E-Messenger 3-29-14 - Florida AFL-CIO

MARCH 29th, 2014
E-MESSENGER
The Electronic Newsle0er of the Florida AFL-­‐CIO
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
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PAGE 2
FRIDAY FEATURE
WELCOME TO THE WORKING FAMILIES LOBBY CORPS
SESSION UPDATE VIDEO FOR WEEK 4!
This week's update covers: back from the dead wage theft legislation in the Senate,
legislation protecting pregnant women from discrimination, and testimonials from
activists across the state.
WATCH HERE: HTTP://BIT.LY/1GBULTS
.COM/FLORIDAAFLCIO
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LOBBY CORPS
WANTS
YOU!
As we start the New Year with the 2014 Election Cycle approaching, we must continue
to focus on the immediate work of holding the Florida Legislature accountable to the
Working Families of Florida. As we consider supporting our elected officials we need to
hold them responsible for their actions during the remaining Interim Committee weeks and
Legislative Session. This accountability can only be achieved by having that constant
Working Families Lobby Corp presence at the Capitol from now until the close of session.
The last three years has proven the WFLC to be a success. Much of our success results
from having a continual presence at the Capitol during Interim Committee weeks and
Session. While our Lobbyists work diligently on all Labor’s behalf sometimes it takes
additional effort to affect our Legislators. The difference we have witnessed when our labor
family has been present during committee meetings and votes has been unprecedented.
When Legislators change their votes due to the mere presence of their constituents, rank
and file members of the Florida Labor Movement, we know we are achieving our desired
goals.
While session is far more exciting to people than interim committee weeks the business of
drafting legislation starts far sooner that the first day of session. The ability to influence
proposed legislation is now, before Senators and Representatives ask, “Why weren’t you
here during committee weeks, when we were working on this? How come I am hearing from
you now?” How do we stand in support or opposition to legislation when we haven’t been an
integral, consistent part of the process?
We are asking each of you to renew your recruiting efforts to the Florida AFL-CIO
Legislative/Political Program – the Working Families Lobby Corps.
Please make every effort to redouble your efforts within your CLC and with your Affiliates.
When CLC Field Staff attend local union meetings and talk to union leadership recruitment
to the Working Families Lobby Corp should be an integral part of their message. They
should be diligent in their efforts of recruiting labor activists for the work here as well as the
work at home.
With all of us working together throughout session we will be able to hold our elected
officials accountable. We will be armed with the information needed to make the best
choices when it is time to recommend support or opposition of the 2014 field of candidates.
CLICK HERE TO GET ALL THE INFORMATION YOU NEED ON WFLC
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SIGN THE PETITION:
BIT.LY/STOPWAGETHEFT
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CLICK HERE TO CALL:
http://go.aflcio.org/FL-wage-theft
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JOIN THE YOUNG WORKERS:
FACEBOOK.COM/
FLAFLCIOYOUNGWORKERS
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AFL-­‐CIO Now
www.aflcio.org/blog.
Minimum Wage Victory Celebrated on the New Jersey
Senate Floor
Mar 28, 2014 Jackie Tortora | In The States
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The New Jersey State AFL-CIO this week celebrated a milestone in its
campaign to raise the state minimum wage by joining partners and
advocates from across the Garden State in a recognition ceremony held in
the Senate.
READ MORE AND COMMENT »
The Simpsons Figured It Out: There are Plenty of
Reasons to Expand Public Transit
Mar 28, 2014 Brian Lombardozzi | Other News
A recent episode of "The Simpsons" shed some new light on the public
transit system in Springfield, USA. According to the Atlantic Cities blog,
the last we saw of the Springfield Transit Authority’s subway system—a
simplistic loop, reminiscent of Detroit’s People Mover—it was mostly out
of service.
