Allan Milledge, a former water management district chairman, asks: Do you want to jeopardize protection of our rivers, lakes, springs, and wetlands and the protection of our water supply to save an average less than $20 dollars per household per year?
Florida Legislature
Charter Schools To Be Allowed To Go Virtual As Florida Expands Online Public Education
A proposed law would let charter schools open full-time K-12 “virtual” charter schools, all students would be required to take at least one online class, and school districts would have to offer full or part-time virtual programs.
Union-Busting Bill Narrowly Clears Hurdle and GOP Dissents Before Full Vote at Florida Legislature
The proposed law forbids union deductions from public employees’ paychecks, essentially gutting unions. It passed a committee, 11-9, with three Republicans breaking rank to oppose it.
Conklin Is Fired From State-Backed Job After Talk of Suing the State Over Education Funding
Colleen Conklin has been an outspoken advocate for education as a Flagler County School Board member for 10 years–and as the COO of a largely state-funded education foundation for the last four. One job cost her the other.
Popping Again: Drug Database and Pill-Mill Regulations Return From the Dead
Taken for dead only weeks ago, a revised bill that would preserve many pill-mill regulations, ban doctors from dispensing some pills and require permitting process for pharmacies cleared a Florida House committee Tuesday.
30 Days to Go, $3.8 Billion to Find: Lawmakers Set to Flatline Health Care Programs
Hospitals, Medicaid, the poor, the very sick and the Department of Health would all face severe cutbacks as the Legislature enters its session’s second half, with abortion, pill mills and medical malpractice issues yet unresolved.
Public Money for Private Schools: Voucher Programs Set to Expand Across Florida
Several bills with enough support in the Florida Legislature would expand student eligibility for voucher programs, including making it easier for corporations to write off taxes in exchange for providing voucher money.
For a Few Cents Less: Legislature Moving to Slow Required Minimum Wage Increases
Voters approved a constitutional amendment linking the minimum wage to inflation. Florida lawmakers would also reduce the rate of growth based on a different way of calculating inflation.
Conklin Calls on Flagler School Board to Sue Scott and Legislature Over Education Funding
Flagler County School Board member Colleen Conklin says the state has abdicated its constitutional responsibility to properly fund education, and wants the board to sue the state. The board will discuss the matter on April 19.
But Should They Be Paid? Flagler School Board Members Defend Their Salaries
A Florida Senate proposal would replace school board members’ salaries with a $100 per-meeting stipend. Retirement and health benefits would be eliminated, too. Savings would exceed $10 million a year.
Schools May Be Required to Digitize Half Their Textbook Budgets Within 2 Years
Schools are resisting the House proposal because two years isn’t enough time to enact it, and it leave behind students without Internet access. The Senate proposal is less stringent.
Merit Pay’s Trap: When Lawmakers Are Clueless About Teachers’ Classroom Realities
Jo Ann C. Nahirny, a teacher at Matanzas High School, describes the gulf between merit pay assumptions about teachers and everyday classroom realities that are beyond teachers’ control. Lawmakers appear clueless.
Parental Report Cards: Florida Lawmaker Wants Teachers Grading Your Parenting Skills
Kelli Stargel, Republican of Lakeland, thinks parents should be graded on their child’s preparedness as one way to address parental involvement and student underachievement. The proposal leaves economic and social issues mute.
Gov. Scott Vows to End “Oxycontin Express,” Yet Legislature Weakens Pill Mill Regulations
Gov. Rick Scott gave no details on his assault on the “Oxycontin Express,” and a Senate committee approved eliminating a ban on doctors dispensing more than a three-day supply of drugs to patients who pay with cash or credit cards.
From Teacher Merit Pay to Charter School Expansion: Legislature Marches On
Like the swiftly-approved teacher merit pay reforms, the push to expand charter schools, including expanding preferential admittance, has the strong backing of Gov. Rick Scott, and continues to revamp education.
Children as Billboards: From School Buildings to Buses, a Lunge for Ads and Revenue
The Flagler school district just broadened its advertising policy to allow ads in school buildings, websites and uniforms. State lawmakers are moving toward lifting the ban on ads on schoolbuses to make up for revenue the state is cutting.
How Grim Are State School Spending Cuts? Try 7 to 10% Per Student, Layoffs to Follow
Florida House and Senate proposals would cut from $447 to $473 per student, or close to 7 percent, a little less than Gov. Rick Scott’s proposal to slash per-student spending by $680 in addition to recent reductions.
