It’s a well-worn fact that state workers have not had a general pay raise in six years, but that, too, undersells the reality.

Scott appeases developers

The Tampa Bay Times editorial board: "Few operations have been as compromised under Gov. Rick Scott as Florida's Department of Environmental Protection."

An agency that time after time has put the interests of developers and the polluting industry ahead of the state's natural resources struck again last month, laying off nearly 60 employees — many if not most of them responsible for enforcing compliance with environmental regulations. This agency is supposed to protect the environment, not enable its destruction. . . .

This is what Floridians have come to see under Scott's DEP — an agency that has worked hand in hand with the governor to dismantle the regional water boards, weaken clean water standards and second-guess the experts, local authorities and the science behind regulatory decisions.

These individual moves to set back environmental protection have a compounding effect. The loss of experienced voices at the state level leaves the public lacking a counterweight to oversee the private sector.

Aaron Deslatte: "Republicans have controlled state government for nearly two decades. "

Florida's major employers and landed interests had been operating under the old rules for a long time. So in 2011, they won a wholesale weakening, thanks to Gov. Rick Scott, GOP super-majorities and a Great Recession that had pulverized the state's previously unstoppable development industry.

Scott has vetoed state funding for those 1970s-era regional planning councils for two years running. The water management districts have had budget cuts and staffing reductions.

The document taking shape at [Department of Economic Opportunity] reflects those politics. It cites legislative aims like "tort reform" and increasing college degrees issued in science, math, engineering and technology (STEM). Sound familiar? Those were campaign pledges by Scott – and objectives of the business lobby long before Scott arrived.

The DEO report actually credits Scott's "7-7-7" plan and the Florida Chamber of Commerce's "Six Pillars" plans. And it makes clear Scott's administration isn't done unraveling the old regulatory framework.

Stoopid

"Florida jobless may need email account to get benefits".

Southwest Florida blues

"Business spending across Southwest Florida mirrored a statewide lull during October that saw budget-minded consumers putting money aside for the holidays early last year." "Local economy limps along, economist says".

Teabagger freaks say "no" to Hurricane Sandy relief

"The House overwhelmingly passed a bill Friday providing $9.7 billion in flood insurance aid for Hurricane Sandy victims. All 67 votes against the aid came from Republicans, including Florida Reps. Ron DeSantis and Ted Yoho, both whom were sworn in Thursday. All other Florida representatives voted with the majority."

The bill goes now to the Senate. Florida Sen. Marco Rubio already voted against a larger version of the aid package.

These dopes will of course expect the rest of the nation to come to Florida's aid when Florida's inadequate infrastructure collapses during the next tropical storm.

Week in Review

"Week in Review for Jan. 2 to Jan. 4". See also "Weekly Roundup: New Year Marks the Return of Perennial Issues". Related: "FCIR Associate Director Discusses Immigration Reform, Other Topics on WLRN’s ‘Florida Roundup’".

Sorry, Rick but "new companies are hard to come by"

"Scott wants to attract new property insurers to the Florida market to help drive down premiums, but new companies are hard to come by despite seven straight years without a hurricane." "Governor sees new companies, capital as key to lower insurance rates".

"Scott remains a polarizing figure"

Steve Bousquet: "Rick Scott casts himself as a problem solver, but after two years as governor of Florida, his biggest challenge remains unsolved. Himself."

Midway through a four-year term, a time when governors traditionally take stock of their highs and lows, Scott remains a polarizing figure, a leader who's still awkwardly learning the ropes. Once the toast of the tea party, Scott now must work to expand his political base as he seeks a new term in 2014. Slow to grasp the state's shifting political dynamics, he has made course corrections on issues such as immigration, education, health care and early voting.

Sued repeatedly over his policies, Scott has been cast by Democrats as a coldhearted, payroll-slashing "Pink Slip Rick," ridiculed on cable TV for insulting the king of Spain and parodied for pushing drug-testing of state workers.

Scott won by 60,000 votes in November, in one of the closest governor's races in Florida history. He got less than 50 percent of the vote in an election in which turnout was below 50 percent, yet he acted as if he had a powerful mandate.

He didn't, and people soon decided they did not like him all that much.

In May 2011, the first of seven Scott-era Quinnipiac University polls showed that just 29 percent of Florida voters approved of Scott's handling of his job while 57 percent disapproved. Those numbers have improved, but a poll conducted last month showed a majority still disliked him. . . .

In the latest Quinnipiac poll, the most troublesome news for Scott is that voters not only are lukewarm toward him, but they oppose his policies, too.

Voters opposed, 66 to 26 percent, Scott's plan to offer $10,000 degrees to students in fields targeted to higher-paying jobs. They opposed, 71 to 7 percent, a Board of Education plan to set race-based education goals for students.

He vowed as a candidate to bring an Arizona-style anti-immigration law to Florida and an E-Verify program designed to catch businesses that hire illegal immigrants. But he quickly backed away.

After Scott signed a law reducing early voting from 14 days to eight, the League of Women voters sued over changes that made it harder to register new voters, and won.

Scott was pilloried by Democrats for trying to suppress the vote and watched as people in Miami-Dade County waited up to seven hours to vote.

Good luck with that

"Legislator wants to abolish capital punishment".

Desperate FlaGOP to resurrect Reagan and mimic Obama's campaign formula

Dara Kam: "Florida Republicans want to get back to basics after losing the presidential race, four congressional seats and super-majorities in both the state House and the state Senate in November."

Elected officials, state party staff and consultants repeatedly point back to Republican icon Ronald Reagan even as they look forward to instituting high-tech methods to spread the message of a softer, gentler GOP.

For some — including Republican Party of Florida Chairman Lenny Curry — that means moving away from hot-button social issues such as abortion and refocusing on the principles of lower taxes and smaller government that earned broad support in a state where voters are almost evenly split between the parties. . . .

After serving one term as the head of the party, Curry will be re-elected by GOP leaders in Orlando on Saturday. Despite GOP losses in Florida, Curry faces no opposition and has the endorsement of nearly all elected Republican officials, including U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, a Miami lawyer whose parents emigrated from Cuba.

Grassroots and local activists don’t blame Curry for the Republican setbacks. Instead, they point the finger at GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney, a brutal GOP primary and President Obama’s data-driven, micro-targeted campaign machine. . . .

