Panel revives effort to reform residential care for the elderly

JACKSONVILLE -- After a failed attempt to pass legislation to protect the frail and elderly in assisted-living facilities, industry experts reconvened in Jacksonville Monday with the hope of hammering out measures to curb abuse while appeasing the powerful long-term care industry.

The panel was appointed by Gov. Rick Scott last year to address rampant wrongdoing in ALFs but lawmakers failed to pass any of the workgroup’s proposals in March. The meeting was the first attempt to revive the effort.

The panel’s recommendations, and the resulting bills, would have yielded the most sweeping reforms in a generation for the state’s 2,850 living facilities, but fell through at the last minute amidst heavy lobbying by the industry and political infighting.

Miami federal judge blocks new Florida anti-Cuba law

A Miami federal judge on Monday blocked Florida from enforcing a new state law that prohibits governments from hiring companies with business ties to Cuba.

A temporary injunction, ordered by U.S. District Judge K. Michael Moore, prevents the law from taking effect on Sunday as scheduled. And it deals a blow to the politicians who backed the legislation, which was sponsored by Miami-Dade lawmakers, approved by a near-unanimous majority of the Legislature and signed by Gov. Rick Scott.

After an hour-long hearing late Monday, Moore ruled from the bench in favor of Odebrecht Construction, the Coral Gables-based subsidiary of a Brazilian engineering and construction giant.

“It’s not as if there isn’t some precedent there and there hasn’t been a run at this effort in the past,” the judge said, referring to previous failed legislative efforts to make it difficult to conduct business with Cuba.

Odebrecht USA sued the Florida Department of Transportation earlier this month over the new law, which would ban state and local government agencies from awarding future contracts worth at least $1 million to U.S. firms whose foreign-owned parent companies or affiliates conduct business in Cuba or Syria. A subsidiary of Odebrecht USA’s parent company is expanding the Cuban Port of Mariel. Full story here.

SCOTUS leaves Florida's research travel ban to 'terrorist' nations intact

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday left intact a controversial Florida law that restricts researchers at state colleges and universities from traveling to Cuba and other “terrorist states,” despite indications last year that the court would consider a review.

Amid the flurry of rulings from the high court on Monday was a denial of certiorari on Florida’s “Travel to Terrorist States Act.” The action effectively lets stand a lower court ruling upholding the 2006 law that bars public schools and universities from using state money for travel to countries such as Cuba, Iran, Sudan, Syria and other nations considered “sponsors of terrorism.”

The court decision deals a “devastating blow” to Florida universities, said Howard Simon of the Florida chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union which challenged the law, along with faculty at Florida International University, the University of South Florida and the University of Florida. He predicted it will lead to an exodus of faculty and research dollars from Florida schools.

“The research is not going to end. It will just be done by universities elsewhere outside of Florida,’’ Simon said. “It will keep us in an enforced state of ignorance.”

Lawsuit filed to throw Supreme Court justices off the ballot

Two Seminole County men filed suit Monday in Leon County asking the secretary of state to remove the three Florida Supreme Court justices who are seeking merit retention from the November ballot.

Bernard Long and Veronco L. “Ron” Flores claim that Justices R. Fred Lewis, Barbara Pariente and Peggy Quince broke state law when they halted a court hearing on the state Senate’s redistricting plan so they could complete the required paperwork to qualify for merit retention.

“The delay caused by the justices cost Florida taxpayers thousands of dollars in additional legal fees for private outside counsel who were forced to wait while the justices worked on their campaign documents,’’ the lawsuit alleges. “Upon information and belief, the justices campaigns have not reimbursed the State of Florida or any private litigant for their costs and expenses caused by the delay.” Download COMPLAINT%20-%20FL%20Justices%20File%20Stamp%20Final%206-25-12

Gov. Rick Scott, who would appoint the replacements if the three justices are removed from the court, has ordered an FDLE investigation into whether the judges violated the law when they used court personnel to notarize their paperwork.

Gov. Scott declares storm emergency; 'Be careful,' he says

Gov. Rick Scott flew back to Tallahassee Monday after cancelling two official events in Tampa, where rainfall from Tropical Storm Debby was among the heaviest in the state.

At a news conference at the state Emergency Operations Center in Tallahassee, Scott advised Floridians to be safe, avoid non-essential driving, pay close attention to weather reports and stay away from downed power lines.

"I think the most important thing is, one, just use common sense. Be careful," Scott said. "If you're close to a beach, be very cautious. Look at all the beach advisories. If there's any standing water, if there's any flooding, don't drive into it. Be very, very, very cautious."  

Emergency managers said Debby, a dense, slow-moving storm, plans to stick around for awhile, and that rains could last until Thursday. No National Guard troops have been activated and the state has not yet asked for any federal disaster assistance.

Scott said the storm is 75 miles off the coast and is moving in a northeasterly direction at 3 miles an hour. He said the low-lying counties of Taylor and Dixie were in the storm's path, and that both counties could sustain from 10 to 20 inches of rain in the next couple of days.

"We could be seeing 10 to 20 inches of rain in parts of the state that could lead to some fairly severe flooding," said Bryan Koon, the state's chief of emergency management. Heavy winds have forced the closing of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge in Bradenton and the causeway bridge to St. George Island, south of Tallahassee, he said. "Wind primarily. They're just not safe to cross when it gets about 40 miles an hour," Koon said.

Koon said power outages are scattered and widespread and he estimated that 35,000 people were without electricity. Three hundred stranded Boy Scouts, on a camping trip in Hernando County, had to be moved to a shelter, officials said.

The next state update from the National Hurricane Center will be at 5 p.m. Monday. The state's first storm briefing came about 30 hours after sustained rains from the storm began falling on the Tampa Bay region. Of the timeliness of the state's official response, Scott said: "This is the right time to respond ... We're prepared."  

-- Steve Bousquet

Obama, Romney react to SCOTUS ruling striking down provisions of Arizona immigration law

The U.S. Supreme Court struck down key portions of Arizona's controversial immigration law Monday morning, though it upheld a provision allowing police to check suspects' immigration status. Read the AP story here.

The decision prompted statements from President Barack Obama and Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney. Read their reactions after the jump.

Attorney General Bondi confident Supreme Court will strike down 'Obamacare'

There was a chance that the U.S. Supreme Court ruling on Florida's challenge to health care reform would occur today, so all the cable news channels were focused on "Obamacare" coverage this morning.  We eventually learned that the ruling won't be released until Thursday, but we did get a chance to watch Attorney General Pam Bondi on FOX News talking about what she believes the High Court should do.

Bondi noted that the Supreme Court heard nearly six hours of testimony on the case, an unusal amount of time for oral arguments. The questions justices raised bode well for Florida and the 25 other states challenging health care reform, she said.

“The main questions that they asked made me feel very confident that they saw our point of view, that they took this very seriously and that they realized this would be the greatest over reach of federal power in our entire history if this act is upheld," the attorney general said.

When asked how the Supreme Court would rule -- whether it would uphold all, part or none of the "Obamacare" law -- Bondi predicted the states would come out on top.