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On Monday, a female correctional officer was sexually assaulted at a North Florida prison. The assault comes as state lawmakers are considering laying off several hundred officers. As Mike Vasilinda tells us, officers are concerned fewer officers will make prisons unsafe.

Hear it Here: Corrections Facing Cuts, Facing Problems

Florida Prisons topped one hundred thousand inmates for the first time in December. And while the number of inmates is increasing, the number of correctional officers is on the decline.

The rape of a female officer in Baker County has other officers concerned.

�Since the last round of cuts, we�ve had to critical incidents in the prisons where a female officer was killed and one was sexually assaulted,� Jim Baiardi with the Florida Police Benevolent Association said. �The staff�s backs are up against the wall.�

Baiardi has been working the Capitol hallways, trying to stave off more cuts.

The lobbying has been partially successful. Legislation moving through the Capitol isn�t as bad as first thought.

�To keep our prison gates shut, we are proposing only a two percent overall reduction in the Department of Corrections, rather than the four percent original directive,� Senator Victor Crist said.

Still, some officers will be fired.

Who gets fired from where is still up in the air. But of the 500 positions being eliminated, at least half are filled with real people.

But with more inmates and even fewer officers, Baiardi wonders what will keep his officers motived.

�It�s a dangerous job, let�s face it,� Baiardi said. �But these budget cuts are making it more dangerous. Everyday we�re walking around with more people that couldn�t behave in public.�

Negotiations will take place over the weekend, so the number of correctional officers being fired could go up, or down.

The Department of Corrections says there were 854 assaults by inmates on officers last year. While some caused major harm, many were minor in nature. The Department also disputes that cuts are responsible for the rape on Monday, saying, �The responsibility for the assault on an officer at Baker Correctional Institution (BCI) should be placed squarely on the shoulders of the inmate who committed this despicable act, not on budget cuts. BCI was appropriately staffed at the time of this incident, as are all our prison facilities.

State lawmakers are in the process of suspending the states land buying program.

Know as Florida Forever, the program costs about 20 million this year to bond land purchases. Representative Will Wetherford said if he has to choose between new lands or protecting people, he is choosing people.

�I think everybody in the legislature is a fan of Florida Forever,� Wetherford said. �It�s a tremendously successful program, however, in times where we are cutting education or impossible cuts to medicaid, we have to take our priorities and put them in order. And while I think environmental lands are important, we think we can delay it for a year and not hurt the program itself�.

Lawmakers says not buying more land will have another beneficial effect besides saving money. It will also keep more land on local tax rolls.

As lawmakers took the first steps to cut the state budget late this afternoon, schools are facing the biggest blow from the budget ax. Lawmakers are looking at chopping a half a billion dollars from education. As Whitney Ray tells us, now teachers� salaries are in jeopardy as lawmakers look at mandatory pay cuts for schools with money issues.

Hear it Here: Lawmakers Ask Schools to Tighten Their Belts or Else

Laura Bania is a first year English teacher. She fears spending cuts could cost her, her job.

�I know I�m the first on the chopping block and it�s very intimidating but at the same time I just have to be happy that I do have a job,� said Bania.

But even if Bania avoids layoffs, her salary could still be at risk. Lawmakers are looking at mandatory pay cuts for employees in districts having financial trouble.

�Let�s give the commissioner of education the opportunity to go in there and fix the problem and if necessary reduce everyone�s salary so no one loses their jobs,� said Republican Senator Mike Fasano.

The President of the Florida Education Association is crying foul.

�Actually, I don�t think that�s constitutional what they did,� said FEA President Andy Ford.

A recent study shows nine out of 10 Floridians oppose the idea. With public schools facing a half a billion dollars in cuts public outcry is reaching all the way to the governor�s office. Parents and students are getting involved sending letters to Governor Charlie Crist asking him to keep education off the chopping block.

A high school senior wrote the governor after her school ran out art supplies. Others are asking for electives like music and cooking classes be saved. The Florida Education Association wants lawmakers to pass a temporary penny sales tax increase to avoid further school spending cuts.

As state lawmakers prepared to cut the state budget, a tax watchdog is asking lawmakers to take a different approach to fill the state�s 2.3 billion dollar budget deficit.