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And while this subway might not have a place in fans’ hearts like its poorly
planned Monorail does…
READ MORE AND COMMENT »
Republican Bill Threatens Health Care for 1 Million
Workers
Mar 28, 2014 Mike Hall | Political Action/Legislation
House Republicans are expected to hold a vote next week on a bill that
could cost as many as 1 million workers their employer-based health care.
The Affordable Care Act imposes a penalty on larger employers that do not
offer affordable, adequate health care coverage to employees who work 30
hours a week or more. The Republican bill would kick the threshold up to
40 hours a week.
READ MORE AND COMMENT »
NLRB Calls the Right Play: Northwestern Players
Have the Right to Form a Union
Mar 26, 2014 Mike Hall | Organizing/Bargaining
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Northwestern University football players today won the right to form a
union after National Labor Relations Board Chicago Regional Director Peter
Sung Ohr ruled the players “all squarely fall within the [National Labor
Relations] Act's broad definition of 'employee' when one considers the
common law definition of 'employee.'"
Northwestern University has indicated it will appeal the decision.
READ MORE AND COMMENT »
7 Ways Raising the Minimum Wage Will Help
Working Women
Mar 26, 2014 Kenneth Quinnell | Economy
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Raising the minimum wage would help working women and their families,
according to a new White House report. The report also takes a look at
how raising the minimum wage for tipped workers, 72% of whom are
women, is important in helping working families.
If you think America's working families need a raise, sign the
petition.
READ MORE AND COMMENT »
www.huffingtonpost.com
23 Reasons Florida (Yes,
Florida) Is Quite Possibly
The Best State In America
The Huffington Post | by Renee Jacques
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Posted: 03/27/2014 7:45 am EDT Updated: 03/28/2014 11:59 am EDT
What's the first thing that comes to mind when you think of Florida?
The state certainly has its fair share of madness -- there's the Miami
cannibal attack of 2012, the 2013 case of the mother-daughter porn
duo, and Gov. Rick Scott's staunch opposition to Obamacare, which
has left 764,000 low-income adults in the state without health
insurance.
But even with all that, there are many reasons to love the Sunshine
State. From our awesome culture, to the amazing food, to the gorgeous
scenery, there are plenty of things about Florida that make it just plain
awesome. Here are 23 reasons why we still are in love with our oddlyshaped state:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/27/florida-beststate_n_4981731.html?utm_hp_ref=mostpopular
Domino's Franchisees Settle
Wage Theft Investigation In
New York For $448,000
Posted: 03/27/2014 12:00 am EDT Updated: 03/27/2014 2:59 pm EDT
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The owners of 23 Domino's Pizza locations in New York agreed
Thursday to pay workers nearly half a million dollars to settle a wagetheft investigation by the office of state Attorney General Eric T.
Schneiderman.
Schneiderman's office says it uncovered a raft of labor law violations
that occurred between 2007 and 2013 at the stores, which are owned
by six franchisees. Those include delivery workers being paid below
the $5.65 tipped minimum wage they were entitled to, workers not
being paid for overtime worked beyond 40 hours, and delivery drivers
not being fully reimbursed for their auto expenses.
The $448,000 restitution fund will be divvied up among 750 current
and former Domino's workers, most of whom will get between $200
and $2,000. The settlement comes on the heels of a similar deal
reached by Schneiderman's office last week, when it settled an
investigation bringing nearly $500,000 to McDonald's workers in
New York City who said they'd been shorted on pay.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/27/dominos-franchiseessettlement_n_5038049.html?utm_hp_ref=labor
Krugman: America Needs A 21st Century Teddy Roosevelt
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www.inthesetimes.com
TUESDAY, MAR 25, 2014, 6:23 PM
Rejecting TPP, AFLCIO’s Trumka Calls for
‘Global New Deal’
BY BRUCE VAIL
At a March 25 Center for American Progress event, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka
had sharp words about backroom trade deals such as the TPP. (CAP)
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AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka today called for a “Global New
Deal” to fundamentally rethink U.S. foreign trade policies,
especially so-called “free trade agreements” such as the pending
Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the Transatlantic Trade and
Investment Partnership (TTIP).
