There was a lot of news out of Tallahassee yesterday, but for our money, nothing was more significant than the rejection of the Parent Empowerment Act (a/k/a parent trigger), a bill strongly opposed not just by the teachers unions, but a variety of groups and some Republicans.
If the bill was going to go down to defeat, enough Republicans would have to join Democrats in opposing it, and that's exactly what happened in the Senate, where it once again deadlocked in a 20-20 vote.
When I wrote about parent trigger two months ago, I finished the story with the following thoughts, hinting at Gov. Scott possibly vetoing the bill if it passed:
Now with Governor Scott on the outs with his party — for giving $2,500 one-time bonuses to teachers, among other offenses — might he "do a Crist" as he tries to win more teacher love? The FEA's Jeff Wright says he's not even thinking about that yet, believing that a year ago nobody thought parent trigger would lose.
The Sunshine News Service reported in a story that Scott pressured a handful of GOP senators to vote against the bill, including several (like Jack Latvala) who supported it last year. I'm not certain what to make of the report (such as why wouldn't Scott prefer to make a high-profile veto of it?), but it's certainly within the realm of possibility.
I gave props to the Tampa Bay Times for its increase in daily circulation yesterday, but I did so without having the numbers on the Tampa Tribune. It appears the Tampa-based daily had a dramatic increase in circulation, up 32.6 percent.
And there's apparently some anxiety in Tally regarding whether or not Gov. Scott will sign the ethics and election reform bills that recently passed in the Legislature.
