Daily Digest for Monday, 2/6

Daily Digest for 2/6 [Listen or Download]

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Five Stories To Think About Today 

* Vice President Joe Biden will visit Florida State University to talk about college affordability at 11 a.m.

* A controversial charter school bill comes before the Senate Education Committee at 3 p.m. If the bill passes, school districts would have to share their construction and maintenance dollars with charter schools, which currently don't have the power to levy property taxes for capital projects. School districts and the teachers' unions arefighting the proposal.

* A bill offering a major restructuring of the Department of Health gets its first hearing in the House’s Subcommittee on Health & Human Services Quality at 2:15 p.m. The bill reduces the number of divisions within the agency, and moves the Nursing Student Loan Forgiveness Program to the Department of Education.

* The Senate Committee on Community Affairs will vote on SB 770, which would prohibit local governments from levying taxes on local businesses.

* That same committee will also consider a bill to offer a $25,000 exemption to the state’s tangible personal property tax.

 

Three Issues You Missed Over The Weekend

 * The House passed redistricting maps, albeit on a party line vote.

* Florida’s resort casino debate has folded for the session. The bill's sponsor, Rep. Erik Fresen, postponed it in committee until next year.

* A federal judge ruled Friday that state legislators and their staff members cannot be compelled to give sworn testimony as to why they make the decisions they do.

 

Who To Watch Today/Quotable Quotes

 * "Uh, next up we have Everett Wilkinson, chairman of the South Florida Tea Room. [pause] Oh, Tea Party?" -Doug Holder, R-Sarasota, while introducing a member of the public to speak on the gambling bill that was killed Friday in the House Business and Consumer Affairs Subcommittee.