FLORIDA DIGEST April 20, 2008

**IF YOU CAN'T ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE, CONTACT US AT rays.list@comcast.net and we'll be happy to send the full article.


=
Sun-Sentinel
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/
Go to the links for the following articles:

-With two weeks to go, it's getting "Nutz" in Tallahassee
If you haven't been paying attention to the Legislature's 2008 session, here's a recap:
Starting July 1, it will be legal to bring your gun to work, but you'll have to keep it locked in your car. No word yet on whether companies will replace Casual Fridays with Winchester Wednesdays. It's still legal to hang fake bull testicles on the bumper of your pickup truck, but a state senator wants to neuter displays of the so-called "Truck-Nutz" by imposing a $60 fine.
It's still legal for Floridians to have sex with animals. It's still illegal for gays to adopt, even if they've been a child's foster parent for years. "Our state is very confused, that's all I have to say," Sen. Nan Rich, a Democrat from Sunrise, said Friday. Rich has sponsored bills that would outlaw bestiality and allow gay adoptions. Both appear dead this session. Very much alive are proposed bills that might allow the mention of intelligent design and creationism in science classrooms and a bill that would compel women to pay for and view an ultrasound before having abortions. "These issues are just a distraction," Rich said.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/columnists/sfl-flbmayocol0420sbapr20,0,7458759.column


=
To All MedicaidAdvocates.Com Members, Friends, Allies, and Supporters:
Below you will find two stories from Today's edition of the Fort Myers
News-Press Newspaper regarding the Budget cuts in Health Care and specifically how these cuts will affect one of MedicaidAdvocates.Com's newest members, Ron Tourony from Fort Myers. We need to make sure that these stories get forwarded to ALL of the State Legislators and Florida's Governor so that they can see the impact, and the ADVERSE effects, that these cuts WILL have on REAL Floridians. HOPEFULLY, before they finalize the budget and impact ALL of these lives, they will realize that it ISN'T just "ink on a page" but LIFE OR DEATH for SO MANY PEOPLE. HOPEFULLY, the Legislators will FINALLY come to realize that SAVING PEOPLE'S LIVES is a more important thing to do rather than continue TAX EXEMPTIONS for LUXURY SKY BOXES and OSTRICH FEED! HOPEFULLY............................
Bill Rettinger and Marianne Stringer - Co-Founders
MedicaidAdvocates.Com
..
State's budget crunch to hit Medicaid benefits
Most vulnerable face unkindest cuts of all
Ron Tourony of Fort Myers wants what most young men want: an education, a good job, a home of his own.
But Tourony, who has muscular dystrophy, needs state medical help to achieve that, and his coming-of-age arrives at a time when lawmakers intend to slash Medicaid, the state health insurance for low-income and disabled residents.
Tourony turns 21 in October, and when he does, he loses the children's Medicaid services that pay for 10 hours a day of nursing care, doctor visits and other medical help.


=
From Equality Florida
Florida House Passes Statewide Safe Schools Bill
Long Overdue Bill Comes Amid Assurances that All Forms of Bullying are Prohibited
(Tallahassee) By a unanimous vote, the Florida House of Representatives today passed a statewide Safe Schools bill that, bill sponsors say, will prohibit all forms of harassment including bullying targeted at students based on their race, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, physical appearance, disability, and religion.
Reps. Dan Gelber, Jack Seiler, and a bi-partisan coalition brought forward an amendment that would have expanded the examples of harassment included in the bill to encompass all of the characteristics listed in Florida's hate crimes statute. The amendment failed only after assurances from sponsors that all of these groups were already protected. Legislators zeroed in on the issue of protecting lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students from harassment with the sponsor and supporters repeatedly insisting that anti-gay bullying would be outlawed by this bill. Rep. Bogdanoff (R-Broward) and Rep. Thompson (R-Lee), prime sponsors of the bill, both stressed that protections based on sexual orientation and gender identity were already covered in the bill. "No member of this legislature believes a child should be bullied because of their sexual orientation," Bogdanoff said.
http://www.eqfl.org


=
Fort Report
http://www.fortreport.com/
Go to the links for the following articles:

-A state of hostility toward new voters
If the point of elections laws is to make voting as convenient as possible, Florida has missed it. The state has just been named by three voting rights advocacy groups as "the most hostile state in the nation to new voters." The umulative effect of some recently passed election laws has made voter registration drives more fraught with pitfalls and registering to vote more difficult. State law requires residents register to vote at least 29 days before an election. Some other states, such as Connecticut, Maine and Minnesota, allow citizens to register and vote on the same day. Florida's long lead time means that a voter has to plan well ahead in order to exercise his or her franchise. On top of that, Florida's "no match-no vote" law was upheld by a federal appellate court earlier this month. The law says that where Social Security or driver's license information does not perfectly match what is on a voter registration application, the registration is to be considered invalid. A citizen registering as "Bill," for example, could be barred from voting if his Social Security number is issued under "William."
http://www.tampabay.com/opinion/editorials/article463654.ece


=

[Send your comments about articles to Rays.List@Comcast.net]
#####