The DREAM Act, which was first introduced in Congress 10 years ago, would grant those who entered the U.S. illegally before the age of 16 conditional permanent resident status for a period of six years, after which they would be eligible to become legal permanent residents if they obtain at least an associate-level college degree or serve in the military for two years.

no "specifics to announce yet," about his alternative DREAM Act. "This stuff has to be done responsibly. We’re working toward that and hopefully very soon," Rubio told the paper.

Rubio, who still does not support the DREAM Act, is drafting what earlier this month he called a a bipartisan solution that "does not reward or encourage illegal immigration by granting amnesty, but helps accommodate talented young people like Daniela [Pelaez], who find themselves undocumented through no fault of their own."

Pelaez, a Miami high school valedictorian whose order of deportation set off a series of protests in South Florida and other parts of the U.S., met with Rubio. She has been granted another two years in the U.S. by immigration authorities while her case makes its way through immigration courts.

Florida Birther lawsuit

"New Birther lawsuit filed in Florida" ("a story published on the right-wing blog World Net Daily suggests [the plaintiff in the lawsuit] is being helped by Larry Klayman, an attorney and the founder of Freedom Watch USA.")

"Choice between political party and ethnic identity"?

"When Florida's Republican-controlled Legislature created a new congressional district in Central Florida, the intent was to enable election of the region's first-ever Hispanic U.S. representative — someone who would most likely be a Democrat — while protecting GOP incumbents in surrounding seats. But the potential race emerging for that new seat in Congress could turn into a choice between political party and ethnic identity." "Congressional race could pit political vs. ethnic identity".

What's a Fla-bagger to do?

"Scott presented with bill protecting health of incarcerated pregnant women".

"A dose of the narrow-minded philosophy [GOPers] helped finance"

The Tampa Bay Times editorial board: "While House Republicans were passing a federal budget this week that is going nowhere, they were also passing a temporary highway bill that gets the nation nowhere. They have enough time to send a political message but not enough to figure out how to build roads and keep the economy moving."

The business interests that backed many of these tea party Republicans as candidates now are frustrated by the inaction on the highway bill. But they are getting a dose of the narrow-minded philosophy they helped finance and elect, and they should remember this November that elections have consequences. For this shortsightedness in Washington, Floridians can thank their Republican House members, all of whom (except Connie Mack, who did not vote) supported the extension. Gear up for the same games in June.

Justice Department gets latest Senate redistricting plan

"The Florida House, Senate and Attorney General sent the U.S. Justice Department the latest state Senate redistricting plan Friday in a bid to assure federal review is completed by the June 4 start of candidate qualifying."

The redrawn Senate map, approved by the Legislature in a special session that ended Tuesday, still must go to the state Supreme Court, which has 30 days to review the plan. Justices ruled the initial Senate redistricting plan was unconstitutional, forcing the 15-day special session.

If the Supreme Court doesn't approve the Legislature's second attempt at a Senate map, the justices could decide to draw the districts themselves.

Federal officials have their own 60-day window to review the proposed map. But attorneys for the Legislature and Attorney General Pam Bondi are clearly hoping the Justice Department's work can overlap with that of Florida's high court.

"Lift Cuba travel ban"

The Sun Sentinel editorial board: "Lift Cuba travel ban".

"Amateur night with guns"

Randy Schultz: "Florida's stand-your-ground law, which is at the heart of the Trayvon Martin controversy, is based on this premise: Under pressure, amateurs will use guns like professionals." "Schultz: 'Stand-your-ground' makes for amateur night with guns".

Meanwhile, "whether it’s those on the right or left, each side has attached itself to the Trayvon Martin case to score political points." "Trayvon Martin’s shooting case draws partisan battle lines". Back at the ranch, "Texas lawyers offer $10,000 for George Zimmerman's legal defense".

"State's growth rate lags the country's growth rate"

Rick Scott's job creation promises continue to fall flat, as "U.S. jobs are growing at a rate 50 percent higher than Florida".

Also, "a shrinking labor pool helps explain why Florida has narrowed the gap with the national unemployment rate (flat at 8.3 percent the last two months) even though state's growth rate lags the country's growth rate."

In the last 12 months, Florida has added 72,300 jobs for a growth rate of about 1 percent, according to a Florida Department of Economic Opportunity analysis released Friday. The United States has added more than 2 million jobs during that span, notching a growth rate of 1.5 percent.

In other words, U.S. jobs are growing at a rate 50 percent higher than Florida, and February continued the trend.

"If all you hear are crickets, it's understandable"

The Sun Sentinel editorial board: "Speak up if you're aware Florida has a constitutional amendment protecting the Everglades from pollution. If all you hear are crickets, it's understandable. It shouldn't surprise anyone that this "polluter pays" amendment hasn't done much to help the famed River of Grass. For an issue so important, it's unacceptable this part of Florida law remains so obscure."

