"The Biggest target for Democrats in Florida"

"Democrats have little chance of taking control of the U.S. House this year but there are a handful of Republican incumbents they hope to defeat come November. The biggest target for Democrats in Florida is Steve Southerland and he can expect a real battle for a third term." "Steve Southerland and Gwen Graham Get Ready to Battle in CD 2".

Happy Birthday

Yesterday was the conservative "Sunshine State News' fourth birthday. A blink in history, granted. But in Tallahassee, in this cliquish, who-you-know town of rumors and bluster, conflict and contradictions -- and occasionally something truly extraordinary ... well, four years really is something." "Happy Birthday to Us!".

"Ten Issues to Watch"

"Ten Issues to Watch as Florida’s Legislative Session Starts".

As Florida burns

"Some Florida Congress members, led by Sen. Marco Rubio and accompanied by Gov. Rick Scott, are calling for action by the U.S. government on the crisis in Venezuela." "Rubio, Scott call for U.S. action on Venezuela".

"Gov. Scott: Obama ‘doing the wrong thing’ by not pushing for Venezuela sanctions".

And your position on this, Mr. Scott?

"Civic groups, educators push for in-state tuition".

"Top-down tuition"

The Gainesville Sun editors: "Gov. Rick Scott and Republican leaders who typically oppose top-down, centralized government control are quick to embrace the concept when dealing with state universities." "Top-down tuition".

"Lock and Load"

"Bills dealing with toaster pastries and insurance policies are just two of more than a dozen gun-related measures lined up for the 2014 legislative session that starts Tuesday." "Lock and Load: NRA-Willing, Florida Legislature Takes On Slew of New Gun Legislation".

Week in Review

"Week in Review for Feb. 28, 2014". See also "Weekly Roundup: Avalanche of Bills Before Session Begins", "Political Bits and Pieces" and "Arrivals & Departures for Feb. 28, 2014".

"Dem rules prohibit corporate money being used for convention"

The Tampa Trib editors point out that "Democratic Party rules prohibit corporate money being used for a convention, making the task even more daunting."

That was one reason the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C., badly missed its $35.6 million fundraising target, leaving Duke Energy on the hook for a $10 million line of credit it guaranteed the event.

This contrasted markedly with the Tampa Bay Host Committee’s success. It raised more than $55 million in private contributions and had money left over to give to local charities.

The Democrats, of course, could drop the corporate ban, which was a requirement of President Obama’s re-election campaign.

But even if they did, there doesn’t look to be any major local Democratic fundraisers ready to lead the charge.

In fact, there had been no local campaign for the DNC until the party asked the city to make a bid.

In contrast, local Republican powerhouses such as Al Austin eagerly pursued the GOP convention and aggressively raised money for it once it was awarded to Tampa

Meanwhile, "Miami in the hunt for 2016 Democratic convention".

Ya' gotta problem wit' dat?

"After more than two years of legal and political wrangling in the hospital industry, a Senate proposal would overhaul the way Florida approves trauma centers and could ensure that three disputed trauma facilities remain open."

The proposal, filed this week by Sen. Denise Grimsley, R-Sebring, could short-circuit a debate about how the Florida Department of Health determines where new trauma centers should be allowed to open.

It also would allow trauma centers in operation on July 1 to remain open — a proposal that likely would ensure the continued operation of trauma facilities at Blake Medical Center in Manatee County, Regional Medical Center Bayonet Point in Pasco County and Ocala Regional Medical Center in Marion County. Those hospitals have been at the center of the ongoing legal battles.

The proposal (SB 1276), filed a week before the start of the annual legislative session, could touch off a fierce lobbying battle.

The changes would help the HCA health-care chain, which has opened the trauma facilities at Blake Medical Center, Regional Medical Center Bayonet Point and Ocala Regional Medical Center and has sought to open trauma centers elsewhere.

(HCA, the largest private hospital chain in the country, is the corporation formerly headed by Gov. Rick Scott, a position he resigned in 1997 when the company was under a fraud investigation. HCA was later to plead guilty to 14 felonies subsequent to findings that HCA had defrauded the federal government through Medicare over-billing and engaged in kick-back schemes in some markets, pushing doctors to refer patients to its hospitals. The company settled suits at a cost approaching $2 billion. Though Scott was the chief executive of the company during the period investigated by the Justice Department, he was never charged with any wrongdoing.)

Trump to speak at Allen West event

Kevin Derby: "Businessman Donald Trump, libertarian media figure Greg Gutfeld and others will be reaching out to conservatives next month at an event at Palm Beach Island hosted by former U.S. Rep. Allen West, R-Fla." "Donald Trump and Conservatives Speaking at Allen West Event".

And so it begins

"With a week and a half to go and early voting starting on Saturday, Democratic former state CFO Alex Sink and Republican David Jolly start their closing pitches to win over Pinellas County voters in the special election to replace the late U.S. Rep. Bill Young, R-Fla., in Congress. Sink, Jolly and Libertarian Lucas Overby meet in the March 11 election." "CD 13 Candidates Start to Make Closing Pitches as Early Voting Begins". See also "CD 13 Candidates Start to Make Closing Pitches as Early Voting Begins".

CD13 Laff Riot: "Jolly accuses Sink of bigotry"

The Tampa Tribune's Steve Otto: "So, if you are to believe the candidates, they have either lost control of or never did have control over their own campaigns."

Already a key race around here, the special election has become an event of national interest and more importantly, national money. Like the “I-4 corridor” theory of our importance, this race is being pushed as a bellwether for the elections later this year.

The numbers I saw the other day added up to close to $10 million, mostly from out of town. It is an astonishing amount of money until you hear that expectations are for more than $200 million to be spent on the gubernatorial race in Florida, where it is going to take at least that much to make either candidate look appealing.

