While senators have focused heavily on access, the House and Scott have pushed for health-care changes that include reducing or eliminating some longstanding regulations. They contend that such ideas would create more competition and lower health-care costs.
Florida
In Florida, Court Rules, a 55-Year Prison Sentence For a Juvenile Is Not a Life Term
Anthony Julian Collins was two months shy of 17 when he was committed an attempted second-degree murder, carjacking with a firearm and attempted armed robbery.
Right to an Attorney Often a Myth as Public Defenders Are Overworked and the Poor Bullied to Plea
There is a lack of funding for public defense in every state, and people charged with low-level misdemeanors, often poor minorities, suffer the most as public defender offices focus their few resources on felony cases.
Florida Justices Block 24-Hour Abortion Waiting Period Pending Review
On a 5-2 vote, justices granted a stay of a lower court’s order allowing the 2015 law to take effect. The Supreme Court said it would keep the stay in place while it decides whether to review the decision by the 1st District Court of Appeal.
Florida Justices: Cops May Not Keep Lawyer From Client Even in Voluntary Interviews
While a murder suspect was being voluntarily interrogated before he confessed, his lawyer appeared at the sheriff’s office but cops wouldn’t let the lawyer see his client.
Court Deals Blow to FPL’s Already Leaky Nuclear Power Plans at Turkey Point
An appeals court Wednesday overturned a decision by Gov. Rick Scott and the state Cabinet that could have helped clear the way for Florida Power & Light to add two nuclear reactors in Miami-Dade County.
In a Rebuff to Florida, Federal Government Says New Abortion Law Can’t Block Clinic Funding
A key federal health agency on Tuesday notified Florida and other states that they may not ban Medicaid funding for family-planning services at clinics that also offer elective abortions.
Zone-Busting School Bill That Allows Student Transfers Anywhere in the State Is Now Law
The measure would allow parents to transfer their children to any public school in the state that isn’t at capacity through an “open enrollment” process, among many other provisions in the 160-page bill.
Citing Problematic Time-Sharing of Children, Gov. Scott Again Vetoes Alimony Reform Bill
The plan became one of the most hotly contested issues of the 2016 legislative session when it was amended to include a child-sharing component that would have required judges to begin with a “premise” that children should split their time equally between parents.
Ethics Commission Unanimously Approves $6,200 Fine Against Sheriff Manfre, and Public Censure
State ethics commissioners voted without discussion to impose the fine and censure. Manfre has vowed to keep fighting the charges dating back to the early part of his tenure in 2013.
Public Agencies That Violate Sunshine Law Must Pay Attorney’s Fees, Supreme Court Rules
Justices rejected arguments that agencies should be shielded from paying plaintiffs’ legal fees if public-records requests are handled in “good faith.”
Claiming “Robust” Bear Population, Florida Wildlife Commission Targets Another Hunt
The commission in October 2015 held its first bear hunt in more than two decades as a means to slow the increase of black bears in the state and to reduce dangerous interactions between bears and humans. But the hunt was highly controversial, with opponents protesting in various parts of the state.
Outside Gov. Scott’s Office, a Battle Over Alimony Bill’s Elevation of “Father’s Rights”
The most contentious part of the measure involves not alimony but offspring. It would tell judges that, when determining child-custody arrangements, they should begin with a “premise” that children should split time equally between parents.
What Cara Jennings and Black Lives Matter Protesters Don’t Get
Progressive ideals and values are strong, they don’t need to be shouted or paired with epitaphs to pack a punch. Our jobs are already challenging, and you are making them worse, argues Catherine Durkin Robinson.
Rick Scott’s Shout Show
To trade public punches with another politician or a media critic is an accepted part of the game. To defame a private citizen — one who wasn’t even responsible for publicizing the original incident — is out of bounds.
Bowing to Baptist and Catholic Pressure, DCF Backs Off Protecting LGBT Children from Discrimination
Proposed language protecting lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth in a DCF rule was opposed by the Florida Baptist Children’s Home and the Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops, so it was deleted.
Rookies Hutson and Renner Sum Up Legislative Session as Veterans of Policy and Reforms
First-year Sen. Travis Hutson and Rep. Paul Renner, whose districts include all of Flagler, spoke at a Chamber of Commerce breakfast this morning in a celebration of of the session they just completed, and promises to keep cutting taxes and reducing government regulation.
