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Leaders at the state’s only public historically black university are optimistic about the future, despite another blow to the school’s reputation.  At a meeting in New Orleans on Tuesday, an accrediting board voted to extend Florida A&M University’s probation for another six months.  On Wednesday afternoon, FAMU’s president addressed the latest news.

“Our academic programs are as strong as they have ever been,” said James Ammons, FAMU’s president.  “And if you take a look across this campus at graduates from our program, you will find that those graduates are not only competing, but they are winning out there in the global marketplace.”

President James Ammons believes that the accrediting board might have lifted the probation if the school had one more week to present the most recent state financial audit.  It showed that FAMU’s books were in order for the first time in three years.
 

Both House and Senate leaders believe the legislature should have the power to sign off on any gambling deal.  And as Chris Casquejo tells us, for the first time, the public had its say before lawmakers.

Here it here: Senate: “We Can Negotiate Our Own Gambling Compact”

Under a 25-year agreement signed with the state, the Seminole tribe can have slots and table games at 7 Indian casinos, but not roulette or craps.  Brian Pitts was the only non-politician to speak out on gambling before lawmakers.  He came all the way from St. Petersburg.

“People end up getting into debt,” Pitts said.  “People start getting themselves in trouble.  People start stealing.”

The Senate’s legal counsel told lawmakers that if the Florida Supreme Court rules against the governor, the legislature can start over and negotiate its own compact with the Seminole tribe.

The Supreme Court will begin hearing oral arguments at the end of next month.  The timing concerns some lawmakers.

Republican Dennis Jones heads the Senate committee that regulates gambling in the state.

“It’s suspicious that the Court picked January 30th, the day after the January 29th vote,” said Jones.  “But time will tell on that issue, whether that vote influences what they might present to us.”

The incoming Senate President agrees that lawmakers should ratify any agreement.

“We’re simply asking the courts to say, is this an issue of the separation of powers?” asked Sen. Jeff Atwater, from North Palm Beach.  “And should it be the role of the legislature to enter into that relationship?”

Although the governor signed a compact with the tribe, the deal is not official until the federal government approves.

If lawmakers ever approve an expansion of gambling in Florida, the state gets nothing from the tribe.

It’s down to three finalists in the contest for a new state of Florida song to replace Swannee River.  State Senator Tony Hill and Representative Ed Homan made the announcement.  More than 200 people submitted entries. 

“We’re not erasing Swannee River,” said Rep. Ed Homan from Tampa.  “And people can sing it as much as they want.  It’s a part of Florida’s history.  We’re not erasing the fact that Indians lived in Florida or anything else about our history.  But Florida’s change since when that song was chosen.  I think it’s admirable that Senator Hill says it’s time for new song.  And the governor’s behind that and so am I.”

To vote for your choice, go to www.justsingflorida.org on the web.  The new state song will be revealed next month.

Republican Bob Milligan is the new temporary executive director of the State Board of Administration.  Milligan was Florida’s last elected comptroller.  He steps in for Coleman Stipanovich, who resigned last week after hundreds of cities and towns pulled out billions of dollars from a local government investment fund.

“He’s a proven leader, has a lot of credibility,” said Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink.  “And perhaps more importantly, he is available to serve in this interim capacity.”

Milligan called a January 3rd meeting to hear concerns about the troubled Local Government Investment Pool.

Florida only public historically black university was hit with another blow.  The Southern Association of College and Schools voted to extend Florida A&M’s probation for another six months.  Students reacted to the news.

“I have 4 or 5 years left,” said Oswald Cunningham, a FAMU student from Palm Coast.  “So by that time, FAMU will have a better name for themselves, especially with Dr. Ammons.”

University officials received a clean audit on Friday.  Because of accounting irregularities from the previous presidency, FAMU must still prove to lawmakers and outside auditors that it can manage its own affairs.

Republicans formally designated North Palm Beach Senator Jeff Atwater as next year’s President at an early evening ceremony in the historic chambers at the Old Capitol. Miami Senator Alex Villalobos was originally in line to succeed Ken Pruitt as leader, but Atwater won the power struggle. He spoke of the perceived rift between the Senate and the House. The Senate essentially forced the House to take or leave its property tax cut amendment in October, which voters will decide in January.

“I wouldn’t call it so much a rift,” Sen. Atwater said. “We come at this from dynamics of different perspectives. And to come together now, what we did this past couple of months, we lay before the voters. But it’s a step. We have to come right back with ideas as to how now might we structure our taxes so that private property ownership is truly possible.”

Atwater was elected to the Senate in 2002. He served one term in the House.  He’ll take leadership of the Senate if Republicans keep their majority after next fall’s election.

Governor Charlie Crist has called for an emergency meeting of the State Board of Administration on Tuesday afternoon.   He wants an update on the Local Government Investment Pool. 