What should be more disturbing to local voters was the admission a few days ago by both candidates — Democrat Alex Sink and Republican David Jolly — that they didn't like negative campaigning but either had no control or could do nothing to stop it.

Oh, that's great. We're counting on the winner of this thing to be able to make global decisions involving war and peace or figuring out how to get half the country off food stamps and they can't control their own campaigns?

Jolly can't blame this bit 'o stupid on outsiders: "Sink had said she favored a Senate immigration reform bill because, among other things, Pinellas County’s tourism industry has a demand for housekeepers and landscapers, many of whom tend to be immigrants. Republicans, including Jolly, were quick to paint her as a bigot."

“I think Alex Sink’s comments reflect a bigotry that should disqualify her from representing the people of this community, and should disqualify her from serving in the United States Congress,” Jolly said, speaking at a news conference at which he received an endorsement from Republican state Sen. Jack Latvala.

“She offended immigrants throughout this community. She offended nonimmigrant workers. She offended business owners. She offended every American that believes in the equality of opportunity regardless of one’s race, creed or color. I think it was a disgusting comment,” Jolly said.

Although Jolly was accepting Latvala’s endorsement at the news conference, he declined to say whether he supported Latvala’s legislative proposal that would, among other things, grant in-state tuition to students brought to Florida as children without legal permission.

More: "Jack Latvala's David Jolly Endorsement Turns Up the Heat in CD 19".

Privatization Madness

"A federal inquiry into how GEO Group Inc. handled safety at a single Mississippi prison wrapped up today with a nationwide settlement, 'the first of its kind in the corrections industry,' said [an] OSHA regional administrator." "GEO Group agrees to nationwide settlement over private prison violence" (subscription required).

Kewl . . . Now let's slash firefighter pensions

"Two Jacksonville firefighters are hospitalized after being injured while battling a house fire. Fire and Rescue Department spokesman Tom Francis tells The Florida Times-Union that one firefighter jumped from a second-floor window during the fire Thursday night. Francis says the firefighter jumped because there was no other way out. . . . That firefighter was transferred from UF Jacksonville Health to the hospital’s burn unit in Gainesville for treatment of primary burns to his arms, a fire official said."

Firefighters rescued five people from the Northwest Jacksonville home shortly before 10 p.m., but the woman died at the hospital, police said Investigators believe the blaze was caused by a candle.

FlaBaggers Ascendant

"Medicaid expansion support waning in Fla. Senate".

Stop the presses! "Ignoring the water-pollution threat is no solution"

The Tampa Trib editors recognize that although "the costs to local governments are a concern, simply ignoring the water-pollution threat is no solution."

This is the sort of short-sighted thinking that has compromised the state’s drinking water sources and created the need to spend millions on cleanup efforts.

Politicians love to rail against regulations, but the reality is sensible regulations prevent costly problems and save tax dollars.

It is hardly conservative government to recklessly create a mess and leave the bill for others.

FCAT Follies

"School superintendents, district school board members, parents and teachers have all called for a suspension in awarding letter grades to public schools while the state transitions to new standards and tests. Thursday Sen. Montford filed a bill which would stop the practice for at least three years." "Montford files a time out bill for school grades".

Company goes after OSHA investigator

"SeaWorld Entertainment Inc. on Thursday filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Labor, asking the agency to examine the conduct of an investigator who led the probe into SeaWorld's safety practices following the death of an Orlando trainer killed by a park killer whale in 2010." "SeaWorld files complaint against OSHA investigator".

AIF surprises no one

"With the Florida Legislature convening next week, the Associated Industries of Florida (AIF) unveiled its 2014 legislative priorities on Thursday." "AIF Lines Up Behind Rick Scott's Tax Cuts and Lowering CST". See also "AIF issues its session priorities".

Rick Scott's "Smaller Ambitions"

"Rick Scott Hopes Smaller Ambitions Propel His Re-election Bid".

Oh noes . . . not again

"Tampa among cities invited to host Democratic convention".

"Arguably the worst bill of the 2014 legislative session"

The Gainesville Sun editors: "Back in 2011, when Gov. Rick Scott and his Republican legislative colleagues recklessly decided Florida’s growth planning and permitting process needed streamlining, one of their core arguments was that city and county governments had matured enough to handle the tedious and technical work involved. So when the Community Development Act gutted a quarter-century of state-driven growth management process and progress, it not only affirmed but elevated the importance of home rule on growth matters."

Now comes state Rep. Jimmy Patronis, R-Panama City, with arguably the worst bill of the 2014 legislative session. Patronis’ bill, HB 703, would effectively strip local governments of much of the growth management powers bequeathed to them in 2011 with the dismantling of the Department of Community Affairs, which once held sway over most big growth decisions in the state.

HB 703 is an affront to home rule and community-based growth management. It is also an assault on water supply protection that would essentially allow some large landholders to privatize big chunks of Florida’s water supply.

Value added heat

"The publication of teacher performance scores this week resonated in Leon County Schools, drawing criticism from school board members and fueling recruitment efforts by the local teachers union."

The value-added numbers are based on the growth in FCAT scores from one year to the next. They compare students’ actual results to their expected performance, based on factors including attendance and previous scores.

The Leon Classroom Teachers Association sent a message to its campus representatives Tuesday afternoon — with membership forms enclosed — saying it is “inappropriate” to judge teachers using value-added calculations alone.

“Want to change a system set up to blame teachers and (support staff)?” the union’s message said. “Then we need to change the Legislature!”

School board members also raised concerns during their meeting Tuesday. Board member Dee Dee Rasmussen said afterward that the data “can be misleading if it is taken out of context.” For example, she said, under the first two years of the state’s evaluation system, a history teacher could receive a value-added score based on students’ FCAT reading results.

The owners speak

"HB 1077 and SB 1310 were filed this week and appear to have backing from property rights supporters. The bills would prohibit local governments from placing permitting requirements on a proposed development beyond the 'direct impact' of that development." "Bills would expand on U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Florida property 'takings' case".

