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Sponsors of legislation that would bring three casino resorts to South Florida say their bill doesn’t expand gaming. They held a news conference Thursday to explain how adding three casinos isn’t a gaming expansion. Senate Sponsor Ellyn Bogdanoff says the bill reduces gaming by establishing a regulatory board to oversee gambling businesses.

“Our goal here in terms of this bill is not about the expansion of gaming. As a matter of fact we hope that this will actually reduce gaming in the state, but what it is about is creating a strategic direction for gaming,” said Bogdanoff.

Bogdanoff says without a regulatory board gaming has been expanding with no oversight. One example is the state’s 1000 internet cafes. When asked why not just support efforts to reduce gaming through legislation that doesn’t add the casinos, Bogdanoff told reporters those efforts aren’t likely to pass.

While Republicans continue to look for ways to stop illegal immigration in Florida two Democratic lawmakers are sponsoring legislation to lower the cost of college for the illegal aliens. State Senator Gary Siplin and Representative Dwight Bullard are filing bills to allow any kid who went to school in Florida from 10th grade through graduation to pay instate tuition as long as they were seeking citizenship. Siplin calls it a good investment.

“It’s to provide for us to receive our return on our investment by allowing these students who may be not have the citizenship at the right time to go to college,” said Siplin.

The state is already required to offer public school to any kid in state regardless of their legal status. Siplin say giving them instate tuition will help the state get a return on their education cost.

Governor Rick Scott was elected to his first elective office, the Governorship of Florida, one year ago this week. Much of the last year has been on the job training. His successes, and there have been some, are due in part to the Governor’s discipline.

Rick Scott is an early riser, disciplined about daily exercise, and disciplined about his diet.  “I like grapes. I like pecans,” he tells us as he sits down to breakfast in the private quarters in the Governor’s Mansion.

He is also disciplined about his message and how he sees his role as Governor. Throughout the day he repeated it often.

“Don’t Let government do anything to cause it to go up.”

“Make sure children and students can get an education.”

“Three, make sure people can get a job.”

During ten hours we spent with Scott at the mansion and in his office, he showed us he is nothing if not focused. At least three times during the day he championed education as a job creator, but last year he cut school spending. Scott says he had no choice. “We had a deficit last time, we have a deficit this time, so, my goal is that we don’t have any education cuts.”

And at this hour long meeting with the Black Caucus, Scott rebuffed legislators seeking more judges of color. “I believe in diversity.But the other side is, get good people to apply,” Scott told the lawmakers.

He also told them his choices and their choices are limited. “What I’m not going to do is appoint people who think differently than I do about being just activists and think that they’re the legislature.”

You think you can work with them?” we asked.  “We’ll find out.”

Scott’s now sporting button down shirts instead of suits, spending more time with reporters, and is more relaxed in public. But being more open hasn’t so far translated to significantly better approval numbers. We asked why. “I think I’m willing to make the tough choices. And change other’s people.”

We also saw Scott’s staff is as loyal as he is disciplined. Scott truly likes the job, saying its the first time he’s ever had a contract. This one expires in three years.

Scott has already said he will seek re-election, and new poll numbers show that if the race was a repeat against Alex Sink, it would be just as close as it was a year ago.

One year ago today, Governor Rick Scott eked out a victory in one of the closest statewide races in Florida history. His first year has been plagued with questions about his leadership style and some of his decisions. Mike Vasilinda was given unprecedented access to the Governor and tells us rick Scott seems to have found his sea legs.

It really was o’dark-thirty when we arrived at the Governor’s mansion for a day behind the scenes with Rick Scott. Most days begin with a thirty-minute workout.  On goes Fox News. It is a regimen that he has practiced most of most of his life.

Next, the Governor over-ruled staff and allowed us into the private living quarters, where something else seldom changes–breakfast: grapefruit, toast with honey, grapes and pecans. And, contrary to one of his earlier statements, newspapers, where he points out a story about college.

“Would you look at what these kids are getting out of school with debt now? That’s a lot of money,” Scott commented.

Scott has been criticized for taking on Anthropology as a profession without job prospects.

At seven, Scott gets his first briefing about two morning radio appearances.