These treaties in the works are examples of “a failed model of
global economic policies” based on the North American Free Trade
Agreement (NAFTA) of the mid-1990s, Trumka said. “We cannot
enact new trade agreements modeled on NAFTA. ... NAFTA put
corporations in charge of America’s economic strategy with the goal
of shipping jobs off shore to lower labor costs,” he told an audience
at the Washington, D.C., offices of the Center for America Progress,
an advocacy group closely associated with the Democratic Party.
Echoing common progressive criticisms of the trade deals, Trumka
called NAFTA, TPP and TTIP “thinly disguised tools to increase
corporate profits by poisoning workers, polluting the environment
and hiding information from consumers.”
http://inthesetimes.com/working/entry/16481/
afl_cios_trumka_calls_for_global_new_deal
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An Occupy Wall Street protester in Zuccotti Park on October 8, 2011, neither envious nor
afraid of a little class warfare. (Adam Jones / Flickr / Creative Commons).
FEATURES » MARCH 25, 2014
The Politics of Envy
Why the 99% should be tired of fat cats who play the
victim.
BY MICHAEL WINSHIP
[...] the second half of the argument goes that instead
of being jealous, we all should be working in harmony
together to create jobs and opportunity. Problem is,
the deeply rich talk about building the economy but do
almost nothing about it.
Here on our whimsical island off the coast of the Eastern Seaboard,
we have a company called Manhattan Mini Storage that is as famous
for the semi-snarky wit of its billboards and subway posters as it is
for the spaces it rents to we New Yorkers who live in apartments so
small the mice are stoop-shouldered.
The sacrifice we make for living here is that we have no room for all
our stuff; this storage facility exists to bridge the gap by renting out
the urban equivalent of an attic or cellar where we can stash our
junk until our next move, new relationship or death.
Some of its advertising addresses this problem directly—“Your
closet’s tinier than a runway model’s lunch,” one read a couple of
years ago; “When he’s a keeper but his stuff isn’t,” was another
favorite. Yet most of the notoriety the firm’s ads have achieved has
little to do with their product and much to do with pride of place and
politics.
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http://inthesetimes.com/article/16479/
envy_and_jealousy_gag_me_with_a_silver_spoon
Recent revelations in Utah have shown how damaging an effect the "Citizens United"
ruling has had on political transparency in this country. Photo by DonkeyHotey / Flickr /
Creative Commons.
FEATURES » MARCH 25, 2014
Our Plutocracy Problem
When the 1% and politicians join forces, democracy
loses.
BY LEO GERARD, UNITED STEELWORKERS PRESIDENT
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These days, there’s a much more direct process. One
percenters and corporations can secretly buy
politicians. Using front groups, the wealthy can
“donate” unlimited millions to elect a candidate and
remain completely anonymous. So the public won’t
know that the senator pushing for smiley faces to be
printed on cigarette cartons instead of health warnings
received $50 million in ads paid for by the tobacco
industry.
In the olden days, buying votes was a risky business. That’s not
because the purchaser faced felony charges. No, the real peril was
that the guy bribing voters wouldn’t get what he wanted.
The process was too indirect. The man with “walking around
money” would tell voters what he wanted them to do in exchange
for a few beers or bucks. But Americans, being the contrarians they
are, could cast their secret ballots for the exact opposite candidates,
then accept the booze anyway, thank you very much.
These days, there’s a much more direct process. One percenters and
corporations can secretly buy politicians. Using front groups, the
wealthy can “donate” unlimited millions to elect a candidate and
remain completely anonymous. So the public won’t know that the
senator pushing for smiley faces to be printed on cigarette cartons
instead of health warnings received $50 million in ads paid for by
the tobacco industry.
