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Archive of Florida on Monday May 05, 2008
Florida Gov. Charlie Crist wrings success out of legislative session
With a sluggish economy's stranglehold on state finances, there should have been few winners at the 2008 legislative session. But Charlie Crist exits from his second session as Florida's governor with much of what he wanted. Read More
McCain needs Crist's help in Florida, poll suggests
Start measuring those vice presidential mansion drapes, Charlie Crist, because a new poll suggests John McCain will need all the help he can get in must-win Florida. Read More
$66.2B budget will roll out Crist's health-insurance plan
The Florida Legislature skidded to the finish line of the 2008 session Friday, approving a $66.2 billion budget, help for children with autism, and a sweeping health-insurance plan sought by Gov. Charlie Crist. Read More
Stark Florida budget might be weapon
Schools and health and human-services programs may not be the only losers emerging from the 2008 Legislature. Outnumbered Democrats see the stark $66.2 billion state budget as a political weapon they plan to use in attempts to unseat many Republican legislators in the fall elections. Read More
Florida governor praises budget, while Democrats grimace
As Gov. Charlie Crist praised the Legislature for its "great work" Friday night, his own human services secretary, Bob Butterworth, stood a few feet away and gave a very different critique of the 2008 session. Read More
Necessity, not politics, ruled '08 session
A souring economy and a worrisome election year forced Florida's Republican-led Legislature to moderate its politics in the session that ended Friday because it had no other choice. Read More
Florida governor praises budget, while Democrats grimace
As Gov. Charlie Crist praised the Legislature for its "great work" Friday night, his own human services secretary, Bob Butterworth, stood a few feet away and gave a very different critique of the 2008 session. Read More
Lawmakers OK health-care plan for uninsured
State legislators approved a plan to provide basic health insurance Friday for nearly 4 million Floridians who can't afford coverage, calling it "a giant step" toward protecting the poor and working poor. Read More
Governor Crist praises energy bill
Gov. Charlie Crist didn't get nearly everything he wanted. But he praised the expansive bill lawmakers did pass, legislation that could affect Floridians for decades to come. Read More
It came down to money -- and there wasn't enough
Republicans at the helm kept one eye on a fuel gauge that showed tax collections on fumes and another on the approaching storm of the November elections. The result was a $66.2-billion budget with more than $4 billion in spending cuts targeted largely at school children, the sick and the elderly. Read More
Fla. court to hear anthrax lawsuit
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - The Florida Supreme Court is taking up key issues in a lawsuit over the anthrax death of a photo editor for a supermarket tabloid publisher. Read More
Kids' advocates praise adoption move
Child-welfare advocates Saturday praised a late move by the Florida Legislature to restore $7 million in subsidies to families that adopt foster children from the state. Read More
Florida lawmakers lament lack of money
While the budget is the only thing lawmakers must do, they tackled other issues as well, ranging from deadly serious programs to expand insurance coverage of autism, the issue that brought the session to an emotional, last-minute climax to the seriously absurd: the short-lived ban against displaying bull genitalia on bumpers. Read More
Florida legislative session not kind to state workers
With the sluggish economy causing a crash in tax collections that forced lawmakers to lower state spending by more than $4 billion from last year, Big Bend legislators didn't expect Gov. Charlie Crist's proposal of a 2-percent merit-based pay raise to survive long in the session. It didn't. Read More
Revisions in FCAT are among changes in education
Baggy pants won't be outlawed, but the bullies will have to be stopped. Students and teachers will have more time to prepare for the FCAT. Read More
Rubio leaves mixed record
His last moments in power ticking away, House Speaker Marco Rubio kneaded his forehead with his hands and turned his back to the rest of the chamber. It had happened again. Read More
Why -- and how -- the ball on Central Florida's commuter-rail project was dropped
Central Florida's commuter-rail project failed in the Florida Legislature because its backers didn't heed a cardinal rule of politics: Know your enemy. Read More
Florida Senate sends $66.2 billion budget to governor
The Florida Senate Friday morning signed off on an austere $66.2 billion budget that carves deeply into school funding and an array of health-care programs as a result of the biggest one-year drop in revenues in state history. Read More
'Pain' seen in session fallout
All eyes in the Capitol fixed on House Speaker Marco Rubio on Friday as he huddled with a handful of fellow representatives and the closing moments of the legislative session ticked away. Read More
Belt-tightening session comes to an end
Florida lawmakers ended their annual session Friday by approving a tight-fisted state budget and stitching together plans to provide modest health coverage to kids with autism, the working poor and small businesses. Read More
Winners and losers in the 2008 Florida Legislature
A list of legislation that passed in this year's regular session of the Florida Legislature, which ended Friday, from The Associated Press. Read More
Legislators agree to push FCAT to later in the year
The Florida Legislature on Friday approved the first major education revamp for public schools in nearly a decade, changing the standards that students must meet in each grade and pushing the state's high stakes assessment test later in the school year to give students more time to learn. Read More
Fairness of death-penalty panels questioned
Death-penalty supporters are raising questions about the fairness of state commissions charged with studying how capital punishment is carried out in Maryland and Tennessee, claiming the panels will issue reports that ignore their views. Read More
WORTH NOTING: Voters' guide promotes phone sex
An Oregon voters’ guide lists a very wrong number. California’s governor insults rural legislators. And Pennsylvania considers selling wine in vending machines. In case you missed those stories this week, “Worth Noting” fills you in. Read More
Seeds of social issues dot 2008 elections
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Parents turn to states for autism help
(UPDATED 4 p.m. EDT, Thursday May 1) One of the toughest problems facing autism patients, their families and policymakers is paying for treatment. Families are increasingly relying on states to help them cope with the financial, medical and educational needs. Read More
With justices' OK, voter ID moves ahead
A decision Monday (April 28) by the U.S. Supreme Court to let Indiana demand photo identification from voters paves the way for other states to do the same during November’s presidential election, experts say. Read More
Tampa Bay area's legislative rewards small in lean budget year
Stopping lead-laced toys from being distributed and sold in Florida seemed like "an apple pie bill" to Sen. Charlie Justice. The Senate even passed it. Read More
Bills seek punishment for use, display of fake weapons
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Concerns that realistic-looking toy weapons are confusing police and threatening safety have led 15 states to take a crack at going beyond gun control to implement fake-gun control. Read More
Oh say, is that banner made in the U.S.A.?
