programs.

JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY

Lawmakers take aim at workers' benefits
By Nancy Argenziano and Patricia Schroeder
Tallahassee Democrat
Imagine being a working mother when one of your children wakes up with the flu.

Budget battles 2013: A big behind-the-scenes tug of war
By Gary Fineout
The Fine Print
In their final public session together the two men (pictured left) leading the 2013 budget negotiations over education spending gave each other a hearty hug.

State Pension Reform
By Whitney Ray
Capitol News Service
The future of Florida’s state retirement system is in limbo as Republicans in Tallahassee line up behind two different reform plans.

Citizens Insurance overhaul bill delayed — again
By Toluse Olorunnipa
Miami Herald/Tampa Bay Times Tallahassee Bureau
A scheduled vote on a major insurance overhaul was again postponed Wednesday, indicating that fear of skyrocketing rates is weighing down the bill in the Florida Senate.

Scott to get fewer tax-incentive dollars, more qualifiers
By Aaron Deslatte
Orlando Sentinel
Gov. Rick Scott will get a slimmed-down tax-incentive toy box with tougher standards for evaluating the economic benefit of projects.

HEALTH AND SENIORS

Democrats to co-sponsor Fasano health amendment
By James Call
Florida Current
It’s that time of the session when lawmakers find strange bedfellows.

Fla. House, Senate negotiating Medicaid compromise
Associated Press
Tampa Tribune
Florida House and Senate leaders are negotiating a deal that would use state and federal dollars to offer health coverage to thousands of uninsured Floridians under President Barack Obama's health care overhaul, according to a person close to the talks.

Counties and Safety Net Hospitals Outraged Over Senate Plans To Distribute Local Money
By Lynn Hatter 
WFSU Tallahassee
Some counties have special taxes they collect to support their local hospitals that treat needy patients.

Weatherford on Medicaid: 'I have not had to twist arms'
By Mary Ellen Klas
Miami Herald/Tampa Bay Times Tallahassee Bureau
House Speaker Will Weatherford said that the high-level attention given to House Republican freshmen does not involve using strong-arm tactics, as he and his deputies try to hold the Republican caucus position to reject federal dollars on Medicaid reform.

IMMIGRATION, CIVIL RIGHTS AND SOCIAL ISSUES

Civil rights martyrs honored in Tallahassee
By Margie Menzel
News Service of Florida
For 82-year-old Evangeline Moore, Wednesday was a long time coming.

JUSTICE AND THE COURTS

Bock warns Senate clerks-of-court funding plan would mean closures, layoffs
By Dara Kam
Palm Beach Post
Florida’s clerks of court are expecting a change this year in the way the state funds their offices, but they don’t know yet whether it will be better or worse than the system they say has left them underfunded since 2009, when lawmakers changed the way court fines and fees had been distributed in Florida for 164 years.

Daily News Clips for April 24, 2013

PROGRESS FLORIDA IN THE NEWS

Nuclear pickpockets
By Ray Seaman, Online Director for Progress Florida
Ocala Star-Banner
Excerpt: Since 2006, the state’s biggest electric companies have been, with the legislature’s blessing, charging customers for nuclear projects that appear less and less likely to ever come to fruition. Still, the utilities have raked in $1.5 billion from this so-called “nuclear cost recovery” scheme, and they’re lobbying in Tallahassee to stop efforts to cut off the spigot.

FEATURED STORIES

Power grab hurts lower-wage workers
Editorial
Tampa Bay Times
Local control is about to be seriously eroded by Republican legislators who would interfere with efforts by Florida's cities and counties to help low-wage workers.

Senate, House still sparring over health care decision
By Tia Mitchell
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
The Senate budget committee sent two alternatives to Medicaid expansion to the full Senate Tuesday, though it's no clearer if either measure can pass the Legislature.

Parent trigger headed to Senate floor
By James Call
Florida Current
The “parent trigger” bill cleared its final committee stop Tuesday and now heads to the Senate floor.

To help his image, Rick Scott hands out hardware to 'great' Floridians
By Steve Bousquet
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
When Gov. Rick Scott honored former Florida Gators quarterback Tim Tebow as a "Great Floridian" recently, he was just getting warmed up.