Several news stories last week illustrated exactly how this threat to
democracy, sanctioned by the gang of right-wingers on the Supreme
Court in the Citizens United case, plays out. The most jaw dropping
is the case of former Republican Utah state attorney general John
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Swallow, who used shadowy nonprofit organizations to conceal
hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations from the vilest
industry in America—payday lenders.
http://inthesetimes.com/article/16475/our_plutocracy_problem
www.thinkprogress.org
Florida Botches Lastest Effort To Purge Voter Rolls
BY JOSH ISRAEL ON MARCH 28, 2014
Once again, Ken Dentzer, Florida Gov. Rick Scott's (R) handpicked Secretary of
State, has unsuccessfully attempted to mount a massive purge of Florida's voter
rolls.
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We’ve Stopped Making Progress In Closing The Gender Wage
Gap
BY BRYCE COVERT ON MARCH 28, 2014
The gap between women's and men's earnings has only closed by 1.7 percent over
the last decade.
Corporate Profits Hit A New Record High Last Year
BY BRYCE COVERT ON MARCH 27, 2014
Corporations have more than recovered their losses from the recession while
workers' wages fall behind.
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www.salon.com
SUNDAY, FEB 23, 2014 06:59 AM EST
Worse than Wal-Mart:
Amazon’s sick brutality and
secret history of ruthlessly
intimidating workers
You might find your Prime membership morally indefensible after
reading these stories about worker mistreatment
SIMON HEAD
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Jeff Bezos (Credit: Reuters/Shannon Stapleton)
Excerpted from "Mindless: Why Smarter Machines Are Making Dumber
Humans"
When I first did research on Walmart’s workplace practices in the early
2000s, I came away convinced that Walmart was the most egregiously
ruthless corporation in America. However, ten years later, there is a
strong challenger for this dubious distinction—Amazon Corporation.
Within the corporate world, Amazon now ranks with Apple as among the
United States’ most esteemed businesses. Jeff Bezos, Amazon’s founder
and CEO, came in second in the Harvard Business Review’s 2012 world
rankings of admired CEOs, and Amazon was third in CNN’s 2012 list of
the world’s most admired companies. Amazon is now a leading
global seller not only of books but also of music and movie DVDs,
video games, gift cards, cell phones, and magazine subscriptions.
Like Walmart itself, Amazon combines state-of-the-art CBSs with
human resource practices reminiscent of the nineteenth and
early twentieth centuries.
http://www.salon.com/2014/02/23/
worse_than_wal_mart_amazons_sick_brutality_and_secret_history_of_r
uthlessly_intimidating_workers/
FRIDAY, MAR 28, 2014 08:44 AM EDT
Campus crusaders:
Inside the Koch
brothers’ plot to
transform higher
education
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The billionaire industrialists have pumped tens of millions into dozens
of schools across the country
DAVE LEVINTHAL, THE CENTER FOR PUBLIC INTEGRITY
The Koch brothers
This article originally appeared on publicintegrity.org.
The campus of Koch Brothers Academy spans a nation.
Learn about the “role of government institutions in a capitalistic society”
at South Carolina’s College of Charleston.
Dive into the “integrated study of philosophy, politics and economics” at
Duke University and University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.
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And philosophize about the “moral imperatives of free markets and
individual liberty” at the Manuel H. Johnson Center for Political
Economy at Troy University in Alabama.
Billionaire industrialists David and Charles Koch may rank among the
nation’s biggest bankrollers of conservative causes and Republican
campaign vehicles. But Koch proselytizing of government deregulation
and pro-business civics is increasingly targeted not just at creatures of
Capitol Hill, or couch sitters in swing states, but at the hearts and minds
of American college students, as well.
In all, two of the six private charitable foundations the Koch brothers
control and personally fund combined in 2012 to infuse colleges and
universities with more than $12.7 million, according to a Center for
Public Integrity analysis of Internal Revenue Service tax filings.
http://www.salon.com/2014/03/28/
campus_crusaders_inside_the_koch_brothers_plot_to_transform_higher
_education_partner/
ruthOut
www.truth-out.org
The Debate: Independence
or Partisanship
Saturday, 29 March 2014 10:47
By Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers , Truthout | Op-Ed
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Truthout doesn’t take corporate money, and we don’t shy
away from confronting the root causes of injustice. Can you
help sustain our work with a tax-deductible donation?
Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), second from left, and Bernard
Sanders (I-Vt.), right, en route to the Senate floor. (Christopher Gregory/
The New York Times)
Finally there is a much-needed debate about the relationship
that people who are working for progressive change should
have with the Democratic Party. This is a debate that has
existed at the edges, in email discussions and private
conversations, but is now moving to center stage.
The current debate began with an article in Harper's,
"Nothing Left," by Adolph Reed, criticizing how the
Democratic Party has limited the agenda of the left. It was
followed by articles by historian Mike Konczal, writing in The
New Republic, and Harold Meyerson, writing in the
Democratic Party-leaning American Prospect, who took the
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view that the "left" needs to work within the Democratic
Party. Richard Eskow of Campaign for America's Future, also
a Democratic Party-leaning group, published two articles. The
first said this debate was long overdue and concluded the left
must not limit itself to the Democratic Party agenda. The
second seemed to put aside differences on partisanship and
urged us to get to the work of building a movement. In this
article he also provided excellent responses to Konczal and
Meyerson.
http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/22722-the-debateindependence-or-partisanship
Sheppard Air Force Base:
Uncounted Costs of
Privatizing Government
Services
Saturday, 29 March 2014 09:24
By Ellen Dannin, Truthout | News Analysis
Truthout needs your support to produce grass-roots
journalism and disseminate conscientious visions for a
brighter future. Contribute now by clicking here.
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Sky's the Limit (Image: Jared Rodriguez / Truthout)
The privatization of public services isn't a new trend. In the
period in which the Clinton-Gore administration was
promoting privatizing the military's physical infrastructure,
such as housing for the troops, it also was actively pursuing
the privatization of jobs associated with the military. Its
"theme song" seems to have been a parody of "My Fair Lady's"
"Why Can't a Woman Be More like a Man?"
Yes, indeed, "Why Can't the Public Sector Be More like the
Capitalist, Profit-Maximizing Private Sector?"
In fact, there are very good reasons why government cannot
operate properly when it is run like a business, says Forbes
contributing writer John T. Harvey. He notes, "We should no
more want the government to be run like a business than a
business to be run like the government. ... The problem in a
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nutshell, is that not everything that is profitable is of social
value and not everything of social value is profitable.
http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/22718-the-uncountedcosts-of-privatizing-government-services-the-case-ofsheppard-air-force-base
WWW.LABORNOTES.ORG
Showdown in a Company
Town
March 25, 2014 / Suzanne Gordon
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A 2012 explosion at the Chevron refinery in Richmond, California, nearly
killed a dozen workers who got out just in time, and sickened 15,000
residents. Photo: Greg Kunit.
Politics in Richmond, California, have long been dominated by Chevron
Corporation, which operates a 110-year-old oil refinery here, the largest in
the state. In August 2012, a huge explosion and fire nearly killed a dozen
Chevron workers and sent 15,000 residents to emergency rooms.
In many communities, elected officials are reluctant to buck the biggest
employer in town when it misbehaves. Think of Washington state, which
rushed to offer $8.7 billion to Boeing after the company threatened to shift
production elsewhere.
But in Richmond, Mayor Gayle McLaughlin and the city council majority
have taken a bold approach with Chevron, suing the oil giant for harming
local citizens. The city rejected an offer to settle for an insulting $10 million.
McLaughlin demanded that Chevron spend a bigger share of its $21 billion
annual profit on fixing hazards for refinery workers and residents.
Richmond’s extraordinary mayor isn’t just the city’s good luck, though—her
actions are the fruit of years of politics done differently by the Richmond
Progressive Alliance. RPA’s refinery safety and clean energy campaign is
one of many battles local progressives have waged since first winning city
council seats in 2004.