The RPOF and its consultants are using the Obama campaign formula to pinpoint its message to young voters, minorities, tea party activists, social conservatives and fiscal hawks, to draw in and unite at-times warring factions, said RPOF spokesman Brian Burgess.

"Voting machine memory cards failed"

"Election staff inexperience and inadequate procedures fueled vote-counting problems in one of the country's most-watched congressional races, a state report released today found."

St. Lucie County was the epicenter of issues in the hard-fought race between Allen West and Patrick Murphy. The razor-thin contest gave way to two weeks of recounts, court fights and allegations that the votes weren't properly counted.

The Department of State's review of electoral processes in St. Lucie County found at least four incidences in which voting machine memory cards failed, as well as numerous ballot-scanning errors and missing logs of ballots.

"Despite well-intentioned efforts, staff inexperience and inadequate procedures compounded issues," the report states, "resulting in additional technical and procedural errors."

Murphy ultimately was declared the winner in the race, unseating West, a first-term hero of the tea party movement. . . .

Separately today, the state issued a report on electoral problems in Palm Beach County, where a portion of 36,485 absentee ballots were misprinted and later had to be duplicated to be counted. The DOE report echoed the county's assessment, placing the blame of the misprint on the vendor who printed the ballots.

Last year was the second straight that this state ranked first in the nation in new death sentences. There is no political will to follow the enlightened path of abolition, but Florida should analyze why it's such an outlier. One likely reason is that the state doesn't require a unanimous jury recommendation for a death sentence, and that should be corrected.

Florida sentenced 22 people to death last year. Compare that to the more populous states of California, which sentenced 14 inmates, and Texas, the state with the highest number of executions, which put only nine new inmates on death row last year, according to a report by the Death Penalty Information Center. The count raises Florida's death row to 408 inmates.

But even as the state adds to death row, it is finding problems with the legal process that led to those convictions and sentences. Florida also leads the nation in the number of inmates who have had their death sentences reversed. Out of 142 such cases, Florida accounts for 24 exonerations, acquittals or charges subsequently dropped, according to the center. Some of these were people shown to be innocent of the crime. Frank Lee Smith, for instance, was exonerated posthumously. The real perpetrator was identified after Smith died from cancer after he spent the last 14 years of his life on death row.

Florida is long overdue for a comprehensive look at its death penalty system — an endeavor that any branch of government could launch. It is time to better understand why the state imposes the penalty disproportionately and ends up exonerating so many. Basic justice demands it.

The Palm Beach Post editorial board: "Decision to seek death penalty deserves more scrutiny".

Pitchforks at the gate

"U.S. Reps. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Miami, and Vern Buchanan, R-Sarasota, explained their fiscal-cliff votes to support the Senate compromise as a means to avert the threat of 'crippling taxes on the majority of Americans.' Both also expressed hope that spending cuts would be addressed quickly after the next Congress is sworn in." "Ros-Lehtinen, Buchanan Say Their Fiscal Cliff Votes Blocked Crippling Taxes".

Entrepreneurs in action

"Florida missed out on millions in federal funds by cutting the budget for its Medicaid fraud unit and prosecution referrals and arrest warrants are down, a report released Thursday shows. Twenty-three positions in the fraud unit have gone unfilled because of budget shortfalls, according to a report issued by the Florida Attorney General’s Office and the Agency for Health Care Administration." "Florida’s Medicaid fraud fighting cuts cost state millions in matching money, report says".

"Our existing system doesn't attract normal people"

Regarding Florida's Legislators, Scott Maxwell asks "what do Floridians get for their basement-level investment? Basement-level service."

Why is that? Partly because our existing system doesn't attract normal people.

Legislators must leave home for months at a time, commute to Tallahassee, spend more time with lobbyists than their family members and, in many cases, give up their jobs, unless they can take much of the year off.

Many people would find root canals more appealing.

So the current system — with its big sacrifices and low wages — attracts three kinds of people:

2. The independently wealthy, for whom money is no issue.

3. Schemers who view the Legislature as a short-term sacrifice that leads to a long-term payday — as lobbyists or on the payroll of some business that they helped while in office."Legislators drive you crazy? Pay them more!".

He's back . . .

"Hours after officially rejoining Congress Thursday, U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson, D-Orlando, vowed to continue his spirited -- and oftentimes confrontational -- fight for progressive causes that defined his first tour in the House." "Grayson is back, ready to 'really make a difference'".

Yee haw!

"Numbers surge after President Obama’s re-election and the Sandy Hook mass shootings." "Requests for gun permits spikes in Florida".

Longshoremen dispute gives glimpse of economic future

Harold Meyerson: "In longshoremen dispute, a glimpse of America’s economic future?"

Frankel

"Frankel celebrates opening day of Congress".

About that long overdue immigration solution, Mr. Rubio

"Florida farmworkers and immigrant rights activists marched to Sen. Marco Rubio's office in Orlando Thursday to urge the passage of comprehensive immigration reform and the halting of deportations that have split their families apart."

A group of about 60 men, women and children from South and Central Florida gathered on the steps of Orlando City Hall to kick off a 1,000-mile protest caravan that will stop in rural and urban farmworker communities on the East Coast and culminate Jan. 20 when it arrives in Washington, D.C. for the inauguration.

Activist Daniel Barajas, with the Forward With Your Promise caravan, said the impromptu meeting Thursday with Rubio's State Director Todd Reid was an "open and welcoming discussion." But no promises were made about how Rubio would move on immigration issues in the new Congressional session, he said.

5 things to know

"5 things to know in Florida for Jan. 4".

First came news last year that a new law requiring welfare applicants to pass a drug test actually cost Florida more than $100,000, since the state had to pay the cost of the tests when people passed them drug-free, as they did in the vast majority of cases. Now it turns out that a similarly flawed attempt to impose drug tests on state workers is going to end up costing Floridians even more.

A federal judge sided with the union, ruling in April that the law was an unconstitutional infringement on state employees’ right to freedom from unreasonable search and seizure. Since the union prevailed in its lawsuit, it was able to ask to have Florida compensate its legal costs.

Conservative groups threatening Florida Republicans

Jeremy Wallace: "Even as members of Congress were preparing to be sworn in for new terms today, some conservative groups were threatening Republicans with primary challenges because they supported the fiscal cliff deal."