Legislators prepare for potential ‘fracking’ in Florida
By Mary Ellen Klas and Curtis Morgan
Miami Herald/Tampa Bay Times Tallahassee Bureau
No one knows if Florida is going to be the next frontier for the new generation of oil and gas drilling known as fracking, but state legislators say — just in case — it’s time to write rules to require disclosure of the controversial technology.

FLORIDA POLITICS

Late in session, Gov. Scott makes aggressive push for agenda
By Gray Rohrer
Florida  Current
Gov. Rick Scott got chummy with House Speaker Will Weatherford, R-Wesley Chapel, and Senate President Don Gaetz, R-Niceville, on Monday as he signed an education bill.

Gov. Rick Scott Threatens To Veto House, Senate Top Bills
By Thomas Andrew Gustafson
WFSU Tallahassee
In the last two weeks of Florida’s legislative session, there’s still plenty of time for the legislature to pass bills and the Governor to veto them.

Weatherford: Don't worry, be happy (about ethics, campaign-finance and tax breaks, but not about Medicaid)
By Aaron Deslatte
South Florida Sun Sentinel
Gov. Rick Scott this week is rattling sabers over his priorities for manufacturing tax-cuts and bigger teacher pay-raises.

Alimony bill sponsors show testimonials
By Bill Cotterell
Florida Current
Sponsors of a sweeping revision of Florida's alimony laws brought Gov. Rick Scott two big binders bulging with nearly 6,000 testimonials from divorced spouses Tuesday, urging him to sign the proposal to do away with permanent alimony.

Rubio PAC spends $47,000 on water bottles
By Jeremy Wallace
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio won’t have to worry about getting a dry mouth during his next speech as he did after the President’s State of the Union Address in February.

Email exemption has dire consequences
Editorial
South Florida Sun Sentinel
It's not unusual for the Florida Legislature to think they're doing something right even as they push a bad bill into law.

BALLOT INITIATIVES

Medical Marijuana Redux
By Stephen Nolgren
Tampa Bay Times
The people spearheading a drive to get medical marijuana on the November, 2014 ballot have decided to start over from scratch with a new citizen initiative petition.

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

Environmental groups enlist Bob Graham to help stop bills
By Craig Pittman
Tampa Bay Times
A pair of bills now steamrolling through the Florida House and Senate have drawn such strong objections from environmental groups that former Sen. Bob Graham flew to Tallahassee this week to lobby against them.

Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi demands nearly $6 billion from BP for 2010 Gulf oil disaster
By Jim Turner
News Service of Florida
Attorney General Pam Bondi said Florida is seeking $5.48 billion for lost revenue - past and future - from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

DEO bill amended to deal with counties' concerns about money from oil spill fines
By Bruce Ritchie
Florida Current
The Senate Committee on Appropriations on Tuesday approved two amendments to a Department of Economic Opportunity bill that were intended to eliminate concerns that the state is attempting to grab oil spill fines that Congress intended to go to the counties.

LGBT

From home in Fort Lauderdale, linebacker Brendon Ayanbadejo continues his pro-gay activism
By Steve Rothaus
Miami Herald
Former Baltimore Ravens linebacker Brendon Ayanbadejo said Tuesday in his hometown Fort Lauderdale that he is continuing his vigorous campaign for gay marriage.

EDUCATION

Legislature’s approach on teacher raises lacks merit
Editorial
Palm Beach Post
Gov. Rick Scott has not been consistent on raises for Florida teachers.

Florida Senate pushes ahead with testing, charter school regulations
By Jeffrey S. Solochek
Tampa Bay Times
Recent reports of an Orange County charter school that failed academically and paid its administrator more than $500,000 while skimping on educational materials troubled Florida state senators.

Senate adds new, controversial language to teacher evaluation bill
Staff Report
Tampa Bay Times
A bill that had won some praise from Florida teachers for making clear that they must be evaluated on the performance of students they teach picked up a new provision Tuesday that many educators don't like.

