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Water quality legislation will be at the forefront of the 2015 legislative session. And as Matt Galka tells us, voters who made sure there would be conservation money in place now want lawmakers to know they can’t spend it any way they want.

Chanting and holding signs with demands for lawmakers, conservationists and clean water supporters took to the Capitol Steps to get their messages out.  Many of the people, like Bob Fellman, travelled hundreds of miles to voice concerns about their water.

“The water is relatively in good shape in some areas and it’s on the declining side in other areas,” said Fellman, from Venice, FL.

William Wallace travelled to the Capitol from Bay County because he doesn’t want his water to be mucked up for future generations.

“Well, water is important, water is life and it’s very important that we protect it,” he said.

Even though Amendment 1 passed overwhelmingly voters say they’re keeping an eye on lawmakers to make sure they’re spending the money the way it was intended

The main gripe among the ralliers was that they don’t want to see the $750 million dollars allocated for amendment one go toward sewer and infrastructure projects.

“We are reminding lawmakers about what voters really meant, what they understood amendment 1 to be for. It’s not so much they’re putting money in directions we don’t want them to, but we don’t want that to happen,” said Aliki Moncreif, one of the amendment 1 petition organizers.

Gerry Swomstedt says people didn’t vote for sewer projects, they voted for springs protections.

“75 percent of the voters passed it, and I don’t think many of these people were elected by 75 percent of the voters,” she said.

The rally was a pre-emptive strike of sorts.  There’s no real agreement in the legislature yet of how the money will be allocated.

Florida’s Agricultural Commissioner Adam Putnam has come out in support of using some of the money for different sewer projects throughout the state.

There are new calls tonight for an independent investigation into the firing of the Department of Law Enforcement’s long time leader. Gerald Bailey was ousted December 16th. Many believe the firing was illegal.

Ten thousand online petitions are demanding an independent investigation into the firing of former Dept of Law Enforcement Director Gerald Bailey. The petitions were delivered to the US Attorney In Tallahassee and  to the State Attorney in the Capitol City.

”I’m delivering these petitions on behalf of more than ten thousand concerned citizens” said Damien Filer of Progress Florida as he handed the petitions to the recptionist in the State Attorney’s office.

The names were gathered over a two week period. Gerald Bailey was forced from office December 16th. A lawsuit by media outlets argues Governor Rick Scott and Cabinet members violated the open meeting law using staff as a conduit for illegal conversations. Earlier this month Rick Scott took partial responsibility. “It’s clear in hindsight I could have handled it better” Scott said at the beginning of the February 5th Cabinet meeting.

Petition organizer Damien Filer says one of two things happened. “Either Rick Scott got approval from his fellow Cabinet members to fire Commissioner Bailey, or he fired Bailey unilaterally. The former is a violation of Florida Sunshine Laws, the latter is a violation of our state Constitution, which requires at least one other Cabinet member to approve the firing.”

Attorney General Pam Bondi contents she did nothing wrong but says her hands are tied. Q:”Why no allow for an investigation or call for one yourself if you’ve got nothing to hide?”

“Well, I can not appoint a special prosecutor. That can only come from the Governor’s office.”

The State Attorney has said repeatedly that he won’t investigate the matter based on media reports. Progress Florida hopes this changes that.

State Senator Arthenia Joyner is asking the Senate President to order hearings and subpoena witnesses. So far her calls have been ignored. Joyner points to Oregon where Democrats ousted a Democratic Governor but says Republicans in Florida are circling the wagons.

Renters living in homes facing foreclosure may get new protections from Florida Lawmakers. Legislation introduced today would give renters ninety days or until the end of their lease to vacate a foreclosed home. Renters have been protected by Federal law that ceased at the end of the year. Alice Vickers  from the Alliance for Consumer Protection says renters doing all the right things can still be evicted in 24 hours without state protection.

“Unaware they were at risk, having paid their rent, out their rent, but being set out. That all stopped with the federal law. We were safe for these pst five years. We no longer are.”

Under the proposed legislation, renters must be in good standing with their rent up to date. Those renting month to month must be given 90 days notice; those with a lease will be allowed to finish the term of their lease.