Hundreds of local governments pulled out billions of dollars in November because of fears that the fund had exposure to mortgage-backed securities that had been downgraded.

Meanwhile, Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink is asking the SBA audit committee to investigate the investments that likely caused the run on the fund.

 Read it here: CFO’s letter on state investment fund

Problems are already cropping up in computerized voter registration records with the January primary just weeks away.  But as Chris Casquejo tells us, election supervisors say if voters want to be counted, they should double-check their information early.

Hear it here: Voter Registration Problems

Nicholas Martinez helps keep computerized voter information in the Leon County Supervisor of Elections office.  He was surprised to find that he was one of 16,000 people with the same wrong previous address, an apartment complex in Duluth, Georgia.  But that’s not all.

“We did notice some party change issues that were taking place last year,” Martinez said.  “But mostly it’s been oddities in the audit trails.”

A wrong prior address would not prevent someone from voting.  But a party change would.  The presidential preference primary is limited to Democrats and Republicans. But an important property tax vote is open to everyone.  Florida’s Secretary of State says the problems are not at the state level.  His office found only 27 voters with a previous Duluth, GA address.

“We don’t need to be pointing fingers at one another,” said Secretary of State Kurt Browning.  “But I think it’s an important note to make.  That is, the counties maintain their own database.  And we have a copy of that database.”

Local election supervisors say voters can take control.  Check your registration and all your other information before you head to the polls.

Leon County Election Supervisor Ion Sancho could not explain why his office’s records conflict with state records.

“The critical issue is to identify the problems now,” Sancho said.  “And then take the kind of action necessary to make sure Florida doesn’t disenfranchise legal citizens.”

This is the third presidential election cycle in which questions have been raised about voter rolls in Florida.

Voters have until 30 days before the January vote to correct registration information.

Teens who send text messages while driving are the target of a proposed law.  If passed, Police would be able to cite drivers 17 and under who use cell phones, laptops or walkie talkies behind the wheel. As Chris Casquejo tells us, some teens believe they can text and drive without risking their own safety.

Hear it here: Proposed Law Targets Teen Drivers Text Messaging

Scottie Donaldson is an admitted text message addict. She sends about 30 messages a day, and about 5 while driving.  She has stayed out of any accidents.

“I’ll do it at a stoplight,” she said.  “I don’t switch lanes when I’m texting.  Like, I know what I can and can’t do.”

The proposed law would work like Florida’s seat belt law.  Officers could only ticket teen drivers if they stopped them for another offense like speeding.  The Florida Highway Patrol says teens, in particular, need to eliminate any distractions.

“Put a young driver behind the wheel, and then they start texting or talking on the cell phone, or even talking to friends in the vehicle, we know that the consequences are lethal,” said Florida Highway Patrol Major Ernie Duarte.

Teens argue that they need to have their cell phones in the car.  Otherwise, they wouldn’t have a way to call their parents if they got into an accident.

17-year-old Jeff Naftzinger does not support the new law.  But he knows better than to text while driving.

“I’ve read them while driving,” he said.  “But I can’t focus on the road and text at the same time. So I tend not to do it.”

17 states already have similar law banning cell phones and text messaging among drivers 17 and younger.
 

The Local Government Investment Pool fund bled more than a half a billion dollars on the second day it was re-opened.  Cities and towns deposited $1.5 million into the fund, but they took out $560 million.  About $10 billion is left.  State leaders froze the fund last week, after concerns over exposure to subprime mortgages caused a run that depleted more than half of the fund.

“We appear to be having a number of financial institutions in the state that are stepping up and trying to work with investors and trying to help them make ends meet, whether it’s a line of credit, or some type of loan with the withdrawal process open from the SBA fund,” said Tara Klimek, a spokesperson for Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink.  “So it seems like there’s a number of different options out there.”

The investment firm that is now handling the fund split it up into two different funds.
The bulk of the fund is invested in low-risk securities, the rest in riskier investments.

Bigger classes, fewer faculty members, and students taking more time to graduate could be in store for those who attend Florida’s 11 public universities.  The state university system expects to see its budget slashed by $200 million dollars when lawmakers return next spring. The Chancellor of the Board of Governors is deeply concerned.

“The value of a Florida university degree is declining in the competitive global marketplace,” said Chancellor Mark Rosenberg.  “The value is declining.  And when value declines, that means our graduates who have Florida degrees and the would-be graduates who will get them are going to be less competitive in the global marketplace.”

To help plug the money holes, tuition is increasing 5 percent at Florida’s state universities next semester.

A new website will help 250,000 former felons get one of their civil rights back.  Since Governor Charlie Crist signed an order in April to cut through the backlog, only 15 percent of those eligible regained their rights.  But as Chris Casquejo tells us, a coalition of groups says it will try to achieve where government has failed.

