By Kim Wilmath, Times/Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Here's what we're watching on Day 37 of the 2012 Legislature:
• The Parent Empowerment Act makes its final committee stop in the House Thursday. The bill would enable parents to demand sweeping changes at chronically low-performing schools. In some cases, parents could petition to have a charter-school operator take over.
• A bill that would change the standard for the amount of drugs someone must have to get a prison sentence makes its way to the Senate's Judiciary Committee. It already passed handily in the Criminal Justice Committee.
• A coalition of groups, including members of the Mortgage Justice group and the Occupy movement, will stage a march to the Capitol building to protest a House bill, HB 213, which attempts to speed up the judicial process of foreclosures. Florida has one of the longest of those processes in the nation.
• Now would be a good time to start practicing your "chomp." Today is Gator Day at the Florida Capitol, with University of Florida President Bernie Machen and alumni visiting Tallahassee to talk up UF's achievements — and it's more than just football championships.
• Speaking of sports, tomorrow is the first hearing in the Senate's Commerce and Tourism Committee of a bill by Sen. Evelyn Lynn, whose district includes Daytona International Speedway, that would declare car racing the official state sport of Florida.
What should we talk about tomorrow? Tweet to us @PoliticsTBTimes.