Child abuse Hot Line employees will face unspecified “consequences” as a result of not following established procedures and accepting a call hours before 5 year old Phoebe Jonchuck was thrown from a Tampa Bay bridge. As Mike Vasilinda tells us, the Department of Children and Families appeared before lawmakers today to explain “missed opportunities.”

It has been just over a week since a critical incident report into the death of 5 year old Phoebe Jonchuck found the Department of Children and Families missed two chances to  accept hot line calls that could have triggered department intervention.

“I’m just worried that he;s out of his mind” said one caller. “Right” responded the hotline worker.

DCF Secretary Mike Carroll told a House oversight committee one call was refused because of confusion over an intervention matrix. But on the second call, the ball was simply dropped. “It’s a personnel issue. It’s not a systemic issue. And one which we will deal with appropriately.”

Rep. Gayle Harrell, Chair of the House Children Families and Seniors Subcommittee folowed with a question. “Do we need to really take a better look at the training of individuals?” she asked.

Carroll responded.  “You then undergo a 13 week training, so we invest a lot of time in their training.”

Afterward, Carroll would not specify what consequences hot line workers might face.

“We look at the the error that occurred and that persons career with us and what type of work they did and the calibre of work they did. But clearly, there will be consequences.”

Q:“Is that termination, is that…”

“there will be consequences.”

“Not ready to say yet?”

“No.”

DCF accepts four out of every 5 calls to the abuse hotline…now it wants to start tracking what happened when they didn’t accept the call.

Committee Chair Gayle Harrell wants to continue focusing on training. “Supervision is just not checking boxes and making sure you did what you were supposed to do. Supervision includes teaching and mentoring.”

Last year the hot line spent 30 million dollars upgrading technology.

The agency says the stress of working nights weekends and holidays making decisions about terrible situations is making it hard to hire the right people.

A coalition of clean energy groups say they collected a hundred thousand petition signatures last month. The number far exceeds the 68 thousand needed to qualify for Supreme Court review of their proposed amendment that would allow big box stores to generate solar energy and resell it to tenants in strip malls. The practice is currently prohibited by the Public Service Commission. Steven Smith of the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy says their amendment wouldn’t be needed it the PSC was doing its job.

“If we had a good functioning Public Service Commission, with a good planning process, and we had utilities that would actually work with the citizens and what they want, instead of only focusing on their shareholders, it’s a non issue” Smith told reporters at the Florida Press Center.

Florida’s investor owned utilities contribute as much as five million dollars, primarily to Republicans, each election cycle. Lawmakers choose which names will be forwarded to the Governor for appointment to the PSC.

Florida is running out of doctors at an alarming rate according to a new study.  As Matt Galka tells us, it is affecting patient care right now.

Florida is in need critical need of doctors and the problem is getting worse according to a new study from the Teaching Hospital Council and Safety Net Hospital Alliance.

“There is bad news, the bad news is that we will be at least 7 thousand doctors short to meet our citizens needs by 2025,” said Tim Goldfarb with UF Shands.

The shortage is affecting every region of the state and impacts various specialty care programs from general surgery to oncology.

“It will be manifest by delayed care, it will be manifest by more rescue therapy, that which we don’t like.  If you don’t get good management of your health, or good management of your chronic condition, what we’ll wind up doing is seeing busy emergency departments taking care of you when in crisis,” said Rep. Cary Pigman (R-Avon Park) who is also a doctor.

Part of the problem is not being able to keep medical school residents. Dr. Gary Goforth says patients in southwest Florida are already feeling the squeeze.

“I refer patients now, sometimes it takes me months, to get them in to the specialists they need. We’re already seeing that shortage, and it’s going to get worse,” said Dr. Goforth.

Nurse practioners say they may not be the answer but could help close the gap.

Nurse practitioners are asking for authority to diagnose and prescribe medications.  Other states already do it, and they say it can seriously benefit rural areas.

“These other states, the Medicaid costs are going down, the medicare costs are going down, health of people are going up, 30 day readmissions are going down when nurse practitioners have the ability to practice with full authority,” said Susan Lynch, Florida’s representative in the American Association of Nurse Practitioners.

