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Governor Rick Scott’s job approval rating has stayed the same, at 35 percent, but according to a Quinnipiac Poll released today, the percentage of voters who disapprove of the new governor has more than doubled.

48 percent of the 15-hundred voters polled say Scott is doing a poor job governing. Pollster Peter Brown says the Scott brand is down right now, but he has plenty of time to repair his image before the next election in 2014.

“Currently, Scott is a four letter word in the state of Florida. But he doesn’t come up for reelection in the state of Florida for another 41 months. That’s a long time,” said Brown.

But not all of Scott’s plans are unpopular with the public. 80 percent of people polled agree with Scott’s decision to drug test state workers.

A giant skillet of Paella fed lawmakers, lobbyists and regular folks at the state capitol today.

The Attorney General, Commissioner of Agriculture and Lt. Governor Jennifer Carroll helped serve the food as part of the Miami-Dade Days celebration. The governor traditionally serves the paella, but Governor Rick Scott was out of town. Carroll was more than happy to fill in.

“Anytime you’re feeding people, you’re going to draw a crowd. But this is special food from Miami-Dade. The cook, I was serving next to him, and he was out here all night long, preparing the meal. Which smells very good, but I haven’t tasted it yet,” said Carroll.

The huge batch of paella could have served three thousand people, but this year just under a thousand showed up to be fed.

Nurses are roaming the halls of the state capitol today asking lawmakers for more money for public hospitals. The nurses fear with the governor and legislative leaders so eager to privatize public services… hospitals like Jackson Memorial in Miami-Dade County could be next. Martha Baker, a nurse and President of SEIU (Service Employees International Union), says its time for all public employees to fight back.

“Statewide, it’s about the attack on the public altogether. Public safety net hospitals, such as Jackson, throughout the state. Attacks on education. Rick Scott has been a wrecking ball on the public sector in Florida. We’re up here objecting to that today. Main focus: save Jackson Memorial Hospital, save our public health system, save safety net hospitals,” said Baker.

Around one today a hundred nurses rallied in the capitol then split into groups to lobby lawmakers.

Just days after publicly threatening a shutdown, the Florida court system is receiving emergency funds from Governor Rick Scott. Scott gave the courts a 20 million dollar loan this morning. Without the money judges say the courts would have to close for 14 days over the next two months. Attorney General Pam Bondi is praising the move by Scott. She says a shut down would have been devastating.

“We would have had to furlough people, our courts, our prosecutors. Crimes happen 24 hours a day, seven days a week. And when someone is arrested, they legally have to come before a judge within 24 hours. So, the courts have to operate, civil and criminal,” said Bondi.

Now the courts turn their attention to the legislature where next year’s budget faces reductions.

State lawmakers want to crack down on kids who wear their pants too low. Legislation banning saggy pants students from sports, band, and choir classes is close to becoming Florida law. As Whitney Ray tells us, the sponsor of the baggy britches bill says students need to learn how to dress for a more competitive job market.

Sophomore Bern Mustian prefers to wear his pants the way they were meant to be worn. Above his hips. If Bern does bust a sag… it’s an accident.

“Sometimes it just happens,” said Bern.

In the hallways he sees classmates who sag their pants… but says it bothers the teachers more than it does him.

“I just don’t look at that person. The first thing I don’t look at is their pants,” said Bern.

But in extreme situations in schools throughout the state sagging is so bad… underwear or even backsides can be scene. State lawmakers say its too much.

“If we teach them how to read, writting, and arithmetic, we can teach them how to dress,” said Siplin.

State Senator Gary Siplin is proposing legislation that would require public school students to pull their pants up.

Caught with their pants down the first time and the principal would call the student’s parents. The second time would result in a face to face meeting with the principal and the student would be banned from sports, arts and music classes for five days.

The third time a student was caught showing their underwear… would result in 30 days without the fun classes…. and in school suspension. Some lawmakers think it’s too much.