From the "values" crowd

"Senate GOP blocks bill enhancing veterans benefits".

Common Core

"The State Board of Education may have unanimously passed nearly 100 proposed changes to Common Core State Standards last week, but Florida legislators in both chambers have bills that would stop the implementation of the new standards entirely." "Twin Bills in Florida Legislature Attempt to Halt Common Core".

"Two things — both impossible"

Bill Cotterell writes that Tallahassee Democrat "Associate Editor Byron Dobson posed a good question in his column last Sunday:"

“What will it take for Florida’s elected leaders such as Gov. Rick Scott, House Speaker Will Weatherford, Senate President Don Gaetz and Attorney General Pam Bondi to publicly speak out about Florida’s troubling racial climate?”

Well, there’s always divine intervention. Short of that, what possibly could make Florida’s Republican political leadership change course on things such as the “Stand Your Ground” self-defense law, expanding Medicaid for the working poor, restoring voting rights of felons, purging voter rolls of ineligible people or raising the minimum wage?

Two things — both impossible — could do that.

Fernandez, dubbed 'Florida’s newest billionaire' last year by Florida Trend, was named finance co-chair for Scott’s campaign in January. In the announcement, the governor called Fernandez a 'close friend.'

But Fernandez, chairman of MBF Healthcare Partners, is more than Scott’s friend. He’s also a huge contributor to his re-election campaign and the owner or co-owner of fast-growing healthcare companies that under Scott’s administration have been awarded multiple, multi-year state contracts potentially worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

The multi-year department contract went to the Broward Behavioral Health Coalition, a nonprofit led by former DCF boss and state attorney general Bob Butterworth, and its for-profit partner, Concordia Behavioral Health of Miami.

Fernandez was a major Concordia shareholder. His name was disclosed to top department officials, but was omitted from DCF records about the procurement.

Fernandez’s invisibility regarding the Broward procurement meant that no one took note of his $125,000 contribution to Let’s Get to Work, a fundraising organization set up with the governor’s support, on Jan. 25, 2012 while the procurement was pending.

Previously, during Scott’s 2010 campaign, Fernandez and his MBF Family Investments gave Let’s Get to Work $500,000.

Asked about those large contributions in 2012, Katy Sorenson, head of the Good Government Initiative at the University of Miami, said, “It sounds like maybe Gov. Scott is running Florida like a business — doing business with his friends.”

Fernandez’s money continues to gush the governor’s way.

On November 2, 2013, as the governor’s re-election campaign was stirring, Fernandez personally gave $1 million to Let’s Get to Work. No one else has written a check that large in support of Scott’s re-election.

Sunday’s get-together at Fernandez’s opulent Little River Plantation, not far from Tallahassee, is a by invitation-only event. The public is not invited.

“As an important member of Governor Rick Scott’s finance team, Mike Fernandez is opening his home to you. He is not a public person and believes we need to meet each other in person and in a social setting…Nothing formal (casual jeans and casual setting.) We will chat, have BBQ and see beautiful horses…We need to come together so we can deliver victory together,” the emailed invitation said.

"Year of the Vice"

Nancy Smith: "Legislature About to Convene 'Year of the Vice'".

"Tribune, Scripps team up"

"The Tampa Tribune and E.W. Scripps Co. announced Tuesday they will operate a joint news bureau in Tallahassee — combining two powerful brands that will serve readers in their local communities and throughout Florida." "Tribune, Scripps team up for politics coverage".

FEA Slams Testing of Disabled Kids

Allison Nielsen: "The Florida Education Association is making its voice heard against Florida's high-stakes testing, saying the assessment tests have 'disturbing consequences' for students with disabilities in Florida. On Wednesday, the teachers' union released a new video criticizing Florida's education accountability system and the requirement for all students to take either the FAA or FCAT test. According to the FEA, testing, not Florida's children, has become the focus for Florida’s education." "Teachers Union Slams Florida's 'High-Stakes Testing' for Disabled Students".

"Florida’s recovery is just ho-hum"

"With Florida’s gubernatorial candidates jostling over the state of the economy, a new report suggests the Great Recession rebound isn’t so stunning or complete."

The non-partisan Pew Charitable Trusts’ new analysis ranks the 50 states on where they fall on tax, spending, debt and economic issues.

The no-spin picture: Florida’s recovery is just ho-hum.

The state’s revenue-collection rebound remains far below the national average for states, it’s more reliant on federal funds, and its employment picture lags most states.

On a positive note: when it comes to savings, Florida is in the top-third – capable of funding state government for nearly 47 days off its $3.2 billion in reserves.

The report is just the latest to temper the rosy picture of economic recovery Republican Gov. Rick Scott is touting heading into his re-election campaign next fall.

Hill in SoFla

"Clinton addressed the 6,000 or so students and guests at the University of Miami, but gave no hint about her future plans." "Hillary Clinton speaks at UM, remains mum about presidential aspirations".

CD19

Kevin Derby: "Republican primary candidates continued to maneuver for position on Wednesday in the special election for the congressional seat opened when former U.S. Rep. Trey Radel, R-Fla., resigned from Congress after pleading guilty to cocaine possession. The special primary election will be held on April 22." "Republicans Try to Woo Conservatives in CD 19".

Tax money for sports stadiums

"The bill would create a competitive awards process in determining how public money should be allocated to sports stadiums." "Bill would create process to award tax money for sports stadiums".

Sternad finally gives up Rivera and Alliegro to Feds

"For the first time, a convicted congressional candidate has stated in federal records that former U.S. Rep. David Rivera was a part of the conspiracy to funnel illegal contributions to his campaign."