300,000 Floridians Could Lose Food Stamps as State Restores Work Obligations and Time Limits
The requirement was suspended in the aftermath of the recession, but starting Jan. 1, all able-bodied, childless adults 18 to 49 were required to work, get job training or volunteer 20 hours a week to receive food stamps . Otherwise, they’re limited to three months of food assistance in each 36-month period.
Closer to Home: Gainesville’s San Felasco Nurseries Approved for Marijuana Growing
San Felasco’s approval came after an administrative law judge ruled in February that health officials wrongly rejected the nursery’s application last year because of a decade-old drug crime.
Has Business Biased Florida’s Workers Comp Law Too Far Against Labor? Court Will Decide
Plaintiffs argue that lawmakers have taken too many rights and benefits from people who get injured on the job, while business groups say a 2003 law kept costs from “spiraling.”
Declaring 2008 Amendment Unconstitutional, Judge Closes Book on Gay-Marriage Ban in Florida
In a harshly worded ruling, U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle chastised state officials like Pam Bondi for reluctance in acknowledging that the Florida ban had been overturned
Scrubbing Sexism: Scott Signs Bill Awarding Big Raise to Supervisors of Election
The long-overdue raises, averaging 18 percent, redress salaries traditionally kept low because most supervisors were, and still are, women.
Behind Florida’s Deceptively Low Unemployment Rate
The labor force participation rate should always be taken into account when determining the overall state of the job market and the economy, and that rate has fallen significantly since the Great Recession, argues Dominic Calabro.
Florida Drops Planned Parenthood Case, Eliciting Charge of Political Motivation
Barbara Zdravecky, CEO of Planned Parenthood of Southwest and Central Florida, blasted the state Agency for Health Care Administration for “political gamesmanship” in a statement.
As Scott Signs Bill Stifling Abortion Clinics, Planned Parenthood Sees Danger and Cruelty
The restriction means low-income Floridians could lose access to the organization’s health-care and family-planning services. Planned Parenthood said it has more than 67,000 patients in Florida annually.
Scott Signs Medical Marijuana Bill for Terminally Ill, Enabling Experimental Drugs
That law allows terminally ill patients to have access to experimental drugs that have not been approved for general use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Florida’s 4.9% Unemployment Rate Matches Nation’s, Flagler’s Nearly There, at 5.4%
The number of Flagler County residents holding jobs surged by 472, one of the best single-month increases since the recession, lowering the county’s unemployment rate to its lowest level since 2007.
Florida Supreme Court Deals Another Blow to Tobacco Industry, Rejecting Disease Defense
Justices, in a 5-2 ruling Thursday, rejected R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.’s arguments in a Broward County case stemming from the 2002 death of George Ciccone, who started smoking as a child.
Palm Coast’s Karl Westgate, 19, Dies in Prison 7 Weeks After Sentence for Child Rape
Karl Westgate, sentenced last summer to 25 years for raping an 11-year-old girl, died in prison 48 days after his incarceration, and five weeks after writing a Flagler County judge to say that his plea had been coerced, and that he wanted his case re-opened.
Court Upholds Prohibition on Married Couple Claiming 2 Separate Homestead Exemptions
Whether in state or out of state, the Florida appeals court found that the plain language of the law meant that only one homestead exemption was allowed, regardless of location.
No, Florida, You May Not Count Prisoners Who Can’t Vote in Redistricting Tallies
A federal judge has struck down county commission districts in a rural North Florida county — a potentially precedent-setting decision that could play into a challenge of the state’s congressional lines.
Obama in Cuba:
The Limits of “Engagement”
Indeed, if engagement is supposed to result in political change, US engagement with Cuba is most likely doomed to fail, writes Jorge G. Castañeda. After all, trade and investment have done nothing to bring about a democratic opening in Vietnam over the last 20 years.
Court Backs New Death Penalty Law But Asks Florida Supremes to Rule on Constitutionality
The 5th District Court of Appeal today sided with the state in two death penalty cases, saying that blocking the executions “impermissibly invades” the discretion of the state to seek the sentence.
Sheriff Applauds New Law Regulating Police Authority to Seize Cash and Property
“Civil asset forfeiture” is a controversial practice that gives police authority to seize cash, cars, homes or pother property suspected of use in a crime even absent an arrest. Florida just reformed the law to make forfeiture more difficult and accountable.