Bills have been filed, but lawmakers say that the root problem of a physician shortage would still remain.

As legislative tax breaks begin to take shape, some lawmakers want to keep it local. As Matt Galka tells us, a new proposal would have you saving money down at your friendly neighborhood shop.

Joe Mezzina is cranking away at his locally owned bike shop, and lawmakers want to keep him working.  Senator Rene Garcia is pedaling a proposal that would make Small Business Saturday a sales tax holiday in Florida.

“We constantly hear that small businesses are the cornerstone of our economy and about 3 million folks, 3 million employees are employed by small businesses across the state,” said the Miami Republican.

The tax break would equate to about 20 to 60 million dollars for Floridians, maybe the price of a cup of coffee for everyone in the state.  But Mezzina says he supports anything that will get customers through the door.

“I’m not opposed to it, anyone saving dollars, saving 7.50 on a 100 dollars or whatever the savings is for buying a large television of course it saves a lot more money,” he said.

Unlike other sales tax holidays where only certain items get a break, this holiday would include anything from tobacco, to alcohol, to bikes.

As long at the Mom and Pop makes less than $3.3 million dollars annually they’d be eligible for the tax free holiday.  Shoppers would be able to save at local places on the first Saturday after Thanksgiving.

The National Federation of Independent Businesses says sales tax holidays can make all the difference for a local business.

“It could make their day, it coule make their month, it could make their year. So many small reatailors are dependent on the Christmas holiday,” said NFIB Florida Executive Director Bill Herrle.

The bill sponsors hope Floridians include a little local flair in their holiday shopping if it passes. The sales tax holiday is not expected to bump other holidays like the popular back to school tax break

The Florida House moved a water bill forward this week that was praised as a good step forward. But environmentalists say it’s lacking.

“They’re moving this through the House like a carrot through wet ground and there’s going to be public outcry,” said Earth Justice attorney David Guest.

The bill focuses on polluted springs and freshwater runoff.  House State Affairs Committee Chairman Matt Caldwell says they need to get the proposal moving.

“Well, our goal in the House is to get this moving through and into the early weeks of session and give our Senate partners time to digest it and give us time to hopefully join us with the good ideas we’re putting out,” he said Wednesday after they passed the bill.

But the speed of the bill may be the problem. Guest says pollution regulation issues are still out there.

“What we have is a substitution of a planning process where the polluting industries decide what they’re willing to do, and even after that it’s voluntary,” said Guest.

Democrats are calling for a slowdown so they can really fix springs and rivers throughout the state.

“This is the moment in Florida to put all of our energy into a bill that can really improve quality of life of Floridians, the industries that can really require water, and so we need to take our time,” said House Democratic Leader Mark Pafford.

The bill relies largely on the Department of Environmental Protection regulations that environmentalists say may be too loose. Conservationists are hoping the Senate produces a stronger bill.

It is not currently against the law in Florida to electronically track someone, but one state lawmakers says it ought to be.

James Bond was famous for his big, bulky tracking devices.but fast forward 50 years, and they are available to everyone and anyone.

”I can keep an eye on my husband” claims on web video. Another chimes: “You can track phone calls, applications.”

One legal disclaimer requires users to divulge their existence…but then says this in the sales pitch. “Once its installed on the device, the user won’t know its there because its running in the background, and you can choose to track and monitor what you will.”

State Senator Dorothy Hukill says such tracking is becoming more and more prevalent and needs to stop. “Just think of how someone would fell who previously had an order for protection against an ex and now the ex buys an very inexpensive tracking device, puts it on the car, tracks them” says Hukill.

Popular for tacking kids, ,divorced parents must both agree under this bill. And if one spouse has previously given consent, a filing of a divorce petition automatically revokes that consent.

Domestic violence experts say there is no end to which determined stalkers will go to track someone. Meg Baldwin of the Refuge House says staying on top of techniques is a never ending battle. “You have to really struggle to keep on top of what all those applications are. All the different ways in which a stalker or a batterer may be intimidating or finding a victim.”