Justin Lamar Sternad said in three recent Federal Elections Commission filings that a total of $81,486.15 in illegal campaign contributions were coordinated or tied to “Ana Alliegro and/or David Rivera.” The revelations about the two come almost a year after Sternad’s March 15 guilty plea on counts of accepting illegal campaign contributions, conspiracy and making a false statement on an FEC report.

Sternad’s sentencing has been repeatedly delayed. He is cooperating with federal investigators who are trying to bring charges against Rivera and Alliegro.

“To those who think this case has gone away: You’re wrong,” said Enrique “Rick” Yabor, an attorney for Sternad, who last month amended three of his FEC reports to note the involvement of Alliegro and Rivera in his 2012 Democratic primary race for Congressional District 26, which stretches from from Key West to Calle Ocho in Miami-Dade County. . . .

During the campaign, Sternad — a political unknown with no experience and little money — was producing and mailing slick flyers that sophisticatedly targeted specific segments of the electorate in the district.

The alleged conspiracy began as early as May 25, 2012, with a $500 contribution.

“The contribution was given to me, in cash, by a third party from Ana Alliegro. I later discovered that Ana Alliegro was working with David Rivera,” Sternad wrote in an amended report that the FEC posted Jan. 30. . . .

When it came to the big payments to the mail house and printing companies that handled his mailers, Sternad also names “Ana Alliegro and/or David Rivera.”

Runnin' gub'mint like a bidness

Bill Cotterell: "EFI says its promotional spending is legal, and paying dividends in new jobs but a watchdog group questions expenses like $38,000 on professional baseball games and a monthly $30,000 credit card bill for unknown expenditures." "Integrity Florida wants Enterprise Florida investigated".

Ambitious gambling proposal

Dara Kam: "The Florida Senate has released an ambitious gambling proposal that would authorize two Las Vegas-style casinos in South Florida, create a gambling commission and allow voters to decide if they want to control future gambling expansions."

The Senate Gaming Committee’s three-bill gambling package, released Monday afternoon, includes a 453-page measure that renumbers the state’s pari-mutuel laws and replaces the state’s Division of Pari-mutuel Wagering with the “Department of Gaming Control” overseen by a five-member Gaming Control Board. The members of the panel would be appointed by the governor and require Senate confirmation.

The proposal also would allow one “destination resort casino” each in Broward and Miami-Dade counties that could offer slots and blackjack along with roulette and craps. Casino operators would pay $125 million to apply for the licenses, with the money refunded to losing bidders. The casinos would pay annual $5 million license fees and games would be taxed at 35 percent, the same rate that “racinos” in Miami-Dade and Broward currently pay on slot machines.

The casinos would also have to pledge to spend at least $2 billion to develop each site, not including the purchase of the property, over five years.

Scott dodges question, Crist pounces

Kevin Derby: "Even with two special congressional elections currently taking place in Florida, this week the leading gubernatorial candidates -- by exchanging attacks -- offered voters a reminder that they’re in November's political main event. The latest clash in the candidate battle began early Wednesday when Gov. Rick Scott dodged a question from Chuck Todd of MSNBC asking if he would sign an anti-LGBT bill like the one before Jan Brewer in Arizona. Later in the day Democratic gubernatorial candidate Charlie Crist was quick to criticize Scott for not taking a stand on the issue." "Arizona Just the Latest Keeping Florida Gubernatorial Candidates in National Spotlight".

But see: "Gov. Rick Scott said he would veto Florida bills similar to the one vetoed Wednesday in Arizona. Gov. Rick Scott deflects questions on Arizona law, then says he would veto it".

Another Rick Scott "Full Flop"

Politifact:

Scott fought the health care law before he became governor, and after the law passed, he continued to fight it. After the Supreme Court upheld the law, Scott said definitively that he opposed the Medicaid expansion.

But several months later, in February 2013, Scott announced that he supported Medicaid expansion. He qualified that position by saying he wanted to try it for three years, so Florida could then judge how it was working. But he didn’t push the Legislature to approve it, and legislators ultimately rejected the expansion.

In 2013, Scott completely reversed his stance on Medicaid expansion. So we rate this a Full Flop.

Alex Sink's strategy

"Congressional candidate Alex Sink's strategy: Focus on senior voters".

Related: "Early voters may hold key in U.S. House District 13 election" and "By the numbers, Congressional District 13 debate is all about talking points".

"Strangeness of Florida politics"

Steve Bousquet: "Rick Scott, barely qualified to run for governor in 2010 because he had been in the state only a brief time longer than the seven years required by the Florida Constitution."

Then "Rick who?" spent more than $70 million of his own money to get elected, almost daily having to dodge questions about the record fine paid by his former hospital company for Medicare fraud.

Now, more than three years later, he's prepared to spend up to $100 million for re-election as polls show a majority of voters don't want to give him a second term.

When Scott, the stranger, used his checkbook in 2010 to bludgeon GOP rival Bill McCollum and the entire party establishment, it was evident that loyalties had not been built up . . . .

Across Florida, voters can already be heard grumbling that they don't like either of these likely choices for governor in 2014.

To some voters, both are fundamentally flawed men.

Enough already

The Tampa Bay Times: "Schools don't need more meddling".

Murphy to face two time loser

"As Ellen Andel heads to the sidelines, Carl Domino becomes the front-runner to take on Patrick Murphy."

Despite [or perhaps because of] the support of Allen West, Andel simply didn’t click. West hosted a fundraiser for Andel but she had less than $5,550 in the bank at the end of December. Murphy, on the other hand, had more than $1.75 million. After throwing in loads of his own cash, more than $279,500 by the end of December, Domino had more than $274,000 in the bank. None of the other Republican candidates were even close. Alan Schlesinger sunk $50,000 of his own money into his campaign and had around $27,400 in the bank at the end of December. Calvin Turnquest chipped in $10,100 to his campaign and had $10,125 on-hand. Conservative groups are expected to spend heavily against Murphy, but clearly the Democratic incumbent has a solid advantage here. No wonder Republicans were pining for Adam Hasner to move into the district to run against Murphy.

