Not a joke

"House Republicans are making a final push this month to give schools a temporary break from healthier school meal standards." "GOP pushes waiver from healthier school lunches."

Ros-Lehtinen and Mario Diaz-Balart

"Three Democrats joined Republicans in voting for it, and seven Republicans voted with Democrats against it. But in a joint statement after the vote, Mario Diaz-Balart and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen stressed the need for comprehensive immigration change."

Weekly Roundup

"Weekly Roundup: Wait 'Til Next Year."

Vern on the move

"This week, Florida’s only member of the U.S. House Ways and Means Committee expanded his portfolio, taking a seat on a congressional subcommittee with jurisdiction over Social Security." "Paul Ryan Adds Social Security to Vern Buchanan's Portfolio."

Same-sex marriage licenses

"" "Tampa Bay area prepares to issue same-sex marriage licenses." See also "Florida clerks association: When will it be legal for us to marry gay couples?."

"An astronomical hosing"

"Here's the really short version of how the latest big decision about our power bills played out in Tallahassee:"

Power companies: Hey, Florida, remember when we said we wanted to help customers save energy by encouraging rooftop solar panels?

Florida: Sure do. And some homes are more energy efficient now. Congratulations!

Power companies: Yeah, well, that's costing us a boatload. And it's bad for business. Wall Street wants us to increase demand, not reduce it. We'd like for you to go ahead and help us kill those efficiency programs.

Florida: No problem! We're only the third biggest electricity user in the country. What do we need to save power for?

We're talking an astronomical hosing of power customers

The best they can do

"John Couriel, Jose Pazos Try Again to Get to Tallahassee."

FlaGOP cheerleader suggests FlaGOP discriminates against women

FlaGOP cheerleader Nancy Smith is sounding a lot like one of those dreaded feminists this morning. She writes: "In Tallahassee, sex discrimination is practiced on the highest level. It isn't necessarily conscious. It just is. That could actually be why a posse of middle-aged white guys are lining up to take [chair of the Republican Party of Florida Leslie] Dougher out in a January election." "Is It Because She's a Girl?."

Meanwhile, "Rand Paul Follows Family Tradition in Going After Jeb Bush."

Scott's publicity stunt slammed by appellate court

"In an exhaustive, 54-page ruling, Judge Stanley Marcus concluded that the state failed to provide any evidence to justify why welfare applicants should be singled out to lose their right to privacy through a drug test." "Court rejects Florida Gov. Rick Scott’s drug testing of welfare applicants." See also "Appeals Court: Welfare Drug Tests Unconstitutional" and "Court strikes down drug testing for Florida welfare recipients."

All about the money for school choice crowd

The wingers love Doug Tuthill: "From Teachers Union to School Choice Organization President: The Story of Doug Tuthill."

Of course, it is all about the money for the school choice crowd:

"One of the primary reasons we’ve been so successful we spend about $1 million every other cycle in local political races, which in Florida is a lot of money," Tuthill told a group at the University of California, Berkeley. "In House races and Senate races, we’re probably the biggest spender in local races."

Tuthill said he and other proponents "make low-income families the face of the program."

"We put those people in the face of Democrats and say 'How can you deny this parent the right to educate their child in the ways that they need?'" he said.

Tuthill also acknowledged that the program had built up support among black ministers. "The black ministers have really flipped the politicians. That has really brought most of the black and Hispanic politicians over to the program."

Florida Education Association Vice President Joanne McCall said the video showed "the true intentions" of the program's supporters.

"For years they’ve told the public that their advocacy for voucher schools is really all about the students," McCall said in a statement. "This video reveals that it’s all about the money."

House District 64 race

"Voters likely will see familiar names in the race to fill the empty seat for Florida House District 64." "District 64 race shaping up to be a rerun with Grant, Steinberg."

Ander Crenshaw, the FlaGOP's next big thing

"Crenshaw’s bill would create tax-free savings accounts for disabled Americans for qualified expenses and passed on a 404-17 vote on Wednesday. Now it heads to the Senate where it has 74 co-sponsors." "Ander Crenshaw's ABLE Act Wins Big in the House."

