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House Panel OKs state group insurance overhaul but will Senate bite?

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A House committee approved an overhaul of the state group health insurance plan with little to no debate Thursday morning. The House Health Care Services Committee–which had wrapped up lengthy debate on an adoption bill–had actually moved to extend the two-hour meeting in case the state group health debate ran long. The bill, PCB HHSC 15-02, is nearly identical to one the House proposed last year and would redesign the state group plan in phases. The first phase, effective 2016, directs…

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Private agencies given protections for not placing adoptions that violate their religious or moral convictions

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One week after striking down a ban on gay adoption a House panel on Thursday approved a proposed committee bill that would allow private child placing agencies to refuse to perform adoptions without risking their state contracts if the placement violates their religious or moral convictions. The proposed bill, PCB HHSC 15-03, was supported by the Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Florida Eagle Forum, a self-described “pro-family” group, and opposed by the American Civil Liberties Union, the National…

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Amendment 1 budget proposal prompts objections, heated exchange

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A Senate appropriations subcommittee chairman on Thursday presented a budget proposal that provides $22 million for land acquisition, prompting another Republican subcommittee member to charge that the proposal violated Amendment 1. Amendment 1 is a conservation spending initiative approved by 75 percent of voters in November. In 2015-16, the measure will provide $741.8 million, or 33 percent of documentary stamp revenue, for water and land conservation programs. State Sen. Alan Hays, chairman of the Appropriations Subcommittee on General Government, recommended…

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Science shows March Madness fans cannot resist an underdog

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If you got that warm-‘n-fuzzy feeling the weekend Lehigh beat Duke or the year N.C. State socked Phi Slama Jama or the time Butler almost did it, you are not alone. The science shows, again and again, that we can’t resist pulling for the teams called the Anteaters (that’s UC Irvine). Or for the UABs of the world to upend the UCLAs. For the time-tested crowd pleaser, the No. 12 seed, and for anyone else with the label ‘underdog’ when…

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Mary Mulhern says ‘thank you’ to supporters as she prepares to exit Tampa City Council

in The Bay and the 'Burg/Top Headlines by

Dozens of people in the Tampa progressive community gathered Wednesday night in Ybor City to say goodbye (for now) to Mary Mulhern, the Tampa City Council woman who is leaving the board due to term limits next week. “Mary has always stood up for everybody in this community,” said Tampa attorney and prominent Democrat Gary Gibbons, who introduced Mulhern on the stage in the courtyard of Gasper’s Grotto. “Sometimes she was the only vote on a tough issue, and she…

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Yolie Capin & Frank Reddick endorse Guido Maniscalco in Tampa City Council runoff

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Tampa City Council members Yolie Capin and Frank Reddick have endorsed Guido Maniscalco in his race for the District 6 Tampa City Council seat that will be decided next Tuesday. They made that announcement Wednesday night in Ybor City. Maniscalco is battling Jackie Toledo in a fierce contest to complete the seven-member roster of the Council. All seven seats were up for election earlier this month, but the incumbents in five of those races easily took back their seats. And while…

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Legislators, ignore the Death Mermaid at your peril

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OCCUPIED TALLAHASSEE–When the Death Mermaid shows up, pay attention. Back in 1881, she appeared to Hamilton Disston, warning him against trying to drain the Everglades. Old Ham, never the most emotionally stable of multimillionaires, shut his eyes tight and swore on his mother’s grave he’d stop drinking cologne. In 1969, she scared the feds into killing the Everglades Jetport, a project beloved of South Florida Democrats. It would have been the largest airport in the world and bang in the…

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