The legislation carries misdemeanor penalties of a $500.00 dollar fine, or six months being monitored by the local sheriff in the local jail. The legislation, if approved, would take effect in October.

Money and debt are every day struggles for many Floridians and maybe we wish we had a little help with it before leaving school. As Matt Galka tells us, lawmakers are trying to make sure graduating students know how to handle cash.

Lani Page speaks for a lot of high schoolers, and maybe a few adults, too, when she says she has no idea what A.P.R. is.  Florida lawmakers are bringing back The Money Course for just that reason: a required stand alone course to teach kids about spending, loans and debt.

Page, a high school senior, says she could use the info before she goes off to the University of Central Florida.

“As a senior who is going on to college in 4 months, I have no idea how to be an adult and have any sort of financial responsibility” she said.

Jacksonville economics teacher Pat Curran says he’s seen first hand how little his students know about real world finances.  One of his students last year was the first to open a bank account in her family, and first to get a credit card.

“I said are you sure it’s a credit card? Sure it’s not a debit card? To be honest with you kids don’t know the difference. She said no it’s a credit card, she showed it to me, it was a credit card. And my next question was ‘you work where?’ and she said “I don’t have a job,” said Curran. “I want the course to make sure that scenario doesn’t happen.”

The same proposal had momentum last year but was ultimately declined in the House. House sponsor Heather Fitzenhagen says things will be different in 2015.

“I think last year we had a lot of focus on just getting our head around about what we were going to do with the Florida Standards, so we really needed to focus on that first,” she said.

Lawmakers will get their first look at the bill next week.

Financial literacy does get some class time currently: it’s a small part of social studies curriculums.

Florida is just one of five states that doesn’t allow police to pull you over if they see you texting while driving – you’d have to be speeding or doing something else. As Matt Galka tells us, lawmakers got their first look at a proposal that would make penalties involving a crash tougher.

It only took us about 5 minutes to find people texting while driving right outside of our office.

A cop can’t pull you over for texting while driving – you’d have to be doing something else and it could be added on to the charges.  Representative Irv Slosberg (D-Boca Raton) has multiple proposals that would stiffen penalties. He wants to make it a minimum 2^nd degree felony if a driver who was texting kills someone.

“Unfortunately as far as road safety goes in Florida, things move very slowly.  I have to just be patient and persistent,” he said.

But Representative Dwight Dudley – who is also a criminal defense attorney – isn’t sure the legislation would stop people from taking their eyes off the road.

“This is a headline grabber…but we need to do more to curb the actual texting while driving,” he said.

Multiple other bills will have the chance to amend texting while driving laws this legislative session.  A proposal to move it up to a primary offense where you could be pulled over by a police officer is gaining traction. Other  bills this year include prohibiting anyone under 18 from using any wireless device behind the wheel and also prohibiting anyone from using them in school zones.

Water Policy in Florida took a step forward at the state Capitol today, and as Mike Vasilinda tells us, the legislation makes it clear that money set aside by voters in  Amendment One will not be used to repair local water supply and sewer pipes.

Wakulla Springs in North Florida hasn’t been able to run glass bottom boat tours for more than a year….and only sporadically over the last few years, all because the once pristine spring just isn’t clear enough.,

“The Sierra Club wants this bill to work” said lobbyist Dave Cullen.

The House State Affairs Committee took a step forward at solving the problem at Wakulla and other springs. It passed the first comprehensive water policy legislation in years. House Democratic Leader Mark Pafford says lawmakers have a great opportunity to do something meaningful. “We’ve got oysters that are dying, springs that are suffering, a Kissimmee River basin that needs more help.”

The legislation doesn’t put a cost on the water cleanup regulations, and that is concerning to environmentalists who pushed Amendment one to set aside millions for land and water conservation. Janet Bowman represents the Nature Conservancy.  “Certainly, springs protection the last couple years, while the legislature provided additional funding, its been very incremental and really inadequate to get the job done, so I’m confident that progress will be made” says Bowman.