Lawmakers in 10 states have taken steps to require that American flags bought with state funds be manufactured in this country. While not all the legislation has passed, one state’s new law even bans the sale of foreign-made American flags in that state. Read More
Sunbirds lured north
Every winter, the chilled masses of New England flee to Florida, as if drawn by a magnetic force. Vermont is hoping to spark a reverse-migration this year, enticing residents of the Sunshine State with one thing they do not have - a cool summer. Read More
States' welfare caseloads starting to rise
WASHINGTON - State welfare rolls, which declined for more than a decade after a 1996 overhaul of the nation's cash-assistance program, are beginning to rise, due in part to the struggling economy. Read More
Hispanic evangelicals hold potent votes, experts say
Hispanic Pentecostals, some experts say, can become an important swing vote in the 2008 elections in key demographic battlegrounds such as Florida, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas and North Carolina. Read More
After hiatus, states set wave of executions
HUNTSVILLE, Texas - Here in the nation's leading death-penalty state, and some of the 35 others with capital punishment, execution dockets are quickly filling up. Read More
Fighting global warming block by block
SEATTLE - King County Executive Ron Sims has a simple test for every new public works project, building plan or government land purchase: Will it increase the region's total greenhouse-gas emissions, or reduce them? Read More
Legislators prod Congress on Medicaid, Real ID
As some states tumble into what they fear is a recession, state lawmakers from across the country are pushing Congress for relief from impending federal rules that would force states to pick up more Medicaid costs and spend billions to make drivers’ licenses more secure. Read More
More states offer choice in long-term care
More states are poised to offer a successful alternative to traditional Medicaid plans that allows elders and the disabled to avoid moving to a nursing facility by hiring friends, neighbors or family members to look after them in their own homes. Read More
WORTH NOTING: Phantom voter stalks Ala. State House
An Alabama lawmaker says someone’s been using his voting machine. Florida’s House Speaker locks the doors and turns off Internet access to make legislators pay attention. And Mayberry’s Sheriff Taylor endorses a North Carolina gubernatorial candidate. In case you missed those stories this week, "Worth Noting" fills you in. Read More
Credit crunch hits states' college loans
(Updated 11:55 a.m. EDT, April 23, 2008)
The credit crisis has led some state lending agencies to suspend their federal and private student loan programs, forcing thousands of students to search elsewhere for money to pay for college. Read More
'Don't forget us,' PA candidates tell voters
As Pennsylvanians prepare to go to the polls tomorrow to cast ballots in the April 22 presidential primary, experts wonder how the surge in registered voters will affect little-noticed state legislative races, particularly those in the House, where Democrats cling to a one-seat majority. Read More
Partisan mix in R.I., Conn. poses challenges
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Will Democrats grow legislative edge in '08?
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'Purple' states turn a little more 'blue'
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Governors pitch ambitious programs
Billion-dollar deficits in California, New York and Arizona haven’t stopped governors there and elsewhere from proposing big-ticket items for 2008. Stateline.org looks at proposals from governors’ 2008 "state of the state" speeches and provides an exclusive summary of all the addresses so far.
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Commentary: Govs beat White House hopefuls as agents of change
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Iraq casts shadow on 2008 state races
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Democratic mid-term gains affecting policy
So complete was the Democratic rout in the 2006 midterm elections that the party even gained legislative influence in Alaska, Idaho, North and South Dakota, Texas and Wyoming – states long dominated by the Republicans. And those gains, though small, are translating into policy achievements. Read More
WORTH NOTING: Illinois gov runs up travel tab
Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s commuting costs start to add up. South Dakota Gov. Mike Rounds settles a dispute with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service over a cranky game warden. Read More |
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