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For just over three months, unemployed Floridians have had to overcome one obstacle after another to receive unemployment benefits after the state installed a new computer system. As Matt Horn explains, the US Department of Labor is allowing the state to pay disputed claims delayed longer a week.

After months of problems with the state’s new 63-million dollar unemployment system, the federal government is allowing disputed claims for unemployed Floridians will get paid.

“We are moving forward with paying claimants whose continued claims have been in adjudication for longer than seven days per the authorization of the United States Department of Labor and this will expedite payments to those individuals who may have experienced issues in the new system and they’ll go ahead and receive payment for their claims,” said Jessica Sims, Department of Economic Opportunity.

The U.S. Department of Labor has been working with the state since the new computer went live in October. After a recent investigation, the feds discovered that people who were eligible for benefits were being flagged in the new system. Governor Rick Scott says the state will continue to work on the problem.

“I want to make sure that anybody has who has to rely on unemployment benefits, gets their benefits,” said Governor Rick Scott, (R) Florida.

60 thousand claims were flagged. One concern is some Floridians will get a check they don’t deserve.

“Should an individual later be found to be ineligible for benefits, they will be responsible for reimbursing the state,” said Sims.

The U.S. Department of Labor will continue to technically assist Florida until the issue is resolved.

Deloitte continues to be fined 15-thousand dollars a day until the issues are fixed with the system.

Five decades since the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960’s, today’s leaders say there is still more work to be done. As Matt Horn reports – the NAACP says the changes will start at the Florida Capitol.

50 years after the passage of the Civil Rights Act – hundreds of Floridians of all ages marched to the state capitol. Say many of the things Doctor Martin Luther King Junior have fought for have yet to be achieved.

“He was more so about unity and I love that message because that’s what God would have us to do,” said Kim Smith.

Five decades since thousands marched on Washington to listen to Doctor King’s message, people now remember his legacy through worship.

“Dr. Martin Luther King Junior lived a life marked by courage, conviction and dedication to justice,” said Representative Alan Williams, D-Tallahassee.

“The Florida State conference, NAACP along with all its branches, especially this here in Tallahassee are currently putting together a battle strategy to fight against this administration and their continued attempt to hold back Florida’s goods from Floridians in need,” said Dale Landry, NAACP.

Landry says there has been a push in Florida to silent minorities. This includes what many say is voter suppression.

“Vote.” “And why?” “So we can help change the direction that Florida’s going, turn it back around,” said Landry.

The NAACP says this election will deliver a message that change will come.

In most years, Floridians get a three day back to school tax free holiday. Now Governor Rick Scott is pushing for an extra week. As Matt Horn explains – there is support for the push, but economists are concerned there are ulterior motives.

During Florida’s back to school tax-free holiday retailers see a 30 to 40 percent increase in shoppers over three days.

“They spend a lot of money marketing just because they know that people are going to be out shopping,” said John Flemming, Florida Retail Federation.

Governor Rick Scott is pushing to add seven more days to the tax-free holiday. Retailers say if the holiday is extended, jobs will be created

“Retailers, when they get ready for this, they staff up. They could add as much as 20 to 30 percent staff just for that weekend,” said Flemming.

Economists and retailers support the governor’s push for the extended tax-free holiday. Although one professor at Florida State University says it may be politically motivated. “It’s interesting that he proposed a 10 day sales tax holiday this year when it has been shorter in the past,” said Randall Holcombe, FSU Professor of Economics.

Political or not, Randall Holcombe says the extended tax-free holiday will benefit most.

“It would be nice to see a permanent tax cut, but I think you will see a bit of a pickup in business, and of course consumes benefit,” said Holcombe.

The Florida Retail Federation says brick and mortar stores are better able to compete with online stores when not collecting a sales tax.

“Those who are selling in tend to avoid Florida sales and use tax, whereas brick and mortar have to collect,” said Robert Weissert, Florida TaxWatch.

In a 2010 economic impact study – Florida retailers increase sales by 293-million dollars in the three day time span. The figure includes a 115-million increase in taxable sales.