State Review Finds K12 Certification Problems
By John O’Connor and Trevor Aaronson
StateImpact Florida/Florida Center for Investigative Reporting
An inquiry by the Florida Department of Education’s Inspector General found that online educator K12 Inc. employed three teachers in Florida who lacked proper certification to teach some subjects, according to a draft report.

JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY

Pension bill: Pay more, get fewer benefits
By Stephen Herzenberg
Orlando Sentinel
A pension bill before the Florida Senate asks taxpayers to do something that will leave many of them scratching their heads: pay more for less.

Budget surplus could be boon for local lawmaker projects
By Michael Van Sickler
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
The room was packed last week with lobbyists and agency representatives when House Speaker Will Weatherford spoke with lawmakers before negotiations began on next year's $74 billion budget.

Florida Senate poised to take up tweaked bill to uncap rates for new Citizens insurance customers
By Charles Elmore
Palm Beach Post
The Florida Senate takes what could be a final vote Wednesday on a bill to raise property insurance bills up to 85 percent for new customers of state-run insurer Citizens, but with a few tweaks aimed at cooling off a political hot potato.

Ticket Wars on Hold
By Whitney Ray
Capitol News Service
A battle between the nation’s two largest ticket companies has ended for now.

Florida falls to 29th in venture funding, 2nd lowest since 1995
By Richard Burnett
Orlando Sentinel
Orlando-based Doccaster Inc. received $20,000 from an investment firm earlier this year — slim pickings in the world of venture capital.

HEALTH AND SENIORS

Fla. House, Senate not budging on Medicaid plans
By Kelli Kennedy and Gary Fineout
Associated Press
Just months ago, expanding health coverage to more than 1 million Floridians seemed an unlikely feat.

Sen. Aaron Bean's health care plan likely going nowhere
By Matt Dixon  
Florida Times-Union
Sen. Aaron Bean’s alternative to Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, is likely stalled.

ALF bill looks stalled for a second year
By Rochelle Koff
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
For the second year in a row, legislation to reform the state's assisted living facilities in the wake of a Miami Herald investigation revealing neglect, abuse and death of ALF residents appears in trouble of passing.

Abuse-ridden ALF ordered to close
By Carol Marbin Miller
Miami Herald
The Hillandale Assisted Living Facility, a Tampa Bay-area home where disabled young adults were raped, beaten, drugged and locked in a dank closet — one resident was struck by a car and killed — may be closing its doors on the orders of state health regulators.

Doctors and business groups reach deal on drug repackaging
By Gray Rohrer
Florida Current
The annual food fight between business groups and doctors over dispensing repackaged drugs may be over.

IMMIGRATION, CIVIL RIGHTS AND SOCIAL ISSUES

Rubio pushes back on Politico immigration report
By Rachel Weiner
Washington Post
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) is pushing back on a report in Politico suggesting that a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants would be a windfall for the Democratic Party.

Rubio featured in TV ad pitching hard-line immigration enforcement
By Alex Leary
Tampa Bay Times
A TV ad featuring Sen. Marco Rubio touting the "toughest enforcement measures in the history of the United States" is set to run in Florida and five other states, part of an effort to sell the immigration bill to conservatives.

Hammer: NRA will not ‘be reasonable’ about gun control
By Dara Kam
Palm Beach Post
Florida NRA lobbyist Marion Hammer stood her ground at a Capital Tiger Bay club this afternoon, blasting President Obama’s background check proposal, sharing her childhood history and saying that the NRA will never “be reasonable” when it comes to compromising about gun rights.

FAU professor who questioned Newtown attack now leery of Boston bombing
By George Bennett
Palm Beach Post
The Florida Atlantic University professor who questioned “whether the Sandy Hook shooting ever took place” is also raising doubts on his personal blog about government and police accounts of the Boston Marathon bombings.

JUSTICE AND THE COURTS

Developer gets 6 months for campaign fraud
By Melissa Nelson-Gabriel
Associated Press
Florida developer Jay Odom was sentenced to six months in federal prison Tuesday for lying about illegal contributions he made in the 2008 presidential primary.

