Daily Digest for Monday, 1/23

Daily Digest for 1/23 [Listen or Download]

Senators will be hard at work, but House panels have no scheduled meetings for today, the 14th day of the Legislative Session in Florida.

Five Stories To Think About Today

* School Rankings: Gov. Rick Scott is scheduled to release rankings of Florida's 67 school districts based on test scores.

* Privatization: The Senate's Rules Committee takes up bills ordering the state prison system to hire a for-profit company to run prisons, and doing away with reviews to justify privatization. Those reviews would not be required until after a contractor is hired. The bills have stirred controversy because of new layers of secrecy they'd add.

* Public Meetings: Senators in the Rules Comittee will also debate a bill requiring local governments to give people a "reasonable opportunity" to speak during meetings. The measure came after courts ruled that refusing to allow public comment is not violating the Sunshine Law.

* Lawmakers and college payrolls: An ethics bill banning lawmakers from working for colleges and universities is slated to be heard in the Senate's Subcommittee on Ethics and Elections.

* Primary election: A bill moving the date of the primary election from Aug. 14 to Aug. 21 will be debated. Some elections supervisors, including Hillsborough County's, don't like the change.

Three Issues You Missed Over The Weekend

* According to an obscure Florida law, state-funded stadiums should be sheltering the homeless on off-nights. Bills have been filed to now enforce this law.

* Citizens Insurance reversed its stance on valuing homes using just one piece of computer software. CEO Richard Wallace mentioned three other methods Friday that the insurer will be using in the future.

* Newt Gingrich swept South Carolina on Saturday night. All eyes are turned to Florida now as the seemingly "final straw" win for Romney has turned into a dogfight in the Sunshine State.

Who To Watch Today/Quotable Quotes

* Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio. After the GOP primary upset in S.C., neither says he will endorse a candidate until Florida's primary has been decided. So keep an eye out to see what happens with them as our vote draws near.