But that's the most troubling finding of an Everglades Foundation study released this week. The report shows 76 percent of the phosphorus entering the Everglades comes from agricultural interests south of Lake Okeechobee, but those polluters only pay 24 percent of the cost of removing the pollution. The rest comes from taxpayers in the form of local, state and federal taxes.

Collins Institute

The inaptly named Collins Center, in reality a mainstream-conservative "think-tank", has hired "the head of former Sen. Bob Graham’s public policy think tank at the University of Florida to be its new steward and steer the focus back to public policy." "Collins Center names new executive director".

"Republicans want to exacerbate the nation's yawning income inequality"

The Tampa Bay Times editors: "Even as Ryan's budget lavishes tax cuts on the rich, it aggressively cuts government help to the middle class and poor and reduces investments in infrastructure and technology. According to the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center, people earning more than $1 million a year would each receive $265,000 in new tax cuts, with the top marginal tax rate reduced to 25 percent from the current 35 percent. Corporate taxes also would be slashed. Ryan claims new tax cuts would be offset by ending tax deductions and closing loopholes, but he doesn't provide specifics."

Every Republican member of the House from the Tampa Bay area voted for the measure, including Reps. Gus Bilirakis, R-Palm Harbor; Richard Nugent, R-Spring Hill; Dennis Ross, R-Lakeland; C.W. Bill Young, R-Indian Shores; and Vern Buchanan, R-Sarasota. Rep. Kathy Castor, the area's lone Democrat from Tampa, voted "no." Congressional Republicans want to exacerbate the nation's yawning income inequality while making life harder for those at the bottom. It just goes to show how much elections matter.

"Bill surfaced in the final hours"

"On the last day of the 2012 session, state lawmakers voted to reduce contributions to the retirement accounts of 100,000 public employees, many of whom work in higher education or law enforcement."

The bill (HB 5005) passed both chambers by wide margins with little discussion and will soon reach Gov. Rick Scott, who said he has not decided whether to sign it.

The legislation reduces government contributions to employees enrolled in an investment plan, known as a defined contribution plan, as opposed to the traditional pension plan for public employees [which is the subject of the FRS litigation].

Police officers in the defined contribution plan, who are members of what's known as a "special risk" class, would see the state's contribution drop from 18.3 percent of an employee's salary to 12.3 percent.

The result is that employees in the plan will have less money available for their retirement than if the change hadn't been made. ...

The bill passed the House, 82-35, and the Senate, 34-2, on the session's final day.

Sens. Jeremy Ring, D-Margate, and Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey, cast the only dissenting votes in the Senate.

Ring said he could not get "good, clean answers" as to how the bill would affect employees of state universities and colleges who participate in optional retirement programs.

Fasano, the only Republican in the Legislature who voted no, said the bill surfaced in the final hours, and he wasn't convinced it was in the best interest of public employees.

Charter madness

The Florida Independent has reports

organizations that lobbied to support the Parent Trigger and charter schools bills include the Florida Charter School Alliance, the Florida Coalition of Public School Options, the Foundation for Excellence in Education (led by Jeb Bush), the Foundation for Florida’s Future (also led by Bush), Students First, Parent Revolution, the Heartland Institute and the American Legislative Exchange Council (known as ALEC). Though it claims to be “bi-partisan,” ALEC has political and financial ties with conservative, pro-market groups and the Republican party.

The Florida Charter School Alliance’s board of directors includes Jim Horne, president of the Horne Group and a former Republican senator; John Kirtley, the Florida corporate tax credit scholarship program founder; and the executive director of former Gov. Bush’s education foundation, Patricia Levesque.

Diane Ravitch, an education historian [Assistant Secretary of Education and Counselor to Secretary in the George H.W. Bush administration, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution] and a former supporter of the "choice" movement but who now opposes such policies, wrote early this month:

Race to the Top seems to have catalyzed a national narrative, at least among the mainstream media. The good guys open charter schools and fire bad teachers. The bad guys are lazy teachers who get lifetime tenure just for breathing and showing up. Most evil of all are the unions, who protect the bad teachers and fend off any effort to evaluate them. Anyone who questions the headlong rush to privatization and the blind faith in standardized testing will be smeared as "a defender of the status quo" who has "no solutions."

Ravitch also points to the Gates Foundation, the Walton Family Foundation and many other private funders who continue to invest hundreds of millions of dollars to support teacher evaluation projects, school vouchers and charter schools.

An election gaffe, "which appears unprecedented in recent Florida history"

The Palm Beach Post editorial board:

"Technology fails," Susan Bucher, Palm Beach County's supervisor of elections, declared last week on her office's website. Her aim: to place blame for the devastating error in this month's Wellington village council elections squarely on the software her office uses.

Since the discovery of the error, in which two losing candidates were mistakenly named winners, Ms. Bucher has emphatically denied that she or her staff had any role in the gaffe, which appears unprecedented in recent Florida history. The problem, she said repeatedly, was malfunctioning software.