A group called Americans for Limited Government sent out a strongly worded condemnation of U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Longboat Key, for backing the deal on Tuesday.

“Rep. Buchanan’s vote is inexplicable and disappointing,” said Bill Wilson, president of Americans for Limited Government. “Raising taxes on job creators into the teeth of this recession is a recipe for higher unemployment. This vote is sad, and may engender a primary challenge in 2014 – and Rep. Buchanan will have nobody to blame but himself.”

Wilson tossed out similar threats for other members of Congress who backed the deal, including U.S. Rep. C.W. Bill Young, a Indian Shores Republican who is starting his 22nd term in office.

Curry corrals king of the teabaggers

"With party leaders set to vote this weekend in Orlando on retaining Lenny Curry as chairman of the Republican Party of Florida, one of the biggest names -- sporting tea party credentials -- is the latest big name to back his retention. U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Miami, advised state committee members to look beyond the election results of 2012 and instead focus on how Curry helped fiscally restore the party after the term of Jim Greer." "Marco Rubio Joins Support for Lenny Curry".

Yoho

"Newly sworn-in Congressman Ted Yoho, R-Gainesville, wasted little time showing his support for the Republican Party’s conservative 'Young Guns' while voting for House Speaker."

Yoho, who was carried to a primary victory last year over long-time Rep. Cliff Stearns by tea party supporters in the rural district that includes Ocala and Gainesville, was one of nine Republicans on Thursday who didn’t support Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio, remaining as the House Speaker.

Yoho voted for Minority Leader Rep. Eric Cantor, R-Va., who was among the GOP members to vote against Senate Bill 8, the compromise backed by Boehner to prevent the nation’s economy from falling off the so-called fiscal cliff.

"A distressing sign"

The Sarasota Herald Tribune editorial board: "Floridians who watch the environment have long been aware of declining spring flows and other signs of the drying of Florida. Even along the fabled Suwannee, White Springs is not alone in seeing its local spring disappear and quit flowing. It is a distressing sign of the reality of 21st-century Florida." "The water beneath our feet".

The Miami Herald editorial board: "Saving Florida’s rivers". Meanwhile, "Red tide has tourism industry on edge".

Florida 4 sale

"Gov. Rick Scott's administration announced Thursday the state has signed a contract with a Pennsylvania company, Wexford Health Sources, to outsource medical care to more than 15,000 inmates in several South Florida prisons."

This is Wexford's second tour of duty in South Florida's prisons. A previous contract nearly a decade ago ended after the vendor and the state clashed over reimbursement rates, and Wexford prevailed in a legal challenge.

Mixed bag

"Congress may have kept the nation from going over the fiscal cliff, but it failed to avert a multibillion dollar hit to Florida's struggling economy. The decision to let the 2010 deduction in the Social Security payroll tax expire will cost Floridians an estimated $6.5 billion, causing a contraction in the state economy, an expert says."

The payroll tax is just one of the hits Florida will feel. Another will be a slow but steady impact on hospitals. Under the bill, Congress voted to halt a $30 billion cut in payments to physicians who treat Medicare patients that was scheduled to take effect this week. The solution calls for hospitals that treat those patients to pick up half the tab over the next 10 years.

That worries Florida's public and teaching hospitals, which serve a larger percentage of Medicare patients than hospitals in other states.

One group to benefit: Florida's unemployed. Congress extended the federal emergency unemployment compensation program, which was due to expire Jan. 1, for another year.

That means about $1.4 billion will be injected into the Florida economy, where long-term unemployment has been particularly problematic. Nationwide, the long-term jobless rate is about 40 percent; in Florida, it's 50.6 percent.

In Florida, nearly 119,000 people are eligible for emergency unemployment assistance, which offers weekly benefits of up to $275 beyond the 19 weeks provided by state unemployment compensation.

Democratic activists again have the taste of blood.

Republicans acknowledge that President Obama’s re-election campaign exposed weaknesses in the GOP’s ability to motivate and drive voters to the polls. But many leaders interpret election results as still favoring Republicans in Florida. . . .

Democrats, though, see November’s successes as an early indicator of a re-emergence. With current Florida Democratic Party Chairman Rod Smith stepping down, party leaders are poised to elect a new chair this month and an increasingly heated contest is underway between Tampa activist Alan Clendinen and Tallahassee fundraiser Allison Tant.

“There’s a realization that Florida is a state that has moved over the last number of years to be more supportive of Democrats both at the national and at the state level. The problem has been that the Democratic Party organizationally, for many years, just has not been able to take advantage of these demographic changes,” said former U.S. Rep. Ron Klein, Boca Raton lawyer who was ousted by U.S. Rep. Allen West in 2010. West was defeated by Democratic U.S. Rep.-elect Patrick Murphy last month.

After the 2008 election, Obama’s campaign disappeared from Florida, Klein said. “The party was left to fend for itself and we got killed. Across the board. It was awful,” he said.

Klein said he’s working with various organizations to make sure that doesn’t happen again.

“My interest is making sure that the Obama team in some version stays in place and works with the various interested organizations that drive Democrat [sic] votes out and to stay arm-in-arm and to fight this battle in 2014,” he said. “I think it’s very doable this time because there’s a national recognition that Florida really is in play.”

Rubio a "coward"

The cowardly Marco Rubio contends that "Fiscal Cliff Deal Will Stunt Economic Growth, Stifle Job Creation".

However, as the Palm Beach Post editorial board's Jac Versteeg writes, "the only thing worse than voting for the deal is voting against it, as Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., did with the 'fiscal cliff' deal. It was a cowardly thing to do. Let others be tainted by the necessity of ugly compromise. Sen. Rubio remains 'pure' by holding out for a deal that has no chance of making it to the floor, much less of passing. He said in a statement he couldn’t support tax increases on small businesses. But his vote against the deal was a vote to raise taxes on everybody." "Over the cliff for a lousy deal".

