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Florida college students are taking their fight against tuition increases to Governor Rick Scott. They failed to convince lawmakers not to raise tuition. A five percent increase awaits Scott’s approval, so does a plan to allow UF and FSU to raise tuition as much as they want. As Whitney Ray tells us, Scott has spoken out against tuition increases and now students are asking him to back up his words with action.

One month before session began Governor Rick Scott spoke out against tuition increases.

“With level funding of the universities they shouldn’t be increasing tuition,” said Scott on December 7th.

But lawmakers didn’t keep funding level, they cut 300-million… still students want Scott to veto a five percent tuition increase in the state budget.

“No one wants that. Especially in the state of the economy,” said Jennifer Staplefeld, a FSU Senior from Jacksonville.

At FSU Monday, students railed against the five percent increase.

“In January he said he would veto any legislation which had tuition increases,” said FSU Senior Jennifer Staplefeld.

They also asked students to call Scott and ask him to veto legislation allowing FSU and UF to raising tuition as much as they want.

“I pay myself through school right now. I pay my own bills. There is nothing else I could do to pay more than I do pay,” said Megan Hays, FSU Sophomore.

The increases would be used to replace state budget cuts. The cuts come on top of back to back years of reductions.

And the cuts are having a noticeable impact. Here at FSU’s College of Business five professors have been lured away by higher paying jobs. Three of them left for public universities in other states.

Private universities are also head hunting Florida professors. Students are noticing the changes.

“Las semester I had five classes, four of which were taught by graduate assistance. I only had one professor,” said Cherry Smith and FSU Junior.

A spokesman from Scott’s office says the governor is reviewing the budget, the tuition increase legislation and his options. If the governor signs the UF, FSU tuition increase bill, the schools will have until the end of May to submit their tuition increase request to the University System’s Board of Governors.

Legislation authorizing random drug testing of state employees is on its way to the Governor for approval. The measure cleared the state Senate by a vote of 26 to 14 today, but the drug testing is a long way from becoming reality.

Up to 50 thousand drug tests could be given to state workers a year under the legislation. The tests are optional agency by agency, and to prevent retaliation, a computer would have to decide who is tested.

Senator Evelyn voted yes on the bill, despite saying this. “I think there is something really wrong with this bill.” What’s wrong says Lynn is that lawmakers themselves are exempt from the tests.

Senator Bill Montford of Tallahassee asked “The old advertisement, where’s the beef? Where’s the problem. I don’t see where we have a problem.”

Republican Joe Negron called the tests invasive. “The police can’t come and take your urine without getting a search warrant.”

“26 yeas, 14 nays”

Supporters say drug testing will make the workplace safer. They were forced to make the bill less punitive than the original version. It will now be tougher to fire someone who tests positive.

“If you have a positive test, before any action can be taken, it has to be confirmed with a second test. And then we have a series of steps that can be put into place for them to enter a rehab program,” says Senator sponsor Alan Hays of Lake County.

The bill now goes to the Governor, and he is almost certain to sign it. that’s because he tried to implement drug testing with an executive order last year, and backtracked when the courts got involved. Civil liberties groups say courts have already ruled the random testing is unconstitutional. They plan a challenge as soon as the bill is signed.

Last year, lawmakers passed legislation requiring welfare recipients to be drug tested. Initial results found two percent testing positive, but the Federal courts stopped the testing within months o fits implementation.

The Florida Supreme Court has found state Senators didn’t listen to the voters wishes when they drew themselves new district lines. the court rejected eight of the forty Senate districts. Voters passed new constitutional standards that require compact districts that obey political boundaries as much as possible and don’t protect incumbents. Now they will have to come back and redraw the maps. Senator Alan Hays says he just wants to get it over with.

I’m here to serve the public and say if the voters want to put me back up here, I’d be honored to serve. If they don’t, them I’ll give my blessing to who ever succeeds me. Just draw me a district and let me get out there and run,” says Hays. Democratic Leader ron Saunders may not like the house map, but that doesn’t matter.

“One of the things they looked at was the difference between the House and the Senate map, where the House map paired incumbents and the Senate map did not, so I think that was one of the things they looked at. In the end it’s whether the map is valid, not whether its a good map or bad map whether you agree with the map or not, the Supreme Court has spoken and said the House map passed the constitutional standards and the Senate map did not, so we have to come back in a special session to deal with the senate map.”

Lawmakers will have fifteen days to redraw the maps. If the court still doesn’t like them, the court can draw them themselves.

A legislative plan to give parents the authority to turn their child’s failing school in to a charter school was narrowly defeated this afternoon. The option to petition to turn over the school is called the parent trigger. As Whitney Ray tells us, the bill was buried under mounting questions about who would own the school buildings taxpayers built if a charter took over.