But an investigation by the state Division of Elections is casting doubt on that claim, and voters who have listened to Ms. Bucher for nearly two weeks deflect responsibility for one of the county's worst election blunders should be skeptical.

The Division of Elections this week said that it had ruled out any problems with the "certification of the voting system" that Ms. Bucher's office used. (The state tests and certifies all election software used by county elections offices.) Then on Friday, state officials released a letter from Dominion Voting, the software company, in which the company said it had ruled out any software error. "It is clear, the company's president wrote, "that the mismatch was not the result of a 'bug.' " He added that the software "acted as designed."

The company's conclusion is a far cry from the portrait Ms. Bucher attempted to paint when she released a mealy-mouthed statement from Dominion that admitted no actual wrongdoing and attempted to claim it as vindication. In reality, all Dominion has conceded is that the relevant part of its software is confusing and can make it hard to spot errors. This is a serious problem, one that they say will be fixed, but it is very different from being the cause of the error itself.

"Counties could be on hook for $325.5 million"

"Gov. Scott signs Medicaid billing changes; counties could be on hook for $325.5 million". See also "Florida Association of Counties-Opposed Medicaid Bill Becomes Law".

Senate to decide punishment

"The Florida Commission on Ethics on Friday urged the Senate to decide how to punish Sen. Jim Norman of Tampa for not disclosing a $500,000 gift to his wife from a local businessman. The punishment options are a reprimand, fine or removal from office." "Norman case goes to Senate".

Nelson beats Mack by a 44-36 percent margin – a shift of 7 percentage points in Nelson’s favor since January, when the two were essentially tied, according to Quinnipiac University’s Polling Institute. Nelson’s 8-point lead is outside the poll’s 2.8 percent error margin.

Law clearly suppresses the vote among Democratic-leaning constituencies

The Saint Petersburg Times editors: "The defenders of a new state law that makes it harder to register to vote can no longer dismiss concerns that it will reduce turnout in the November elections."

A new study shows 81,471 fewer Floridians have registered to vote since the law took effect in July than during the same time period in the 2008 election cycle. The law clearly will result in disproportionately suppressing the vote among minorities, college students and other Democratic-leaning constituencies, and the courts should overturn it.

New registrations are down by 39 percent in Miami-Dade County compared to the same period four years ago, the newspaper reported. They are down by some 20 percent in Orange County and Volusia County. And they are down 34 percent in Pasco, 23 percent in Hillsborough (where the law is not even being enforced yet) and 21 percent in Pinellas, county elections officials told the Tampa Bay Times on Wednesday. That is no coincidence, no matter how much state elections officials speculate about other factors.

"$1B in business tax breaks"

"Flanked by leaders of Florida's top economic trade groups and agencies, Gov. Rick Scott signed a number of business tax cuts he says will accelerate economic development in the state." "$1B in business tax breaks". See also "Scott signs more tax breaks for businesses into law" and "Jobs Legislation Seeks More Positive Atmosphere for Business in Florida".

Rubio yawner

"The surprise endorsement has the potential to give a shot of credibility to Romney, who has failed to excite the deeper conservatives of the Republican base, and instantly added to speculation that Rubio would be his running mate. Rubio was quick to dismiss the idea."

But it is still significant, given Rubio's rising national status and conservative bona fides. He has feet in both the establishment circles and the tea party.

And he is Hispanic. Romney has adopted some hard line positions on immigration — as did Rubio during his 2010 run for Senate against then-Gov. Charlie Crist, but he has tried to moderate his positions since entering the Senate.

The embrace has potential downsides. Rubio's followers may see it as politically calculating and acquiescing to establishment politics. It also may intensify scrutiny of his positions of immigration and other issues.

Scott presides over drop in consumer confidence

"Florida consumer confidence drops in March as gas prices rise".

"Sanford police threaten to arrest reporters"

"Sanford police threaten to arrest reporters for asking questions". Related: "Police video: George Zimmerman was in cuffs but no apparent injuries", "Sanford cops wanted to charge Zimmerman in Trayvon Martin case", "No Action Expected on Request for 'Stand Your Ground' Special Session", "Agreement Grows on Clarity for 'Stand Your Ground'", "Trayvon Martin case draws more blacks to Twitter", "Trayvon Martin’s death: When does fight justify deadly force?", "The Florida Independent", "Special prosecutor: I may need no grand jury in Martin case" and "Trayvon Martin: Sanford's tab is $35,000 for PR firm, big TV screen to broadcast meeting on case".

Martinez pushes tax

"Ex-Sen. Martinez: Tax could help Orlando's homeless".

"SoFla Republicans joined Democrats in opposing the map"

"Florida House leadership believes the Senate map will pass muster in the Florida Supreme Court, but a Justice Department review -- now that might be a tougher sell."