Daily News Clips for April 23, 2013

PROGRESS FLORIDA IN THE NEWS

Repeal law that sticks public with risk for building plants
By Mark Ferrulo
Orlando Sentinel
What if a contractor offered to build you a new roof and asked for the money up-front, refused to guarantee the roof would actually be built and told you there's no refund if the roof is, in fact, never built. Most Floridians would call that type of deal a scam. Unfortunately, the Florida Legislature calls that type of deal energy policy, and millions of Floridians are paying for it.

FEATURED STORIES

Voting rights groups assail Senate elections package
By Steve Bousquet
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Local and national voting rights groups voiced opposition Monday to an elections bill that's awaiting a final vote in the Senate on Wednesday.

Florida legislators prepared to adjourn with no Medicaid plan
By Mary Ellen Klas
Miami Herald/Tampa Bay Times Tallahassee Bureau
As the clock winds down on the legislative session, Florida lawmakers are sending signals that they are likely to adjourn without resolving the issue of whether to accept federal Medicaid money to insure the state’s poorest residents.

Fallout for States Rejecting Medicaid Expansion
Associated Press
New York Times
Rejecting the Medicaid expansion in the federal health care law could have unexpected consequences for states where Republican lawmakers remain steadfastly opposed to what they scorn as "Obamacare."

Gov. Rick Scott signs sweeping education bill
By Kathleen McGrory
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
On Monday, Gov. Rick Scott signed a sweeping education that will revamp high school graduation requirements and create two new diploma designations.

Standoff beween budget negotiators and Scott over teacher raises
By John Kennedy
Palm Beach Post
Gov. Rick Scott signed into law a sweeping education bill Monday, even as the focus on Florida schools is being largely overtaken by a battle between the governor and legislative leaders over teacher pay.

FLORIDA POLITICS

Scott's legislative agenda coming up short
By Kathleen Haughney and Aaron Deslatte
Orlando Sentinel
It's a glass-half-empty issue with potential political ramifications.

What Rick Scott really said in that letter to Barack Obama
By John Romano
Tampa Bay Times
They are tighter than you know. Practically pen pals.

Turf war emerges between Cabinet officers over contracts
By Mary Ellen Klas
Miami Herald/Tampa Bay Times Tallahassee Bureau
Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater may be hitting a nerve with lawmakers and top state leaders.

In Lakeland Senator’s Bills, Questions About Personal Benefit
By Steve Miller
Florida Center for Investigative Reporting
What happened to last fall’s happy talk about ethics reform in the statehouse?

Strip harassment of supervisors from Fla.’s election bill
Editorial
Palm Beach Post
For months, it seemed possible, even probable: a smart, non-contentious effort to fix the state’s election system, which the Legislature fouled up badly with political tinkering in 2011.  

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

Despite petition, Legislature to do nothing to help springs this year
By Craig Pittman
Tampa Bay Times
Although thousands of Florida voters signed a petition demanding action, the Legislature will not pass any bills aimed at restoring and protecting the state's iconic springs this year, according to the chairman of the House Agriculture and Natural Resources Subcommittee.

House favors land programs, Senate favors water projects in budget standoff
By Bruce Ritchie
Florida Current
House and Senate budget negotiators remained apart on budget issues including conservation payments to rural landowners, the Florida Forever land-buying program and water projects.

Floridians must protect very special environment
By Eric Draper
South Florida Sun Sentinel
I remember the first Earth Day in 1970, when Hillsborough Bay in Tampa gave off a choking smell of sewage, and the city's sky tinted with the brown haze of smog.

Gaetz creates non-profit to protect oil spill settlement money
By Mary Ellen Klas
Miami Herald
Deep within the massive 100-page amendment to SB 1024, the Senate's giant economic development bill, is a lengthy new initiative offered up by Senate President Don Gaetz designed to shield any potential proceeds from the lawsuit against BP and Halliburton over the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

LGBT

Ex Ravens LB Ayanbadejo talks equality in South FL
Associated Press
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
Former Baltimore Ravens reserve linebacker Brendon Ayanbadejo is taking his support for gay marriage to South Florida where his career started.