Rick Scott Orders State Employees Randomly Drug-Tested Often, Like Welfare Recipients
Gov. Rick Scott signed an executive order requiring drug testing, and compared the testing of employees to the drug-testing of welfare recipients, a proposals lawmakers also approved unanimously in a Senate committee Tuesday.
Hijacking Home Rule: Stiff Fines if Local Gun Regulations Exceed the State’s
The Senate proposal adds financial penalties of between $5,000 and $100,000 on cities and counties with stricter gun regulations than the state, and removes a longstanding shield protecting elected and appointed officials from civil lawsuits relating to their job function.
Florida’s Deficit Grows by $135 Million, To $3.75 Billion, As Growth Remains Anemic
State revenue forecasters essentially tacked about $135 million dollars onto a budget shortfall that already stood at $3.62 billion, forcing lawmakers to consider deeper cuts as they craft a spending plan for the budget year that begins July 1.
Florida Lockups Lite: Closing Prisons and Boot Camps, Privatizing Inmate Healthcare
The Department of Corrections plans to close three prisons and two boot camps, a bill would privatize inmate health care and cut top salaries 5 percent while ending numerous positions.
Teacher Tenure Out, Merit Pay In: Legislature Whips First Bill of 2011 to Gov. Scott
The Legislature passed the biggest change to the state’s education system in more than 10 years, sending to Gov. Rick Scott a bill tying teacher salaries to test scores and ending multi-year contracts.
Florida Abortion Public Funding Ban Would Extend to Reform’s Health Insurance Exchange
Measures that would bar public money from subsidizing abortion coverage in Florida in nearly all cases passed a Senate panel on Monday. The ban would extend to the health-insurance exchange that will be set up by 2014 as part of health care reform.
From 5% to 2%: Retreat from Extra Pension Contributions; All Salaries Below $40K Exempt
A Senate committee backed off considerably from a proposal to require state workers to make 5% contributions to their pension fund, exempting most state workers, and cutting back the amount others would have to chip in.
State of Education Forum in Flagler: Anxiety and Advocacy as District Braces for Shock
If the state of education in Flagler County is strong, it won’t stay that way if state policy continues on its budget-slashing course, advocates and school officials told a large crowd at an education forum Thursday evening.
Despite 4 Million Uninsured, Florida Senate Approves Opt-Out Amendment on Health Law
Senators voted 29-10 to approve the proposed constitutional amendment, which would allow people to opt out of the “individual mandate” requirement that they buy health insurance or face financial penalties.
All Business All the Time as Gov. Scott
Tells Lawmakers: “Don’t Blink”
Scott mentioned the word “job” or “jobs” 31 times in the 27-minute State of the State speech, lauded privatization, vouchers for private and parochial schools and the needs and virtues of business.
Rally Draws Out Teachers, Supporters and Honks. Lawmakers May Not Be Listening.
Some 150 teachers and other school employees and supporters lined Belle Terre Parkway in Palm Coast, one of dozens such rallies across the state, hours before Gov. Rick Scott rebuffed them by telling lawmakers: “Don’t blink.”
State of the State Tonight: Scott and Legislature’s GOP Keep Their War Civil–So Far
Don’t expect Gov. Rick Scott to deviate much from his frequent message as he delivers his first State of the State speech Tuesday night before a joint session of the Legislature: Budget cuts, tax cuts, potshots at Washington rather than his own dissenting GOP.
Flagler Schools Prepare to ‘Awake the State’ As Night of Long Budget Knives Falls on Florida
As school employees prepared to demonstrate against massive state budget cuts on Tuesday, the Flagler School Board got closer to proposing cuts of its own that would eliminate classes and up to four dozen teachers.
End of the Line for Rail Brawl As Supreme Court Ruling Sends $2.4 Billion Elsewhere
The Florida Supreme Court ruled unanimously that Gov. Scott could not be bound to spend $2.4 billion in federal high-speed rail money. That money will now go to New York or California.
Governor and Senators’ High-Speed Rail Brawl Crashes a Skeptical Florida Supreme Court
Judging from Justices’ questions, the legislators’ case to force the governor to accept $2.4 billion in federal funding for the bullet train looked slim after Thursday’s arguments before the high court.
Senators Against “King” Scott Face Off at Florida Supreme Court Over High-Speed Rail
Set for 3 p.m. Thursday, the Florida Supreme Court showdown over $2.4 billion in federal money underscores the divide between Gov. Rick Scott and the Republican-dominated Legislature ahead of next week’s legislative session.