“He is also interested in the September jobs numbers,” Scott’s press secretary Lane Wright told him.

One is friendly, a second gets a little testy when the host asks about two recent defeats in court.

“It looks like the judicial branch is trying to become the legislative branch,” Scott said.

First on the office agenda: a meeting with the Mayor of Tampa.

Then coffee and donuts with the press corps.

“So, where did you go to school?” Scott asked one reporter.

“I went to Duke,” a reporter answered.

“And you got a degree in Anthropology?”

A cabinet meeting where he shakes his head in disgust over skyrocketing car insurance fraud.

The meeting is followed by a press gaggle where he is asked about the anniversary of his election and a dozen other topics.

“I really enjoy trying to solve problems, because that’s what you do in business,” Scott said.

Early on aides tried to tightly script the governor and restrict his messages. Now they say they are just letting Rick Scott be Rick Scott.

Another side of the real Rick Scott: instead of eating in at the desk as planned, we are whisked off for a diet-breaking hot dog. The shop’s owner says Scott comes in about once a month.

In the car, he preps for a meeting with the Black Caucus. The  lack of black judges comes up, and Scott says something that makes his staff cringe.

“I took a risk with Jennifer. No, I’m just joking,” he said.

More meetings follow. We leave the governor ten hours after we began. He has six more hours on his schedule, and he’s doing it all for a salary of a penny a month.

Should students be allowed to pray at school events? That’s the question lawmakers are trying to answer. Opponents of the school prayer bill say it sets the stage for lawsuits, but as Whitney Ray tells us, supporters say prayer is freedom of speech.

Praying for student prayer after a heartfelt debate in a committee Wednesday morning, Senator Larcenia Bullard was brought to tears.

She wasn’t supposed to be here. Bullard suffered a heart attack before last session her chances for recovery were slim.

“Had it not been for prayer, even to my doctors who said I will never question your faith again, I would not be sitting here today,” said Bullard.

Bullard says prayer saved her life; now she wants kids to be able to pray at school events.

The prayer wouldn’t happen during regular school hours, but could be held at secondary school events like football games and graduation. The prayer bill allows student governments to nominate a student to pray. The content of the prayer would be left up their discretion.

The ACLU and Anti-Defamation League say the state is too diverse to offer a prayer to just one religion and say if the bill passes lawsuits would abound.

“It could be to any faith. It could be to my faith, the Jewish faith, Adonai, Jesus, Buddha; it doesn’t matter. That’s not the role of the public schools,” said David Barkley with the ADL.

The bill’s sponsor, Senator Gary Siplin, says it’s about freedom of speech.

“We ought to formalize it some way to allow the student to get together and have some type of benediction an invocation,” said Siplin.

The bill passed the committee with just one no vote. Its next stop is the Senate Judicial Committee, where opponents expect a closer vote. The bill has bipartisan support, but it also has bipartisan opposition. Similar bills have been filed almost every year over the past 20 years. The bill sponsor believes this year it will pass because he’s seeking legal advice to draft the bill to withstand court challenges.

If a major hurricane hit a large Florida city, all homeowners could be asked to fork over more than a thousand dollars to help pay for losses.

That’s because state-backed Citizens Property Insurance isn’t collecting enough money from premiums to pay claims in that scenario. Governor Rick Scott is giving the Citizens board a month to come up with a plan to lower the state’s risk.

“How many people do you think in Florida are sitting 12-hundred dollars just waiting for a hurricane to be able to give to Citizens Insurance the money so they can pay people to fix their houses. I don’t think many,” said Scott.

Citizens already has the authority to raise rates 10 percent a year, but efforts are being pursued in the legislature to increase premiums faster to force people away from the state-backed insurer.

The first legislative hurdle for a bill that would allow the world’s largest casino to open in South Florida is fast approaching.

Today Senate President Mike Haridopolos told reporters he expected the regulated industries committee to vote on the gaming bill by the end of the month. He’s not promising the legislation will pass; he’s just asking senators to give it a chance.

“This is not going to be one in which I’m whipping votes or asking people or twisting votes to get people to vote in a certain direction. You are going to see Republicans and Democrats all over the board on this issue and I respect that, but what I would like to see is a vote,” said Haridopolos.