Well, at least he isn't involved in a prostitution ring

"Florida’s most unlikely Republican Election Day victor is a newcomer to the political scene, picked by his party to replace a candidate who resigned in disgrace from a sex scandal – but don’t let that fool you. Rep. Mike La Rosa of St. Cloud tells Sunshine State News he’s in it for the long haul. La Rosa, the son of a Cuban immigrant, first came to public light in late September, when the Republican executive committees of Osceola and Polk counties announced their selection of him to replace incumbent Rep. Mike Horner of Kissimmee, who dropped out of the District 42 race after it came to light that he had been involved in a prostitution ring." "Mike La Rosa: Unlikely Republican Victor 'In It for the Long Haul'".

"Down by the river"

The Miami Herald editorial board: "Like Florida’s Everglades, the unique 'River of Grass,' many of the state’s other rivers are also beset by pollution and fluctuating water levels thanks to seasonal droughts and increasing demand for drinking water in urban areas. Unlike the Everglades, however, many of these threatened rivers are getting no relief. So says a year-long study, Down by the river, of 22 rivers statewide conducted by the Orlando Sentinel." "Saving Florida’s rivers".

Charter schools and voucher companies pour millions into Florida campaigns

John Kennedy: "Charter school, voucher and online education companies poured more than $2 million into this fall’s political campaigns, primarily those of Republicans who are again demanding more alternatives to traditional public schools."

A deeply ideological battle is expected to unfold at Florida’s Capitol in coming months, with vast amounts of taxpayer dollars at stake. Republican Gov. Rick Scott’s own political future also may be in play.

Former Gov. Jeb Bush, talked of as a future GOP presidential contender, has emerged as chief cheerleader for the industry that flourished during his eight years as Florida governor and still helps finance a nationwide education policy think tank he leads.

“If you believe, like I do, that we need to move this ball down the field far faster, charter schools, vouchers, all sorts of alternatives … are part of the answer,” Bush said in November at his Foundation for Excellence in Education national conference in Washington.

“But once again, there will be massive pushback,” warned Bush, a fierce opponent of teachers unions.

Another benchmark was the selection last month of Education Commissioner Tony Bennett, who adheres to Bush and Scott’s approach to what supporters call parental choice. Bennett is Florida’s third education commissioner in two years.

Bennett, though, was turned out in November by voters as Indiana’s superintendent of public instruction after clashing with teachers unions over voucher, teacher evaluation and school grading policies, similar to those enacted in Florida during the Bush years.

“Sometimes, it seems that Bush is still the manager of all that’s still going on in Florida,” said Andy Ford, president of the Florida Education Association, the state’s largest teachers union.

“These policies are part of his political past. But now they also could affect how credible he is in the future,” Ford added.

The union and several parent groups say the hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars that go to charter schools, online efforts and to the state’s tax credit scholarship program started under Bush merely redirect money to private and often for-profit interests that could, instead, be used to improve public schools.

"The most-read PolitiFact Florida fact-checks of 2012"

"With 2012 now behind us, PolitiFact Florida editors decided to look back at your favorite fact-checks of a busy political year. In no particular order, here are a selection of the most-read PolitiFact Florida fact-checks of 2012." "Top Florida fact-checks of 2012".

"It just didn't come off as scripted."

Aaron Deslatte: "Gov. Rick Scott was following a well-read playbook when he campaigned in 2010 to kick-start the economy in part with deep property tax cuts. It just didn't come off as scripted."

Capping out-of-control property tax spikes was once a surefire appeal to voters in Florida — so much so that Scott made long-term relief an integral part of his "7-7-7" campaign plan two years ago. Cutting property and corporate taxes was the single largest job-creating element in the plan, projected by his campaign economist to generate 364,000 jobs after seven years.

Aren't we still waiting for Rubio's magic immigration plan?

"Rubio promises proposals to bolster middle class". Promises, promises.

No, the Orlando Sentinel Editors have not gone crazy

If you read the online Orlando Sentinel editorial pages this morning, you would necessarily assume a stunningly pro-union editorial that appears therein was written by the Sentinel editorial board. Sorry to say, it is an error: the editors (at least in the online edition) forgot to attribute the piece to the actual author, one Mary Sanchez, a Tribune Media Services columnist who published the column on December 14 in the Chicago Tribune. Ms. Sanchez - at least to our knowledge - has never previously graced the pages of the Orlando Sentinel.

In any event, here are some excerpts from the column/editorial:

"America lost one of its iconic brands last month when Hostess, maker of Twinkies, Ding Dongs, Wonder Bread and other staples of postwar Middle America, closed up shop."

But there was another curious aspect to the story: Hostess workers were still represented by several labor unions, and one of them, the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union, had gone on strike. The failure of management and the bakers union to reach an agreement, it appears, precipitated the closing of the company and the loss of 18,000 jobs."

Unfortunately, reality is not quite so simple. Recently, we learned — from the Wall Street Journal, no less — that the company had diverted payments it was supposed to make to the employee pension fund into other operating accounts. This at a time when finances were tight and management nevertheless decided to give itself more bonuses and salary raises.

Genius.

This is the new America: Bonuses and stock options for the top brass, pink slips and blame for the working class. Most Hostess employees had taken steep pay cuts over the last few years. One of the major reasons the bakers union went on strike was that the company was not honoring prior pension agreements.

Don't be mistaken. What happened at Hostess is part of a long, protracted shift in the American workplace. Companies use any means at their disposal, including bankruptcy reoganization, to get rid of unions. Meanwhile, right-wing think tanks and pundits demonize union members as freeloaders and thugs. It has been a decades-long project, and it's been incredibly successful.

Look at Michigan. With a law signed recently by Gov. Rick Snyder, it became the 24th state in the nation where a person can accept a job, along with the benefits negotiated by union contracts, and opt out of paying union dues. In time, this will undercut the unions — and their ability to negotiate with employers.

That Michigan could become a "right to work" state is a testament to the power of the anti-union narrative. This is the very state where the once powerful United Auto Workers was birthed. But notice how this event is covered. Some in the media present this as a sad event — it's always sad when Middle Americans lose out. Others tout it as a victory for freedom. But nobody in the media is permitted to register this in outrage, to decry this as systematic rigging of the system in favor of employers at the expense of employees.

All this and no surprises

"Five Questions for Dennis Baxley".