The House on Tuesday, as expected, approved the Senate’s second effort to create a map based on the less-than-2-year-old Fair Districts Amendments.

However, a number of South Florida Republicans joined Democrats in opposing the map, questioning the lack of Hispanic representation in South Florida, which could set the map up for rejection by the U.S. Department of Justice under the federal Voting Rights Act.

Scott signs pro-business laws

"Scott signs Workforce, other pro-business laws".

As of 9:30AM the link did not work

"How to jump start small business job creation in Florida? Google is teaming with Intuit and the Gov. Rick Scott to offer a free website design, a free domain name and free server hosting for a year."

Florida businesses can go to http://www.floridagetonline.com get the free website as well as free tools, training and resources to help their business succeed online.

Smith don' like Teamsters

Nancy Smith: "Bringing a lawsuit is one thing; scaring people half to death dishonestly is another. But such is the culture of the Teamsters Union." "Boo! Teamsters' Notice of 'Dangerous Criminals' Lawsuit a Tad Over the Top?".

Prayer policies

"The American Civil Liberties Union of Florida, along with other groups, sent letters to school boards this week, warning them not to adopt policies recently allowed by the state that the civil liberties groups says will surely land them in court." "School districts warned not to adopt prayer policies".

Imagine that

"According to a recently released study by the Everglades Foundation, the agriculture industry is responsible for 76 percent of the phosphorus pollution entering the Everglades. But despite passage of a 'Polluter Pays' amendment to the state Constitution in 1996, the ag industry isn’t paying for even half of the cost of phosphorus removal, leaving the balance of the burden on the shoulders of taxpayers." "Everglades Foundation study finds that polluters don’t always clean up after themselves".

One word: "plastics"

"Orlando faces test with huge plastics trade show".

Get 'yer stoopid straight

"PolitiFact: Drug testing bill sponsor wrong about exemption for legislators".

Divided Supreme Court agrees to hear FRS case

"A divided court announced Wednesday that it will hear a challenge of a law passed last year that requires public employees to contribute 3 percent of their paychecks to their retirement. Oral arguments are set for early September." "Florida Supreme Court accepts public pension case".

Influence from U.S. Rep. Steve Southerland?

"The move to nominate and then pass over Chairman Robert P. Gill for another three-year term on the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council prompted some to point to influence from U.S. Rep. Steve Southerland, R-Panama City. " "Gov. Rick Scott's reversal on Gulf fisheries council nomination raises concerns".

Rank opportunist "repeats her talking points"

"Elected in 2010, the former state prosecutor and former Fox News legal commenter inherited the lawsuit from former Republican Attorney General Bill McCollum. But she campaigned on the issue herself and has seized it as her own since taking office at the beginning of 2011."

A registered Democrat from 1984 until 2000 when she switched to the Republican Party, she wasn't especially politically involved until running for office.

Today, Bondi, 46, downplays suggestions that the health care lawsuit may have raised her profile — and as a result, her future prospects in the Republican Party.

"I don't care about that," she said. "I care about defeating the health care mandate. That's all I care about."

She repeated her talking points: the legal challenge was about the Constitution, not politics.

"Dubious logic"

Frank Cerabino:"Alcee Hastings' denial of nepotism relies on relatively dubious logic".

Obama, edges Mitt Romney by a 49-42 percent margin in Florida and has a slightly smaller 6 percentage point lead over the Republican in Ohio, the Quinnipiac University poll shows.

Obama’s leads are outside the poll’s 2.8 percentage-point error margin, meaning he has a statistically significant advantage in the nation’s two largest up-for-grabs states.

"If history repeats itself, that means he would be re-elected," Peter A. Brown, assistant director of Quinnipiac’s Polling Institute, said in a written statement. "But the election is not today. It is seven months away. Two months ago President Obama and Gov. Mitt Romney were in a statistical tie in Ohio and Florida."

FLORIDA: Obama 49 - Romney 42; Obama 50 - Santorum 37 OHIO: Obama 47 - Romney 41; Obama 47 - Santorum 40 PENNSYLVANIA: Obama 45 - Romney 42; Obama 48 - Santorum 41

In his best showing in this election cycle, President Barack Obama pulls away from former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and former Pennsylvania U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum in two critical swing states, while a third state remains too close to call, according to today's Quinnipiac University Swing State Poll of Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania.

"Scramble for seats"

"As the Florida Legislature finished its historic special session and sent a revamped redistricting map back to the state Supreme Court on Tuesday, another kind of history was being made. Dozens of state House members were voluntarily house hunting, running for a different office, or planning to sit out the next legislative session to avoid a matchup with another lawmaker." "Scramble for seats begins". See also "Florida House OKs redraw of Senate district lines, but misgivings persist" and "Legislature sends state Senate redistricting map to Florida Supreme Court".

"Textbook packing" of Hispanics"?

