HOUSE DEMS DEMAND MEDICAID EXPANSION BE A PART OF ANY BUDGET

House Democrats Plan Protest Vote on Health Care [The Florida Current] “House Democrats say they will stand together in opposition to the House’s budget proposal to make a statement about Medicaid expansion. ‘There’s good stuff in the budget,’ said Rep. Joe Gibbons, D-Hallandale Beach. ‘But a budget is a list of priorities and this is the most important thing for us this session: the expansion of health care coverage for hard-working Floridians who can’t afford health care coverage.’ House Democratic Leader Perry Thurstoncalled a news conference Wednesday afternoon to say Democrats won’t support a budget that does not include a plan that draws down the federal money available to expand health care to an estimated 1 million uninsured Floridians.”

ORLANDO SENTINEL: SENATE SHOULD AGAIN KILL PARENT TRIGGER

Editorial: Senate Must Shoot Down Off-target Parent Trigger [Orlando Sentinel] “[…]Taxpayer-paid assets shouldn’t be bequeathed to private operators. Yet, backers insist the idea isn’t a Trojan horse that privatizes education and funnels public dollars to charter profiteers. An argument that rings hollow given the money charter management firms have spent on lobbyists to push the idea across the finish line. And here’s what’s also telling: Groups representing parents, who are supposed to be the big winners under the bill, are among its leading foes. Parent-centric groups like the Florida PTA oppose the bill. Parents, the PTA says, already own that coveted seat at the table. Full Senate deliberation could come next week. Like last year, Florida’s public-school students would be best served with the Senate once again killing this unneeded measure.”

SEN. NELSON SUPPORTS COMMON SENSE GUN REFORMS…

Nelson Throws Support Behind Gun Background Checks [Orlando Sentinel] “U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson of Florida is backing efforts to strengthen background checks for gun purchases, telling colleagues in a floor speech that he supports a new compromise that would add another layer of scrutiny to the firearms industry. ‘Now is there anybody that does not realistically with common sense think that we should do a criminal background check for anyone that is purchasing a gun,’ said Nelson, a Democrat, in remarks. ‘My colleagues Sens. [Joe] Manchin [D-W.Va.] and [Patrick] Toomey [R-Pa.] came together to find a way to close the gun show loophole. There’s no reason, absolutely no reason, why we can’t background checks done.'”

…WHILE RUBIO IS CALLED OUT FOR ‘DESPICABLE’ FILIBUSTER THREAT OVER BACKGROUND CHECKS

Editorial: Senate Should Not Let Rubio and Others Block Vote on Background Check for Firearms Sales [Palm Beach Post] “Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., regularly carps that Washington is so broken that it can’t things done. Yet he is intent on making sure that Washington stays broken. Sen. Rubio is part of a group that vowed to keep the Senate from debating and voting on legislation to reduce gun violence. Families of children and teachers massacred in Newtown, Conn., want the Senate to vote. Fortunately, there is hope that a supermajority of senators disagree with Sen. Rubio. On Wednesday, it appeared that there were at least 60 votes to break the filibuster that Sen. Rubio and others intended to mount.” 

Editorial: Time For a Vote: No Senator Should Block the Gun Safety Debate [Pittsburgh Post Gazette] “Sen. Marco Rubio, the Florida Republican, ought to back off his threat to filibuster a vote in the U.S. Senate on reasonable gun-safety measures — that is, if he hopes to run for president someday, or even get re-elected in his own state. National polls show strong support — more than 80 percent — for comprehensive background checks. In Florida, nine of 10 people want background checks for all gun sales…Gun control has divided the nation. U.S. senators should conduct a legitimate, thoughtful debate that reflects the concerns and needs of all Americans. But filibustering to prevent the debate from even opening would amount to a despicable dereliction of the Senate’s duty — and a complete cave-in to the gun lobby over the interests and hopes of the American people.”

Gun Ad: Marco Rubio Making Florida ‘Less Safe’ [Politico] “Mayors Against Illegal Guns is out with an ad buy slamming Sen. Marco Rubio for his positions on gun control, charging that his ‘presidential ambitions make Florida less safe.’ ‘Marco Rubio, a new senator, but already looking past Florida, thinking of running for president,’ the ad begins. ‘And that has Rubio running to the right, opposing a bill on comprehensive background checks.’…The anti-gun violence group, backed by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, has taken out the ad buy targeting the Florida Republican in the Sunshine State. It comes as the Senate prepares to move forward on gun control legislation Thursday.”

Bloomberg Group Targets Rubio Over Guns in New Ad [Washington Post] “A group advocating stricter gun laws that is financed by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg (I) released a new TV ad in Florida slamming Sen. Marco Rubio (R). The spot hits Rubio over his opposition to a Democratic proposal to expand background checks and goes after his willingness to filibuster gun control legislation. ‘Marco Rubio, a new senator, but already looking past Florida, thinking of running for president,’ says the narrator of the spot the nonprofit group Mayors Against Illegals Guns is airing. ‘And that has Rubio running to the right, opposing a bill on comprehensive background checks.’…Rubio is part of a group of more than a dozen Republican senators who’ve threatened to filibuster Democrats’ gun control measures, including a proposal to expand background checks.”

GWEN GRAHAM FIGHTING TO BRING CONSENSUS BUILDING COMMON SENSE TO WASHINGTON

Graham Vows to be ‘Consensus Builder’ [Panama City News Herald] “The political season of 2014 has already begun. Gwen Graham, the daughter of former U.S. Senator and Florida Gov. Bob Graham, announced that she has filed to run for Congress in Florida’s Second Congressional District, currently held by Steve Southerland, a Republican from Panama City. Graham, a Democrat, said she is running because she wants to give the people of North Florida an independent voice in Congress – not one beholden to special interests or party politics. ‘I’m a consensus builder,’ said Graham, who works as an administrator for the Leon County School District. ‘As a chief negotiator for the school district I have been able to complete successful negotiations.'”

ST. PETE MAYORAL CANDIDATE RICK KRISEMAN RAISES OVER $50K IN FIRST QUARTER

Rick Kriseman Raises $51,000 for St. Petersburg Mayoral Campaign [Tampa Bay Times] “Rick Kriseman is working hard in his bid to unseat Mayor Bill Foster. The former City Council member and state legislator outraised Foster 2-1 in the first quarter, collecting $51,381 in campaign donations…Kriseman said this first fundraising quarter is only the beginning. ‘I’m certainly humbled and honored by the support,’ he said. ‘This is part of the reason I got into the race.'”