Florida TaxWatch released 44 steps lawmakers could take to balance the budget. The recommendations include postponing construction on three new prisons, asking the federal government to pay the state all the money it�s owed and renegotiating some state contracts. TaxWatch President Dominic Calabro said the state could also do a better job of collecting taxes.

�Make sure people pay their fair share, their legal share first of all, before we ask anybody to pay a higher tax share,� said Calabro.

The group says following all 44 of the recommendations would boost state revenues by 2.5 billion dollars.

House Speaker Ray Sansom�s dealings with a Destin developer and his home town college will be taken to a grand jury later this month. As Mike Vasilinda tells us, the State Attorney in Tallahassee decided to take the case to the Grand Jury after several citizens complained.

Hear it Here: Sansom Trouble

House Speaker Ray Sansom gaveled the House into session without saying a word about his latest troubles.

Sansom has been under fire for funneling more than 25 million to his hometown college, then accepting a six-figure job.

Even more concerning is six million dollars set aside for an aircraft hanger to be used by a developer friend who gave more than half a million to the Republican Party.

State Attorney Willie Meggs, who�s circuit includes the capitol, says it will be up to a grand jury to decide if the dealings pass the smell test.

�I don�t know what passes. I don�t know much about it,� Meggs said. �All I know about it is what I read in the paper and in the media, and seen on TV. But I had a complaint, and I can do it many different ways, and this is the way I choose to start out.�

Meggs decided to refer the political hot potato to the grand jury after receiving two complaints. Orthopedic Surgeon Ray Bellamy was one of the two who spoke out.

�The Governor would say �no comment.� The Attorney General would say he had no jurisdiction,� Bellamy said.

David Plyer, a Clearwater Democrat, filed the other complaint.

�You have this fellow Samson, spending my money, our money, on projects that seem to suit his fancy,� Plyer said.

The Grand Jury could do nothing, it could recommend changes in the law, or it could find a crime had been committed.

Grand Jurors aren�t even sworn in yet. That will take place January 26th.

Sansom quit the college job on Monday, and got a standing ovation from his republican colleagues.

The parents of a slain 23 year old woman who was killed acting as a confidential informant when a drug deal went bad are pushing legislation to protect future informants.

Rachel Hoffman was allegedly killed by two drug dealers after police lost sight of her during a drug sting and her wire was discovered. Irv Hoffman and former wife Margie Weiss say future informants need protections. �The death of our daughter was tragic and needless,: said Irv Hoffman. �Rachel�s Law is our way of honoring Rachel�s memory by taking steps to ensure tragedies like this never happen again.�

�She was put in a very dangerous, very unhealthy, just terrible situation,� Irv Hoffman said. �She just had no choice. I think she was coerced to do something that she thought was basically going to save her from any incarceration. So, we want rules. We want laws. We want checks and balances.�

The legislation filed by Sen. Mike Fasano of New Port Richey requires a written contract between police and informants and any deal needs the okay of a State Attorney. It also requires police to give potential informants a full opportunity to talk with a lawyer.

A coalition of education, health care, and labor representatives are calling on the governor and lawmakers to start considering new taxes and fees. While some Democratic lawmakers are supporting the plan, as Whitney Ray tells us, Republican lawmakers say any tax decisions should be put off until March.

Hear it Here: Advocacy Groups Want Taxes on the Table

Lawmakers are considering major spending cuts to health care and education to fill the state�s 2.3 billion dollar budget deficit. Advocacy groups joined at the capitol Wednesday to express their outrage at the proposed cuts.

�With millions of Floridians seeing the vital services they deserve and relying on dissolving the only solution the legislature is willing to offer is still more cuts,� said Florida AFL-CIO spokesman Rich Templin.

The Coalition for Fair and Comprehensive Tax Reform say it�s time to stop cutting.

The coalition is asking lawmakers to extend special session and look for new sources of revenue.

Eliminating tax exemptions on bottled water would generate 42 million dollars annually. Cutting subsidies the state pays to sports teams would save 24 million. Democratic lawmakers say it�s time to start closing tax loopholes.

�Let�s take a look at those things. Nothing should be off the table. There are 23.5 billion dollars in exemptions. We need to take a look at them,� said Democratic Senator Joe Gibbons.

But Republican lawmakers say now is not the time to start reforming the state�s tax system.

�We shouldn�t be rushing a tax increase if we�re going to have any at all. It should be deliberative, it should be transparent, it should allow people to come testify,� said Republican Representative Mike Fasano.

