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A man who blocked legislation to repeal the class size amendment against powerful forces, fought mandatory seat belt use and received threats for blocking legislation to insert a feeding tube in Terri SCHIAVO, is being mourned tonight.  State Senator Jim King died at age 69 from pancreatic cancer. He was first elected to the state house from Jacksonville in 1986, and as Mike Vasilinda tells us, has been a voice of reason ever since.

When the governor called a special session on abortion in 1989, and nothing happened. King was quick with a quote.

“What we have is a Pandora’s Box and we’ve opened it and we’ve got to live with it,” King said.

As lawmakers cranked out hundreds of bills on the final day a few years later, he was a voice of caution.

“We have passed things that we said, ‘well, I didn’t know that was in the bill. Let’s not do this again,” King said.

When then governor Jeb Bush wanted the class size amendment repealed, King, who had risen to senate president,  fought back saying the same voters who passed class size amendment were smart enough to also have elected him.

“We all swore an oath to accept the responsibility of carrying out the will of the voters,” King said.

And when Terri Schiavo made national news, King ended up on a wanted poster for blocking attempts to reinsert her feeding tube. His only comment:

“It’s a nice likeness,” he said.

King often joked about his size to his political advantage, including blocking seatbelt use.

“I will admit that there are some cars, particularly small cars, that don’t fit me,” he said.

The Jacksonville senator could also be persuaded to change his mind when facts compelled him and he would do it with humor.

“I find myself between the dog and the fire hydrant,” King said.

Jim King will long be remembered for his compassion and for making the work here fun, even when it wasn’t.

King served for 23 legislative sessions. Governor Charlie Crist will call a special election to fill the Jacksonville Senate seat soon.

The hallway on the capitol’s fourth floor was lined with state troopers as lawmakers and family entered the House Chamber to honor Jacksonville Senator Jim King. King died of pancreatic cancer at age 69. The ceremony was attended by Governor’s past and present, union presidents, lobbyists and candidates. Senate President Jeff Atwater says King was best known for his humor and his ability to find compromise.

“Jim encouraged the full and free expression of opinion, appreciated the richness of honest debate, and refused to preside with a heavy hand,” Atwater said. “His greatest satisfaction came from change he could affect in others. For Jim, it was less a matter of what could be written into law, than what could be inspired in people.”

King was an unabashed booster for Florida State University. His ashes will be interred on the FSU campus in the building named for him in the medical school.

Car dealers across the state are coming off a record breaking week. The Cash for Clunkers program sent car sales soaring, but now the program is out of gas. Car sales are one of the biggest tax generators and as Whitney Ray tells us, revenue collected from the program could help the state out of a three year budget deficit.

At Tallahassee Ford Lincoln Mercury it took no time for the Cash for Clunkers program to go from zero to 60.

“We sold out of most carlines that qualified for the clunker program.”

But now Cash for Clunkers is out of gas, burning through a billion dollars in less than a week.

“All the dealers are operating on the pretense that the Senate will pass this extra two billion dollars,” said Mickey Antkinson, new car sales manager at Tallahassee Ford.

If Congress votes to extend the program, Florida stands to gain millions in sales tax collections. Car sales account for one in five sales tax dollars in the state’s bank account.

Before the program kicked off tax collections from car sales fell 20 percent. Rob Weissert a spokesman for Florida TaxWatch said a boost in car sales will bring in millions of revenue dollars for the state.

“Auto sales and accessories are the 3rd largest category of sales tax revenue collections and sales tax revenue makes up around 75 percent of the general revenue the state collects every year,” said Weissert.

Car dealerships also employee 75-thousand Floridians.

“The economy depends on them. Their local areas depend on them and their employees depend on the jobs, so this shot in the arm is important, said Ted Smith, President of the Florida Auto Dealers Association

The success of the program is putting pressure on the US Senate to pass an extension quickly. There’s concern that car dealers have already handed out more than a billion dollars in rebates. Dealerships say an extension may be needed simply to pay all the current claims.

Florida workforce offices will share three million dollars in Federal money to help people whose unemployment benefits are running out. Nationwide, a million-and-a-half people are expected to exhaust unemployment compensation in September. As Mike Vasilinda tells us, the money couldn’t come at a better time for Florida.

14 thousand Floridians have already exhausted all of their unemployment benefits. Davin Bowers is about to become part of that statistic.

“I’ve got one more check, actually,” Bowers said. “One more check and then it’s out.”

What do you do after that?

“I don’t know. I guess keep coming to Workforce and looking,” he said.

Most unemployed are eligible for up to 26 weeks of state paid benefits and up to another 53 weeks of federal extended benefits.

By the end of the year, one of every four unemployed Floridians will have exhausted every bit of unemployment available.

Statewide, almost a million people are looking for work. Renard Harden has some time before his benefits run out, but, with no job prospects, he’s concerned.

“I’d rather be working. It’s a help. It’s not going to pay all the bills but it’s a help,” Harden said.

Florida just received 3 million dollars in Federal money to help people whose benefits are gone. Kim Moore of Workforce Plus says the cash will pay for one on one counseling.

“The coach will look at your specific situation, help develop a plan of action as far as where you go next, look at the strengths that you bring to the table, assesses the weaknesses that you probably need to work on,” Moore said.

Counselors can expect to be busy. 22 thousand Floridians are expected to run out of benefits each and every month through the end of the year.

The maximum unemployment benefit is three hundred dollars per week, paid every other week.