Welcome to

Nurses, police officers, and teachers are asking state lawmakers for more money. Stimulus dollars have kept the budget cuts lower than expected, but as Whitney Ray tells us, few state funded programs will avoid the budget ax.

Hundreds of signed petitions were hand carried to the House Speaker�s Office by concerned students and parents.

�We are here because we think there are ways to raise money if they would just listen to us,� said Gunner Paulson, Alachua County parent.

At the same time, more than a hundred nurses combed the halls of the state capitol asking lawmakers to save health care funding.

�You�re not going to get the same results from less nurses, less doctors, less facilities,� said nurse Lisa Bush.

The nurses and police officers say the budget decisions made in the House and the Senate could cost people their lives. Seventy Florida Department of Law Enforcement positions are on the line, 500 hundred correctional offices could be cut.

�The community is suffering. The community is in danger. I said it before and I�ll say it now, it is a great time to be a criminal,� said John Riviera, the president of the Florida Police Benevolent Association.

Road construction Jobs are also at stake as lawmakers consider draining a transportation trust fund.

�If they go through and divert over 400 million that is going to prevent us form going and getting back in line to get more stimulus dollars,� said Doug Callaway with Floridians for Better Transportation.

The Governor and Legislative leaders say it will all work out in the end, but with a three billion dollar budget hole to fill, everyone will leave the table unhappy. State Universities are facing one of the biggest blows from the budget ax. Higher education is facing a state spending cut of more than 300 million dollars.

Governor Charlie Crist announced a new Seminole gaming proposal this afternoon.

The plan would pump 600 million dollars into the state�s checking account in 2010. In 2011, the state would get 500 million dollars. The new compact is almost identical to the original plan, but the new plan allows the state to get most of the money up front. Crist says his deal will help keep education funded through the state�s economic downturn. The plan still needs legislative approval. Right now the House and the Senate are warring over their drastically different proposals.

Governor Charlie Crist is open to drilling for oil off the coast of Florida off shore drilling.

Crist changed his tune on oil exploration in Florida this summer after gas hit four dollars a gallon. Legislation giving the governor and state cabinet the authority to open up Florida�s coast passed a House council yesterday. Crist said the state should consider all forms of energy.

�I think the more diversified we can be in terms of the energy resources we have, the stronger it makes Florida and America and I think the experience of last summer tells you when gas goes beyond four dollars a gallon it tells you that people want options,� said Crist.

If legislation pass and the state cabinet approves drilling, oil companies would be allowed as close as three miles from the shore.

Florida still hasn�t submitted its application for a waiver to pull down 2 billion federal education dollars. According to written reports, the US Department of Education is waiting on the state to get the ball rolling. A reporter asked Governor Charlie Crist about the hold up.

��The Department of Education says there�s no need for Florida to wait to submit its application for a waiver. Why are we waiting,� one reporter asked. �We send stuff to them all the time. Commissioners on it everyday,� Crist replied. �Commissioner says he�s already given you the signal to go ahead,� the reporter continued. �I don�t think so,�� said Crist.

Crist is asking lawmakers to use the money in their budget plans. If Florida does qualify for the money its unlikely lawmakers will know before session ends May 1st, which means the state would have to call a special session to balance the budget.

State lawmakers are pushing the trustees of a Panhandle college to return a tainted six million dollar appropriation that became the grounds for two indictments.� As Mike Vasilinda tells us, the six million was disguised as a classroom complex when it was really destined to build an airplane hanger for a political crone.

Northwest Florida State College President Bob Richburg and former House speaker Ray Sansom were indicted last week for allegedly disguising six million dollars for an aircraft hanger for a friend as a class room project.

Now the prosecutor is calling for the six million to be returned.

�We looked at the appropriation and the way it was done, truthfully, if people want to do what�s right, that six million dollars ought to be returned to the people of the state of Florida,� state prosecutor Willie Meggs said. � It�s their money.�

The Governor says the prosecutor is on track.

�I think he�s right,� Crist said. �It seems justified.�

A bid for the project clearly shows the intent is to build a hanger.

While lawmakers here fight over every nickel and dime, that six million dollars is enough money to let 100 teachers keep their job.

College trustees are holding an emergency meeting next Tuesday. Hometown Senator Don Gaetz says the six million is poisoning the air in Tallahassee.

�This is a toxic issue right now,� Gaetz said. �It�s an issue that keeps coming up whenever Northwest Florida issues come up. I think it would be the better part of valor to say, gosh, you know we�re not going to go forward with the project now.�

Construction on the hanger hasn�t started yet, but the college has spent 300 thousand dollars on design. That�s money tax payers may never see again.

The Grand Jurors also took aim at the state budgeting process, saying it needs to be more open. That is a message lawmakers are ignoring.