Opposition to the gaming bill is growing. Religious groups spoke out against it yesterday. Today the Florida Attractions Association, which represents theme parks, announced it will fight to make sure the gaming measure dies.

Senate President Mike Haridopolos is so confident the legislature will win its court battle on prison privatization that he’s not going to hedge his bets with a new bill.

Monday lawmakers appealed a court ruling calling the prison privatization deal unconstitutional because it was passed as part of the budget. Lawmakers could play it safe and begin working on a privatization bill, but Haridopolos says the way it was passed last session was legal and transparent.

“I don’t think we need to go pass a new bill or call a special session. I think we are going to win the case,” said Haridopolos.

The Florida Police Benevolent Association, the main objector to the privatization plans thinks the bill would fail if it were put through the normal legislative process.

Governor Rick Scott’s former health care company isn’t buying his jobs pitch.

Solantic Baptist Health Care is moving its headquarters from Jacksonville to Nashville, Tennessee. Scott co-founded the company, but sold all his shares shortly after taking office. Today he told reporters he’s disappointed in the company’s decision to move.

“This is the best state to build businesses, whether it’s because of our AAA rating, our beaches, our weather but some people don’t agree with me,” said Scott.

Scott didn’t elaborate on why Solantic is leaving; the company will continue to operate its 32 walk-in clinics in Florida.

The Director of the new Department of Economic Opportunity was a no show today, to answer questions from House Democrats. The legislators want to know why the millions of dollars in tax incentives the state gives businesses aren’t creating as many jobs as expected. Governor Rick Scott is also looking for answers to those questions. As Whitney Ray tells us, Scott is asking the businesses that didn’t deliver to write the state a refund check.

The state has doled out 740 million dollars in tax incentives and cold hard cash to businesses claiming they can create jobs. Over the past 15 years the money has resulted in 86-thousand jobs; or about a third of what the companies promised.

Now Governor Rick Scott wants a refund.

The state is trying to renegotiate with six of the businesses that aren’t living up to their end of the deal, but getting the details is tough because state law keeps those contract secret for two years.

State Senator Nancy Detert has filed a bill to make the deals more transparent.

“Once we sign a contract if it involves any tax incentives or taxpayer dollars, once that contract is signed all that information should be open to the public,” said Detert.

Detert chaired a committee Tuesday trying to find out if the millions of state and federal tax dollars being spent on the 24 regional workforce boards are creating any jobs.

“How many jobs have the workforce boards created?” ask state senator Bill Montford.

The head of the Workforce Florida couldn’t answer the question but promised to get the information to the committee. Workforce Florida takes state and federal money to offer computers and job training to job seekers, but unemployment remains high.

The committee also listened to a presentation from the online job searching company Monster.com about how its technology could help Workforce Florida better match job seekers with employers. Monster is also offering to load the state’s database with the Florida resume’s it’s accumulated.

Religious groups in Florida are describing it as a David versus Goliath battle.

Global gaming corporations are throwing their support behind legislative efforts to bring Vegas-style casino resorts to south Florida. Bill Bunkley with the Florida Baptist Convention says if the casinos come, poverty and crime will follow.

“How many high paying jobs come with a casino anyway and who pays when those losers sink in to deep trouble? The answer is we all do,” said Bunkley.

The coalition says 90 cents of every dollar the state gains from gaming is spent on criminal justice, addiction programs and welfare for broken families. The state legislature is exploring the option as a way to get a better handle on gaming and fill a two billion dollar budget whole.

Insurance companies paid out 2.7 billion dollars in personal injury protection or PIP claims last year. That’s up 900 million dollars from a year ago… and state leaders think its up because of fraud. A report given to the Governor and state cabinet today says some doctors are over billing PIP patients because law requires the insurance company to pay up to 10-thousand dollars in medical claims. Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater says accidents are also being staged.

“Let’s look at the weak spots we’ve found from the data we’ve found and lets address it because there’s great value to PIP and no one disagrees with that,” said Atwater.

PIP reform is legislative priority of the governor and state lawmakers and changes are expected next session.