The race to be Florida’s next Governor is heating up. Incumbent Rick Scott today named his campaign team after naming a running mate earlier this week. The top two contenders are fighting over who did what to the economy.

For almost a year, Governor Rick Scott has been drawing a contrast between the economy now and before he took office. “Record high unemployment and a downward spiral of job losses,” says Rick Scott Governor.

In Orlando in September Scott went so far to say that despite the national economy, Different leadership would have keep Florida out of the great recession. “We shouldn’t have had the down turn. We shouldn’t have lost those 832 thousand jobs before I became governor,” says Governor Scott.

Rick Scott never mentions the Governor before him, he’s clearly trying to contrast what happened to the economy when Charlie Crist was Governor and what’s happened sense.”

Crist came back to the Capital city this week to raise money. He called the idea that he was responsible for the recession ”beyond Belief”. “It’s just absurd, it’s laughable. And if they try to sell that to people, people are smarter than that,” says Charlie Crist, former Governor/Candidate for Governor.

Both sides are gearing up for a brutal battle. And while many political candidates often come across as different shades of gray, this race promises strong contrasts. “I would change everything he’s doing and get back… get Florida back on track. I would have approved the bullet train. You know, these kind of things would have provided tens of thousands of jobs and he’s the job’s governor? I could go on and on but I got to visit some nice people,” says Crist.

Money also appears to be no object. Incumbent Scott banked about 25 million

Over the last year, while Crist has brought in four million in two months.

Legislation to allow you to drive 75 miles an hour on rural interstates was approved by a State Senate Committee today, but the legislation faces an uncertain future.

Long stretches of rural roads like I-10 across North Florida, I-75 and even the turnpike can see a five mile an hour bump in the speed limit. Under Legislation moving in Tallahassee. “I’m certainly not suggesting that the department raise speed limits inside city limits in major urbanized areas but in very rural areas,” says Sen. Jeff Brandes, R-Pinellas County.

The legislation doesn’t actually raise the speed limit but it allows DOT to conduct studies and then hike the limit by as much as five miles an hour to match what drivers are already traveling. “That doesn’t meant that every facility speed limit would get raised to 75 miles an hour,” says Ananth Prasad, FL DOT Secretary.

The Committee approved the legislation, not uncommon when it is the chairman’s bill, but it faces a tough road ahead. “This is not the German autobahn, we have leeway to drive five, six mile over the speed limit now, now you going to push it up into 80 if we increase it,” says Sen. Arthenia Joyner, D-tampa.

Adding fuel to the debate is a new national study to be released next week that will paint Florida as having some of the weakest traffic laws in the nation.

Triple A motor clubs oppose any change, saying speed kills. “It takes longer to stop when you’re going faster, people are following closer, people are distracted when they’re driving and we are concerned about safety of motorist,” says Sot: Karen MacFarland, AAA Motor Clubs.

More than two thousand people died on Florida roadways last year.

Beer was on the agenda at the state capitol today. State law prohibits beer consumers from trying the beverage before buying. As Matt Horn reports – a proposal may allow people to taste before they buy, just like they can with liquor and wine.

Before you crack open a cold one, some lawmakers think consumers should know what the product tastes like. Beer distributors support the measure and say it’s a great way to promote a product.

“Tasting is a great way for consumers to know the different products in the marketplace,” said Mitch Rubin, who supports the proposal.

A State Senate Committee has approved a bill removing prohibitions on beer samplings at vendors in Florida. Susan Pitman with Drug Free Duval is against the idea. She hopes the proposal never makes it to the governor’s desk.

“You can conceivably see a mom at Publix do a beer tasting get in her car with her three kids and have some kind of serious accident on the way home,” said Pitman.

Concerns were raised over whether tastings could occur in convenience stores…something that will be worked out later.

Another proposal was temporarily postponed Thursday. The bill would allow malt beverages to be sold in 64 ounce growlers at craft breweries…consumers are already able to purchase 32 ounce or 128 ounce containers.

Senator Jack Latvala is behind the growler bill.