Despite reports that 21 polo ponies which died over the weekend were given vitamin shots prior to their match, the state says it still has no conclusive evidence on what killed the horses.� Agriculture Commissioner Charles Bronson says he should know something by the end of the week.

�There have been some recognition of a few physical issues,� Bronson said. �Nothing of substantial amount that would indicate why the horses would have died according to what I was told. However, the blood serology will take us until probably Friday or so, before all of that work is done. That�s a very slow, tedious process as it is in human investigation or animal investigation.�

Local and state investigations are underway. Even when the cause of death is known, officials may not be able to determine if the deaths were accidental or not.

State lawmakers have declared April Sexual Assault Awareness Month.� At a news conference today in Tallahassee advocates said one in nine women will be sexually assaulted at sometime during their life. Representative Audrey Gibson says the number may be even higher and the public needs to be aware.

�They need to know the statistics,� Gibson said. �They need to realize that it is probably even bigger than the numbers that we�re putting forth because many women don�t come forward and we need to let women know that they do need to make sure that they tell somebody.�

Many times women do no come forward because they blame themselves. Gibson says that is a fear that must be overcome.

An estimated nine Floridians overdose and die every day from prescription drugs. Florida is one of only 12 states without a prescription tracking system. Drug dealers from all over the Southeast are driving to Florida to load up on painkillers. As Whitney Ray tells us, legislation to monitor prescription drug sales could help change the state�s reputation as a pill hub.

Powerful painkillers like Vicadin and Oxycotin� are attracting drug dealers and pill addicts to Florida. Florida is just one of dozen states without a prescription drug monitoring system. Senator Mike Fasano has been fighting a seven year battle to create an electronic databases to track people abusing the system.

�The monitoring system is going to be available to every physician, every pharmacist, and to law enforcement if there is an ongoing investigation,� said Fasano.

Out-of-towners traveling to Florida and loading up on hundreds of pills at a time. Cancer Researcher, Doctor Jerry Goodwin said the abuse sickens him.

�These medications are important to cancer patients too, so we want them controlled and we want them used right,� said Dr. Goodwin.

Several bills were filed to fight the problem. Stricter legislation that would require more rigorous identification checks is being postponed until there�s more money.

The failed legislation would have required pharmacies to purchase fingerer print and eye scanning machines.

�The technology that was to be used there is very new and very expensive and this year we don�t have the budget dollars to do that,� said Fasano.

Fasano�s bill would have an upfront cost to the Department of Health, but the money would be reimbursed through federal grants and private donors.

In years past privacy issues have held up the creation of the database. Fasano�s legislation protects the prescription records of people who aren�t gaming the system.

Cancer specialists are asking lawmakers to pass a one dollar tobacco tax in order to fund cancer research. Doctors from all over the state joined the sponsor of the tobacco tax Tuesday in Tallahassee to push the increase.

The tax would generate an estimated 800 million dollars for the state. Dr. Jerry Goodwin, The Director of the Sylvester Cancer Center at the University of Miami said the increase would keep research alive during the economic downturn.

�Universities across the nation are having a hard time making ends meet and research of course suffers in that kind of an environment. We�re just in the middle of our budget cycle at Sylvester right now, and I�m really hoping we can move forward with an investment like this,� said Goodwin.

The tobacco tax passed through the Senate last week on a unanimous vote. The House isn�t including the increase in its budget proposal.

A claims bill for a man injured in a car accident with a Broward County Sheriff�s Deputy passed an important Senate committee Tuesday.

Ten years ago, Eric Brody suffered brain damage after an off duty officer plowed into his car. A judge awarded the Brody�s 30 million dollars, but the state legislature has to sign off on the deal. The claims bill is moving through the Senate, but isn�t scheduled to be heard in the House. Eric�s mom Sharon Brody says she�ll keep fighting for her son.

�It is what it is. We�ll keep fighting year after year. It�s no different. As long as it takes to get what he deserves,� said Sharon.

A Senate committee amended the bill so that if the governor signs it the money would have to come from the insurance company of the Broward County Sheriff�s Office, not taxpayers.

Oil rigs could begin appearing off Florida’s cost in as little as 18 months under legislation approved by a legislative council today in Tallahassee. If this is the first you’ve heard of the idea in recent months, you’re not alone. As Mike Vasilinda tells us, the idea caught environmental opponents by surprise when it was filed late last night.

Fueled by fears of four dollar a gallon gas, an amendment to allow oil drilling in the gulf off Florida appeared at 9:00 Monday night. It is being driven by one of the most powerful members of the Florida House and caught environmentalists by surprise.

“We’re a bit confused why, such an important issue that deserves a great deal of dialogue, and we have no objection to the dialogue, why this thing is coming on us so quickly,” Eric Draper with Florida Audubon said.

