Well, it's that time of year again, when I whine about the fact that daylight savings is upon again this Sunday. I'm not against daylight savings per se, just the fact that it now goes into effect three weeks earlier than it always had been prior to 2005 (when Congress changed the law, moving it up three weeks in the spring and delaying it one week in the fall). The misguided bill of the legislative session may have just been discovered - that would be Orlando Democrat Darren Soto's plan to have daylight savings time all year long, because he "get frustrated that it gets dark earlier during the winter."
The disdain and denial about the Affordable Care Act amongst Florida Republicans transcends state boundaries. While House Republicans in Tallahassee talk about their disdain about expanding Medicaid, Marco Rubio still wants to defund what he calls "Obamacare." He told conservative talk show host Hugh Hewitt yesterday he won't vote for another continuing resolution to keep the government going unless it contains a provision to defund the Affordable Care Act, despite the fact that the bill is now the law, given its final imprimatur from both the Supreme Court last June and the public when they re-elected Barack Obama last November?
The Tampa Bay area awoke yesterday to learn about the passing of Fred Karl. The noble public servant is being appropriately lauded throughout local media today. I particularly liked WUSF radio reporter Bobbie O'Brien's report this morning, though I can't find it on the station's Web site to give you a link.
One of the more interesting things to watch during the Legislative session will be how the House and Senate handle Governor Scott's proposal to distribute $2,500 bonuses to all public school teachers in the state. Hillsborough County Teacher's head Jean Clements told CL earlier this week that she thinks that more experienced teachers deserve more than those instructors just starting out.
We couldn't find it anywhere else, so if you want to know about a protest by USF students about tuition and other issues, check out CL contributor Kelsey Sunderland's report.
And if you haven't seen it yet, check out our story in this week's CL issue on Governor Scott's decision to expand Medicaid and what it means for his future, and the state's.