“I don’t see how we can in good conscious say now we’re for less regulation and then tell people down to the ounce what sizes they have to pour in their craft brewery,” said Senator Latvala.

Those in support and against the bills both agree on one thing.

“We just want to make sure that it’s done responsibly in terms of beer tasting,” said Rubin.

Similar proposals have been introduced in the Florida House.

Governor Rick Scott is asking the US Supreme Court to review two lower court rulings that prohibit Florida from drug testing welfare recipients. As Matt Horn reports, people are split on across-the-board testing.

Terry Paul worked for the State of Florida for 17 years before losing her job last May. Paul supports across-the-board drug testing for state workers and welfare recipients.

“Everybody needs to be checked, I’m willing to be checked, if I want benefits, I want help, I’ll do whatever they want me to do to get the help,” said Terry Paul.

Governor Rick Scott has continued to push mandatory drug testing. Now he is asking the US Supreme Court to weigh in.

The request comes after the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against across-the-board drug testing on the last day of 2013.

The American Federation of State, County and Municipal employees have been fighting every step.

“The lower courts have taken the position that the people have a right to have a reasonable cause to be drug tested,” said Jeanette Wynn, AFSCME Florida Council 79, VP.

Cheryl Cullens says it’s insulting to be asked to take a drug test.

“It’s almost like assuming that everyone who needs assistance from the state is a drug attic, which is not the case,” said Cullens. “Honestly, it would be a waste of taxpayer money to go through the process when a decision has already been made about it.”

Supporters say testing will save taxpayers money in the long run.

“It needs to be automatic drug testing for new hires and random testing for anybody,” said Paul.

Welfare recipients who were drug tested before the program was stopped were testing positive at a lower rate than the general population.

Four months after launch, the state’s new 63 million dollar computer system isn’t processing claims any faster or better than the decades old system it replaced. The State Department of Economic Opportunity was grilled by lawmakers today looking for answers.

By its own admission, the state says it’s new 63 million dollar unemployment computer system is only processing 73 percent of the claims it receives each week. “Yea, it is pretty close to the performance we were having prior to go live,” says Jessie Panuccio, Economic Opportunity Ex. Dir.

Contractor Deloitte is being fined fifteen thousand dollars a day. The fines are continuing until the state is satisfied the system is working. “More than 20 high impact issues from the November 15 list still remain,” says Panuccio.

Staff is being added to handle calls. An outside contractor has been brought in to advise at a cost of more than three hundred thousand dollars. One state senator called for sanctions against the contractor Deloitte, which has been paid more than three hundred million since 2009. Sen. Tom Lee, R-Hillsborough asks, “to what extent do we have the ability to freeze them out of doing business with the state of Florida until they’ve satisfied the terms of this agreement?”

It has been four months to the day since the connect system launched. The Department’s own estimate is that between 15 and 17 thousand people who should be getting benefits aren’t. But they say that’s only a guess.

Only a guess because the agency told Senators it isn’t sure reports from the system are accurate.

Lawmakers say real people are suffering. “And people have gone for up to nine weeks without any kind of reemployment assistance,” Sen. Geraldine Thompson, R-Orlando.

The US Department of Labor is sending in a team to help the state. That team will arrive this week.

Florida is one state that doesn’t currently protect pregnant women in the workplace. As Matt Horn reports – legislation to give work place protections to those who are expecting is moving through committees in the State Capitol.

It’s illegal to fire Employees because of their race, sex, or other attributes, but not pregnancy. Florida Democratic Senator Geraldine Thompson says pregnant women facing discrimination in the workplace.

“We had one case where a woman worked in a restaurant and during her pregnancy as it advanced she was told that she was too large to work in the restaurant,” said Sen. Thompson.

Florida courts have issued different rulings on pregnancy discrimination. That’s why Senator Thompson says the law needs to be clarified this session.

“Right now there’s some confusion as to whether discrimination based on pregnancy is prohibited in the state of Florida,” said Sen. Thompson

Women Rights Activist Barbara DeVane says something should have been done years ago.

“A lot of times it’s a single woman who are trying to raise a family and that’s their economic base,” said DeVane.

