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Florida’s financial business is now easier to access.

Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink posted the state’s checkbook online. People can log onto the site called “Florida’s Checkbook,” to check the state’s balance and see how taxpayer dollars are being spent. Sink said the site will make government better by providing more transparency to the process.

“Fiscal watchdogs out there who get frustrated about not being able to find anybody who can tell them where their tax dollars are going and how much we have in the bank account, and how much we have left to spend now have some where to look,” said Sink.

You can access “Florida’s Checkbook” by going to MyFloridaCFO.com/Transparency.

Consumer advocacy groups are asking Governor Charlie Crist to veto legislation that allows doctors who don’t belong to PPO networks to receive insurance payments.

The groups say allowing out of network doctors to receive insurance checks would raise premiums. Brad Ashwell with the Florida Public Interest Research Group said the legislation could lead to surprise charges.

“This bill will likely lead to more cases of patients going to out of network doctors who charge more for service than in network doctors who will then take the check from the insurer and recoup the different directly from the patient,” said Ashwell.

Governor Charlie Crist has yet to receive the legislation. When he does he’ll have 15 days to either sign or veto the bill.

Governor Charlie Crist’s decision to run for the US Senate last week has opened a flood gate of potential candidates for 5 statewide offices in 2010. CFO Alex Sink became the first Democrat to say she was running for Governor last week, and this morning, Attorney General Bill McCollum became the first Republican to seek the state’s top job. As Mike Vasilinda tells us, with the McCullom and Sink announcements, comes of long list of statewide wannabes.

Not since Lawton Chiles walked from one end of the state to the other, and Reubin Askew was a dark horse from Pensacola in 1970, has there been this much upheaval in statewide politics.

5 Statewide offices are up for grabs, and there are plenty of people reaching out.

As many as 6 people say they could be Attorney General
A Former CFO may want the job back, but three others want it too.
Even the Agriculture Commissioners job has sparked some heat.

Political Scientist Lance DeHaven Smith says all of the interest will make the competition for campaign cash fierce.

“Everything is tight these days”, says deHaven Smith, “and companies and PAC’s and lobbyists don’t have as much money as they would have normally“.

Ironically, Both parties are trying to limit primary competition for the state’s top job.

Democrats are uniting behind Alex Sink. The GOP is pushing Bill McCullom.
Party insiders have told Ag Commission Charles Bronson to stay out, but he’s still considering his options.

“I’ve got to finish up my calls and get my final marching orders from the commanding general at home, who has been with me through a lot of battles, to see if I can convince her that we ought to do this” says Bronson.

Democrats out number Republicans by 6 hundred thousand, but 2010 is an off year election, which could drive down turnout.

Commissioner Bronson says he will make an announcement on entering the Governor’s race before the week is up.

County commissioners and environmental groups are asking the governor to veto legislation aimed at speeding up development. The bill would lower cost and eliminate state government oversight on large scale building projects. As Whitney Ray tells us, opponents of the bill say the legislation would cause more traffic jams.

Before builders can begin the cutting and hammering, they first have to pay for water, sewer and roads. Lawmakers say the upfront cost is impeding growth. Developers building big projects in Florida cities often have to fix and widen roads.

The legislature passed a bill eliminating the road fees to speed up the process. The Florida Home Builders Association said lowering the cost will attract more businesses to the state.

“Sometimes companies choose other states because you don’t have that high impact fee. That cost of doing business up front and so while growth should certainly pay for growth it needs to be fair,” said David Hart with the Florida Home Builders Association.

But The Florida Association of Counties says eliminating the fee is anything but fair. They’re asking the governor to veto the plan.

“A development now is proposed to come into an area that is already heavily congested, the transportation infrastructure that needs to be in place to support that development doesn’t have to be in place,” said Eric Poole with the Florida Association of Counties.

Which means more traffic jams, but the bill would do more than increase your drive time, it would also eliminate state oversight on large scale developments.

“It takes away the ability of the governor and the people who work for the governor to say, ‘no, that’s the wrong place to have a new development and we’re not going to let you do that,” said Eric Draper with Audubon of Florida.

The governor is expected to receive the legislation this week. He’ll have 15 days to make a decision.

With the 2010 campaign season heating up, state party leaders are trying to squelch some of the fire. Both the state Republican and Democratic Party’s want to dodge a brutal primary season. As Whitney Ray tells us, some Republicans are asking party leaders to step aside and let the voters pick the candidates.

Florida’s Primary Election is still 15 months away, but party leaders are already trying to limit who you can vote for on Primary day. The State Republican Party is putting its support behind Governor Charlie Crist for US Senate. The party is also backing a gubernatorial candidate who hasn’t even announced he’s running.