More than a million Floridians packing heat

"Amid soaring gun sales, Florida distinguished itself from the rest of the country with a milestone this month: issuing 1 million permits for concealed weapons. That number may get even more dramatic as Floridians, fearing further gun restrictions after the killings at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newton, Conn., scramble to sign up for the classes required to secure the permit." "Florida: More than 1 million permits for concealed guns".

Teabaggers in a dither

"Many low-wage workers in Florida will be getting a little bit more in their pay checks in the new year thanks to an increase in the minimum wage that took effect Jan. 1. Florida's minimum wage is now $7.79 per hour, up 12 cents from last year's $7.67, while the rate for tipped employees is $4.77 hourly, according to the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity." "Florida's minimum wage increases to $7.79 per hour".

C.W. Bill Young still on defense appropriations subcommittee

"Longtime Florida Rep. C.W. Bill Young will serve another term as chairman of the powerful defense appropriations subcommittee, House leaders said Monday. " "Young keeps top committee post".

Scott isn't very popular among Floridians, with only 36 percent thinking he's doing a good job. That's down five points from May, when 41 percent gave Scott the thumbs up. Scott's low popularity comes as no surprise. Plenty of voters, including a large number of Republicans, still are scratching their heads over how this political neophyte could win election, particularly since the health care company he once ran pleaded guilty to the biggest Medicare fraud on record.

The $70 million of his own money that Scott spent on his campaign helped him win. So did support from tea partiers, who backed Scott in the GOP primary over the highly competent Bill McCollum, then Florida's attorney general. Democratic challenger Alex Sink did her part for Scott's victory by running an inept campaign.

In a sensible world, McCollum in 2010 would have been the GOP nominee for governor. He would have crushed Sink in the general election, and at this point been well on his way to re-election. Of course, had Crist opted to run for a second term as governor rather than seeking election to the U.S. Senate, he'd probably be finishing a successful second term right now.

Regardless of their politics, McCollum and Crist both have demonstrated they are intelligent men and competent leaders. Novelist F. Scott Fitzgerald noted, "There are no second acts in American lives," but maybe there should be. A McCollum-Crist gubernatorial race would give Floridians something to think about.

Can Crist convince Democrats he doesn't really believe the things he believed in when he was a Republican?

Joe Henderson ponders the Scott-Crist thing:

Gov. Rick Scott, whose political death (as of now) is greatly exaggerated: I know the polls show Scott is one of the least-liked governors in the country but, dang, his friends are trying. They have spent months crafting an extreme makeover for him and he has time to make it work. There are signs of daisies popping up through the rubble of Florida's economy, and if that trend continues the governor might be able to brag in 2014 that he actually put the state back to work. Besides, he'll probably be running against …

Charlie Crist, the Republican … uh, Independent … uh, Whig … uh, Democratic candidate: Changeable Charlie looks like the candidate to beat right now in 2014, provided he can convince reluctant Democrats that he doesn't really believe in all the things he believed in when he was the Republican governor. This could be fun . . . .

"Rick Scott already has done enough damage"

The Tampa Bay Times editorial board hopes there will be more than "quick fixes" in the upcoming year, at least when it comes to "Ethics and elections":

The 2013 Legislature has the potential to reform Tallahassee's pay-to-play culture and restore voter confidence. But can the Republican leadership — including two Tampa Bay lawmakers — rise to the challenge?

New House Speaker Will Weatherford of Wesley Chapel has staked his speakership on ethics reform. Sen. Jack Latvala of Clearwater has been assigned by Senate President Don Gaetz to steer campaign and ethics legislation. Promising reform is easy, but reducing the influence of special interests by cracking down on secretive third-party committees or unethical colleagues will be difficult.

Even Gov. Rick Scott is acknowledging the voting law he signed in 2011 goes too far in reducing early voting days from 14 to eight. But the 2012 election problems went beyond that to include his nefarious voter purge effort and tricky new registration rules. Nothing short of a sincere attempt to ensure easy voter access to the polls will be acceptable.

After 2012 was spent fighting over the fate of the Affordable Care Act, 2013 should be spent figuring out how to carry out the federal law and improve it.

The federal government and the states have to design the health insurance exchanges, which will enable millions of uninsured Americans to shop for affordable coverage starting in 2014. Florida and other states also have to decide whether to expand Medicaid — an expansion for low-income Americans that will be entirely paid for by the federal government for the first few years. There are about 4 million uninsured Floridians, and Gov. Rick Scott and the Legislature should embrace the expansion.

Gov. Rick Scott already has done enough damage to transportation by killing a high-speed rail line connecting Tampa to Orlando and embracing the foolish idea of new toll roads to crisscross the rural areas. This is the wrong approach in a coastal state where mass transit could save time, money and precious natural resources.

Host of new laws

"Host of new laws take effect Jan. 1".

"The governor and the Legislature should finally acknowledge that climate change is real"

The Tampa Bay Times editorial board: "If Gov. Rick Scott wants to see Florida's future as the planet warms and sea levels rise, he should take a drive on State Road A1A along the Fort Lauderdale strip where street flooding from the Atlantic Ocean occurred off and on for weeks last year."

The flooding was blamed on a confluence of high winds, a low-pressure system, Superstorm Sandy and the moon's pull. And while it's impossible to say if global warming is the cause, it is certainly true that the oceans are higher because of a warming climate, meaning more coastal flooding. The governor and the Legislature should finally acknowledge that the scientific community is right and climate change is real.

The Sun Sentinel editorial board: "No denying climate change".

Florida banks cater to wealthy Latin Americans

"With the new year, a new IRS rule goes into effect requiring the nation's banks to disclose to the IRS — though not publicly — the identity of foreign nationals who hold U.S. accounts. The state's banks, especially those in South Florida, are used by many wealthy Latin Americans as depositories."

Bankers in Florida and elsewhere have fretted for months about the new regulation, arguing it will scare away wealthy individuals looking to keep their money safely beyond the reach of their own governments. The prospect of transparency so worried the banking industry that executives warned last spring that billions of dollars could leave the state — decimating banks' ability to loan money to Americans.

But with Jan. 1 now here, the fears of an economic Armageddon are looking about as realistic as the Mayan doomsday warnings.

Though exact numbers are impossible to tally, Florida banking leaders said they haven't seen the massive flight of money they once feared. . . .

Why the anxiety? Schwartz said many foreign depositors want to keep their wealth secret so that family members back home won't be put at risk of blackmail by government officials or ransom kidnappings by violent criminals.