Opponents have argued pregnant women are already covered under the “gender” category — like it is under federal law. Those in support of the Florida proposal say that’s not true.

“Federal law is very specific it has an amendment to the civil rights law act that adds pregnancy, no discrimination against pregnancy,” said DeVane.

The Senate Bill passed the committee unanimously. The house bill also passed its first committee today with one dissenting vote.

40 year old Spanish born Carlos Lopez-Cantera was tapped by Governor Rick Scott today to be his Lt. Governor and running mate in the 2014 re-election effort. Lopez Cantera brings legislative experience to the job and has a personality not unlike the Governors.

Governor Rick Scott first made the announcement of a new Lt. Governor on Facebook. He’s taken his time to fill the job. His first running mate, Jennifer Carroll, resigned ten months ago after being linked to an internet cafe accused of wrongdoing. In Miami, Scott said he took the right amount of time in picking the state’s first Hispanic Lt. Governor. “The economy is turning around and that is in great part to the leadership of this man, Rick Scott. I thank him for his leadership, thank him for the opportunity,” says Carlos Lopez-Cantera, Lt. Governor.

Carlos Lopez-Cantera spent eight years in the State House, rising to majority leader. He was elected property appraiser in Miami Dade County in 2012.

Governor Rick Scott ran as an outsiders to Tallahassee politics but he has picked a consummate insider to be his number two.

Senate President Don Gaetz calls Lopez Cantera a wise choice. “He learned how to coalesce widely varying opinions in order to bring a consensus to the floor and get legislation passed.” Sen. Don Gaetz, R-Niceville, Senate President.

State Sen. Tom Lee was on the first short list for the job and reportedly turned it down. “I know there were a lot of people involved in that discussion over a protracted period of time and, like I say, I’m very happy with the choice he has made,” says Sen. Tom Lee, D-Hillsborough.

Democrats called Lopez-Cantera “the poster child for what is wrong with Tallahassee today, an ultra-partisan career politician.”  Barbara Devane sued two weeks ago to try and force Scott to fill the office. She’s glad he did, but. “I don’t believe he was good on any of the issues that I represent, mainly woman.” Barbara DeVane, Democratic Activist.

State law gives Scott total discretion for the pick and no confirmation is necessary.

This post went out just after six Monday evening

 

More people called the state to complain about unwanted phone calls than anything else last year. Now unwanted texts are a growing complaint, legislation to include text messages on the Do Not Call list (has passed) or (is expected to clear) A Senate Committee.

Eighteen thousand times a year, someone calls the state to complain that they got a call from a telemarketer even though the recipient had signed up for the Do-Not-Call list. “Sometime they are frustrated,” says a complaint analyst.

The Do Not Call legislation was created long before mobile phones and texting were in use. The changing technology is bringing new complaints from people whose privacy is being invaded.

Just six hundred people called to complain about unwanted text last year, that number is growing.”

Text messages often cost users who must pay by the text. State Senator Jeff Clemons wants to add texting to the Do Not Call List. “This legislation was written years ago to protect people from this kind of behavior. Here we are in 2014, texting is more prevalent than ever so it’s important that we extend it to include text as well,” says Sen. Jeff Clemons, D-Palm Beach.

The legislation has bi-partisan support. Signing up for Do Not Call is free, but being on the list won’t do you any good unless you are willing to file a complaint when you get unwanted calls or if the legislation passes, text messages pitching a product or service. “So when we have the tools, we can take the action. We do go after them and there are fines involved. When there are multiple violations, the fines just continue to go up,” says Liz Compton, Department of Agriculture.

Once signed up, the Do-Not-Call designation if good for five years.

Eight states have smoking bans in private vehicles when a child is present. Florida lawmakers are pushing to make the Sunshine state the next on the list.

“Smoking, it’s been demonstrated as certainly harmful for people’s health,” said Senator Rob Bradley, (R) Orange Park.

Six out of every ten children are exposed to secondhand smoke. Now state lawmakers say a change is needed to protect those under 18.

“We have a responsibility, I think as a society to protect our children who cannot make these decisions about whether to smoke or not,” said Senator Bradley.