"However, a number of South Florida Republicans joined Democrats in opposing the map, questioning the lack of Hispanic representation in South Florida, which could set the map up for rejection by the U.S. Department of Justice under the federal Voting Rights Act."

House Majority Leader Carlos Lopez-Cantera, R-Miami, said the Senate map is “textbook packing” by shifting Hispanics and carving the Hispanic population of Miami-Dade County into three of four districts.

Wage theft ordinance ruled consistent with home rule

"Judge Lester Langer writes that Miami-Dade County 'had the right, pursuant to a proper exercise of its police powers which are constitutionally guaranteed under the Home Rule Charter to enact the ordinance to prevent the theft of wages for working people in Dade County.'" "Miami judge rules in favor of county’s anti-wage theft program".

GOPers "totally desperate to politicize anything"

The Sun Sentinel editorial board: "It would be difficult to find fault with what President Obama said regarding the Trayvon Martin shooting. Difficult, that is, unless you're running for the Republican presidential nomination, and you are totally desperate to politicize anything."GOP politicizing Trayvon Martin".

Related: "PolitiFact Florida: Drop in violent crime appears unrelated to 'stand your ground'". See also "NRA ready to stand its ground over Stand Your Ground" and "House Speaker Dean Cannon wants to wait and see in Trayvon Martin case" and "Trayvon rumors abound, but here are facts".

Puffing Webster

"Dan Webster: From Afghanistan to Limbaugh".

Aren't they all

"Prosecutor at center of Trayvon Martin case known as tough, hard-nosed".

What a deal: 76% of the pollution, only 24% of the cost

"The Everglades Foundation on Monday released a report showing that 76 percent of phosphorous pollution entering the Everglades comes from agricultural operations while that sector pays only 24 percent of the cost." "Everglades report points finger at agriculture for cleanup costs".

Fla-baggers demand veto, will Scott dis them?

"The Tea Party Network is urging Gov. Rick Scott to veto a Medicaid bill (H.B. 5301) that would shift costs from the state’s Medicaid program to counties throughout Florida." "Tea party group asks Scott to veto Medicaid bill".

"Leap of logic"?

The New York Times reports "that Florida’s controversial new voting law has caused numerous third-party voter registration groups to completely suspend their efforts due to onerous new restrictions the law imposes on them."

Already, the Times reports, the state is facing a significant decrease in voter registration numbers in Florida compared to the last presidential election. However, a spokesperson for the Florida State Department tells the newspaper that it is a “leap of logic” to blame the decrease in numbers on the state’s new elections law.

Bondi, Rubio bla, bla, blah

"What they're saying about the Supreme Court arguments". Meanwhile, "PolitiFact: Obama ad's on the money about Medicare drug savings".

Civil liberties of protesters at Republican Convention in Tampa

The Tampa Bay Times editorial board: "This summer's Republican National Convention will put Tampa in the spotlight like never before. And that attention brings an added responsibility on the city to protect the civil liberties of protesters and the public even amid unprecedented security. The city needs to be thoughtful and accommodating as it looks to change local laws that govern when and how demonstrators and other groups may gather." "Find a balance on rights, security".

Rubio this month took the unusual step of asking the Florida Ethics Commission to close out a complaint that he misused Republican Party and campaign money "to subsidize his lifestyle" while in the Legislature.

His political committee has spent more than $40,000 for investigators to research for negative attacks that could surface against him.

And last week the Florida senator announced he is rushing publication of his memoir to June from February. That will help him frame his story before a presumably less-flattering unauthorized biography is released in July and will ensure him waves of publicity before the Republican National Convention in Tampa in August.

"Marco's saying all the right things, because nobody who wants to be vice president should admit it. But he's bound to be on the nominee's short list and he's smart to prepare for it now,'' said Ana Navarro, a Republican fundraiser and Rubio friend in Miami. "If he does get asked, it will be very hard to say no."

"Cowards of Tallahassee who loaded the gun"

Daniel Ruth: "Outrage abounds. A 17-year-old young man on a fatal Skittles run to a nearby convenience store is gunned down by the neighborhood Barney Fife from hell who claims, because of a supremely stupid state law, that he was defending himself."

Go ahead. Be as outraged as you want over the killing of Trayvon Martin at the hands of George Zimmerman, a Sanford subdivision busybody with Charles Bronson issues. But save just a bit of your anger. You're probably going to need it as long as the Florida Legislature continues to meet and as long as that gathering of beagles in the House and Senate and governor's mansion continue to serve as the fawning factotums of the National Rifle Association.

First Tallahassee made it easier for yahoos like George Zimmerman to carry a concealed weapon. As of late last year, Florida had issued nearly 900,000 concealed weapons permits, which are easier to obtain than Fourth of July fireworks. Or put another way, six out of every 100 adult Floridians are secretly packing, which included, of course, the Sherlock Holmes of Sanford. Feeling all warm and secure, are you?

