Scott approves 12th university and vetoes four budget-related bills

 Florida will have a 12th university.

In a year when the state’s current 11 universities’ budgets are being cut by hundreds of millions of dollars, Gov. Rick Scott on Friday signed a bill creating Florida Polytechnic out of the University of South Florida’s branch campus in Polk County — the final approval of the pet project of departing Senate President JD Alexander. 

Meanwhile, as the governor signed the bill Friday making Florida Poly Florida's 12th state university, he also vetoed four budget conforming bills. They are HB 5009, dealing with state employees' health insurance benefits; HB 5011, dealing with state technology; HB 5103, dealing with school readiness programs; and HB 5505, dealing with the Department of Financial Services, under the supervision of CFO Jeff Atwater.

Opposing the new university were students, faculty, Florida’s top business leaders and citizens all over the state, who felt that now is the wrong time to embark on an endeavor that will cost taxpayers for years to come.

Don't scratch Jeb Bush off your list of possible vice presidential running mates for Mitt Romney

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush tells Newsmax, a conservative and influential website, that he would, in fact, consider running as vice president with Mitt Romney.

But then quickly adds he doesn't think Romney will even pop the question.

“Well I’d consider it, but I doubt I’ll get a call, and I don’t know if it’s the right thing for me to do. I didn’t run for president for a similar kind of reason, so I’m all in to try to help him get elected,” told Newsmax in an exclusive interview with Bush from his office in Miami.

The interview was published on the Newsmax website.

Bush repeated to Newsmax what he said earlier in the year: That Sen. Marco Rubio is “probably the best” candidate for vice president

“Well I can’t speak for Gov. Romney, and I can’t speak for Sen. Rubio, but if I was on both sides of that conversation I would ask — and I would hope that Marco would accept,” Bush told Newsmax. “There’s a lot of things in between that may not make that happen, but I am a great admirer of Mitt Romney’s and I’m a huge fan of Marco Rubio’s, and I think the combination would be extraordinary.”

Rubio, for the umpteenth time, said he would not accept a vice presidential job if offered by Romney. The latest "gracias pero no gracias" came on Thursday in Washington.

"If in four, five, six, seven years from now, if I do a good job as vice president - I'm sorry, as senator -I'll have the chance to do all sorts of things," he said, in a slip that met with laughter from the audience at a televised event hosted by the National Journal.

Bush told Newsmax that his short list of top-tier vice-presidential candidates include Ohio Sen. Rob Portman, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez and Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels.

 

Bill Nelson joins Joe Biden's Everglades visit

Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., will be joining Vice President Joe Biden on Monday in the Everglades, where Biden will tour part of Everglades National Park and tout the money the Obama administration is putting into restoration.

Can you tell it's an election year? First Lady Michelle Obama will be on the other side of the state later in the week. And next month, the vice president's wife, Jill Biden, comes to South Florida locale, Broward College, to deliver the commencement address.

In a sign of the president's shifting fortunes in Florida, Nelson, who's up for reelection, has become much bolder about appearing with administration figures. (See photos here.)

"Dear George," drop out of the Senate race, campaign letter says. (PS. thanks for running)

Six years ago, George LeMieux was the "Ask George" maestro of Attorney General Charlie Crist's powerful gubernatorial campaign and helped mastermind a high-profile "just drop out" letter to then-opponent and state CFO Tom Gallagher.

Today, the tables were turned on LeMieux.

A delegation of high-profile Connie Mack supporters and Republican money men asked LeMieux to quit. Cmpaign stunt? Sure. Somethings never go out of style. When we asked LeMieux about his campaign this week, he said he was staying in for the long haul.

The letter:

Another South Florida venue. Another Biden visit.

Joe Biden's coming to the Everglades on Monday to talk so-called "restoration" plans (aka examples of government spending). Next month, the vice president's wife, Jill Biden, comes to another South Florida locale, Broward College, to deliver the commencement address.

The press release:

Dr. Jill Biden will deliver two commencement addresses this spring at Broward College in Fort Lauderdale, Florida and at Southwestern Community College in Creston, Iowa.

On Friday, May 4, Dr. Biden will address the 77^th graduating class at Broward College. Broward College is the first and largest institution of higher education in Broward County, offering certificate programs, two-year degrees, and baccalaureate degrees in selected programs.  Broward College has the second-largest enrollment among the 28 members of the Florida College System, serving more than 66,000 students annually.  Ranked in the top 10 percent of community colleges nationwide on student success indicators by the Washington D.C.-based Aspen Institute, Broward College boasts a student body representing more than 150 countries.  This afternoon event is open to the press.  Members of the media should contact Aileen Izquierdo, vice president for public affairs and marketing, at aileen.izquierdo@broward.edu or 305-439-1844. 

