The Daytona Beach News Journal editorial board has this on the abortion decision by the Florida Supreme Court, and this on retiring Justice Shaw of the Florida Supreme Court.
Byrd To Bush: While We're All Here In Tallahasse, Why Don't We . . . add parental notification to the ongoing special session on medical malpractice. Lawmakers would need three-fifths approval in a special session to get a constitutional amendment on the 2004 ballot, Byrd said. See "House speaker seeks constitutional amendment for parental notice". ("House Speaker Johnnie Byrd asked Gov. Jeb Bush on Sunday to let the Legislature take the lead to restore a law requiring the notification of parents before a minor can obtain an abortion").
'Glades Disaster - ''With the Environmental Regulation Commission's approval last week of disastrous rules for measuring pollution in the Everglades, Florida's failure to protect the endangered ecosystem is complete. The sugar industry has succeeded in dictating a new state law and rules governing cleanup and restoration. The sugar growers have been aided by the Republicans who control Tallahassee, the Department of Environmental Protection and the South Florida Water Management District." See "Give Everglades guardian".
Race Relations - "The head of the nation's oldest civil rights organization lashed out Sunday at the administrations of President Bush and his brother, Gov. Jeb Bush, saying that both had set back the causes of civil rights and social progress." See "Leader bashes both Bushes".
You Can't Trust "Jeb!" With The Money - "If Congress approves a flawed House bill to turn Head Start over to the states, Florida might be among the first eight granted federal money to experiment with children who cannot afford failure. The state's neglect of its own budding school readiness program and the governor's penchant for cutting services that help the neediest residents make the potential $281 million block grant undeserved. After less than three years, a third of Florida's programs targeting preschoolers have shut down or will shut down this year because the state did not provide enough money. The state's 35,000 poor preschoolers who rely on Head Start for education, disability, mental health, nutritional, medical, dental and transportation services also might have been abandoned if Head Start centers were dependent on Gov. Bush." See "State can't do Head Start".
Senate On Verge Of Folding - "Florida senators will hear sworn testimony from insurance executives, doctors and personal-injury lawyers today, an unprecedented move originally billed by frustrated lawmakers as a hard-nosed attempt to extract the truth on the real causes of soaring medical-malpractice premiums. But the move may be less about finding the truth than about senators saving face, now that the Senate and House appear to be moving closer to a behind-the-scenes compromise on legal reforms." See "Malpractice inquiry opens as deal nears". See also "20 to face senators' insurance questions".
Florida's Budget Actually Decreased DCF Funding - Where Was "Jeb!"? - "As usual, it boils down to inadequate funding. DCF Secretary Jerry Regier asked for a budget increase of $473 million for the upcoming year, but the Legislature gave the agency $64.9 million less than it did during the 2001 session. DCF got an increase of just $91.8 million, all of it from the federal government. That hardly seems the handiwork of a state committed to improving child-welfare services - especially in the wake of high-profile stories about missing and brutalized children." See "Missing DCF kids: a shame, not a surprise".
Bush And Education - It's hard not to by cynical when "one sees someone sashay into the governor's office with no legislative experience and only a dilettante's acquaintance with education and proceed to change everything." "Why tests don't mean learning".
Cheating Florida's Public Universities - "Unable to produce a budget in its allotted 60-day session, the Legislature was called back into special session this summer by Gov. Jeb Bush. When the budget finally came forth, Bush pronounced it a solid one: 'Thanks to dedicated leadership and fiscal discipline from both houses, Florida's budget is growing without increasing taxes or depleting reserves.' He was so satisfied that he added: 'We're not going to open up the budget unless there is a crisis that we need to respond to.' Cheating Florida's 11 public universities out of $100 million — money pledged in good faith by the state — should be a big enough crisis." See "Florida's dirty secret".