Senator, Governor, President, Nothing: For Marco Rubio, a Fuzzy Florida Future
For essentially the first time since he won a city commission seat in 1998, Rubio will soon be without a government office and without a campaign. What office Rubio seeks next, if any, isn’t clear.
Full Funding Restored to Flagler’s Adults With Disabilities Program, a Big Victory for District
Intense lobbying by local school officials and their legislators helped restore the full $545,000 appropriation they’d lost last year, enabling the district to again double enrollment in the Adults with Disabilities’ Step Up program starting July 1.
Gov. Scott’s $256 Million in Vetoes Include Palm Coast’s $200,000 Wellfield Project
The veto of Palm Coast’s funding and county government’s failure to secure various appropriations is a reflection of a somewhat weaker legislative delegation.
Bill Baxley and Elbert Tucker Win Big in Bunnell, Trump and Clinton Win Flagler and Florida
There were ballot problems in one precinct in Palm Coast, where voters were handed the Bunnell ballot, but not in large enough numbers to alter the results.
Where Florida’s Veto-Ready Pork Went: County Fairs, Gun Ranges, Oyster Farms, Space Tourism
Throughout the record spending plan are hundreds of local and agency projects that some lawmakers argued will help the economy or Florida residents. Now, Gov. Rick Scott will use his veto pen to decide which projects survive in the budget that takes effect July 1.
How the Florida Legislature Turned Police Radios Into $7 Million in Rotten Sausages
In a case with echoes in Flagler, experience pokes a hole in the Florida House speaker’s argument that first responders on the state system “need” radios, even though they didn’t ask for them.
Flagler Unemployment Ticks Up To 5.8% in January, Florida’s at 5%
The number of Flagler County residents with jobs has increased from 27,652 in March 2010 to 41,053 in January–an increase of 13,401, or 48 percent.
3-Day School “Tax Holiday” Part of $129 Million Tax-Cut Package Nearing Approval
The package is far short of the $1 billion in tax cuts that Gov. Rick Scott requested. The trimmed-down package is the result, at least in part, of lawmakers responding to state economists reducing revenue forecasts for the next couple of years.
Worse Than Trump: Gov. Scott Refuses to Disavow Claim that “Islam Hates Us”
In an appearance on Joe Scarborough’s MSNBC show Thursday, Gov. Rick Scott refused to denounce Donald Trump’s claim the day before that “Islam hates us.” The smear on Florida is the latest of many lows in a lurid election season.
“Little Marco” Borne Out in Latest Florida Poll as Trump Trounces Rubio With 2-1 Advantage
Donald Trump is ahead of Rubio in Florida by a 45-22 margin, with Ted Cruz at 18 percent and Ohio’s John Kasich at 8 percent. The Quinnipiac University poll is considered the most accurate in Florida.
Florida Lawmakers Unveil $82.3 Billion Budget That Abandons Scott’s Top Priorities
Because Scott’s tax-cut proposal was sharply reduced and a $250 million package of business incentives was dropped entirely, the governor is expected to lean heavily on his line-item veto pen.
Utilities’ Proposed “Smart Solar” Amendment Draws Smarter Questions From Justices
A utility-backed measure intended to put existing solar-energy regulations into the state Constitution drew indications of skepticism and support Monday from Florida Supreme Court justices.
With $714 Million For School Construction, Lawmakers Close in on $80 Billion Deal
Lawmakers have to agree on the roughly $80 billion overall spending plan by Tuesday for the legislative session to end on Friday, as scheduled.
Republicans On Crack
The crack-up is upon us. The locks have popped. The insane asylums have emptied. The loons are casting ballots. And Mitt Romney’s string quartet is arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.
Troubled Florida Department of Corrections Asks for 734 More Positions for Security. Lawmakers Say No.
The department has been reeling from a series of reports about issues such as contraband smuggling and abuse of inmates. The new jobs were part of an effort by the department to have corrections officers work eight-hour shifts instead of 12-hour shifts.
Flagler’s Athletic Directors Concerned By Proposed Law Facilitating Student-Athletes’ Transfers
The bill, SB 684, which has drawn little attention, would ease the path for student-athletes looking to transfer, which would benefit big schools at the expense of smaller schools.