“We may be concerned that this is addressing a larger social issue. The true addressing of that issues begins at home,” said Representative Dwight Bullard.

The baggy britches bill has failed several years running… this year it appears to have more support. The bill has already passed the full Senate. Today it made it through its final House committee stop and could heard by the full House early next week.

Local governments around Florida are losing an estimated 28 million dollars to online travel companies. The Reason: Florida law is unclear over when tourist related sales taxes should be paid when rooms are purchased online.

On Expedia, you can book a room at a Disney World hotel for 139 dollars… a 92 dollar saving. Expedia bought the room a lot cheaper than that…and the only tax paid is on what Expedia paid for the room…not what the guest eventually paid.

Counties are losing an estimated 28 million dollars in tourism taxes because of the way the tax is being collected.This House committee killed legislation aimed at giving Expedia and others a pass on paying taxes at the higher rate…but then this member…Debbie Mayfield, changed her vote.

“I don’t know that leadership worked hard to make it not fail” says Mayfield  ”That wasn’t my purpose of reconsidering it. After I thought about it, I thought there were a lot of questions.”This fight is a whole lot more than just Expedia or other travel companies on line. It’s really a battle between Disney and Universal against all the other hotels in Florida.

The Theme parks and on line travel agents have mounted a full court Pr effort. Expedia’s lobbyist, Jennifer Greene, says all they want is certainty in the tax law.“The law is ambiguous and nobody knows what to follow, and businesses can’t function, and hotels can’t offer rooms and customers can’t buy rooms,” says Greene.

Hazelle Rogers voted no the first time and is sticking to her guns.

“For me”, says the Broward County representative, “I think we’re leaving a lot of revenue on the table. And at the time when we need to look at all the funding sources that we can”.

If the bill does become law, counties will continue to have less money for tourist related activity.

The House Finance and Tax committee turned last week’s 12 to11 vote against the bill into an 18 to 6 vote for it, sending the 28 million dollar tax break to the House Floor.

This is the 16th annual Children’s Week at the state capitol. The annual event highlights the needs of Florida’s kids, and as Mike Vasilinda tells us, the needs have never been greater.

A hundred thousand paper hands hang in the Capitol for Children’s Week. The bright colors offer hope for the future, but advocates say the 2011 budget will be anything but kind to kids.

“We’re gonna knock kids out of healthcare,” Roy Miller with the Children’s Campaign said. “We’re gonna put more kids in incarcerated situations because we’re not going to care for them properly in the community.”

Healthy Families, which helps troubled families stay together, is being cut…again. School readiness is on the chopping block. And rich, poor, or middle class, a nearly 7 percent cut to public schools will affect millions of children.

800,000 Florida children already live below the poverty level. That’s defined as a family of four making less than 22,000.

But there are bright spots. 16-year-old Brianna Thomas is about to be adopted. Brianna was at the Capitol with her soon-to-be mother to give hope to other older foster children.

“I was abused and neglected by my grandma,” she said. “She did these things because she is an alcoholic.”

In foster care for three and a half years, Brianna says she knew she would have a family someday.

“I knew God had a family for me but I didn’t actually know that it was this soon,” she said.

As part of Children’s Week, the Department of Children and Families announced a three-hundred-thousand dollar gift of the book, Victor’s Dream. The book paints a picture of hope for children like Brianna in foster care.

The Department of Children and Families has sent $174,000 originally slated to be spent for administering federal homeless money to seven counties. The money will be used to keep families in their homes. DCF Secretary David Wilkins says he was able to keep the money in the field by reviewing how the agency administered the funds.

“The homeless grant money, the way the federal program works, is that goes to the community organizations,” Wilkins said. “So our focus is get as much of that money to the communities as we can. And what we did in that exercise is really what costs can we take out of the administrative function of how we administer that program, so really all that money can get down to local programs. So I was really pleased that we were able to accomplish that.”