Whether to pass new taxes or make deeper spending cuts will be a debate that will likely continue until the special session ends.

The state�s budget problems could soon fall on the backs of teachers.

Lawmakers passed a provision through a committee yesterday that would require schools to cut salaries in order to balance budgets in districts whose reserves fall below 2 percent. The Florida Education Association is outraged at the news.

�It makes a joke of the entire collective bargaining law that�s in our constitution. It makes a joke of the negotiation teachers have every year with school district to come up with pay and working conditions. It kind of makes a joke of all of it,� said FEA Spokesman Mark Pudlow.

While the provision made it through a House committee, the issue isn�t on the Senate�s agenda.

Democratic lawmakers are asking Republicans to put the breaks on spending cuts until they know how much money Florida will get from the federal government.

President-elect Barrack Obama is planning to pass a federal stimulus package his first week in office. Last month Governor Charlie Crist asked Obama for seven billion dollars, most of it for road projects. House Democrat Geraldine Thompson said heath care will get a huge chunk of what�s left.

�We are going to get additional money in Medicaid for example, which will free up dollars in general revenue, so we�re saying, let�s wait a week, let�s wait two weeks, or put into legislation as representative Fitzgerald has suggested, that we�ll replace those dollars when the stimulus package comes down,� said Thompson.

It�s still unclear exactly how much money Florida will get, but lawmakers say because of the state�s financial crisis, Florida should be at the top of the list.

Police were called to a food stamp office in Plantation to maintain order because of high levels of frustration over wait times.

Offices across the state have seen a recent spike in clients. 1.8 million Floridians are now receiving food stamps, that�s about one out of every 10. The state�s food stamp hotline has been slammed with more than 3 million calls last month, making it harder for people to apply over the phone. Secretary of the Department of Children and Families George Sheldon is asking lawmakers for help.

�I�ve also asked the legislature, and I think they�re going to do that, to give us the ability to pay overtime so that our workers can work longer hours in order to catch up with the massive influx of new applications,� said Sheldon.

Broward County Representative Joe Gibbons is on board to help fix the problem.

�We need to take that as a signal and a sign that there�s really unrest in people and people aren�t satisfied with the way we are handling our business. When you don�t have your business correct you have instances that pop up so wee need to head it off at the pass and in fact take a look at the situation, what�s causing that situation and find a way, a peaceful way to deal with it and mitigate it so it doesn�t happen again,� said Gibbons.

DCF is asking clients to be patient when calling of visiting their local food stamp offices and to check out their accounts online when possible. You can check out your account online at www.myflorida.com/accessflorida

A man who killed an 11-year-old girl after her abduction was caught on camera and broadcast nationwide, is asking that his death sentence be overturned. As Mike Vasilinda tells us, an attorney for condemned killer Joseph Smith argued before the Florida Supreme Court, that there were so many problems with the trial, Smith deserves a new one.

Hear it Here: Carlie Brucia Killer�s Appeal Heard At Supreme Court

This video sent shockwaves through parents nationwide. Carlie Brucia�s abduction caught on security cameras as the 11-year-old took a shortcut home.

Joseph Smith was caught days later and allegedly confessed to raping and murdering the 11-year-old. His alleged confession to family was a point of contention as lawyers appealed Smiths death Sentence to the Florida Supreme Court.

�The fact that his brother might have made this up is for the jury,� Public Defender Deborah Brueckheimer said.

Smith�s lawyer also raised questions about the handling of DNA that linked Smith to the killing suggesting it could have been mishandled by the FBI lab. Another objection was over graphic photos of the body shown to jurors.

�They just went too far,� Brueckheimer said.

It brought this response from one justice.

�I have yet to see photographs from any of these cases that I would say are pleasant,� Supreme Court Justice Fred Lewis said.

Here in the Capitol, House and Senate budget cutters are arguing over whether the should cut funds for prison drug treatment programs.

In 2001, when Smith was in prison, lawmakers cut all prison drug rehab funding. Whether drugs played a part in Carlie�s killing was part of the appeal.

�We know he had a long history of drug abuse of all sorts starting at a very early age,� Asst. Attorney General Carol Dittmar said.

Afterward, attorneys were reluctant to talk.

The court could rule at any time.