The reporting rule applies only to residents of about 80 countries, including such Latin and Central American nations as Honduras, Mexico, Peru and Venezuela. But others whose nationals have significant deposits in Florida, including Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Cuba and Haiti, are excluded.

And even if a depositor's name is reported to the IRS, that doesn't mean the information will get back to his or her home country because the Treasury Department reserves the right to withhold details.

the Treasury Department [is] promising not to exchange information with the Venezuelan government of socialist President Hugo Chavez to ease the fears of U.S. depositors from that country.

Florida's hate crime "assaults increased dramatically"

"While the total number of hate crimes dropped by 6.7 percent from 2010 [reflecting a reduction of property based hate crimes], the number of assaults increased dramatically. In 2011, assaults comprised 51.8 percent of the reported hate crimes, the first time in seven years that crimes against individuals instead of property made up more than half of the total hate crimes. In 2010, there were 58 hate crime-based assaults, or 38.9 percent, of the total 149 hate crimes reported." "Report: hate crimes drop in Florida".

"Troubling precedent for the rest of Florida"

The Palm Beach Post editors: "For the past few years, the Miami-Dade Police Department has been using drones to patrol the Everglades, setting a low-key but vaguely troubling precedent for the rest of Florida. Most famous as a tool for targeting and killing suspected terrorists in faraway lands, unmanned drones are quickly attracting interest from police departments around the country. Alarmed by this, state Sen. Joe Negron, R-Stuart, has filed a bill in the Legislature that would ban Florida’s police departments from using drones in nearly all instances, with an exception for people identified by the federal government as terrorism suspects. The senator is rightly concerned about drones’ ability to encroach on citizens’ right to privacy in their homes and neighborhoods." "Editorial: Next privacy issue for Florida? Police drones".

Orlando Sentinel begins in-depth look at how Scott's performance measures up to his promises

"During the next several weeks, the Orlando Sentinel will take an in-depth look at how Gov. Rick Scott's performance in office measures up against each component of his "7-7-7" campaign plan." "What is Rick Scott's '7-7-7' campaign plan?"

This November, the congressman’s ninth life expired.

Despite the ongoing investigations, Rivera has steadfastly denied he’s under any scrutiny and is already planning a comeback.

Rivera lived and breathed politics since and before his one term in Congress and four in the state Legislature. He was involved in every type of race: obscure party posts, local commission elections, contests for Florida House speaker, presidential races in the state and the winning campaigns of his close friend, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio.

But Rivera’s penchant for playing the political game proved to be his downfall as well. Rivera often embroiled himself in needless schemes and some ultimately backfired, say friends, foes and former peers.

“At the end of the day, David’s cleverness was a liability. But until now, it was an asset,” said J.C. Planas, a fellow Miami Republican who served and clashed at times with Rivera from 2002-2010 in the Florida House.

Those who were even closer to Rivera, including Rubio backers, have anonymously described his schemes as bordering on “pathological” and “Nixonian.”

"New year promises to be anything but dull in Florida politics"

Jeff Henderson: "Even without major statewide or congressional elections scheduled in 2013, the new year promises to be anything but dull in Florida politics."

All eyes will be on Gov. Rick Scott as he readies to run for a second term. The governor continues to sink in the polls, remaining upside down in almost every survey. Nevertheless, he can point to a dropping unemployment rate as proof that his policies are working. And though he doesn't want to, he remains able to rely on his personal fortune for campaign funds. Despite the south-of-the-border poll numbers, Scott shouldn't be written off as he looks for a second term. . . .

On the Democratic side, former Gov. Charlie Crist, who is looking at getting his old job back, will try to rally Democrats to his standard and assure suspicious liberals that they can trust him in spite of his previous conservative positions and Republican affiliation. How leading Democrats respond to Crist in 2013 will help shape how the former governor does in 2014. Look for Republicans to continue to pound Crist and be joined by unlikely allies -- liberal Democrats who remain wary of the former governor. Nan Rich and other liberal Democrats looking at jumping into the race will certainly fire everything they have at Crist.

Atwater could entice a Democratic opponent and rumors are buzzing that Rep. Jim Waldman, D-Coconut Creek, will challenge him in 2014. House Minority Leader Perry Thurston, D-Plantation, is sending up trial balloons that he could challenge Attorney General Pam Bondi.

Waldman and Thurston will face challenges in 2013 as they try to balance their duties in Tallahassee with potential 2014 campaigns. This is especially true for Thurston, who is already coping with a race between three Democrats who want his position after the 2014 elections.

Sen. Jack Latvalla, R-St. Petersburg, and Sen. Joe Negron, R-Stuart, are jockeying for position to see who will lead the Senate after the 2016 elections. After the 2012 election cycle and his role in helping doom the parent trigger in 2012, Latvalla is an underdog. Look for Negron to try to seal things up in 2013.

See also "Legislators to Focus on Health Care, Budget and the Three E's: Education, Elections and Ethics" and "Big Medicaid, Obamacare Issues Face State in 2013". More: "2013: Florida Legislature's top priorities".

Obamanomics taking hold in Florida

"All indicators pointing up for South Florida tourism in 2013" and "A very good year for South Florida housing".

"Legal Issues to Keep an Eye On in 2013"

The Sunshine State News' Eric Giunta writes, "A number of legal developments are sure to dominate headlines in 2013, both nationally and statewide. In a nutshell, here are the issues we think readers should track as we enter into the new year:" "On the Docket: Legal Issues to Keep an Eye On in 2013".

Scott's PIP "reform" fails

"Starting Tuesday, a law that was one of Gov. Rick Scott’s top legislative priorities aims to slam the brakes on what he calls $1 billion in auto insurance fraud, but drivers may have to squint hard to find touted savings in their bills. Target under the law: 10 percent reduction in Personal Injury Protection rates by the start of 2013. Average reduction after 93 rate approvals: less than 1.5 percent." "PIP 'savings' hard to find as new law takes effect".

"We just don't know their names yet"

The Tampa Bay Times editorial board: "They are the mystery players for 2013, the power brokers who will hold influential positions in education, the private sector or the political world. Collectively, their decisions will affect the lives of millions of Floridians. We just don't know their names yet, because the jobs have yet to be filled or the elections have yet to be held. Here are seven positions of power to watch in the new year." "Who will fill these power positions?"

