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Senate Map Rewrite Pushed to Wednesday

Submitted by Anonymous on March 20, 2012 - 11:27pm

Unable to even decide on how to renumber the districts, the Senate Reapportionment Committee will try Wednesday to complete the state Supreme Court-mandated redrawing of the Senate redistricting map.

The committee spent nearly nine hours attentively working on a new map Tuesday but made little progress.

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Rick Scott to Attend 7-Eleven, Embraer Job Creating Projects

Submitted by Anonymous on March 20, 2012 - 10:14pm

Gov. Rick Scott will be on the east coast Wednesday as expansion projects by the Dallas-based 7-Eleven and Brazilian jet manufacturer Embraer S.A. are announced.

Scott will be in Jacksonville at 10 a.m. as 7-Eleven breaks ground in the Jacksonville Landing area, as the convenience store chain returns to the northeast city after more than 20 years with the prospect of opening more stores.

A release from the governors office projects the number of stores 7-Eleven plans to open in the Jacksonville area at 80 by 2015, creating more than 800 jobs.

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Linda Charity Named Interim Head of Financial Regulation

Submitted by Anonymous on March 20, 2012 - 8:58pm

Linda Charity was introduced by Gov. Rick Scott and the Florida Cabinet as the interim commissioner of the Florida Office of Financial Regulation on Tuesday.

Charity, who is the offices director of the Division of Financial Institutions and has been with the office since 1979, will serve while a replacement is sought for Tom Grady. Grady resigned after eight months in the post to take the interim president position with Citizens Property Insurance Corp.

This is Charity's second stint as interim commissioner, serving in that position in 2009.

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State to Expand Historic Grove Site in Tallahassee

Jim Saunders News Service of Florida

March 19, 2012 - 7:00pm

Gov. Rick Scott and the state Cabinet agreed Tuesday to spend $580,000 to help expand The Grove historic site in Tallahassee, despite a lawsuit by a Scott political opponent who says he has a deal to buy the land.

The Grove, near the governor's mansion north of downtown Tallahassee, was built in the 19th century by Richard Keith Call, who served as a territorial governor before Florida became a state. It later became home to the late Gov. Leroy Collins and his family.

A Rose Isn't Always a Rose

Kathleen Parker

March 20, 2012 - 7:00pm

WASHINGTON -- What's in a name?

Most of us, perhaps regrettably, do not get to select our own names and are saddled with our parents' projections of what we might be. It is entertaining to consider what name we might select for ourselves and what that name might suggest about us. Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum recently got this chance when they selected their Secret Service code names.

Rep. John Mica Named American 'Port Person of the Year'

Submitted by Anonymous on March 20, 2012 - 4:56pm

House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman John Mica was named "Port Person of the Year" by the American Association of Port Authorities on Tuesday.

Mica, R-Orlando, speaking to a gathering of the nations port leaders in Washington on the AAPAs 100th anniversary, called ports "the nations gateways and economic engines."

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Battered by Ballooning Costs, Obama Team Shifts Health-Care Defense for High Court

Kenric Ward

March 19, 2012 - 7:00pm

Barack Obama's promise to "bend the cost curve" of health care has gone bust. Now, on the legal front, administration lawyers are shifting Obamacare's defensive lines before the U.S. Supreme Court.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office forecasts that the Affordable Care Act will "significantly increase" mandatory health-care spending from $26 billion this year to $161 billion in 2022.

Overall, the CBO pegs the price tag at $2.6 trillion -- a far cry from Obama's initial projections of multibillion-dollar savings.

Rick Scott: Still no Decision on Counties-Opposed Medicaid Bill

Submitted by Anonymous on March 20, 2012 - 3:36pm

Gov. Rick Scott told reporters Tuesday he has yet to decide on the Medicaid bill, HB 5301, now on his desk.

The Florida Association of Counties has called for Scott to veto the bill that would require counties to pay more into the Medicaid system, including about $300 million in disputed past-due payments.

The governor has until March 29 to act on this bill.

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Santorum Leads Romney and Gingrich in Poll of Louisiana

Submitted by Kevin Derby on March 20, 2012 - 3:14pm

Rick Santorum got a boost to his bid for the Republican presidential nomination last week when he won primaries in Alabama and Mississippi. A poll unveiled on Tuesday shows Santorum should be able to keep his momentum going down South though he is expected to lose the Illinois primary to Mitt Romney on Tuesday night. Santorum leads in Louisiana which holds its primary on Saturday.

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Rick Scott Delays Drug Testing Workers until 2011 Case Is Resolved

Jim Turner

March 19, 2012 - 7:00pm

Anticipating a legal challenge to the new law requiring random drug testing of state employees -- and with a lawsuit against an executive order on the same topic still pending -- Gov. Rick Scott issued a memo to state employees late Tuesday putting off testing until last year's lawsuit is resolved.

"While the case is pending it does not make sense for all agencies to move forward with the logistical issues involved in instituting the new policy," the memo states.

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