On Friday, May 11, Dr. Biden will address graduates at Southwestern Community College.  Southwestern, a comprehensive two-year public institution located in rural southwest Iowa, offers transfer courses, career and technical education programs, continuing education courses, and industrial training classes.  Each year, the college serves approximately 1,750 credit students and 9,000 non-credit students.  Southwestern is a regional leader for economic development.  With an area-wide population of just more than 64,000, Southwestern has assisted in creating more than 7,800 jobs through contracts with area companies.  Due to consistently high student completion rates, Southwestern was recently selected by Complete College America as one of 30 community colleges in the nation to participate in a project to learn more about policies and practices that lead to higher student completion rates at community colleges.  This evening ceremony is open to the press.  Members of the media should contact Terri Higgins, director of marketing, at thiggins@swcciowa.edu or 641-782-7081, ext. 431.

Dr. Biden, an educator for more than 30 years, has taught English in community colleges for the past 18 years and continues to teach at a community college in Northern Virginia. 

Michelle Obama in Florida next week

First Lady Michelle Obama will be in Naples next Friday, meeting with elementary students before a pair of campaign events.

According to the White House, Obama will meet with students from Avalon Elementary and Mike Davis Elementary Schools. Students from both schools are participating in the "Florida Farm to School" program, which  provides students seasonal, fresh produce from local farmers. The first lady will then meet with campaign volunteers before delivering remarks at a campaign event in Naples.

Crist says moderation in GOP 'is practically non-existent'

Former Gov. Charlie Crist said Friday that moderation is "practically non-existent" in the Republican Party. Speaking on MSNBC, Crist said: "If you don't toe the line and talk in tea party terminology -- you know, we just saw a presidential primary process that was sort of a competition for who could be the most convservative." He noted that U.S. Sens. Orrin Hatch and Richard Lugar are facing challenges from the right.

The former Republican governor, a moderate, ran as an independent for U.S. Senate in 2010 and lost to Republican Marco Rubio. Crist is often mentioned as a possible Democratic candidate for governor of Florida in 2014. 

When Crist spoke glowingly of President Obama as a "centrist ... continually trying to reach out to the Republicans for help," Politico's Ben Smith asked if that was an endorsement of the Democratic presidents re-election. "No, it's not. It's not. It's some admiration, obviously," Crist replied said.

Looking tanned, rested and ready, Crist also reflected on the BP oil spill in a midday appearance on MSNBC's Now with Alex Wagner, and praised the Obama administration for its response to the Gulf of Mexico disaster.    

Speaking from a TV studio in Tampa, Crist said: "During those early days, it was a catastrophe of epic proportion." He was interviewed on the second anniversary of the spill, one of the worst environmental disasters in U.S. history, amid new reports that indicate fish are still appearing in the Gulf with many deformities and health problems. Crist said televised images of oil soaked pelicans was a "powerful deterrent to tourism" in Florida for awhile after the spill.

-- Steve Bousquet

Kristy Campbell going back to work for Mitt Romney

Kristy Campbell, a former spokeswoman for Jeb Bush and Bill McCollum, is joining Mitt Romney's general election campaign as deputy communications director, the New York Times reports. Campbell worked in Romney's press shop during his 2008 campaign for president.

Most recently, Campbell was serving as communications director for the American Conservative Union. She also spent time in New Mexico working for Gov. Susana Martinez

Campbell adds more Florida ties to Team Romney. Romney's national spokeswoman Andrea Saul worked briefly for Gov. Charlie Crist when he was running for the U.S. Senate as a Republican, as did Romney chief strategist Stuart Stevens.

Supremes push back at opponents to Senate's redrawn maps

Within minutes of the opening arguments before the Florida Supreme Court Friday, two justices lashed into lawyers for opponents of the legislatively-drawn map when they concluded that the court rejected more than eight flawed districts when it threw out the Senate map March 9.

 “Speaking for the person that wrote it, it was pretty clear that there were certain districts that were specifically invalidated,’’ said Justice Barbara Pariente, the author of the 5-2 opinion that forced the state Legislature to return in an extraordinary session to revise its Senate map.

She suggested that it would be unfair to the Senate if the court were to reopen districts where challenges previously were rejected “or the burden of the challenges were unmet.”

Justice Peggy Quince also raised doubts about the arguments raised by the Florida Democratic Party and the coalition of voter groups that want the court to reject the entire map. "Why would want we want to go back and look at others? We looked at the whole thing,'' she said. "It just doesn't resonate."

But Paul Smith, lawyer for the Florida chapter of the League of Women Voters, the National Council of La Raza and Common Cause, said that the court must make sure that the new map adheres to the Fair District standards approved by voters and the new map clearly does not do that.

Video: Senate women discuss the 2012 legislative session and their underestimated clout

Senate females came into their own during the 2012 legislative session.

They didn't always vote together. Indeed, it was their independence that made them such formidable opponents. But there was enough camaraderie among them, enough powerful voices to influence every contentious voice of the session.

Click here to read the story, and see below to watch the women discuss their underestimated clout.