Domino’s not exactly the strongest of front-runners since he’s coming off two straight primary losses. In 2010, Domino lost to Ellyn Bogdanoff in a state Senate primary. Two years later, Domino tried to come back to the Florida House but lost to MaryLynn Magar in the Republican primary.

The issue boiled over late last week when state House Speaker Will Weatherford had to personally call Scott and his newly minted lieutenant governor, Carlos Lopez-Cantera, and complained that the governor's staff stopped a state agency from conducting the analysis.

“There is no question the Governor’s staff directed DMS to stop working with the House,” the state House budget chairman, Seth McKeel, said in a written statement furnished to the Miami Herald and Tampa Bay Times.

“The law requires the department to conduct actuary studies on all pension bills, and the hold-up would have resulted in killing pension reform without a single vote of elected officials,” McKeel, R-Lakeland, said. “Thankfully Lt. Governor Lopez-Cantera and Gov. Scott stepped in to correct the problem.”

Such direct finger-pointing from legislative leaders to the staff of a governor of the same party is unusual. The surprising tension threatens to complicate Scott's ability to steer a limited election-year agenda through the Republican Legislature heading into the lawmaking session that begins next week.

Complicating matters: Scott on Monday denied McKeel’s claims about his agency’s foot-dragging over the study, which would analyze the costs of changing pensions for most state workers who are hired in the future.

The delay has fueled speculation from Republicans that Scott’s administration wanted to kill the controversial pension-reform plan to spare the governor an election-year headache —one that would fire up left-leaning unions. However, since pension reform is a top issue for conservatives, the administration’s delay could outrage some of Scott’s Republican base.

McKeel said he was surprised the governor’s administration would hinder an issue supported by Scott and legislative leaders, who made pension reform a top priority this session.

After the battery of high-level calls last week from Weatherford and others, DMS changed course. It issued a letter late Friday saying the pension-reform analysis was back on track. . . .

The governor's longest-serving chief of staff, Hollingsworth acts as an unofficial campaign consultant, a role that deepens suspicions among Republicans that Scott’s chief of staff was playing politics with pension reform — and not the kind that the GOP wants. It happened once before, last year, when Hollingsworth played a role in the governor’s decision to call for Medicaid expansion under Obamacare. The left-leaning move angered conservatives, and Weatherford’s House crushed the proposal. . . .

Scott’s denials aside, the pension-study delay clearly happened.

McKeel and other lawmakers publicly fumed at committee meetings. Yet nothing changed. The agency remained mysteriously silent.

Late last week, House Speaker Weatherford had enough. He starting phoning Scott, Lopez-Cantera and state Sen. John Thrasher, a Jacksonville Republican who is friends with Hollingsworth. . . .

Scott repeatedly has endorsed public-worker pension reform.

Trailing in the polls and preparing for a tough reelection fight, however, Scott wants to push a relatively easy-to-accomplish election-year agenda once the 60-day legislative session starts March 4.

And pension reform is not an easy lift.

Scott sidesteps debates on hot-button issues

"Gov. Rick Scott, weighed down by lackluster poll numbers and a Republican Legislature intent on pursuing its own contentious reforms, appears content to keep it simple as he heads into the 2014 session."

Months before he will ask voters to re-elect him for another term, Scott is choosing to push ahead with a limited agenda that sidesteps ongoing debates on hot-button issues such as expanding Medicaid or opening the door to Las Vegas casinos.

Scott's pitch to legislators this year centers primarily on tax cuts and increasing spending in key areas such as hiring more child protection workers, or boosting the amount of money spent on Everglades restoration.

Filmmaker tax breaks

"Filmmakers could get big tax breaks".

"Spirit of cooperation"?

"A spirit of cooperation between the House and Senate worked to produce an overachieving Legislature in 2013, so why not stick with a winner in 2014, Florida Senate President Don Gaetz told the staff of Sunshine State News Tuesday." "Don Gaetz Prediction: Cooperative Senate and House Will Distinguish 2014 Session".

Remembering the "Medicare-fraud fine of $1.7 billion"

"Florida Democrats blasted the [anti-Obamacare ad] pointing out that Gov. Rick Scott once led the Columbia/HCA hospital chain, which was socked with a record Medicare-fraud fine of $1.7 billion." "In new online ad campaign, Rick Scott hits an old foe: Obamacare's Medicare cuts".

Everglades oil drilling

"DEP says permits for drilling have not been allowed in The Everglades, as defined as 2.5 million acres of government-owned land. Meanwhile, some environmentalists say they hear that hydraulic fracturing bills appear dead for the 2014 session. 'I think it's awful early to call a bill dead when session hasn't even begun yet,' said Rep. Ray Rodrigues, R-Estero." "Senator Soto, DEP trade letters over Everglades oil drilling concerns".

Shill "whipping up business for nursing home litigators"?

Nancy Smith: "For eight years he headed Florida's long-term-care ombudsman program. Now his critics insist he's whipping up business for one of the state's busiest nursing home litigators."

They say Brian Lee finds disgruntled patients, then Tampa personal injury attorney Jim Wilkes sues the living bedsheets out of their nursing homes.

"That's ridiculous," says Lee. "I don't set up cases for anybody."

But the executive director of Families for Better Care (FBC), a nonprofit citizen advocacy group, doesn't deny FBC gets a lot of its money from the Wilkes & McHugh law firm. "We get donations from unions, families and, yes, the one Tampa law firm. I have to admit, we wouldn't be able to exist without Wilkes & McHugh.

"But I've never even spoken to these guys," Lee said emphatically.

Not possible, says one South Florida AARP activist.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, she asked incredulously, "Lee got thousands of dollars from a benefactor and never picked up the phone even once to say thank you?"