Candidates backed by RPA have jousted with Chevron over its property
taxes, air pollution, expansion plans, and low level of local hiring. The
company’s total workforce, including contractors, numbers about 3,500,
with Richmond residents holding only about 7 percent of those jobs.
This fall’s election will test whether Chevron’s money can buy Richmond
back.
http://www.labornotes.org/2014/03/showdown-company-town
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Four Postal Unions Bury
the Hatchet to Save
Services, Standards
March 27, 2014 / David Yao
enlarge or shrink text
Until now, disunity had dogged the four postal unions. Last year the
American Postal Workers Union's national leadership conspicuously failed
to endorse a Letter Carriers' day of action to save Saturday delivery—
though local leaders like the author (pictured) lent their support. Photo:
Ramiro Gabuat.
If you follow what’s going on with the post office, you’ve been reading for
years about the various threats to postal services, our jobs, and our
contract. Private companies want to gobble more and more of our work, the
Postmaster General is more than happy to give it away, an anti-government
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faction in Congress opposes public services on principle, and the media
cluelessly repeats misleading info about “huge postal losses.”
With all these wolves circling at the gates, you’d think the postal unions
would have banded together to fight as one.
Sadly, for whatever reason, that has not been the case—until now.
http://www.labornotes.org/blogs/2014/03/four-postal-unions-bury-hatchet-save-services-standards
Florida News from our allies at Progress Florida
(Some of the news stories below may require a subscription to read.)
FEATURED STORIES
Florida House wage-theft bill adds insult to injury
By Daniel Tilson
Context Florida
Have you ever had part of your weekly salary stolen? By an employer using
unethical or outright illegal means?
Florida suspends non-citizen voter purge efforts
By Steve Bousquet and Amy Sherman
Herald/Times Tallahassee Bureau
Gov. Rick Scott’s chief elections official is suspending Florida’s efforts to remove
noncitizens from the voter rolls, citing changes to a federal database used to check
voters’ citizenship status.
Another resignation rocks Rick Scott campaign
By Sergio R. Bustos
Miami Herald
Gonzalo Sanabria, a longtime Miami-Dade Expressway Authority board member,
resigned Thursday from his post to protest the “disparaging and disrespectful” treatment
of Mike Fernandez, the former co-finance chairman of Gov. Rick Scott’s campaign.
Sources: Gov. Scott quickly rescinds offer to new finance leader for campaign
By Matt Dixon
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Scripps/Tribune Capital Bureau
Days after Gov. Rick Scott’s campaign finance chairman resigned in frustration, the
campaign offered the job to another GOP rainmaker before abruptly rescinding the offer,
six people with knowledge of the situation say.
Ad war heats up in governor’s race
By William March
Tampa Tribune
Hampered by lack of cash, likely Democratic nominee for governor Charlie Crist is
hitting back with a web ad following a televised attack from Gov. Rick Scott over the
Affordable Care Act.
Legislature ready to keep rolling back Florida growth-management rules
By Aaron Deslatte
Orlando Sentinel
The Florida Legislature is poised to press ahead with its four-year push to dismantle
state growth-management rules.
BEST OF THE BLOGS
For "Battleship" Scott, Loose Lips Sink Ships
By Martha Jackovics
Beach Peanuts
In spite of his trying to ignore it, the racist joke controversy in Rick Scott's campaign isn't
going away.
Following Mike Fernandez departure, another high-ranking GOP Hispanic leader cuts
ties with Rick Scott
By Phil Amman
Saint Petersblog
Republican Miami-Dade Expressway Authority board member Gonzalo Sanabria
resigned today from his appointed post in protest of the “disparaging and disrespectful”
treatment of Gov. Rick Scott’s former finance co-chair Mike Fernandez.