The parent trigger bill, legislation to allow parents to sign a petition to turn their kid’s public school into a charter school took center stage in the Florida Senate.

“It has turned parent against parent,” said Senator Evelyn Lynn.

The Parent Trigger targets failing schools. If 51 percent of parents signed a petition, they could ask the Department of Education to turn the school over to a charter company.

“If we’ve got a bill called the Parent Empowerment Bill, then why is the PTA against the bill,” asked Sen. Nancy Detert.

Right now Florida has 18 schools bad enough for parents to pull the trigger. Supporters of the plan say they need that option.

“Who is standing up for the parents at these 18 schools. The parents at these 18 schools, where you’re right, the mechanisms we have in place haven’t worked for them,” said Sen. Anitere Flores.

The debate got heated after questions arose over who would own the buildings taxpayers built if a charter school took over.

“I know the bill talked about a few parents sign a petition, but these schools are the assets of all the public,” said Sen. Dennis Jones.

“The charter people will walk right in and take over our buildings and I don’t know how you are going to explain that to your taxpayers back home,” said Senator Detert.

Once the smoke cleared, the parent trigger bill died on a split vote, but opponents worry leadership will try to reload before session ends. The president of the Florida Education Association was watching as the bill was defeated. He was excited, but says he’s not ready to celebrate just yet, that’s because any member on the prevailing side could ask leadership to reconsider the bill anytime before session ends. As of right now session is scheduled to end at 10:00 EST.

If lawmakers don’t act by Friday, Florida’s unemployment tax will more than double. The tax is going from 71 dollars an employee to more than 170. As Whitney Ray tells us, efforts are underway to reduce the increase, but lawmakers will have to act fast or they’ll run out of time.

Good food and great services are the ingredients for success for Brian Rowe and his BBQ business. Piggy’s BBQ employees 35 workers. The restaurant has added catering and a food truck, but the rising price of food and fuel presents a huge challenge.

“It hurts our bottom-line. I’m not going to do a price increase to our customers,” said Rowe.

It could get worse. Piggy’s is about to be hit with a 35-hundred dollar increase in state unemployment taxes. The tax is skyrocketing from 71 dollars to more than 170 per employee.

“It’s kind of a double whammy there. When you have all these increases that are affecting us, ultimately you will have to increase the prices or drop your staff and have fewer staff,” said Rowe.

And if lawmakers don’t act by Friday there will be an 817 million dollar increase to all business owners statewide. Legislation to cut the increase in half is being heard late in session. State Senator Ellyn Bogdanoff says the bill will make it across the finish line.

“I don not anticipate Sine Dieing before this thing passes. This is a priority of the governor and we have been working diligently to get it through,” said Bogdanoff.

The increase is needed to pay back the federal government. In 2009, the state ran out of cash to pay unemployment claims. Florida borrowed 2.6 billion dollars from Uncle Sam to keep the money flowing and now the bill has come due with interest.

Critics of the bill say delaying the increase will only prolong payment to the federal government, and since they are charging interest, in the long run businesses will end up paying more.

Legislation inspired by the Casey Anthony saga unanimously passed the Florida Senate this afternoon and is about to become a state law. The bill would make it a felony for parents to lie to police about their missing child. As Whitney Ray tells us, if the bill were law during the Casey Anthony Trial, she might be in prison for 20 years.

Caylee Anthony was missing for more than a month before police were notified. She was found dead four months later. Her mom Casey Anthony was tried for her murder. She beat the charges.

“I think it was terrible what she did,” said Paula Parth.

Paula followed the Casey Anthony trial. A mother of two herself, she was confounded to learn that Casey didn’t report her child missing to the police.

“I would want them to help me as fast as they could,” said Paula.

Casey was convicted on four counts of lying to police during their investigation to find Caylee. In Florida the crime is a misdemeanor, but that’s about to change. State Senator Joe Negron has ushered a bill through the process making it a felony for a parent to lie to police about their missing child.

“If you intentionally mislead the police and a child ends up seriously injured or deceased there are going to be severe felony penalties for that,” said Negron.

Paula thinks the change in law is needed. She says if police had known about the missing toddler earlier, things might have turned out differently.

“They wasted valuable time. Maybe she could have been found alive,” said Paula. “She lied. She should be put in jail for that.”

The bill makes the crime a third degree felony, carrying a penalty of five years in prison per charge. The bill was originally hyped as Caylee’s law, but the sponsor changed its name. He wanted to let people know it was being drafted broad enough to protect all Florida children.

Legislation requiring a doctor’s approval before a student athlete can re-enter a game after a head injury is headed to the governor.

Today the Florida Senate unanimous passed the bill. Its purpose is to keep kids who suffer a concussion from risking more serious injuries like brain damage. State Senator Anitere Flores says the bill gives added protection to student athletes.