“Many times primaries are good for name recognition, things of that nature, but in this case Bill McCollum as the Attorney General has a great deal of name recognition, and as it relates to fundraising we wouldn’t have to spend money on a primary that could be very costly,” said Greer.

The state GOP will need a large war chest to take on the Democrats, who are also trying to avoid in fighting.

“The Democrats are organized and energized to bring change to Tallahassee, and we are going to do that by electing Alex Sink as our next governor,” said Florida Democrats Spokesman Eric Jotkoff.

But not every one is as quick to down play the primary.

Some Republicans are asking the state party to step aside and let the voters pick the candidates.”

Voters rights and public interest groups agree.

“To the extent that political parties dominate who can run and who can’t run as a candidate, we are going to see less interest in elections,” said Brad Ashwell with Florida PIRG.

But diminishing interest in voting is exactly what some party bosses would like. Primary Elections can either help or hurt a party. A hard fought primary can rally supporters or cause animosity toward the winning candidate. It can also give the opposing party fire power to uses in the general election.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement has identified the cause of death in all but five of the 31 unidentified graves near a state reform school.

The investigation started after former students came forward with stories of torture and murder at the hands of staff. The students attended the Dozier School for Boys in Marianna in the 1950s. FDLE says 24 of the graves hold the remains of people who died of illness or by accident. The department believes the five graves still in question contain the remains of people who died of a flu epidemic in the 1920’s. FDLE Commissioner Gerald Bailey said the department conducted a tireless investigation.

“The existence of the cemetery was known by the school staff and we found evidence to suggest this was a secret or hidden cemetery. In our quest to determine the identities of the individuals buried at the grave site we conducted an extensive and exhausted review of available records. Our investigators spend hundreds of hours viewing school letter and reports, retrieving death certificates, analyzing archives of news accounts and interviewing former residents and staff,” said Bailey.

Former students of the Dozier School for Boys sparked the investigation after they called on Governor Charlie Crist to take action. The men named their group the White House Boys. The White House is the building where many students were beaten, and according to the group some of the students who were taken to the White House were never seen again.

A David versus Goliath battle between independent insurance agents and the big companies is underway in Tallahassee. The independent insurers said legislation aimed at keeping State Farm in Florida is unfair. As Whitney Ray tells us, the motivation could be competition.

As State Farm prepares to drop a million Florida customers, a bill allowing big insurance companies to write deregulated policies is headed to the Governor. The legislation was designed to keep State Farm in Florida.

Under the plan big insurance companies could raise rates without state approval. Bob Lotane, a spokesman for the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors, said fewer rate hike restrictions would keep the big names from leaving.

“We’re losing companies that are willing to insure Floridians so let’s try something new. Lets give this a try,” said Lotane.

Independent insurance agents said the legislation creates an uneven playing field.

“It deregulates a small portion of the industry, but really not the larger portion that’s insuring Florida today,” said Jeff Grady, The President of The National Association of Insurance Agents.

Crist has fought insurance rate hikes since he took office in 2006. On the last day of session Crist was asked if he would veto the bill.

“Yeah, perhaps,” Crist responded.

If Crist vetoes the plan and State Farm leaves, independent agents would likely see an increase in business. Crist’s office has received more than 2,000 emails and hand written letters from people upset about State Farm’s plans to leave Florida.

Legislation capping rate hikes on state run Citizens Property Insurance still needs approval from the Governor. The legislation caps Citizens rate increases at 10 percent. A freeze on Citizens rates expires in January. Without the cap, rates could go up as much as 50 percent a year. Insurance lobbyist Bob Lotane said the increase will slowly drain the state run insurer, making it better able to pay claims.

“That’s going to allow them to build up their reserves, so if we have a hurricane, they have more money to pay claims. Without that money they are going to have to resort to assessing, Citizens customers first and then every other policy holder in the state, so it’s kind of a pay me now or pay me later thing,” said Lotane.

1.1 million Floridians have Citizens insurance; they contribute about two billion dollars a year in premiums, leaving an estimated 400 billion dollars in hurricane exposure in the state’s hands.

The biggest opposition to Charlie Crist’s US Senate Campaign isn’t coming from the Democrats.

A pro-gay group is challenging Crist’s sexuality in a documentary called “Outrage.” The movie aims to out gay politicians. “Outrage” calls Crist’s marriage and dating life into question. Republican Party of Florida Chairman Jim Greer is a little outraged himself at the accusations.

“Those attacks are so outrageous, I had someone tell me the other day I had someone tell me the other day I was mentioned in the national magazines and movies and I have four kids so I think anytime you are dealing with something like that it is ridiculous. It’s outrageous and it doesn’t warrant a response on any credibility,” said Greer.