So not only did the Florida Legislature, the lap dogs of Marion Hammer, make it easier for every rube in the state to walk around with a concealed weapon under their pelts, then they made it more convenient to be able to shoot people. Killing field kismet?

Seven years ago the Legislature passed its "stand your ground" law, that says no person has an obligation to retreat from a threat (which would seem to be a pretty good idea) even if that is the only safe option.

In both cases, police agency officials, prosecutors and judges, begged the Legislature not to pass the concealed carry and "stand your ground" bills arguing the measures would make their jobs more difficult and lead to needless violence.

They were right. And they were ignored by a cowering Legislature more afraid of incurring the wrath of Marion Hammer, than concerned with protecting the public.

George Zimmerman may be the one who shot Trayvon Martin, but it was the cowards of Tallahassee who loaded the gun.

"NRA usually dictates the storyline in Florida’s Capitol"

"With Trayvon Martin’s death, Florida’s 'Stand Your Ground' law and the National Rifle Association’s agenda are in the crosshairs."

And the NRA probably couldn’t be happier to stand its ground.

Chances state lawmakers will strike the deadly force law from the books: Nil.

Chances it will be amended: Slight.

Chances the NRA will get to boast of a win: High.

That means bragging rights, a happy membership and, ultimately, more money for an organization that can boast of its effectiveness in the state Capitol.

The NRA relishes a fight. But it has gotten nearly everything it wanted out of Florida’s Legislature. And that could become a strange problem — for the NRA. ...

And it’s the NRA that usually dictates the storyline in Florida’s Capitol.

"Tough Political Choices" for some Senators

"With the new Senate maps expected to easily pass the House next week, lawmakers in the upper chamber and potential candidates for those seats are beginning to evaluate their electoral futures."

Perhaps the most intense decisions will be made by those lawmakers who are facing decisions based on the districts they were drawn into or out of. For example, Sen. David Simmons of Maitland said he will relocate after being drawn into the same district with fellow Republican Andy Gardiner of Orlando, slated to become Senate president in 2014.

"I will move back to Seminole County," Simmons said. ...

A tougher decision might be ahead for Sen. Maria Sachs, D-Boca Raton. Despite media reports to the contrary, Sachs apparently lives in the new District 25. That places her just outside of the reconfigured District 34, which includes Republican Sen. Ellyn Bogdanoff of Fort Lauderdale and contains about 40 percent of Sachs' current district.

Both of the new districts are staunchly Democratic, but running in District 25 could spark a contested primary between Sachs and Rep. Joe Abruzzo, a Wellington Democrat who is expected to run in that district. ...

Other lawmakers face different questions. Sen. Don Gaetz, R-Niceville, would be allowed to hold onto his seat until 2016 under the current map -- two years after his term as Senate president would come to an end. That's because he was assigned an odd number in the raffle the Senate Reapportionment Committee held to decide which lawmakers would get two-year terms and which would get four years.

Gaetz said he hasn't decided whether to stay on after his leadership role came to an end.

"Perhaps no state has as much at stake as Florida"

Barbara Peters Smith: "When oral arguments begin Monday before the U.S. Supreme Court over the controversial health care coverage 'mandate' in the Affordable Care Act, perhaps no state has as much at stake as Florida. State leaders have refused tens of millions in federal funds for implementing early portions of the 2010 law, betting on the success of a 26-state legal challenge that has finally reached the nation’s highest court." "Florida has much at stake as Supreme Court reviews health care mandate". See also "Health care law has Supreme stakes for all Floridians".

"Misbegotten law"

The Miami Herald editorial board joins the "Stand your ground" debate: "This misbegotten law is at the root of the absence of an arrest in Trayvon’s killing. (Even the lawmakers who sponsored the the ill-conceived Stand Your Ground are flummoxed that it’s being cited in this case.)"

The law is poorly understood, unevenly applied throughout the state and, worst of all, has become a license to kill under a variety of suspect circumstances.

As questions whirl around the law’s implications in the Martin/Zimmerman case, in Miami-Dade County last week, Circuit Judge Beth Bloom dismissed a second-degree murder case citing Stand Your Ground. She granted Greyston Garcia immunity, as the law allows, after ruling his testimony about self-defense was credible. Mr. Garcia chased a car burglar for more than a block, stabbed him and killed him. Perhaps the task force can get to the bottom of how someone can stand his ground at the same time he is giving chase to a fleeing suspect.

Scott abandons Fla-baggers

"The tea-party movement, dominated by conservative voters who champion drastically reining in government expenditures, sent Scott to victory in 2010. But since he has started to tone down his tea-party rhetoric, he has seen a slight uptick in his approval ratings."

Last year, after the end of his first legislative session as governor, Scott was polling at only 29 percent, according to the Quinnipiac University poll. By January of this year, following a media blitz and his pledge to increase education spending, his positive rating had risen to 38 percent.