Despite legislative progress public school advocates can never rest easy
By Kartik Krishnaiyer
The Florida Squeeze
The school “choice” movement suffered a significant setback in the Florida Senate
yesterday when the companion bill to HB 7099 was withdrawn by its sponsor Senator
Bill Galvano (R-Bradenton).
Ghosts of Rulings Past
By Mustang Bobby
Bark Bark Woof Woof
Today is the day the United States Supreme Court will hear arguments as to whether or
not private for-profit companies can claim a religious exemption from the Affordable
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PAGE 33
Care Act because it would provide contraception to their employees, something the
corporate owners don’t believe in.
Local Police in Florida Acting Like They’re the CIA (But They’re Not)
By Nathan Freed Wessler
Blog Of Rights
The City of Sunrise, Florida, tried to take a page from the CIA’s anti-transparency
playbook last week when it responded to an ACLU public records request about its use
of powerful cell phone location tracking gear by refusing to confirm or deny the
existence of any relevant documents.
FLORIDA POLITICS
Democrats chide Scott even after state drops plans for voter purge
By John Kennedy
Palm Beach Post
The Gov. Rick Scott administration’s decision Thursday to drop a controversial plan to
remove noncitizens and other ineligible voters from state rolls drew revived attacks from
Democrats who had long opposed the effort dubbed Project Integrity.
Vote on university 'sunshine' exemption exposes cracks in House Democratic caucus
By Tia Mitchell
Times/Herald Tallahassee Bureau
At a meeting of House Democrats before the afternoon session, Rep. Michelle
Rehwinkel Vasilinda, of Tallahassee, called a proposal to shield universities' discussions
about prospective donors "dangerous."
Adam Hollingsworth selling his Jacksonville home, has no plans to leave Tallahassee
By Matt Dixon
Scripps/Tribune Capital Bureau
Adam Hollingsworth, the top staffer for Gov. Rick Scott, has put his Jacksonville house
on the market and has no plans to leave Tallahassee.
January session start date bill clears House
By Gray Rohrer
Florida Current
A bill that would move the start of the 60-day legislative session to January for each
even-numbered year passed the House by a vote of 102-11 on Thursday.
POLITICAL RACES
Florida Dems want stations to pull Scott's 'misleading' Obamacare ad
By Mary Ellen Klas
Herald/Times Tallahassee Bureau
The Florida Democratic Party sent a letter Thursday morning to 67 television stations in
all 10 media markets asking them to refrain from airing the "patently false" attack ad
from the Rick Scott campaign featuring Democrat Charlie Crist's support of Obamacare.
Crist in Sarasota for book-signing
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By Jeremy Wallace
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
Former Florida Gov. Charlie Crist was in Sarasota on Wednesday promoting his new
book and raising money for what many are expecting to be one of the hottest
gubernatorial contests in the nation.
ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY
Development bill passes, supporter asks sponsor to look at coordination among
governments
By Bruce Ritchie
Florida Current
A bill that would increase the number of counties where larger developments would be
subject to a state review process cleared another committee stop with amendments and
several no votes.
Senate and House budgets close on Everglades and Lake Okeechobee spending,
Negron says
By Bruce Ritchie
Florida Current
The Senate's proposed Fiscal Year 2014-15 state budget includes $157.8 million for
Everglades restoration and modifications to the Lake Okeechobee flow system.
House must join Senate's effort to rescue springs
Editorial
Orlando Sentinel
A bipartisan proposal to restore Florida's natural springs has been advancing through
the state Senate during this year's legislative session.
LGBT
Same-sex couple will argue for a divorce in Florida
By Preston Rudie
WTSP Tampa Bay
When Mariama Shaw entered a Hillsborough County courtroom Thursday, she was
hoping Judge Laurel M. Lee would grant her a divorce from Keiba Lynn Shaw.
EDUCATION
Rep. Manny Diaz temporarily postpones charter school contracting bill
By Arek Sarkissian
Florida Current
A House bill that would provide guidelines for contracts between charter schools and
school districts was temporarily postponed Thursday afternoon during the Education
Committee meeting so the sponsor could review its amendments.