EDUCATION

Senate advances controversial bill to revamp high school sports association
By Jim Turner
News Service of Florida
Proponents of the Florida High School Athletic Association are on their defensive heels as those trying to revamp how high school sports are managed in Florida are driving with the ball as the clock runs down.

US Ed. Secretary urges Florida to work on evaluations
By Christine Armario
Associated Press
U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan is urging Florida to quickly address any problems with its new teacher evaluation system, which grades instructors in large part on students’ standardized test scores.

State cuts dim Bright Futures opportunities
By Jerome R. Stockfisch
Tampa Tribune
Since the Legislature revamped the Bright Futures scholarship program in 2011, college administrators and student advocates have been fretting about the thinning of the ranks of those eligible for the merit scholarships.

Can a judge ban a student from public school?
By Khristopher J. Brooks          
Florida Times-Union
The Duval County Public Schools superintendent and an expert in Florida education law say a judge was wrong when he banned a 14-year-old girl from attending any public school in the county.

JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY

Scott making strong push for tax break for manufacturers
Associated Press
Gainesville Sun
Florida lawmakers supporting a tax break for manufacturers say Gov. Rick Scott is making a strong push for an issue that represents one of his top priorities for the legislative session.

Once down and out, Florida job market gathers national steam
By Robert Trigaux
Tampa Bay Times
If the sharp drop in Florida and Tampa Bay unemployment rates was worthy of applause, add a cautionary cheer for our state's job gains compared with the rest of the nation.

Florida lawmakers shunning insurers is rare sight
By Steve Bousquet
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Whose side is the Legislature on, yours or State Farm's?

House wants fix for branding logo featuring tie
By Jim Turner
News Service of Florida
The Florida House is holding firm against spending money on the new Enterprise Florida business “tie.”

Florida legislators to help baseball teams, cities
Staff Report
Tampa Tribune
Florida legislators have agreed to pitch in millions more in state money to help pro baseball teams — even in cases where a team wants to move from one Florida town to another.

HEALTH AND SENIORS

'Private Option' Plan, FL Model, Passes in Ark.
By Carol Gentry
Health News Florida
Arkansas' state legislature passed a model plan to expand Medicaid last week, even though its Legislature is dominated by Republicans and the measure had to pass by a three-quarters vote, the Associated Press reports.

Elderly advocates battle bill to limit punitive damage cases against nursing homes
By Rochelle Koff
Miami Herald/Tampa Bay Times Tallahassee Bureau
Families of nursing home patients and advocates for the elderly are once again fighting legislation that would make it tougher to sue the homes for neglect.

IMMIGRATION, CIVIL RIGHTS AND SOCIAL ISSUES

Rubio: If Boston exposed flaws, fix in immigration bill
By Alex Leary
Tampa Bay Times
Sen. Marco Rubio, who has urged caution in drawing connections with the Boston bombings to the immigration debate, now says he disagrees it has "no bearing."

Fla. may shift domestic security money to schools
By Gary Fineout
Associated Press
Florida's anti-terrorism efforts could be undercut by a proposal that would shift millions of dollars intended for domestic security programs for use in efforts to bolster security at schools, some officials say.

As Firearm Ownership Rises, Florida Gun Murders Increasing
By Eric Barton
Florida Center for Investigative Reporting
Michael David Dunn didn’t like the volume of music coming from the SUV parked next to him at a Jacksonville gas station.

Thanks, Marco, for saving our 'freedom'
By Matt Reed
Florida Today
Thank you, Marco Rubio, for defending my gun freedom in so many awesome ways.

Rubio, others Undermine Majority on Gun Sales
By Martin Dyckman
Florida Voices
"In God we trust" may be the planet's most familiar national motto, appearing on trillions of U.S. coins and treasury bills circulating everywhere.

JUSTICE AND THE COURTS

Clerks Of The Court Could Be Close To Having Stable Funding Source
By Sascha Cordner      
WFSU Tallahassee
The Florida Legislature is one step closer to inking out an actual deal for the state’s various clerks of the court budget.