Registered Nurse Sandy Grischy says secondhand smoke is dangerous, especially for those still in the developmental stage.

“Carcinogens are those pieces that affect our DNA and that’s where the potential for cancer arises,” said Grischy

Its estimated second hand smoke is responsible for nearly 300-thousand cases of bronchitis and pneumonia annually.

Grischy is working to educate Floridians on the dangers of secondhand smoke.

“Someone who’s in a car for about an hour, if someone’s smoking a cigarette and they’re not, it’s equivalent to smoking about three cigarettes,” she said.

One loophole in the proposal: police would have to stop you for something else before you could be ticketed for smoking in a car with a child present.

Another anti-smoking bill would give local authorities the ability to ban smoking at playgrounds when a child is present.

Florida has the tightest restrictions on nurse practitioners in the country. But Concerns of a physician shortage have lawmakers looking to expand nurse practitioners responsibilities in Florida. As Matt Horn reports opponents fear expanded responsibilities will backfire for patients.

A push is underway to loosen restrictions on nurse practitioners in Florida. Under current law, nurse practitioners like Laurie Grissman are required to have a doctor’s signature before prescribing certain medications and doing procedures for patients.

“They only sign once a week, so if something happens on a Wednesday, come Thursday if something goes wrong they have to wait a week to get something signed,” said Laurie Grissman, Nurse Practitioner.

State Representative Michelle Rehwinkel Vasilinda is pushing for changes to make sure all Floridians have access to quality healthcare in Florida by expanding nurse practitioners responsibility – especially as the number of physicians decrease in the state.

“We need to make sure its not a turf war that we’re thinking about, that its common sense we’re thinking about, that we’re thinking about the patients in Florida that don’t have access that need quality healthcare and need it at lowest cost,” said Rep. Rehwinkel Vasilinda.

The cost of getting doctor approval costs big bucks.

“I spend a heck of a lot of money, to be exact over 70-thousand dollars worth of money goes to signatures from physicians and not one of them ever sees my patient,” said Grissman.

State lawmakers held a workshop on loosening restrictions Friday.

Those in support say it will help Floridians gain access to healthcare facilities, while opponents say it will put more Floridians lives in danger.

“I anticipate there will be an increase in morbidity and mortality in the patient and they will get less quality care and the patient’s safety is at state,” said Dr. Linda Young, University of Florida at Jacksonville.

Physicians say they support a team approach, but not a full reform to the current laws.

Nurse practitioners have at least a Master’s Degree in Nursing, pharmacology or other specialties, and many hold a PH.D.

Alimony reform was one of the hottest topics of last year’s legislative session. Governor Rick Scott vetoed the bill sent to his desk but sponsors are ready to try again this spring.

Sometime after the wedding day toast, the glass becomes empty for half of all marriages. Legislation passed last year made sweeping changes to alimony, including ending permanent alimony. But The bill was vetoed because it would have allowed disgruntled spouses to change their existing settlements based on the new law.  Sponsor Rich Workman has a scaled back bill for this spring. ” Let’s make sure that if you lie about cohabitation, that you have to pay back the alimony that you received once you lied about living with your new spouse,” says Rep. Rich Workman, R-Brevard County.

National Organization for Women lobbyist Barbara DeVane worked night and day to successfully get last year’s bill vetoed. “Every case is different, it’s very personal, they’re very different and we shouldn’t just trade what he calls, cookie cutter approach for another bad cookie cutter approach,” says Barbara DeVane,        NOW Lobbyist.

But Workman says he’s paid attention to what the Governor said last year. “I still believe that we should be able to fix mistakes in the past. But that is not something that we will be able to pass again this year,” says Rep. Workman.

Even a scaled down version may be a tough sell.

What’s different in 2014 from last year is that this is election year and the last thing that Rick Scott needs is to make woman angry.

Rick Scott is in a fierce re-election battle. DeVane says Scott has made his position clear. “I understand that the Governor didn’t want any alimony bill on his desk this election year,” says DeVane.

The scaled down legislation is expected to be filed next week.