Another blue ribbon panel

The Tampa Trib editors laud a recent report by the Project on Accountable Justice at Florida State University, which "calls for the creation of an independent oversight commission with the authority to inspect corrections facilities at any time, set policy and recommend improvements. Allison DeFoor, the justice project’s chairman, says the commission would function similar to the way a corporate board functions. He thinks a lack of accountability is at the core of many of the state’s corrections problems. " "Group calls for sensible reforms to Florida’s corrections system."

Scott celebrates

"Scott celebrates win with Jobs Jamboree."

Yee haw!

"State Supreme Court debates Kissimmee 'stand your ground' case."

Large animal vet or Constitutional lawyer?

Large animal veterinarian U.S. Rep. Ted Yoho, R-Fla., "brings forth a bill on Thursday to prevent Obama from using an executive order to allow illegals a path to stay in the nation." Ted Yoho Takes on Obama over Immigration."

Bush, the son of one president and brother of another, also reiterated his support for a pathway to legal status for immigrants in the U.S. illegally, but said Obama may have exceeded his constitutional authority by unilaterally lifting the threat of deportation from millions of such immigrants last month.

"Florida has the highest increase in illegal immigration"

"Florida has the highest increase in illegal immigration of any state from 2009 to 2012, according to the Pew Research Center." "President Obama’s Immigration Order Could Cost Florida Taxpayers Billions."

Scott's inspector general waits until after the election to release report

Florida’s chief inspector general Melinda "Miguel, who reports to Gov. Rick Scott, waited until after the election to release its results, although sources close to the investigation said it was completed months earlier. The report concluded that the inspectors, whom Miguel had refused to give whistleblower protection, committed no wrongdoing and that the warrant was lawfully signed by a judge." "Gov. Scott's top investigator quietly releases prison report after months of delay."

Fullwood looks like a solid bet

"Reggie Fullwood is starting to look like a solid bet to return to the Florida House. First elected to the Florida House in 2010, Fullwood was the only candidate running for his secure Democratic seat in Jacksonville in the 2014 election cycle. But Fullwood was tripped up after a a notary overlooked a box to check off regarding his financial disclosure." "Democratic Establishment Helps Reggie Fullwood Against Johnny Gaffney."

"Florida deserves a distinguished DEP secretary"

The Sarasota Herald Tribune editors: "Florida's Department of Environmental Protection needs a new leader."

Herschel Vinyard, who has been secretary of the DEP since 2011, recently announced his resignation.

Gov. Rick Scott asked Cliff Wilson, the deputy secretary for regulatory programs, to serve as the interim secretary. Wilson, 35, has been with the DEP for about three years. Eric Draper, director of Audubon of Florida -- one of the state's leading environmental groups -- said: "We don't know much about Cliff or his background. Not much has happened there to distinguish him."

No offense to Wilson, but Florida deserves a distinguished DEP secretary.

FlaGOP Party line

Nancy Smith toes the party line: "The email was between private citizens, not directed to elected officials. It was not directed to any legislators on the redistricting committee. Why would the public have a right to any of it? What action did Bainter or any other 'operative' take that would require him to surrender his protections under the First Amendment?" "Florida Redistricting Scam? Show Me the Smoking Gun."

Transparency?

"Despite assurance the records request were being processed, records show the department knew the requested emails were destroyed on March 19, 2012, the same day it occurred. That’s nearly 20 months before the public records request was filed." "Report: Lousy backup system to blame for lost emails at state prisons agency." "" "".

Secretaries at DCF, DJJ scrutinized

"As he gets ready to start a second term, Gov. Rick Scott will have to choose leaders for the Florida Department of Children and Families and the Department of Juvenile Justice. Both agencies are operating under interim secretaries, and Scott's choice at the Department of Children and Families will be particularly scrutinized." "Rick Scott Urged to Make Interim Secretaries Permanent at DCF, DJJ."

In this week's make-everyone-else-laugh-at-us news, we have a state senator trying to force every public-school student in the state to watch an Obama-bashing "documentary" . . . twice.

Lake County Republican Alan Hays filed the bill Monday. It would force districts to repeatedly screen "America: Imagine the World Without Her" — one of the worst-reviewed movies of 2014.

The only way students could avoid watching would be with signed notes from their parents.

Hays calls it "An act relating to patriotic film screening."

I call it "An act to make people flee Florida like bats out of hell." . . .

The movie barely cobbled together a theme about how some people supposedly hate America and how you should hate those people ... and Obama.