“If there is even a suspicion of a concussion, that child has to be taken out of the game or practice right away and they can only come back into the game once they’ve received medical clearance from a doctor,” said Flores.

The Florida High School Athletic Association adopted similar rules last year. They say this bill will give them more authority.

Victims of human trafficking will soon have more protection when reporting their captors.

Legislation creating safe havens for people sold in the sex trade passed the Florida Senate today. Another bill creating tougher penalties for people who enslave others for sex or labor passed the chamber. State Senator Anitere Flores’ legislation would protect victims of sex trafficking if they are arrested while prostituting.

“It helps them, it give law enforcement that option and hopefully what happens is the girls will break that cycle and they will go on to become productive citizens rather than go into the incarceration system,” said Flores.

The bills also requires their pimps to register as sex offenders if they’re caught.

Florida Senate President Mike Haridopolos gave his farewell speech to the upper chamber today.

After 12 years in the legislature, the Brevard County Republican is term-limited. As is tradition in the legislature, a portrait of him was unveiled during session today. Haridopolos says that even though he didn’t pass every piece of legislation that he wanted, the most important thing is getting people to talk about the issues.

“If you are going to run as a conservative, govern as a conservative. Don’t tell people at election time that you are a conservative and come here and do something different. Govern as you campaign,” said Haridopolos.

The portrait will hang in the senate chamber for 100 years. Haridopolos’ future in politics is uncertain; he abandoned a run for the US Senate earlier this year.

Two families whose children were injured in separate incidents more than a decade ago have been fighting for compensation ever since. As Mike Vasilinda tells us, the two families and hundreds of other people injured by government often face what is considered an unfair process to collect what courts have already said they are owed.

If every child riding this school bus were to be seriously injured because of the driver’s negligence, the most parents could collect combined would be just three hundred thousand dollars. Anything more than three hundred thousand dollars has to be approved by lawmakers.

Sometimes the success of a claims bill will depend on, well, which one of these lobbyists you actually hire.

“This process needs to be reformed,” Rep. John Wood (R-Polk County) said.

Eric Brody was seriously injured by a speeding sheriff’s deputy when he was 18. Now 32, his family hasn’t gotten a dime. His Dad says the process has been a nightmare.

“You’re pushed aside for politics like you don’t even exist,” Eric’s father Chuck Brody said. “Like Eric doesn’t exist, like there’s no Eric, there’s no situation.”

Mitzi Roden has been fighting a similar battle against Lee Memorial Hospital. A judge found a nurse disobeyed the mother’s wishes and cause a birth defect. For more than a decade the hospital has fought tooth and nail to avoid paying anything.

“Last week was the first time that Lee Memorial tried to negotiate this case,” Rep. Anitere Flores (R-Miami) said.

But even with that vote, awarding Mitzi and her ex-husband ten million now and a million a year for five years, the battle is far from over. Governor Rick Scott must also agree.

“Governor Scott, please pass Aaron Edwards’s bill,” Roden said. “He needs you to do this for him and for his future.”

Wood and others want the law changed. But until it is, if you’re hurt by government, don’t count on collecting anything to be easy.

Legal synthetic drugs, the ones sold in gas stations as incense or herbal blend, are about to be banned statewide. Less than a year after lawmakers voted to outlaw older synthetic drugs, new, slightly alerted products are back on the shelves. As Whitney Ray tells us, those products will soon be banned through a bill with unanimous support in the House and the Senate.

The warning is just a formality. If these products weren’t made for consumption no one would buy them. The packages read herbal blend or incense but the chemicals in these legal drugs are deadly.

A Florida teen learned the hard way. He smoked Jazz in January and was found drowned in a creek hours later.

Hillsborough County Colonel Jim Previtera sees it way to often, dangers drugs being marketed to teens at gas stations and head shops and he can’t do a thing about it.

“It’s frustrating because our obligation is to protect the public,” said Previtera.

Previtera watched Wednesday as the Senate passed a bill expanding the state’s ban on synthetic drugs; adding 92 chemical blends to the current list of five outlawed compounds.

“It’s hard to stay ahead of them because they are constantly remaking the monocular makeup of the actual drug itself,” said Evers.

Lawmakers say it’s all about saving lives. They have a warning for parents. They say talk to your kids about the synthetic drug, because they’ll still be legally sold in stores until the governor signs the bill.

Some law enforcement officers are taking it a step further. They’re calling on a boycott of all gas stations that don’t voluntarily remove the products from their shelves. Both the House and Senate have unanimously passed the bill, but it was amended in the senate earlier today, so now it goes back to the House for a final vote.