Gambling proposal emerges

"The Senate’s long-awaited gambling proposal emerges with new regulatory structure and broad expansion of gambling, but uncertainly looms with the House and governor." "Senate bill pushes two casino resorts for Miami, Broward".

The Cuba Proxy

"Sen. Marco Rubio’s stirring speech was about the protests in Venezuela, the Maduro government and its ties to the Castro brothers, who repress their own people and helped inspire the suppression in Caracas." "Analysis: Venezuela’s violence, Cuba’s ‘farce,’ and Marco Rubio’s milestone speech". See also "Amid political unrest, Miami Congressman Joe Garcia asks President Obama to let more Venezuelans stay in U.S.".

"Then he stumbled"

"Fresh off a European vacation, Carlos Gimenez settled into his first full term as Miami-Dade County mayor in a relaxed mood last summer, his two years of frenzied political campaigning behind him."

Then he stumbled.

With little input from advisers, Gimenez broke an unwritten rule of recent County Hall politics: He called for a property-tax rate hike in his proposed budget. His phone began to ring. And ring. There was outrage. . . .

Ever since then, the mayor has had to fight a series of skirmishes at County Hall.

Gimenez will have an opportunity to reflect on the tumultuous year — and look forward to future challenges — on Wednesday in Hialeah, when he delivers his annual state of the county speech.

Since July, the county commission has twice overturned Gimenez’s vetoes and rejected his advice to avoid a raid on financial reserves to pay for public libraries. Labor unions are miffed over his attempt to keep taking money from workers’ paychecks. And Democrats see an increasingly inviting target in Gimenez, a Republican in a nonpartisan post.

"Private schools throughout Florida are terrified"

Scott Maxwell: "Private schools throughout Florida are terrified. The reason:"

Some lawmakers want to force many of them — the ones that get taxpayer subsidies anyway — to test their students the same way public schools test theirs.

The prospect, they say, is horrifying.

Just last weekend, leaders of a national private-school advocacy group penned an guest column for the [Orlando] Sentinel with the headline: "FCAT would threaten private-school appeal."

The piece said private schools worry that, if they were forced to take part in FCAT mania, it would undercut teachers, short-change students and "threaten the very freedoms" that make their schools successful.

In other words, private-school leaders are aghast at the possibility of having to treat their kids the way the state of Florida already treats yours.

Boom!

That is the sound of Florida's rationale for non-stop testing being blown to smithereens.

"The focus will be on money"

"Some legislative leaders and pundits say there will be a focus on water in the 2014 legislative session but it looks increasingly like the focus will be on money -- for environmental protection and restoration." "Session Outlook 2014: Environment".

That'll cost 'ya 3k

"Elections panel fines Sen. Bullard $3,000".

Raiding affordable housing trust fund

"Groups are hoping to keep funds originally dedicated for affordable housing programs in those programs this year. But lawmakers have swept those funds into general revenue more often than not over the last decade, and despite a large surplus this year the trust fund will be competing with other plans for tax cuts and spending increases in other areas." "Realtors, homebuilders call on lawmakers not to raid affordable housing trust fund".

Protecting coastal wildlife

"Steering committee wants legislation to expand DEP permitting authority to protect coastal wildlife".

Good luck with that

"Local lawmakers seek raises for state workers".

Another Fine Jebacy - Privatization Madness

Paul Krugman on Jeb Bush's "bold experiment" as an "aggressive privatizer":

The Miami Herald put it after a careful study of state records, "his bold experiment has been a success — at least for him and the Republican Party, records show. The policy has spawned a network of contractors who have given him, other Republican politicians and the Florida G.O.P. millions of dollars in campaign donations."

What's interesting about this network of contractors isn't just the way that big contributions are linked to big contracts; it's the end of the traditional practice in which businesses hedge their bets by giving to both parties. The big winners in Mr. Bush's Florida are companies that give little or nothing to Democrats. Strange, isn't it? It's as if firms seeking business with the state of Florida are subject to a loyalty test.

So am I saying that we are going back to the days of Boss Tweed and Mark Hanna? Gosh, no — those guys were pikers. One-party control of today's government offers opportunities to reward friends and punish enemies that the old machine politicians never dreamed of.

It seems Jeb's "big winners" continue to win under the Rick Scott administration.

In that regard, Fred Grimm writes that, "when it comes to bulldogging for-profit juvenile prisons, Howard Finkelstein’s your man."

The Broward Public Defender and chief assistant Gordon Weeks have been monitoring juvie lock-ups for years on behalf of their underaged clients, raising hell over rapes, abuse by staffers, unsanitary conditions, substandard food, the use of powerful drugs to subdue unruly kids.

You’d think that state officials, before doling out new contracts to a particularly controversial corporate prison operation, might check with Howard or Gordon.

“I’m baffled,” Finkelstein said Monday. He said the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice “hasn’t called us. Not once.”

“Under fire and dogged by critics, the for-profit company running a local juvenile jail has reeled in a new multimillion-dollar contract to house teenage offenders —despite pending criminal charges of battery by two workers at a now-shuttered Broward County facility.”

The Post referred to Youth Services International, the latest incarnation of a controversial juvenile detention conglomerate with a troublesome history that ought to have given state officials pause. The Department of Juvenile Justice closed down Thompson Academy, YSI’s Pembroke Pines 154-bed operation, on Jan. 4, 2013, after the Broward Public Defenders office brought startling allegations of abuse, including charges that Thompson staffers staged fights among the teenage inmates, using food as reward for the winners. Charges of battery and allegations of sexual abuse by Thompson staffers are still pending.