Florida Department of Health Would Cut 1,600 Jobs and Move Out of Primary Care
The plan doubles the original estimate of job losses at the department. Of those jobs, almost 1,050 would be outsourced or privatized, for budget reductions of $185 million.
Senators File Supreme Court Challenge To Gov. Scott’s $2.4 Billion Rail Spurn
The central Florida senators–one Republican, one Democrat–say Scott had no authority to cancel an act of the Legislature and cash appropriations former Gov. Crist had already approved for the $2.4 billion Orlando-Tampa high-speed rail link.
Florida’s Drug Database Targeted for Destruction as Lawmakers Swallow Pill Mills
Florida’s drug database, even if caopable of fighting pill mills, is “Big Brother” to Rob Schenck, Republican House Health and Human Services Chairman. Others are joining him to do away with the drug database.
Florida Pension Redo: Rank and File Would Contribute 2%, Management and Elected 4%
Gov. Rick Scott is backing a proposal that would have all county, school and state workers contributed 5 Percent of their pay to the state pension system. A new proposal would bump that down to a maximum of 4 percent.
Severe, $3.5 Million in School Cuts on the Way: 40 Teachers, Shorter Days, Shorter Calendar
The Flagler County School Board agreed to the cuts today, the result of federal stimulus aid running out and Gov. Rick Scott’s proposed cuts to the education budget. Many of the cuts must be negotiated with the unions.
Florida to Jobless: Tough Luck.
Benefits To be Cut. Businesses To Get a Bye.
Driven by Florida businesses, the Legislature is preparing to cut eligibility for the jobless and making it harder to claim benefits. Flagler’s unemployment rate is hovering around 16%, Florida’s around 12%.
Cops Recoil Over Florida Pension Reforms; Deferred Retirement (DROP) Slated to End
Senate plans introduced Wednesday would replace traditional state pension plans with 401(k)-style systems, and would end the deferred retirement option plan known as DROP.
Despite Potential for 14,000 Jobs, Scott Rejects $2.4 Billion in High-Speed Rail Money
SunRail in Volusia and the passenger rail line between Jacksonville and Miami are also in jeopardy as Gov. Rick Scott announces focus on roads and seaports.
Medicaid Changes For 2.9 Million Floridians: Fewer Choices, More HMOs
A Florida Senate proposal would vastly increase the role of managed care in Florida’s $20 billion Medicaid program, and pull out of the federal system if the federal government doesn’t approve it.
More Charter Schools, Less District Oversight: Where Rick Scott and Jeb Bush Merge
Gov. Rick Scott and former Gov. Jeb Bush’s education foundation are teaming up for a concerted push to open more charter schools while reducing or eliminating local school district approval and oversight, among other plans under the school “choice” umbrella.
Premature Celebrations: Scott Silent on Park Closures. Legislature May Still Ax Some.
State parks such as Washington Oaks Gardens appear to have been spared closure in Gov. Rick Scott’s budget, but they’re far from safe as the Legislature begins to look for ways to close a $4 billion deficit.
So Much for Pill-Mill Policing: Citing Privacy, Florida Verges Away From Abusers’ Database
The matter is of immediate relevance in Flagler County, where local governments passed ordinances imposing moratoriums on new pain clinics while awaiting stronger state regulations. The state’s direction would effectively invalidate the moratoriums’ justification.
Skipping Specifics, Scott Calls for $5 billion in Spending Cuts, $4 Billion in Tax Cuts
Gov. Rick Scott today unveiled to a tea party crowd a budget that would cut an unprecedented $5 billion and provide for $4 billion in tax cuts, $1.4 billion of which in property taxes. Scott’s details are few.
Florida’s Broke, But It’s Refusing a $1 Million Health Insurance Oversight Grant Anyway
Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty forfeit a $1 million federal grant that was supposed to go toward beefing up oversight of health-insurance rates.
Flanked by Tea Party, Rick Scott Will Unveil State Budget in Central Florida Monday
As tea party activists gather from Central Florida to Eustis, Gov. Rick Scott’s budget unveiling Monday will have the feel of political rally as he attempts to close a nearly $4 billion hole while still proposing tax cuts.
Washington Oaks Gardens and Bulow Ruins Among 53 State Parks That Would Close
Similar proposals have been made before, but the state must close a $3.6 billion budget gap, and Gov. Rick Scott is not as friendly to the environment as Charlie Crist was.
Unconstitutional Mandate: Florida Judge Calls for Repeal of Entire Health Care Law
Though Florida Federal District Judge Roger Vinson termed his ruling “reluctant,” he also ruled that the private insurance mandate is so intricately tied to the the law that the entire law must be repealed.