More than 40 demonstrations and counterdemonstrations are planned Tuesday across Florida, as opponents and supporters of Gov. Rick Scott's proposed tax and budget cuts rally on the opening day of the 2011 Legislature.
Neither side is predicting how many people will turn out, but both camps are jousting for position -- and that could lead to confrontations at some venues.
Speaking to students at Miami Central High School on Friday afternoon, President Barack Obama delivered a dual and sometimes conflicting message that called for more education spending and sweeping budget cuts everywhere else.
After touring the once-failing campus with former Gov. Jeb Bush, Obama hailed Central as an academic success story in progress. After 10 years of receiving D's and F's from the state, Central has pulled its campus grades up.
Amid spiraling costs, Florida's "Bright Futures" scholarships will be under the gun again at the 2011 Legislature -- riddled by funding raids and what some call lax eligibility rules.
The program, which once granted tuition-free rides to Florida's top high-school graduates, is moving deeper into a financial hole. Its founder says some of that hole has been dug by legislators who, he charges, have shifted away lottery funds earmarked for education.
Launched in 1997 with a price tag of $70 million, Bright Futures' budget has soared to $437 million, and climbing.
The Florida Supreme Court on Friday rejected the lawsuit of two state senators seeking to overturn Gov. Rick Scott's rejection of $2.4 billion in high-speed rail funds.
The unanimous decision came after less than an hour of oral arguments Thursday at the court, where justices peppered the senators' attorney with skeptical questions.
In its one-page ruling, the court said the plaintiffs did not give the justices any reason to reverse Scott's decision.
A skeptical Supreme Court aggressively questioned the attorney for two state senators seeking to overturn Gov. Rick Scott's rejection of federal high-speed rail funds.
Saying that legal action "may be premature," Justice Barbara Pariente expressed doubt at Thursday's oral arguments that the court should intervene.
"Should the court interfere with the relationship between the federal government and the governor, and the governor and the Legislature," she mused.
Tuesday's "Awake the State" protests might draw a combined crowd of 8,000 at sites across Florida, but organizers say the turnout in Tallahassee, when the Legislature opens, will be tiny.
A permit request for the Leon County Courthouse grounds says "less than 100 people" are expected to attend the 10:30 a.m. event. It is one of 17 scheduled rallies protesting Gov. Rick Scott's proposed $5 billion in state budget cuts.
Gov. Rick Scott asked the Florida Supreme Court to deny a petition from state senators seeking to overturn his rejection of $2.4 billion in federal stimulus funds for a high-speed rail project.
Reiterating his opposition to the proposed Orlando-Tampa line and his authority to turn down funding, Scott submitted a 26-page response to the lawsuit filed Tuesday by Sens. Thad Altman, R-Melbourne, and Arthenia Joyner, D-Tampa.
However, the Florida Supreme Court rules on state Sen. Thad Altman's case against Gov. Rick Scott, the Melbourne Republican has virtually assured himself another GOP fight when he stands for re-election in 2012.
"Thad Altman's chance for a primary challenger is 100 percent," said a Tallahassee-based Republican strategist speaking on background.
Though a dozen GOP senators signed a letter in support of the controversial high-speed rail venture, none of those Republicans signed on to Altman's lawsuit, which he filed with Democratic Sen. Arthenia Joyner.
In what was billed as a bipartisan bid to counter "an abuse of power," two state lawmakers sued Gov. Rick Scott over his rejection of federal high-speed rail funds.
Sens. Thad Altman, R-Melbourne, and Arthenia Joyner, D-Tampa, asked the state Supreme Court on Tuesday to order the governor to accept $2.4 billion in stimulus funds from Washington, D.C., to build a controversial Tampa-Orlando train line.
Compared to previous governors and Cabinet members, Gov. Rick Scott is saving Florida millions of dollars in air travel expenses.
In fact, Scott personally picks up the tab for all official and personal flights on his Raytheon Hawker 400 jet.
"Governor Scott does not bill Florida or get any reimbursement for his private [jet] flights. It's his plane and he pays the bills," says Brian Hughes, a spokesman for the governor. "Any time his plane flies, he pays for it -- whatever the reason for the travel."