In 2010, the Southern Poverty Law Center filed a lawsuit in federal court alleging Thompson employees “choked and slammed children head-first into concrete walls for infractions as minor as failing to stand up on command.” Detained children, the suit added, slept on dirty floors in hot rooms lacking air conditioning. In 2006, the feds reported that the staff turnover at Thompson was 96 percent.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Justice reported that the rate of sexual abuse by staffers or other inmates reported by children incarcerated at the YSI-run Palm Beach Juvenile Correctional Facility in 2012 was triple the statewide average, the highest in the state. (A YSI-run facility in Georgia had the highest rate of any juvenile facility in the nation.)

Palm Beach County Circuit Judge Ronald Alvarez told the Post that giving out new contracts to YSI would be “a travesty.”

In October, the Huffington Post published a national investigation of YSI, reporting, “Those held at YSI facilities across the country have frequently faced beatings, neglect, sexual abuse and unsanitary food over the past two decades . . . .”

Yet, the Department of Juvenile Justice has happily renewed four existing contracts with YSI over the last two years, including a new $29 million deal to keep up the good work at Palm Beach Juvenile Correctional Facility.

Finkelstein said that mistreatment and abuse are inevitable in private juvenile prisons. (Florida has now signed over all its 3,300 juvenile prison beds to private operators).

“Nobody should be surprised at what’s happening. The state, trying to get a financial bargain, turns over children to a corporation with a priority to make money.” he said. And without enough money or manpower to do it right.

Finkelstein said that at least back when the state ran juvie facilities, despite the occasional scandals, “Their heart was in the right place. They weren’t in it for the money. We had transparency. We had records in the sunshine.”

Now he says, if his office goes after some scurrilous state contractor, the company just changes its name. He says it’s as if the state Department of Juvenile hardly notices that these are the same people, causing the same problems.

Sorry Mr. Alito, but your interpretation of Citizen's United is simply "not true"

Alex "Sink said the flurry of attack ads from outside groups is the result of Citizens United vs. Federal Election Commission, a Supreme Court decision lifting restrictions on corporations, labor unions and other organizations to spend money attempting to sway elections." "House candidates decry attack ads".

Here's an example: "Heat Intensifies as GOP Pelts Alex Sink for Disparaging Immigrant Workers".

Florida teachers paid based on test scores of kids they did not teach

Teachers being paid based on the test "scores from students they did not teach themselves, or subjects other than the ones they teach"? Sounds like the teachers' union may have a serious point. "After a successful public-records lawsuit by a newspaper, the Florida Department of Education today is releasing teacher-evaluation data for individual teachers."

Teachers' full evaluations are covered by an exemption from state public-records laws, but the Florida Times-Union sued the state, seeking the release of value-added scores calculated by the education department. The 1st District Court of Appeal recently sided with the newspaper.

Both the state and the Florida Education Association fought the release of the data. In an email to teachers this morning, Education Commissioner Pam Stewart wrote that the state is releasing the data under court order "after mounting our best legal efforts to protect the confidentiality of teachers’ information."

The value-added scores are calculated using students' FCAT results, as well as a complex statistical formula intended to show students' growth from one school year to the next.

The model has come under fire from the state's teachers union, in part because the results for many teachers in subjects not tested by the FCAT rely on scores from students they did not teach themselves, or subjects other than the ones they teach.

More: "Florida's teacher evaluations: How they got this way, "Supreintendent Browning says beware of teacher eval data" and "Reactions to the release of Florida's Value-Added Model (VAM) scores for teachers".

And Scott now want's Obama's help?

"Republican Gov. Rick Scott is asking President Barack Obama to 'use his pen' to block federal flood insurance rates that threaten to price tens of thousands of Floridians out of their homes and businesses." "Scott urges Obama to delay flood insurance increases".

Meanwhile, "Rick Scott Goes After Obama Raiding Medicare to Fund Obamacare; Dems Push Back".

Both men are Republicans, but the similarities largely end there. As Scott begins his fourth year as chief executive, his agenda in the Legislature is again modest, anchored by a couple of tightly focused, feel-good priorities: cutting fees and taxes by $500 million and increasing public school spending by $542 million. . . . Scott plays it safe.

He has to hoard his limited political capital at a time when a recent poll showed a majority of voters don’t want him to win re-election.

Bousquet would have his readers believe that Jebbie's tired right wing "ideas" and incompetence - tax cuts that chiefly benefited business and the wealthy; faith-based prisons; the attempted kidnapping of Terri Schiavo from hospice care, nearly precipitating a constitutional crisis; failed "education reform" which was little more than a means to attack public school teachers; issuing an executive order directing state agencies to merely voluntarily comply' with the OSHA standards which was followed by the deaths of public employees; spinning public services off to private companies that were GOP campaign contributors; his embarassing attempts to stride the world stage; all leading to his exiting office leaving Florida with "a water crisis, insurance crisis, environmental crisis and budget crisis to go with our housing crisis . . . first in the nation in mortgage fraud, second in foreclosures, [and] last in high school graduation rates" - was somehow courageous.

Bousquet - in full misty-eye-mode - explains that

Bush, by contrast, relished spending his abundant political capital as he barnstormed the state in pursuit of big, often controversial ideas in two terms from 1999 to 2007.

Backed by a Legislature controlled by Republicans eager to exercise their newfound muscle, Bush created the nation’s first statewide tuition voucher program, a public school grading system based on student performance (now under attack), eliminated some civil service protections for state workers, expanded outsourcing in government and restructured the governance of Florida universities.

Scott similarly has the wind at his back in the Capitol, with a Legislature dominated by fellow Republicans, but his vision is more limited. . . .

If Scott has an audacious goal, it may be that he believes he can win re-election with such relentlessly mediocre poll numbers. His legislative agenda can almost literally fit on a bumper sticker. Scott himself pared it down to just 11 words in his big announcement on Jan. 29 when he proposed a $74.2 billion budget: “Tax and fee cuts, eliminate government waste and pay down debt.” . . .

Scott’s small-ball strategy is sure to be on display Tuesday, March 4, when he delivers his annual State of the State address to a joint session of the Legislature.

