TALLAHASSEE -- Here’s what we’re watching on Day 14 of the legislative session (with senators working but no scheduled meetings by House panels):
• School Rankings: Gov. Rick Scott is scheduled to release rankings of Florida’s 67 school districts based on test scores.
• Privatization: The Senate’s Rules Committee takes up bills ordering the state prison system to hire a for-profit company to run prisons, and doing away with reviews to justify privatization. Those review would not be required until after a contractor is hired. The bills have stirred controversey because of new layers of secrecy they’d add.
• Public Meetings: Senators in the Rules Comittee will debate a bill requiring local governments to give people a "reasonable opportunity" to speak during meetings. The measure came after courts ruled that refusing to allow public comment is not violating the Sunshine Law.
• Lawmakers and college payrolls: An ethics bill banning lawmakers from working for colleges and universities is slated to be heard in the Senate’s Subcommittee on Ethics and Elections.
• Primary election: A bill moving the date of the primary election from Aug. 14 to Aug 21 will be debated. Some elections supervisors, including in Hillsborough County, don’t like the change.

















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