But the oil and gas industry came prepared with a poll, an economist who says it’s worth big bucks, and a comparison to Texas, which earns 7 billion a year from oil and gas.

“What does Florida get? A big, fat zero,” Louis Sessions, an oil industry attorney, said.

The measure passed 17 to 6 with just one Democrat voting yes.

Sponsor Dean Cannon says the measure doesn’t allow drilling, only the opportunity for it to be considered.

“Right now, given the current statutory prohibition, there’s no way you can even have the conversation or anyone would be able to submit a proposal,” Cannon said.

But the environmental community says the oil industry is trying to exploit Florida’s budget crisis.

It wasn’t until a week ago that the oil industry hired some of the most powerful lobbyists in town to try and push this thing through.

Governor Charlie Crist is already on record favoring the idea. Under the plan being pushed, he’d have the final say.

The grand jury that indicted former House Speaker Ray Sansom was even more critical of how the state spends your tax dollars. The jurors were shocked to hear that as few as six members of the 160 member legislature have a final say-so on what gets into the state budget. As Whitney Ray tells us, the jurors are calling on lawmakers to bring the whole budgetary process into the sunshine.

With a single phone call, Former House Speaker Ray Sansom slipped six million dollars into the state budget to build an airplane hanger for a donor. A Grand Jury indicted Sansom Friday. They issued this report.

The grand jury report cites testimony comparing the 6 million dollars to quote �a gnat hitting a windshield.� It goes on to critique the budgetary process and says �no wonder Florida is financially broke.�

State Senator Dan Gelber agrees.

�Lots of decisions are made outside of the public and we ought to make all decisions inside a noticed meeting,� said Gelber.

House Budget Chairman David Rivera said the Grand Jurors got it wrong.

�I think maybe it reflected a lack of personal understanding or firsthand understanding of the process. When you go through a conference process, you have dozens and dozens of members involved in that process,� said Rivera.

Governor Charlie Crist said the process could be more transparent.

�The more open the process can be, the more individuals have a change to review it, journalists, the executive branch, what have you, the better it is going to be for everybody,� said Crist.

The governor has the authority to nix spending he doesn�t agree with but he let the six million dollars for the hanger disguised as a school building slip through the cracks. Crist says he would have vetoed the six million dollars Sansom doled out to the donor had he known more about it. Still, TaxWatch, a government watch dog group, called the spending into question in a highly a publicized annual report.

Drastic differences in the House and Senate�s budget proposals could force lawmakers to extend the legislative session.

A joint meeting to begin hashing out the differences was canceled Monday to give each chamber more time to review the proposals. The Senate bill is about a half a billion dollars higher than the House proposal. It also relies more heavily on gambling money and higher cigarette taxes. House Budget Chairman David Rivera says his chamber is ready to negotiate.

�All the issues involve revenues and expenditures. There is nothing that is necessary off the table. I think everything is under discussion and that�s the biggest part of having good faith negotiation making sure you�re open to those types of discussions,� said Rivera.

Governor Crist says with a three billion dollars budget shortfall the state can�t afford to waist money extending session.

�I think that people are anxious to wrap up and get done on time; that saves the taxpayers money when the legislature finishes on time and I think they will get there,� said Crist.

The governor is asking lawmakers include two billion federal stimulus dollars that is waiting in limbo in their budget. If Florida is denied the money, lawmakers would have to call a special session to make up the shortfall.

A Public Service Commissioner accused of championing higher rates for utility companies was reconfirmed by a senate committee Monday.

A complaint against Commissioner Lisa Edgar was recently filed with the state�s ethics commission. State Senator Mike Fasano drilled Edgar about her support of recent rate increases. Fasano was the only committee member to vote against Edgar�s confirmation. Committee Chairman Jim King said some of the complaints against the commissioner were unreliable.

�A lot of the information being circulating, not in this meeting but on the blogs, was unsigned and I think most of us are very sensitive to the fact, we�re a little bit leery of anybody who give a comment adverse to us or anybody and doesn�t sign it,� said King.

Edgar has to face one more committee stop this week before she is reconfirmed for service.

FSU football star and Rhodes Scholar Myron Rolle will spend part of his summer working with foster kids.

Rolle is partnering with the Department of Children and Families to host a leadership camp for a hundred foster kids. The camp will be held in Starke, Florida and will focus on physical health and leadership. The camp will be named after Rolle and will feature several NFL players. Rolle said the camp will help teach kids to become leaders in their communities.

“These 12, 14-year olds, they�re going to be the ones taking care of us and leading the country in the future and we want to make sure that we provide them with the ample opportunity and the skills to do just that,” said Rolle.

The camp will be held June 15 � 19th. 50 boys and 50 girls from Florida’s foster care system will receive invitations to the camp.