"Scott too willing to allow business to rewrite the playbook"

The Miami Herald editorial board: "As states compete for whatever economic growth that they can secure, especially in this slowly recovering economy, Florida is smart to make clear that it is open for business."

However, the Scott administration has been too intent on not just holding open the door for those who come to do business in the state, but also handing over the keys to business interests as it works to loosen regulations on industries that pollute and profit from the state’s assets.

That may be good for business — too good — while degrading some of the state’s most precious resources, including the quality of life for many of its residents.

In the name of reform and governmental oversight, Gov. Rick Scott has been too willing to allow business interests to rewrite the playbook, giving them an outsize role in how they are governed — if at all. Earlier this year, in the face of horrible deaths at some of the most negligent assisted-living facilities in the state, Mr. Scott vowed to improve conditions for seniors and disabled people living in ALFs.

He appointed a task force to come up with recommendations, and immediately overpopulated it with industry insiders. The result? Just about every proposal to punish the most negligent of ALFs went absolutely nowhere.

The latest example comes from the state’s Department of Environmental Protection. This month, its leaders decimated the ranks of longtime, experienced — and apolitical — employees, 58 in all. This is the sad, but not surprising, culmination of the slow erosion of the agency’s regulatory imperative to ensure that growth and development did not come at the expense of unreplenishable natural resources. The DEP is charged with protecting the quality of our air, water and land. As its website states, it is “the lead agency for environmental management and stewardship.” Regulatory programming and permitting decisions fall under its purview, and therein lies what shouldn’t be a problem, but is.

The purge got rid of regulators who had the backbone to say No to politically connected developers and engineers. With them went decades of experience and commitment to DEP’s mission, basing their decisions in science and research. Now, the department is being populated by administrators who come directly from the industries that regularly seek the DEP’s favor. It’s telling, disturbingly so, that most of the employees dismissed were in the compliance and enforcement divisions.

It never ends

"With the yard signs barely taken down from his combative campaign that unseated Republican U.S. Rep. Allen West, Democrat Patrick Murphy already is pitching hard for cash to armor himself for a re-election bid two years down the road." "No time to stop fundraising for Murphy, Frankel".

Drinking the Teabagger Kool-Aid

The Palm Beach Post editorial board drinks the Teabagger Kool-Aid this morning: "Stable retirement pensions are one of the biggest benefits of working for a city government, but cities and state officials have given out such generous pension perks to favored groups [read firefighters and law enforcement officers] in recent years that many cities’ pensions are now in danger of collapsing. There’s a simple but politically fraught fix that can help to address the crisis, and state lawmakers need to take it up in the next session." "Legislature needs to fix police and fire pensions soon".

Frankel finally makes that journey north

"On Tuesday, 20 years after she first hoped to move to Washington, D.C., Frankel finally will be making that journey north. Two days later, she’ll reach the pinnacle of her political career as she steps onto the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives, raises her right hand and takes the oath of office to become the newest member of Congress from Broward and Palm Beach counties." "Lois Frankel preps for work and life in Washington".

"Slowing judicial confirmations is counted as a victory" for Republicans

The Tampa Bay Times editors: "President Barack Obama has had fewer nominations confirmed than his last two predecessors. Obama has had 173 confirmed during his first term, compared with 205 for George W. Bush and 200 for Bill Clinton. When Obama came into office there were 55 vacancies on the nation's federal district and circuit courts. Now there are 73 vacancies, with dozens considered 'judicial emergencies,' meaning caseloads are already too high to be reasonably handled."

This larger problem can be seen in Florida's Middle District. There are two vacancies out of 15 judges for a jurisdiction that stretches from the Tampa Bay region to Jacksonville and south to Fort Myers. Both vacancies have been designated "judicial emergencies." But that hasn't lit any kind of fire under GOP Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky. Senate filibuster rules allow the minority party to hold up nominations indefinitely, and McConnell has been abusing this power — a tactic that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid should modify with rule changes at the start of the new Congress.

One of the Middle District's seats has had a nominee on deck since February. Judge Brian Davis has been a Jacksonville circuit judge with an excellent record for nearly two decades. He was found to be "well-qualified" for a federal judgeship by the American Bar Association. The Davis nomination has been opposed by Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, due to race-related statements Davis made more than 15 years ago. Still, Davis was approved by the committee by a vote of 10-7.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Sheri Polster Chappell of Fort Myers, who has served in that capacity for nearly 10 years, was tapped for the other seat in June. Both have the bipartisan support of Florida's two U.S. senators, Democrat Bill Nelson and Republican Marco Rubio, but have yet to receive a vote on the Senate floor.

Most of the nominees awaiting a Senate floor vote are qualified, nonideological choices who would easily win confirmation by wide bipartisan margins if McConnell would only allow the process to work as intended. McConnell is damaging our system of justice by putting the courts in a partisan vise, in which slowing judicial confirmations is counted as a victory for his party.

Bankruptcies fall

"Despite still-high unemployment and "fiscal cliff" uncertainty in the economy, consumer bankruptcies in Central Florida are on track this year to hit their lowest point since 2008 as people continue to regain their financial footing after the Great Recession. . . . 'Maybe the answer is we've reached just about everyone in the population who's going to file bankruptcy at this point.'" "Orlando bankruptcies fall again, heading for lowest mark since '08".

Capping out-of-control property-tax spikes was once a surefire appeal to voters in Florida — so much so that Scott made "long-term relief" an integral part of his "7-7-7" campaign plan two years ago. Cutting property and corporate taxes was the single largest job-creating element in the plan, projected by his campaign economist to generate 364,000 jobs after seven years.

But Scott's first-year call to slash school property taxes flopped with legislators — who nonetheless cut $1.38 billion from public-school spending. And his second-year push to cut tangible-personal-property taxes for businesses was defeated by voters at the polls in November.

Now, facing a potentially difficult re-election in 2014, Scott has replaced his property-tax pledge with a campaignlike mantra to do no further harm to public schools.

It just didn't work out that way.