The state Senate voted today to give the governor more control of future judicial appointments. Right now the governor appoints five members to the Judicial Nominating Commission and the Florida Bar picks four. The bill passed today would allow the governor to kick his predecessor’s appointees off the commission and pick five new ones. Senate Democrat Maria Sachs says the bill threatens the separation of powers.

“The executive must not have control of the legislative and the legislative and executive should have no undue control over the judicial,” said Sachs.

The Judicial Nominating Commission selects a pool of candidates, then the Governor gets to pick a judge from the pool. Democrats see the move as a way to give the governor more control of the state’s Supreme Court.

Judge Jackie Fulford has declared unconstitutional a 2011 law requiring public employees to contribute three percent of their salaries toward their pensions. The judge is also ordering the Florida Retirement System to refund the money collected since July, But as Mike Vasilinda tells us, legal maneuvering is likely to put the refund on hold.

560 Thousand public employees have been contributing three percent of the salaries toward their pensions since July.

Judge Jackie Fulford found lawmakers violated a 1974 law that gave workers a fully funded pension as part of their employment contract. The Florida Education Association, which brought suit, was ecstatic.

“The court today said that a promise is a promise, a contract is a contract,” Ron Meyer, attorney for the FEA, said.

Private attorneys paid nearly half a million by the state to argue the case had nothing to say.

“I really don’t have a comment at this time,” Doug Hinson, attorney for the state, said.

And for employees like Paul Brewer, living on three percent less has been painful.

“Close to two thousand dollar a year is what we lost last year, and anybody in this economy knows what two thousand dollars can buy,” Brewer said. “That’s like your groceries and gas money.”

Lawmakers are labeling the judge an activist even though she was appointed by a Republican Governor.

But the teachers union president who brought the suit says the ruling sends a message to lawmakers and the Governor.

“They have decided in this state over and over again to provide tax relief to big corporations,” FEA president Andy Ford said. “The people who put contributions into their campaigns, and it needs to stop.”

This decision isn’t likely to be the last word on the pension contributions. The case is certain to be appealed, with the final decision coming from Florida’s Supreme Court.

The judge has ordered the state to refund the nearly 900 million dollars it has collected so far. The refund will likely wait until all appeals are finished.

The ruling does not affect pension contributions by employees hired after July first.

You’re home insurance rates would increase under legislation moving in the last week of the 2012 legislative session. The bill would cut two billion dollars from the state CAT fund and force private insurers to buy more expensive reinsurance. Those higher costs would be passed on to consumers, but as Whitney Ray tells us, how much your premium would increase is different depending on who you ask.

A move to reduce the state’s financial risk means you would pay more. Lawmakers want to cut the CAT fund from 17 billion to 15 billion. The bill’s sponsor Steve Oelrich says it’s needed to protect Florida from bankruptcy if a major storm hits.

“Hopefully in the case of a big disaster we would not have a catastrophic bill due,” said Oelrich.

Cutting the CAT fund would force private insurance companies to buy more expensive reinsurance in the private market. The cost would be passed on to consumers through higher premiums.

“We are looking at probably less than one percent a year,” said Oelrich.

State Senator Mike Fasano disputes the prediction.

“What the proponents say is just a couple of percentage points, but there’s no guarantee. No one knows what reinsurance is going to cost,” said Fasano.

Another bill to reduce the state’s risk was weakened Monday. It allows unregulated, out-of-state insurance companies to take policies out of Citizens.

The original bill called for Citizens to notify policyholders by mail 30 days before their insurer was switched. It would then be up to the policyholder to fight to stay in Citizens. If they ignored the letter they would be automatically taken out of Citizens.

“Individuals have the right, when those policies come due, to review those policies and determine themselves if they’d like to keep them or not,” said Sen. Thad Altman.

Senator Thad Altman amended the bill. Now Citizens’ customers must opt in if they want to be insured by the unregulated, mostly more expensive insurers. The bill’s sponsor says the amendment all but ruins his legislation.

Supporters of both proposals say they’re simply trying to protect all policyholders. They say if Citizens continues to support 1.5 million policies and the CAT fund isn’t reduced, when the big one hits all Floridians will be paying more through increased assessments.

Legislation drafted after a Hernando County Deputy lost his life in a car chase would toughen penalties for people who flee police.

The John Mecklenburg Act would require a murder charge for drivers that lead police on a chase that kills someone. State Senator Mike Fasano sponsored the bill in honor of the fallen deputy.

“This legislation that we passed and is on its way to the governor to be signed will include that in first, second, and third degree murder, meaning that if someone is convicted for murder under eluding and fleeing, you are going to get life in prison,” said Fasano.

Currently drivers who kill people in police chases face a third degree murder. If the governor signs the bill drivers could be charged with first or second degree murder.