The money is going Kids Central, which serves Citrus, Hernando, Lake and Sumpter counties, and to the Okaloosa Walton Continuum, serving those two panhandle counties.

Two groups of activists are using the anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King’s assassination to send a message to Governor Rick Scott and the Florida legislature. As Whitney Ray tells us, Unions and Immigration advocates say their civil rights are under attack and Dr. King has inspired them to speak out against proposed changes.

43 years ago, Dr. Martin Luther King rallied with on strike workers in Memphis

“It really doesn’t matter with me now, because I’ve been to the mountain top,” said King in his 1968 speech.

Shortly after delivering this world famous speech the civil rights leader was shot and killed.

Monday in Tallahassee… about 70 state workers, students, and civil rights advocates recited King’s final speech.

The group is taking a stand against pension reform, layoffs, and privatization plans…and on the anniversary of King’s assassinations. They remembered King’s calls for a strike.

But a state worker strike in Florida is out of the question because it’s banned in our state constitution. Protestors outside the capitol see another way to get their point across. They say politicians who support the changes will pay at the polls.

“All of these working class people who voted Republican last time and are now crying crocodile tears, maybe they’ve seen that this is not the way to go,” said FSU Professor Ray Flemming.

Inside the capitol, Latino Americans used the anniversary to protest immigration reform legislation they say would lead to racial profiling.

“Right now it seems like it’s okay to racially profile Hispanics. Is that okay? Just because the government says it’s okay doesn’t mean it’s right. Just like it wasn’t right to have slaves, it wasn’t right to treat African Americans differently,” said Betzy Rama.

In King’s honor the advocates prayed… and called for peaceful protests. Most Republican lawmakers say they don’t like making the changes to the pension plan or voting for state worker layoffs, but since the state has 3.75 billion fewer dollars this year than it did last…. They say their only other option is raising taxes.

Florida State University is bringing in experts from around the nation to discuss how energy development can create more jobs. They say research universities are key in jumpstarting technology fields in Florida. The FSU Institute for Energy Systems, Economics and Sustainability (IESES) is hosting a two day symposium to discuss innovative development ideas. The main focus of symposium is creating business opportunities through cleaner energy and smarter development. Symposium Chairman Dave Cartes says the scientists will share their ideas with state lawmakers and look to have an impact on current legislation and policies.

“We have to follow the political agenda. It doesn’t give us any good vice to give advice in the direction that the politics is not necessarily going. You can budge the elephant just a little bit but you’re not going to push it across the river,” said Cartes.

The symposium will feather two state lawmakers; a Democrat and a Republican.

Lawmakers are considering legislation that would allow corporations to advertise on hiking trail signs at state parks. The ads would bring in millions, but As Whitney Ray tells us, nature lovers say it would ruin the experience.

Todd Bertolaet enjoys the sights and sounds of natural Florida. He took a brisk walk on a hiking trail Friday to relax.

“I’d love to see a diamondback on this particular trail,” said Todd Bertolaet.

But he may soon be seeing something not so natural: advertisements. State lawmakers are considering selling ad space on walking trails to help fill the 3.8 billion dollar budget gap.

So that means you soon could be walking on your favorite hiking trail and find a Coke can, and you may also find the trail is sponsored by Coke.

Governor Rick Scott is encouraging lawmakers to leave no stone unturned in their search for cash.

“Everybody in our states had to tighten their belts; we have to look at every opportunity we can, so I think it’s something we ought to look at,” said Scott.

But for Todd, nature is sacrosanct and seeing ads at his favorite parks would ruin the experience.

“We have to have some sanctuaries, and ya know this is one sanctuary for all of the public,” said Todd.

The trails for sale bill is tied to legislation allowing advertising on state roads, which may in the end kill the idea because Federal law prohibits advertisements on many interstate systems. There hasn’t been an economic study on how much money the legislation would generate, but supporters of the bill estimate it could raise 10s of millions of dollars.