Hear it here: Voting Rights for Former Felons

250,000 former felons have their voting rights back and don’t know it, says a coalition of groups. Non violent criminals who have paid their debt to society got their right to vote back automatically in April, but no effort has been made to tell them, until now.

“Citizens have no idea that their voting rights have been restored, or that they must register to vote to go the polls in 2008,” said Reggie Mitchell with the People for the American Way Foundation.

Two Democratic lawmakers have introduced a bill to require the secretary of state to tell local election supervisors about ex-felons who can now vote.

“This is about making these citizens whole again and them going from restoration to participation,” said Sen. Tony Hill, a Jacksonville Democrat.

Clay Patrick spent a year in prison for cocaine trafficking in 1988. 

The Clemency Board restored all of his rights. The right to vote is not something Patrick takes for granted.

“I don’t understand why people have to apply for their voting rights now.  I think once they’re turned out and off probation, they should be restored.”

Ex-felons who want to restore their civil rights can visit a new website to help them through the process.

With his rights back, Clay Patrick is looking forward. The question is whether thousands of others will know to look on the web to see if they are already eligible to vote.

Ex-offenders can visit www.restorerights.org or www.restoremyvote.com on the web or call a toll-free hotline at 1-877-60-RESTORE.

One of Governor Charlie Crist’s most trusted advisers is stepping down.  Chief of staff George LeMieux is returning to private law practice at the end of the year.  He’ll be succeeded by current deputy chief Eric Eikenberg.  LeMieux has been Crist’s right-hand man for 5 years, dating back to the governor’s days as Attorney General.  LeMieux was instrumental in negotiating the recent gambling compact with the Seminole Tribe.

“George is an exceptional man,” Gov. Crist said.  “I can’t say enough good things about my friend George LeMieux.  It’s bittersweet today, because Eric’s ascension is very sweet.  George’s departure is difficult.  But I love you, George.”

“I’ve had 20 years of good experiences in the past 5,” LeMieux said.  “And I’m humbled and honored by it.  Today is a tough day, but it’s the right thing to do for my family and for my career.”

Eikenberg takes over in January.  The 31-year-old served 4 years as chief of staff for former U.S. Representative Clay Shaw, Jr.

Local governments got access to some of your tax dollars invested in a troubled state fund today, but not all of their investments. And as Mike Vasilinda tells us, they may not have access to the rest of the investments for months.

Hear it Here: Troubled Fund Re-opens

The state is trying to help local governments borrow cash from banks to meet payroll and other expenses, but it is not offering to cover the increased costs when they have to borrow.

Hal Wilson was at his computer at 7:30 Thursday morning only to find the state investment website down. When it did open an hour and a half late, he asked the state to send 2 million of Jefferson County school money to a local bank.

By midday, the money had still not shown up in the county’s account.

“I think it would be foolish to [put more money in the fund] right now. The folks I’ve talked to, they’ve stopped deposits.”

Local governments were allowed to take up to 2 million out of their accounts for the first time in a week. The state CFO’s office says that just over a billion was pulled out of the fund.

“We didn’t have a run on the fund,” CFO spokesperson Tara Klimek said. “We had investors who are staying in the fund, who are depositing new money into the fund.”

The big “if” in all of this is something called Plan B. It has 1. 8 billion in the riskiest investments. And they’re now worth only a fraction of their original costs.

The state will use interest from the money it still has frozen in the safe fund to try and rescue the failed investments. But it comes at a cost. Every depositor will lose access to about 15 percent of their deposit for as long as a year and maybe forever. For Jefferson schools, it is not good news.

“If we can’t get access to that money fairly quickly, we’re going to have to cancel construction projects,” Wilson said.

Just over Ten billion of local taxpayers money remains frozen. There is no timetable for the state to give governments access to their cash.

The state is trying to help local governments borrow cash from banks to meet payroll and other expenses, but it is not offering to cover the increased costs when they have to borrow.

Citizens Insurance, the high risk insurer in Florida,  is among the investors who have had their cash frozen in a state-run investment pool. The pool reopened Thursday for limited withdrawals, but Citizens is leaving all of its nearly two billion in cash in the fund. The good news is that Citizens has enough cash to operate, but if a major catastrophe were to hit the state, the insurer would be strapped for cash.

“We’re in a different situation than a lot of the cities and the counties and the school districts, in that this is surplus money for us,” Citizen Insurance spokesman Rocky Scott said. “This isn’t operating money. We don’t need this to run our operation, we don’t need it to make payroll. We don’t need it to make anything other than catastrophic damage claims.”

Citizens also has about 260 million invested in the state pool that went into questionable investments. It is unlikely the insurer will see any of that cash for a year or more, it ever.