Lawmakers rejected Scott's proposed budget cuts — among them, laying off 8,000 state workers and slashing $1 billion from prison spending. But they did cut state education funding by $1.38 billion by refusing to replace federal-stimulus funds, which President Barack Obama got through Congress in 2009, that were drying up.

Scott still denies he cut school funding at all.

"What’s coming up in 2013"

Education watchdog, StateImpact Florida "peers into the crystal ball for what’s coming up in 2013. Florida’s new education commissioner is likely to be the big story, but Common Core is on the horizon as well. Here’s what we’ll be watching for in the next year." "The Education Stories To Watch in 2013".

"Florida should be a leader among the states"

The Sun Sentinel editors: "Florida should be a leader among the states, because it is among those most threatened with ecological problems and rising sea levels."

Tallahassee should take its cues from South Florida, where local governments have long recognized the dangers associated with climate change. Raising seawall heights, moving drinking-water wellfields farther inland and imposing tougher development regulations for particularly vulnerable areas — ideas once unthinkable — are now part of a regional climate-change plan designed to help local communities address a changing environment.

While the flooding and saltwater intrusion now seen in South Florida occur regularly, far more devastating effects are happening in other parts of the world. According to the Climate Vulnerable Forum, a 20-nation consortium of developing countries, failure to act will result in about 100 million deaths worldwide by 2030 from mega-droughts, floods, disease, crop failure and major water shortages. The forum puts the economic costs of climate change at $1.2 trillion a year now, and says it will double by 2030. Some nations could lose 11 percent of GDP. Oxfam, an anti-poverty group, puts potential agricultural and fishery losses alone at $500 billion a year by 2030. . . .

South Floridians may think droughts and wars in faraway places are no threat to them. They are wrong, but in any case, we are dealing with the effects of climate change here at home. Some of our cities have wisely begun to include resources to address the problem in their long-range planning. Their foresight is commendable. It may not be long before every coastal city on earth is doing the same.

Florida is "determined to hit rock bottom"

After decades of blithley endorsing right-wing candidates and issues (except for occasionally, courageously opposing the dumping of raw sewage into Florida's lakes and streams), The Orlando Sentinel editorial board takes issue with the lack of government spending on mental-health treatment.

The editors bemoan "a recent, hideous murder in Orlando made all too clear, serious gaps in mental-health care can be a menace to public safety."

The Orlando murder took place at a McDonald's on Christmas night. It was a random, brutal and senseless act. Jerry Tyson, a convicted killer with a history of mental illness, allegedly took the life of Steven Lang, who was in a wheelchair, when Lang refused to hand over his pocket change to Tyson.

Florida ranks 48th among the 50 states in per capita funding for mental health, spending less than a third of the national average.

Yet earlier this year, determined to hit rock bottom, lawmakers cut funding for mental-health treatment.

All Floridians who suffer from mental illness need access to the treatment they need. But it's especially crucial for those with a history of violence.

It's chilling to think there are other ex-felons like Tyson still walking the streets. What will lawmakers do about this? How will they protect the public? What would they say to Steven Lang, if only they could?

"Dubious use of a federal work-visa program"

Andrew Marra for The Palm Beach Post editors: "It took plenty of foot-stomping and arm-twisting, but it appears that more Palm Beach County residents are being hired for hospitality jobs once given to foreign workers brought into the country for short stints."

Last year, an investigation by The Post’s John Lantigua exposed the extent to which the county’s high-end resorts and country clubs bypassed local residents to hire imported foreign laborers for such jobs as dishwashers, maids and waiters. Rather than make efforts to recruit and train area residents, the Post found that many high-end employers preferred to bring in their own workers through their dubious use of a federal work-visa program.

But the pressure and attention seem to be paying off, at least in some parts of the county. As the Post reported this month, the use of the overly abused federal work-visa program appears to have dropped by nearly a third this year in Palm Beach County. That means hundreds of extra jobs for county residents. And some indicators suggest the use of this foreign work visa program may fall even further next year.

To receive permission to hire foreign workers through the federal government’s H-2B temporary work-visa program, businesses had to demonstrate they had tried unsuccessfully to hire Americans. But the Post’s investigation found that such resorts and country clubs as The Breakers, the Mar-a-Lago Club and the Ritz-Carlton in Jupiter appeared to be complying only with the letter of the law while making no real, discernible efforts to hire locals. Their cover story: most Americans don’t want these jobs.

Thankfully, this alibi didn’t fool everyone.

"Democrats in Seminole County," say what?

"Democrats in Seminole County, which has been dominated by Republicans for decades, are heading into the new year with a rare sense of confidence after several of their candidates performed better than expected in November's election." "Seminole Democrats buoyed by election results as they head into 2013".

Really? Teaching in pixels?

The Sun Sentinel editorial board argues that "The digital revolution that's shaken so many businesses has not bypassed the hallowed halls of higher education, so it is good to see a new focus emerging on how to improve the range and quality of online classes offered by Florida's universities." "Florida's Higher Education Challenge".

Pixelated professors? Sure it is cheap, but is that really the way to go?

Big of him

The latest speaker of the state House of Representatives, Will "Weatherford said he's not writing off Democratic legislation out of hand." "5 to Watch: New House Speaker Weatherford seen as moderate".

"Frenzied buyers swarm gun stores"

Joe Henderson: "Gun critics need to learn from NRA success". Meanwhile, "Fearful of ban, frenzied buyers swarm gun stores".

What's a wingnut to do?

Teabagger extremism has taken its toll. "Everett Wilkinson, a Tea Party leader in Florida, said the number of active groups statewide had 'diminished significantly.'"

Billie Tucker, an activist with the First Coast Tea Party in Florida, said she and others suspected that corruption on local election boards had led to Mr. Obama’s victory in the state. Activists want to investigate.

"Some people say it’s just a conspiracy theory, but there’s rumbling all around," she said. "There’s all kinds of data, and no one’s talking about it, including, hello, the mainstream media."

Another issue boiling is the "nullification" of the Affordable Care Act. Angry that Mr. Obama’s re-election means that the health care law will not be repealed, some activists claim that states can deny the authority of the federal government and refuse to carry it out.

At a Florida State Senate meeting this month, two dozen Tea Party activists called the law "tyrannical" and said the state had the right to nullify it.

'Ya reckon?

The Palm Beach Post editorial board: "Florida colleges should not charge math, science majors less".