Bill opens up funding for private virtual schools

Private online learning companies will get a better shot at Florida public school funding under a bill that won approval on the final day of the legislative session.

Though the vote garnered little attention from outside observers, Republicans hailed it as among the year’s most important victories for school choice.

“We want to open up access and give our kids the very best,” said Rep. Manny Diaz, Jr., R-Hialeah, who sponsored the bill in the House.

But Democrats were outraged that the final action took place on the last day of session – and only hours after lawmakers reduced the funding for Florida’s public virtual school. Taken together, critics said, the moves were a clear effort to privatize public education.

“If you want to get at the largest portion of the state budget that has not been privatized, it is education,” said Jeff Wright, who oversees public policy advocacy for the Florida Education Association, the state teachers union. “That’s what this is all about. This is about allowing outside vendors to get a piece of the action.”

Read more here.

Fight over money for tutoring went down to the wire

As the legislative session neared an end this month, state Rep. Erik Fresen found himself in an awkward position.

Just last year, Fresen helped keep a torrent of public money flowing to private tutoring firms. But after revelations of fraud and lax oversight turned the program into a black eye for education reform, his new orders from House leadership were clear: End subsidized tutoring, and do it now.

Sen. Anitere Flores was ready to push back.

A friendly face from the upper chamber, Flores had much in common with Fresen. Both are Republicans from Miami. And both had backed subsidized tutoring without disclosing ties to the industry.

At stake: $100 million in federal education money — cash that could, depending on how things played out, remain committed to private tutoring or be freed up for districts to spend as they liked.

As the session entered its final week, it was far from certain where the money would go.

Read the story here.

Marco Rubio to Jack Lew: IRS commissioner needs to resign

From a press release:

Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) today urged Treasury Secretary Jack Lew to demand the resignation of the current Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Commissioner, in light of reports about the agency’s deliberate targeting of conservative organizations.

“[I]t is clear the IRS cannot operate with even a shred of the American people’s confidence under the current leadership,” said Rubio in a letter to Lew. “I strongly urge that you and President Obama demand the IRS Commissioner’s resignation, effectively immediately. No government agency that has behaved in such a manner can possibly instill any faith and respect from the American public.”

Rubio also called on Lew to ensure the Treasury Department’s full cooperation with all investigations regarding this scandal.

“The American people deserve answers about how such seemingly unconstitutional and potentially criminal behavior could occur, and who else was aware of it throughout the Administration,” Rubio wrote. “If investigations reveal that bureaucrats or political appointees engaged in unconstitutional or criminal targeting of conservative taxpayers, they must be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”

Below is the full text of the letter:

PolitiFact's Truth-O-Meter launches in Australia

From PolitiFact national, mothership of PolitiFact Florida:

The Truth-O-Meter has arrived down under.

PolitiFact Australia, our first international venture, launches today. It marks a new milestone for PolitiFact and a big step for the global fact-checking movement.

Headed by veteran editor Peter Fray and a talented team of reporters, PolitiFact Australia will fact-check government officials and candidates in Australia's federal election, scheduled for Sept. 14. Read more about it here.

President Obama's Miami Beach-bound June 12 for DNC fundraiser

@MarcACaputo **Update

President Obama plans to attend a June 12 Democratic National Committee fundraiser at the Miami Beach home of Joseph W. Blount, who gave at least $251,376 to various candidates and committees last year.

General reception: $1,000.

Host Clutch & Reception: $20,000.

Maximum contribution: $32,400

Airport towers including Pines to remain open

Air traffic control towers across the country -- including in Pembroke Pines -- that were slated for closure in mid-June have been spared. 

From the U.S. Department of Transportion this afternoon:

"Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced today that DOT has determined that the recently enacted Reducing Flight Delays Act of 2013 will allow the FAA to transfer sufficient funds to end employee furloughs and keep the 149 low activity contract towers originally slated for closure in June open for the remainder of fiscal year 2013." 

