Thursday Morning Reads: Prisons, casinos and hospitals

TALLAHASSEE — To recap yesterday, capitol watchers saw the Senate introduce new prison privatization bills, the governor nominate a new Secretary of State and Rep. Erik Fresen , R-Miami, file amendments to his casino bill. To catch up on that and more, here are the top five stories you should read this morning. * The Sun-Sentinel reports that the Senate moved yesterday to introduce two major privatization bills that will let them go around a court’s ruling this past summer to privatize prisons in an 18-county region in South Florida. From the story: A panel of state lawmakers gave the go-ahead Wednesday for the Senate to pursue plans to privatize 29 prisons in South Florida, a move that circumvents a court ruling last summer that blocked similar efforts. Backers of the plan say it could save taxpayers up to $45 million annually and help fund other public programs like schools or health care. But it could also cost nearly 4,000 people in Florida’s correctional system their jobs. * The Miami Herald reports that Rep. Erik Fresen has filed amendments to his massive casino bill, though it still does not have a firm date for its first hearing. From the story: The House sponsor of the bill to bring three mega resort casinos to Florida unveiled a series of amendments Wednesday to make the measure more palatable to his conservative, anti-gambling colleagues. The changes by Rep. Erik Fresen, R-Miami, are designed to “scale back existing gaming and ensure there is no additional gaming,” he said. * A Tallahassee appeals court threw out an attempt to close down a new chain of trauma centers, the Florida Current reported . From the story: An appellate court in

Tallahassee threw out appeals from some of the state’s larger safety-net facilities to shut the door on new trauma centers owned and operated by the for-profit chain, Hospital Corp. of America. In four brief opinions, the 1st District Court of Appeal refused to allow the hospitals to appeal the Department of Health’s “provisional” approval of several new emergency care centers, including a new $40 million trauma center at Orange Park Medical Center, which has opened. The DOH also had provisionally authorized trauma centers at Regional Medical Center Bayonet Point in Hudson and Blake Medical Center in Bradenton. * The Palm Beach Post writes that this is the second go-round as Secretary of State for Ken Detzner . From the story: Gov. Rick Scott has tapped long-time beer lobbyist and Tallahassee insider Ken Detzner to replace retiring Secretary of State Kurt Browning . It’s the second time Scott’s hired a former secretary of state to head the department that oversees elections and cultural affairs. * President Obama will announce new tourism initiatives at Disney today, the Orlando Sentinel writes. From the story: With his daughters back at the White House, President Barack Obama heads to Walt Disney World on Thursday for a trip that’s pure business: an announcement of several initiatives aimed at luring more foreign travelers to Florida and other U.S. hot spots. These executive orders, shown to the Orlando Sentinel on the eve of the visit, focus on reducing red tape for foreign tourists while targeting boom economies such as China, Brazil and India. Bonus Blogs * Feds release report on health care exchanges * AG announces sentencing in oxycodone case

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Thursday Morning Reads: Prisons, casinos and hospitals

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