The Smiths

Nancy Smith writes that "Rod Smith's attempt to keep politics out of the Trayvon Martin tragedy is honest and courageous and entirely the right thing to do." "Gutsy Reminder From Democrat Rod Smith: 'Stand Your Ground' Was Bipartisan".

"It's common sense to allow people to defend themselves. When you're in a position where you're being threatened to have to retreat and put yourself in a very precarious position defies common sense."

Who could be against common sense?

That common sense manifested itself in Sanford last month in the death of Trayvon Martin, 17, who made the fatal mistake of walking through a gated community while appearing to be "up to no good," according to an armed and zealous community-watch volunteer.

Common sense told George Zimmerman, 28, that the black teenager was trouble.

And Florida, that bastion of common sense, looks bad.

So bad that even the NRA-enamored Gov. Rick Scott has taken time out from his urine-­farming initiatives to call for further investigation of the stand-your-ground shooting law that has kept Zimmerman a free man.

I guess it makes common sense for Florida lawmakers to run for cover now that it's clear they've been cheerleading a law that gives legal cover to untrained lethal hotheads who use racial stereotyping to guide their own common sense.

"Florida loses most construction jobs of any state in the nation"

"Employment in Florida's construction industry has been bad, but last year it got worse."

The state lost the most construction jobs, 20,700, of any state in the nation, bringing industry jobs in Florida down to 307,800 in January, according to an Associated General Contractors of America report. The peak was 687,200 in June 2006.

"We're probably close to the bottom, if we haven't reached it," said Ken Simonson, the association's chief economist.

Scott signs controversial proposal authorizing school prayer

"The burden is now on school districts to decide whether to allow students to pray or deliver 'inspirational messages' during public events. Gov. Rick Scott signed into law Friday a controversial proposal authorizing school prayer." "Scott signs school prayer bill".

"Travesties of the 'Stand Your Ground' kind keep adding up"

The Miami Heralds's Fred Grimm: "Stand Your Ground, the way the law has been interpreted, has proven to be a wild misnomer. Like Trayvon Martin, Pedro Roteta was pursued down a city street by his killer."

On Jan. 25, Roteta had apparently been trying to steal the radio from a truck owned by Greyston Garcia, parked outside his apartment in southwest Miami. Truck burglary’s a crime of course, but not a capital case. Not before 2005.

Garcia grabbed a large knife and chased the 26-year-old Roteta down the block. He caught up with Roteta, who was unarmed except for an unopened pocketknife in his pocket, and stabbed him to death. The confrontation was captured on a surveillance video.

Miami police were not nearly as cautious as the cops in Sanford. Garcia was arrested and charged with second-degree murder. But under the peculiarities of the stand-your-ground statute, the case never went to trial. Judge Bloom decided Wednesday that Garcia was immune from prosecution. ...

The Florida Supreme Court, trying to sort out the ineptly written law (a piece of boilerplate legislation contrived by the NRA [and pushed by ALEC (funded by big corporations such as Walmart and Koch Industries]) ruled that the immunity conferred by stand-your-ground was for a judge, not a jury, to decide. Judge Bloom decided, under the squishy language of the statute, that Garcia “reasonably believed it is necessary” to use deadly force “to prevent death or great bodily harm to himself or herself or another or to prevent the commission of a forcible felony.”

At mid-afternoon on Aug. 11, 2009, a black Maxima chased a beige Infiniti at harrowing speeds down Old Cutler Road. Other cars veered off the road. One innocent motorist was sideswiped before the Infiniti crashed into a clump of bushes, the rear window blasted out, bullet holes in the trunk, spent cartridges littering the interior.

The driver of the Infiniti, Sujaye E. Henry, 26, was killed, slumped over the steering wheel, two bullet wounds in the shoulder, a third through his left eye socket. Here was a homicide brought on by reckless gunfire on a city street, spawned by a dispute over a drug deal. There was a time when Anthony Gonzalez Jr., 31, aka “White Boy,” a passenger in the pursing Maxima and the gunman who fired the fatal shot, might have faced harsh consequences.

The case never went to trial. Gonzalez, after all, as he fired away from the passenger seat, was acting under the permissive parameters of the Stand Your Ground doctrine.

Stand Your Ground preempted any thought of prosecuting a former Broward County deputy sheriff who pumped four rounds into an aggressive panhandler outside a Miami Lakes ice cream parlor in January. The month before, Broward Circuit Judge Ilona Holmes bypassed a jury and acquitted Nour Badi Jarkas, 54, of Plantation, who had shot his estranged wife’s boyfriend four times inside her house in 2009. Judge Holmes cited Stand Your Ground, saying, “nothing was presented ... to rebut the reasonableness of the fear that [Jarkas] testified that he had.”