Marco Rubio on PolitiFact's Flip-O-Meter

Why should Iowa and New Hampshire get all the attention when it comes to presidential politics?

That was the question Florida legislators were asking back in 2007, when they ignored advice from both national Republican and Democratic party leaders and moved Florida’s presidential primary date. By moving it earlier, to January 29, the idea was that presidential candidates would give more time and attention to Florida voters.

The parties were not amused, and they sanctioned Florida delegates with a variety of penalties, both in 2008 and 2012

More recently, though, Florida legislators have lost interest in going rogue.

In the waning days of the 2013 Florida legislative session, lawmakers tucked a provision into an elections bill to move the primary back, so that it’s held "on the first Tuesday that the rules of the major political parties provide for state delegations to be allocated without penalty."

They made the change with the support of one of Florida’s top Republicans: U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio. That jogged our memory: Wasn’t Rubio the one in favor of moving the primary up in the first place?

We decided to investigate the matter on our Flip-O-Meter. We use the Flip-O-Meter to determine when a political official or candidate has changed position. The meter is not intended to pass judgment on their decisions to change their minds. It’s simply gaging whether they did or not. Read more here.

Charlie Crist on PolitiFact's Flip-O-Meter

Charlie Crist, Florida’s once (and future?) governor, posted a note on his Facebook page congratulating two states for legalizing gay marriage.

"Some great news: On Tuesday, Delaware became the 11th state to allow marriage equality. And just a few days ago, Rhode Island adopted a similar measure, which followed victories last fall in Maine, Maryland and Washington. I most certainly support marriage equality in Florida and look forward to the day it happens here," he posted on Facebook on May 8, 2013.

That doesn’t sound like the Crist we’ve always known. He’s a former Republican who turned independent who turned Democrat. He backed John McCain in the 2008 presidential contest but last year endorsed Barack Obama’s re-election.

In other words, flip-flopping is in his past.

At PolitiFact, we put politicians’ consistency on issues on our Flip-O-Meter, rating them from No Flip to Full Flop. The meter is not intended to pass judgment on their decisions to change their minds. It’s simply gaging whether they did.

So what’s the history of Crist’s position on same-sex marriage? Crist, who is believed to be planning another run for governor in his new party, "most certainly" supports it now. Let’s see whether he always has. Read more here.

What Charlie Crist said at Miami lunch before flip-flopping to support gay marriage

@SteveRothaus

Charlie Crist, rumored to be running as a Democrat for Florida governor, has come out in favor of gay marriage.

“I most certainly support marriage equality in Florida and look forward to the day it happens here,” Crist quietly announced Wednesday night on his Facebook page, hours after Delaware became the 11th state to legalize gay marriage.

Crist, formerly a Republican governor, apparently has evolved since the last time he ran for public office in 2010. During the GOP primary campaign against Marco Rubio for U.S. Senate, Crist told CNN he supported a constitutional ban against marriage equality.

Miami-Dade faces $50-million-plus budget shortfall

@PatriciaMazzei

Miami-Dade County faces a $50 million-plus budget shortfall under current projections, Mayor Carlos Gimenez warned commissioners this week after informing employee unions that the county will ask for a continuation of significant benefit concessions.

Gimenez’s administration is requesting that, for another year, workers continue to contribute 5 percent of their base pay toward the cost of health insurance, among other concessions particular to each union.

Extending the contribution requires the county to return to the bargaining table with most of its bargaining units. The mayor had said he would try to eliminate the contribution this year, and the contracts, negotiated for a three-year period, provide for reopening certain agreement provisions if the contribution is to continue past Jan. 1, 2014.

“I have directed staff to being scheduling negotiation sessions with all of [the] unions in order to come to a consensus on the terms of the agreements as soon as possible since, as per the existing contract language, there is a time window of time allotted for negotiations,” Gimenez wrote commissioners Wednesday.

More here.