It started with an interesting premise about what the world would be like without America, but never followed through.

There are good conservative-themed movies out there. This one — from author Dinesh D'Souza, who's currently serving an eight-month sentence on a campaign-finance felony — is not one of them. I was tempted to ignore this silly bill at first. Except, too often in this state, silly becomes statute. (Remember last session's Pop Tart bill, protecting children's right to chew their breakfast pastries into the shape of guns?)

Also because Hays is one of only 40 senators — one who chaired a budget subcommittee earlier this year.

I'd like to think that Hays' peers would call him out on this top-down attempt at indoctrination; that someone like Senate President Andy Gardiner would have the guts to say: "Alan, if you want people to stop viewing us like jokes, quit acting like one."

But fringe bills rarely get reprimands in Tallahassee these days.

More often, they get co-sponsors.

Yeah, sure, it "has nothing to do with his connections"

"Former Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum and Florida deputy attorney general Patricia Conners said his access to Pam Bondi’s office has nothing to do with his connections." "Former attorney general’s contact with Pam Bondi’s office raises questions."

Break out the Pom Poms

The Scott cheerleaders on the Tampa Trib editors pat him on the back this morning: "Many environmental activists dismissed Scott’s promises to protect the Everglades as campaign posturing. They looked to have underestimated the governor’s sincerity."

In a Nov. 1 letter, the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity rejected the plan by U.S. Sugar and Hilliard Brothers, another sugar firm, to develop more than 43,000 acres — 67 square miles — in Hendry County. The Hendry County Commission had already endorsed the proposal.

This was no grandstanding political move. The state’s position was not publicized until after the election. It indicates the governor is willing to stand up to the powerful sugar industry. . . .

In any event, the Scott administration is not looking like the development patsy it was accused of being during the campaign.

About that Bainter fellow

"A lawsuit claiming the state’s congressional maps are at odds with anti-gerrymandering provisions in the constitution has cast a searing statewide spotlight on Bainter’s role as sort of a Wizard of Oz in state politics. His firm’s presence can be felt nearly everywhere, but little is known about the man pulling the levers."

Bainter, under fire in recent months over his firm’s role in the state’s 2012 redistricting process that a judge determined unfairly favored Republicans, took the unusual step last week of asking for an opportunity to tell his side of the redistricting case to the Tribune-Scripps Capital Bureau. . . .

Bainter’s legal bills have been paid for by the state GOP, a point Bainter would not talk about during the interview.

“I’m not going down that road,” he said.

"For Scott, Chateaubriand is out and brisket is in"

"For Rick Scott, Chateaubriand steak is out and beef brisket is in." "Gov. Scott to kick off jobs-themed victory tour on Monday."

"Water policy up in the air"

"State lawmakers and other elected officials are calling water policy a priority for next year, but where they’ll go with it remains up in the air." "Renewing water policy talk opens floodgate of questions."

An Apparatchik by any other name

Among the dozens of pages of redistricting testimony from political consultant Pat Bainter unsealed by the Supreme Court this week, there were plenty of inside details about how Bainter and his allies tried to influence the process of redrawing the state’s congressional and legislative districts after the 2010 Census.

Among the dozens of pages of redistricting testimony from political consultant Pat Bainter unsealed by the Supreme Court this week, there were plenty of inside details about how Bainter and his allies tried to influence the process of redrawing the state’s congressional and legislative districts after the 2010 Census.

There are also a few incidents of Bainter parsing words and airing complaints during his examination by David King, an attorney for voting-rights organizations, including the League of Women Voters, who sued to overturn a congressional map approved by lawmakers. For example, Bainter took exception to the use of the term “political operatives.”

“Mr. King, I don’t know, with all due respect, what a political operative is,” Bainter said. “That’s a new term for me.”

"Proponents of Amendment 2 haven’t given up"

"Legalization of medical marijuana in Florida went up in smoke earlier this month, but proponents of Amendment 2 haven’t given up." "Florida’s Pot Legalization Forces Open 2-Front Offensive: Legislature and 2016 Ballot."

Good luck with that

"For Democrats, the call for change is an admission that they can no longer compete with Republicans in statewide races for governor and three down-ballot, powerful Cabinet seats." "Stung by low turnout, Democrats eye shifting Fla.’s statewide election schedule."