Senate panel wants 4-year degrees put on hold at state colleges
By John Kennedy
Palm Beach Post
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PAGE 35
Florida Senate budget-writers agreed Thursday to end a decade-long trend of
expanding bachelor’s degree options at state colleges, saying the programs have
proliferated and the current system no longer works.
Fla. House votes to allow secret meetings
Associated Press
Tampa Tribune
State university foundations could meet in secret under a bill passed by the Florida
House.
JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY
Gov. Scott in Tampa to release Florida's jobs report, unemployment rate
By Jeff Harrington
Tampa Bay Times
Gov. Rick Scott is in Tampa this morning to announce Florida's jobs report for February.
Weatherford doesn't like Simmons plan for stadium-incentives
By Aaron Deslatte
Orlando Sentinel
House Speaker Will Weatherford said Thursday he didn't support a plan that could allow
Orlando's professional soccer backers secure state tax dollars for a future stadium as
soon as this summer.
I Can Drive 75…Maybe
By Mike Vasilinda
Capitol News Service
The speed limit was raised to 70 miles an hour back in 1995. Since then, traffic fatalities
have gone down every year but one.
State orders Apopka to reverse yellow-light changes, but city refuses
By Steve Hudak
Orlando Sentinel
State traffic engineers have ordered Apopka to shorten the length of time its traffic lights
have a yellow caution signal.
HEALTH AND SENIORS
Bill would change late-term abortion threshold
By Arek Sarkissian
Florida Current
A bill up that would prohibit the abortion of a fetus able to survive outside the womb
unless the pregnancy threatens the mother’s health passed the House Health and
Human Serivces Committee with a vote of 12-5.
Protests call for Medicaid expansion
By Kate Bradshaw
Tampa Tribune
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PAGE 36
About 20 demonstrators on Thursday called on Tallahassee Republicans to reconsider
expanding Medicaid, an optional provision of the Affordable Care Act.
Over 440,000 health care law sign-ups evidence of need among Florida residents
Editorial
Palm Beach Post
Laura Rasmussen, of Coral Springs, is not one of the more than 440,000 Floridians
lucky enough to obtain health insurance through the marketplace created by the
Affordable Care Act, but it isn’t from lack of trying.
Health coverage sign-up push enters home stretch
By Jerome R. Stockfisch
Tampa Tribune
It’s crunch time in the effort to get the uninsured enrolled in the federal health insurance
marketplace, and advocates say they’ll continue to “shake the bushes” to get people
signed up by the midnight Monday deadline.
E-cigarette ban for minors runs into trouble over local control
By Jim Saunders
News Service of Florida
Nobody in the Capitol, it seems, wants minors to buy electronic cigarettes.
IMMIGRATION, CIVIL RIGHTS AND SOCIAL ISSUES
Everyone Gets a Gun!”
By Matt Galka
Capitol News Service
A new proposal could suspend concealed carry gun laws during mandatory evacuations
in Florida, but law enforcement is concerned about opening the door for non-permitted
citizens to carry around a gun.
Fixing a law's flaws
Editorial
Gainesville Sun
Whether Florida's "stand your ground" law is malevolent, misguided or merely
misunderstood, it needs repair.
Man in the middle: Why Jose Godinez-Samperio still can’t practice law in Florida
By Mitch Perry
Creative Loafing
Millions of people are affected by the reluctance of the GOP-led House of
Representatives to address immigration reform, but the case of Jose Godinez-Samperio
is as vivid as any.
JUSTICE AND THE COURTS
Deaf Tampa convict seeks clemency in murder
By James L. Rosica
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PAGE 37
Tribune/Scripps Capital Bureau
Felix Garcia is in prison for murder, his defenders say, in part because he did not want
his hearing impairment to be mistaken for stupidity.
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