Crist sexuality was brought up during his campaign for governor. Crist has been married twice and has denied being gay. Outrage was released on May 8th. It’s playing at select theaters across the country.

Florida’s Chief Financial Officer is officially making at run at the governor’s seat. The announcement comes as the other two members of the state cabinet consider jumping into the race 2010 Governor’s race. More announcements are expected soon, but as Whitney Ray tells us, the finger pointing has already begun.

Florida’s Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink wants your vote for governor.

“I’m very excited to have the opportunity to run for governor in 2010,” said Sink.

Announcements from Commissioner of Agriculture Charles Bronson and Attorney General Bill McCollum are coming soon.

The official announcements are only a formality, the battle has already begun.

Sink is calling McCollum on the carpet over a 2 million dollar no bid contract to his former political consultant for this public service announcement.

“There are plenty of other companies that would have appreciated doing that business,” said Sink.

McCollum is firing back.

“Before she points the finger at a no bid contract, which is perfectly legal as former Attorney Genera Butterworth says, she ought to look at here own. She has plenty of no bid contracts there,” McCollum said.

The three sitting cabinet members will have to make joint decisions over the next 18 months, and with the fireworks that have already begun, the campaign promises to be explosive.

Governor Charlie Crist received the 66.5 billion dollar state budget Wednesday.

The spending plan includes two billion dollars in increased taxes and fees. Crist isn’t saying whether or not he’ll veto any spending items, but is reviewing legislation that would cap lawyer fees in worker’s compensation lawsuits.

“I’m reviewing them both still to be perfectly honest with you. I have great respect for Senator Gaetz and I know that particularly the House was concerned about he worker’s comp bill, so we are reviewing both of those very closely,” Crist said.

The governor has the power to veto spending items he doesn’t agree with. He has 15 days to review the budget before he signs it.

Just because a car wreck isn’t your fault doesn’t mean your won’t pay more.

Some insurance companies are charging new customers more because they have been victims of no fault car collisions. Florida’s Insurance Commissioner asked the state cabinet to freeze the accident surcharge. The governor approved the motion, but none of the other three members would support his call. Agriculture Commissioner Charles Bronson says he needs more time to review the law before he makes a decision.

“It will come up again. I don’t think it’s going to have any major effect on the insurance industry or the consumers one way or another for the next few weeks. I’m sure we’ll probably take a look at it again. I want to get better acquainted with that provision. I am still unsure about that, that’s why I never seconded. I can’t speak for the other two,” said Bronson.

The next cabinet meeting is scheduled for May 27th.

CFO Alex Sink is the first of three Cabinet members to jump into the Governor’s race, now that Charlie Crist is out. Attorney General Bill McCullom is expected to join the race next week, and Agriculture Commissioner Charlie Bronson says he is still talking to people.

Here is the Sink Release:

A plan to give a property tax cut to first time home buyers could become a focal point of Governor Charlie Crist’s senate campaign. This legislative session Crist pushed the plan to give a 25 percent tax cut to first time home buyers. As Whitney Ray tells us, voters will have the final say on the tax cuts and whether Crist goes to Washington.

When Florida’s housing market took a dive, so did the state’s economy. An estimated 300,000 homes sit empty in the state, leaving home builders with nothing to do.

“We saw in Florida a loss of about 175,000 construction jobs over the last two years,” said David Hart a Spokesman with the Florida Home Builders Association.

The Florida Home Builders Association is supporting a property tax cut for first time home buyers. Builders hope a tax break will help jump start the housing market and put them back to work.

The proposed constitutional amendment would save first time homebuyers an average of 1,500 dollars over the five years of the exemption. The first year break would be 25 percent. The discount would phase out over the next four years. The legislation was dead until Governor Charlie Crist revived the plan the last week of session.

“It is something I am very pleased about for the people of Florida. I know that property taxes and property insurance are enormous issues for all of us and reducing both of them is important and will continue to be so,” said Crist.

Last year Crist threw his wait behind another property tax amendment. Amendment One was passed last January, and will also be part of Crist platform for Senate. The property tax cut amendment and US Senate race will both be on the November 2010 ballot.

Florida’s Veterans will soon receive money for college through the new GI Bill.

To help veterans make the transition from combat to college the state is launching its “Boots to Books” website. The site will help veterans apply for their GI Benefits and show them how to apply to state universities and community colleges. Executive Director of the Florida Department of Veteran Affairs Admiral LeRoy Collins said Florida is ahead the pack in its efforts to help soldiers cash in their college benefits.

“The Post 9/11 GI Bill is the largest and most comprehensive package of education benefits since World War II and once again Florida is taking the lead with this Boots to Books Initiative,” said Collins.

The GI Bill goes into effect August 1st, but veterans can begin searching the site now. The web address is www.flbootstobooks.org