The court itself seemed concerned that the trial judge sited six aggregating factors in imposing death and that at least two of them may have been improper, including a prior conviction in which Smith pleaded no contest.

The state argued the 11-year-olds murder was well thought out in advance since Smith attacked her from behind with a shoe lace and strangled her while her hands were bound.

Florida CFO Alex Sink is perhaps the leading Democratic Candidate for the US Senate seat being vacated by Mel Martinez. Former Governor Jeb Bush would have been the leading GOP candidate for the open seat, but Bush said Tuesday he would not run. Sink said she has been too busy dealing with state budget cuts to think much about the Bush decision, but says she is keeping her options open.

�I am very seriously considering the US Senate race and because of the distractions here in Tallahassee and my focus on Tallahassee, it�ll be another several weeks,� Sink said.

Besides Sink, at least three Florida Congressmen are thinking about the race on the democratic side. Attorney General Bill McCollum is a leading GOP contender now that Bush is out.

Department of Corrections Photo

An attorney for condemned killer Joseph Smith is asking the Florida Supreme Court to overturn his death sentence. Smith was sentenced to death for the highly publicized murder of 11 year old Carlie Brucia in 2004.� Smith’s abduction of the middle school student was captured on security cameras and broadcast nationwide.

Public Defender Deborah Brueckheimer raised questions about the handling of DNA that linked Smith to the killing and sexual assault, suggesting it could have been mis- handled by the FBI lab and that lawyers for Smith didn�t have a chance to adequately question technicians on how the evidence was handled.

The defense questioned why graphic photos were shown to the jury and is also suggesting several jurors had already made up their minds and should have been excluded from the jury pool. The jury voted 10-2 for death.

The court itself seemed concerned that the trial judge sited six aggregating factors in imposing death and that at least two of them may have been improper, including a prior conviction in which Smith pleaded no contest. The court also asked pointed questions about Smith�s alleged drug use and whether the crime was pre-meditated.

A lawyer for the state argued the DNA was properly handled and that strangulating the 11 year old was well thought out in advance since Smith attacked her from behind with a shoe lace and strangled her while her hands were bound.

In disputing the allegation that Smith was under the influence of drugs and didn�t remember anything, Assistant Attorney General Carol Dittmar recalled testimony from neighbors who saw Smith before and after the abduction and said he was acting normally.

The court took the case under advisement. Neither attorney would talk with reporters afterward. The court could order a new trial, a new sentencing hearing, or decide the death sentence was proper.

One out of every 10 Floridians is now receiving food stamps. The number continues to rise and as Whitney Ray tells us, families who�ve never before applied for benefits are depending on food stamps to make ends meet.

Hear it Here: Food Stamp Applications Skyrocket

As the state�s unemployment rate skyrockets so does the need for food stamps. Three million calls poured into the state�s food stamp hotline last month. Lee Ann Godwin helps people with their applications and listens to their stories.

�The tears, men and women, single fathers coming in. It hurts their pride and their ego,� said Lee Ann.

The Department of Children and Families is trying to process claims with 3,000 fewer people.

�I know there is a lot of frustration in the public who can�t get through to the call centers,� said DCF Secretary George Sheldon.

The call center has been so busy that more and more people have been stopping by their local offices to apply in person.

Work has slowed for horticulturalist David Lietz. For the past few months he�s been visiting the food stamp office. Over time he�s seen a change.

�There seems to be more people and just more middle class people,� said David.

And with more members of the working class depending on food stamps, DCF hopes lawmakers will give them the money they need to extent their call center hours and pay overtime.

DCF is facing a five million dollar budget cut, but administrators hope a five million dollar bonus award the department received for being efficient can be used to bridge the gap.

Governor Charlie Crist wants lawmakers to set aside 10 million dollars to start a small business loan program.

Crist touted the program in front of economic development officials at the Governor Mansion Tuesday. The program would offer some small business owners 250,000 dollar state loans to grow their companies. The businesses would then be obligated to create jobs with the money. Crist said if the pilot program is passed and proves successful, it could be expanded.

�I wish we had more, but 10 million is an awful lot to most folks and I�m very encouraged by the response from the House already and the Senate. I think we have a good shot to get this thing done during this difficult special session where reductions are hard and it�s a challenging time,� said Crist.

The loans would come with a two percent interest rate and have to be paid back within five years.