One suspects that most Floridians would prefer Scott's "small ball" to Jeb's long string of failed "big ideas."

"Not only is that presumptuous, it's nuts"

Scott Maxwell: "Most of you probably have no clue who Eric Eisnaugle is."

That's completely understandable. Eisnaugle, after all, is merely a former legislator who wants back in office. . . .

Only here's the thing: Republican Eric Eisnaugle isn't just running for a House seat in west Orange County. He's running to be House speaker … in 2021.

That's right. He's 37, not even in the state House, yet Eisnaugle is making plans to head it.

What's more, big-moneyed interests such as Walt Disney World are helping finance his quest for leadership under the assumption that he'll win office this year, get re-elected in 2016 ... and 2018 ... and 2020 — and then take over as House speaker. . . .

In recent years, however, a new breed of politico has emerged — one so rabidly power-hungry that he skips trying to prove his worth and instead tries to buy his way to the top.

And it's wickedly effective.

Special interests that need favors start funneling money to prospective leaders.

In the past two months Eisnaugle has collected about $45,000 worth of checks — not for his general campaign, but for his "Committee for Justice and Economic Freedom."

We're talking about $20,000 from Disney, $5,000 from the Realtors PAC and $2,500 from an online travel company.

Eisnaugle — who is facing two lesser-financed opponents, Republican Vicky Bell and Democrat Shaun Raja — then uses that money to fund the campaigns of other aspiring legislators who can pledge to support his bid for speaker if they, too, get elected.

It never saw a tax cut it didn't like

The Tampa Tribune editorial board never saw a tax cut it didn't like: "Florida Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam offers a practical way to generate desperately needed funds for school construction that merits the Legislature’s support."

The proposal also includes a business tax cut aimed at making Florida more competitive.

Putnam’s plan is to cut in half over three years the 7 percent tax on energy used by businesses. Residents pay no such sales tax. Putnam says large corporations are exempted, so the tax affects mostly mid-sized businesses.

FRS flux

"Florida Retirement System in flux" (subscription).

The usual suspects

Aaron Deslatte: "Florida's lobbying corps garnered another banner year of cash in exchange for influencing legislation and regulation in the Capitol last year."

And although social issues such as abortion, medical marijuana and gun rights draw a lot of ink and airtime in the Capitol, it's always interesting to note that when it comes to swaying political outcomes, the most critical issues almost always revolve around corporate profits.

An Orlando Sentinel analysis of the 2013 lobbyist-compensation data filed last week indicates Florida's lobbyists were paid about $132.3 million to ply the Legislature, up from $123 million in 2012.

They also reported being compensated to the tune of $93.8 million to lobby Gov. Rick Scott's office and executive-branch agencies, up from $88.5 million last year.

The biggest lobbying spenders were all companies with either tax or regulation issues affecting their bottom lines pending before state government.

Latvala fail

"Former Gov. Charlie Crist came home to St. Petersburg on Saturday with a book tour that also looks a lot like a campaign tour for governor. Crist drew a good crowd in his hometown, estimated at several hundred by Ray Hinst, owner of the venerable Haslam’s Book Store, including a gang of Crist family and close friends."

Veteran state Sen. Jack Latvala, one of the most prominent elected Republicans from Pinellas County, also showed up at Haslam’s to deliver a GOP response to Crist’s message. The Republicans have shadowed Crist on every stop of his book tour so far, including nine stops in Florida so far and several national broadcast interviews.

Latvala, like Crist, is known for occasional moderate stances on issues like the environment that often have put him at odds with more conservative fellow Republicans.

“I don’t like everything the Republican Party does either, but I’ve chosen to stay and try to change it,” he told reporters. He said Crist as governor seemed uninterested in the details of governing -- “He wasn’t paying attention.”

Asked whether he believed his own attempts to make the party more moderate were working, Latvala said Gov. Rick Scott’s “attitudes on a lot of things have evolved” since Scott won the office in 2010 as a tea party champion. He also repeated the GOP mantra of blaming Crist for the job losses in Florida during the global economic meltdown of 2007.

"A winding road to success"

"For the first time since 1971, residents of Pinellas County’s 13th Congressional District will have a new representative. After a special election on March 11, either Republican David Jolly, Democrat Alex Sink or Libertarian Lucas Overby will take the Washington House seat that Republican C.W. Bill Young held for 43 years until his death in October." "House District 13 battle boils down to 3 choices".

"Before she tells a crowd about her hometown, Alex Sink calculates the mean age of the people there."

If the crowd skews a little older, she’ll ask if they remember “The Andy Griffith Show” — Griffith, after all, based his fictional town of Mayberry on Mount Airy, N.C., Sink’s hometown.

Mount Airy was an idyllic start for one of Florida’s top Democrats, seemingly incongruous with the dynamic life that has ensued for Sink, one packed with travel, activism and, at times, tragedy. And now one that includes running for the District 13 U.S. House of Representatives seat against Republican David Jolly and Libertarian Lucas Overby in a March 11 election.

Sink wasn’t born into money. They had a black-and-white television on which they would watch “The Ed Sullivan Show” each Sunday — she remembers the Beatles’ first performance 50 years ago — but life was simple with few distractions.

Sink attributes her academic success in part to growing up in a remote place, where studying was pretty much the only thing to do.

“She was what I called ‘the brain’ in school,” said Bill Francisco, who grew up in Mount Airy and whose parents were close with Sink’s. “She was one of the real smart girls, and that kind of intimidated me.”

The Republican in the race: "Jolly’s passion for politics started early". And then there's the Libertarian: "Civics class helped shape Overby’s political views" ("At 27, Lucas Overby is by far the youngest candidate in the District 13 congressional race, but to him that’s of little consequence. The Largo-born Libertarian demonstrated a confidence and wonkish-ness at a recent debate that nobody on the stage seemed to expect.")