In 2009, after two FPL workers, in their blue shirts and pith helmets, approached Ernesto Che Vino’s mobile home in Northwest Miami-Dade to shut off the juice, Vino came storming out of the house with his rifle, cuffing one of the workers on the head then firing shots as the two ran for their truck. Miami-Dade Circuit Judge John W. Thornton, “following the dictates of Stand Your Ground,” decided that Vino’s claim that he feared for his life was not unreasonable. He tossed two counts of armed assault and one count of improper exhibition of a firearm.

"Perhaps Florida will fix its Frankenstein"

Beth Kassab: "Florida is a laboratory for the NRA. The place where it tests the formula for a gun-toting utopia."

The "stand your ground" law that has come under attack in the weeks since Trayvon Martin's death is a National Rifle Association experiment gone awry.

It's Florida's Frankenstein.

But this monster of a law has already invaded more than 20 other states since it was invented here nearly seven years ago.

NRA leaders were so sure that they had a breakthrough in their quest to promote gun rights that they quickly convinced their friends at the American Legislative Exchange Council to take up the cause.

The so-called model legislation pushed by the conservative group of legislators known as ALEC (funded by big corporations such as Walmart and Koch Industries) matches Florida's law nearly word for word.

The success of the national push calls attention not only to the NRA's long-held political power, but also its ties to ALEC, an organization known as a filter for business-backed legislation that is preapproved by corporate lobbyists.

And it also shows the danger of passing legislation that is so unilaterally supported — it passed Florida's Senate unanimously and passed 94-20 in the House — before it is properly vetted.

Prosecutors and law enforcement were vehemently opposed to the change. ...

if lawmakers are going to weaken the law, they'll have to pry the change from Marion Hammer's cold, dead hands.

Hammer has been the lead scientist in the NRA's Florida laboratory for the past 25 years.

And she is known in both pro- and anti-gun circles for not backing down.

Hammer, 72, was the first female president of the NRA and now serves as its Florida lobbyist. ...

But, for once, it seems fewer and fewer people are agreeing with her, now that the law is being blamed for the injustice that has followed Trayvon's death.

Perhaps Florida will fix its Frankenstein.

FlaDem chair cosponsored "stand your ground"

"Plenty of Florida Democrats are saying "We told you so" and calling for repeal of the 'stand your ground' law in the wake of the Trayvon Martin shooting, but not Florida Democratic Party Chairman Rod Smith. Smith, a former prosecutor, cosponsored the bill as a state senator in 2005." "Florida Democratic chief backs 'stand your ground'".

Florida, home of the wingnut

"Larry Klayman, the conservative legal activist from Miami who ran unsuccessfully for U.S. Senate in 2004, has filed a lawsuit against the state over Barack Obama's eligibility to be on the general election ballot. Klayman wants to require Florida Secretary of State Ken Detzner to confirm the eligibility of Obama before placing his name on the ballot." "Lawsuit filed against Obama's eligibility".

"Jeb!"

The Daytona Beach News-Journal editors are all atwitter about Jebbie's struggle to keep himself relevant. See "Bush endorsement shifts GOP primary to end game".

Random

The Sarasota Herald-Tribune editorial board: "The state Supreme Court will eventually determine whether adjusted boundaries and randomly selected numbers for Senate districts meet the requirements of Florida's constitution." "Better Senate districts".

"Another highly political case from Florida"

The Tampa Bay Times editors: "The oral argument beginning today in the legal challenge to the nation's landmark health care reform law is also a test for the U.S. Supreme Court. In 2000, the high court issued what was widely viewed as a political decision in Bush vs. Gore, where the court split along ideological lines to prematurely end the presidential recount in Florida. The health care law challenge is another highly political case from Florida, with momentous consequences for the nation. This is an opportunity for the Roberts court to demonstrate that following the law is more important than serving an ideological agenda."

Florida filed its challenge to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act within minutes of the act being signed by President Barack Obama in 2010. It is joined by 25 Republican-controlled states. The crux of the claim is that the Affordable Care Act violates the U.S. Constitution by overstepping federal authority and infringing on states' rights. But the real motivation is to strike down the centerpiece legislative achievement of a Democratic president and dismantle a national system of medical security for virtually every American.

"Miami-Dade mayor’s race going Hollywood"

"Actor Andy Garcia and his wife, Marivi, will be special guests Tuesday at a fundraiser for Mayor Carlos Gimenez’s reelection campaign." "Actor Andy Garcia to appear at fundraiser for Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez".

Train between Miami and Orlando

"New passenger train between Miami and Orlando would include a West Palm Beach stop".

The Tampa Bay Times editorial board: "There have been attempts in the past to replace Florida's confusing, inequitable, politicized claims process. Lawmakers tried in 2008 to streamline the process, for example, for prisoners exonerated of their crimes. But that still left Dillon walking the halls of the Capitol to plead his case. It's time to try again. Broken bodies and hearts already victimized once by government should not have to bear a second indignity of legislative foot-dragging." "Do right by victims of government incompetence, neglect".