Since November, some lawmakers have pushed the idea of using conservation money to repair leaky sewer and pipes. The legislation approved Wednesday says no to state money for leaky pipes, which pleases Audubon Florida’s Eric Draper. “This bill does not transfer to the state the responsibility for waste water and storm water and says those are going to be local responsibilities.”

The multi million dollar question on how much Florida is going to be  willing to spend on cleanup and conservation won’t be know for months, but there is general agreement the first step is a positive one.

One of the major differences from what passed today and previous efforts is that today’s legislation takes a statewide view of water needs where past efforts have focused on individual problem areas.

Support for cannabis in Florida seems to be burning brighter, and as Matt Galka tells us, an eclectic group of advocates took to the Capitol today to make sure a possible new law in 2015 doesn’t go up in smoke.

They came from all parts of the state and headed to the 22nd floor of the Capitol, the highest place you can get in Tallahassee. There were the seniors, the veterans, the drug smugglers, and the guy who needs service dogs for his injuries. All in support of medical cannabis.

Jeff Clemens first filed a marijuana bill four years ago.

“The people are either supporting family members or their own ability to be able to treat their illnesses the way they see fit,” said Sen. Clemens (D-Lake Worth).

Following the success of Amendment 2 this past election, the hopes of passing a bill have never been higher.

Republicans are now backing a new marijuana proposal, and the sheriffs say they’d support a non smoking form.

While the dozens who showed up said the latest proposal still needs tweaks, at least for people like Anneliese Clark and her daughter Christina – who’s seizures have decreased thanks to California pot – there’s hope.

“She’s 76 days without a seizure. She’s able to eat again,” she said of the drugs she gets from the west coast.

At the very least, the campaign is on pace to get enough signatures to put a constitutional amendment back on the ballot in 2016.

A new medical marijuana bill was filed today in the Florida House that wouldn’t allow smokable medical marijuana. Critics called it “watered down.”

Former Governor Jeb Bush made a rare return trip to the state Capitol today, raising hundreds of thousands of dollars for his Right to Rise PAC. While the former Governor said he has not made a decision about running for President,  Mike Vasilinda tells us those who came to see Bush believe its a forgone conclusion.

Cars headed for a Bush fundraiser literally wrapped around the block, trying to get into the parking lot of a downtown hotel. Among the drivers, former Jeb Bush aide turned lobbyist Slater Bayliss.

“The Governor’s got a lot of friends here, Mike. I’ve gotta go man. I’ll talk to you later.

Q: You sign up to help him?”

“We’re all helping him. All hands on deck.”

On the hotels top floor, attendees stroked checks without a second thought.

Between 250 and 300 people paid a thousand dollars or more to be here. Most are on a first name basis with the former Governor.

Most if not all who came are well connected, worked for Bush as Governor and still have a role influencing state policy.

Attorney General Pam Bondi introduced Jeb Bush this way. “The next President of the United States of America, Jeb Bush” Bondi said to applause.

Bush says there isn’t a campaign yet, but if there were to be one, it would be different.

“One that is going to be front and center driven by a digital media platform.”

But  Ethan Czahor the man tapped by Bush for the digital effort,, has been under fire for derogatory tweets about women. Bush Spokesperson Kristy Campbell says Bush is sticking with Czahor. “Governor Bush thought the tweets…the comments that he made were incredibly inappropriate. We’ve addressed them. He has deleted those tweets. And he will be on our digital team.”

In addition to raising money, Bush met with the current Governor and held an education summit.

Bush today released the first chapter of his ebook about becoming Governor. He is also releasing more than a quarter million emails from his 8 years in Tallahassee.

School choice advocates say the futures of 70,000 students are on the line if public school teachers in Florida can get a judge to side with them. As Matt Galka tells us, the public and private fight had its day in court.

Dozens of people gathered outside a Tallahassee courtroom Monday in the latest chapter of the public school – private school fight. The Florida Education Association teacher’s union claims the tax credit scholarship program is unconstitutional.

“The Florida legislature is to provide a free, quality, uniform, public education system. Doesn’t matter how you slice it: when you’re diverting private dollars into a voucher system and you’re making a parallel system that’s not accountable,” said FEA Vice President Joanne McCall.

The program pays for private school tuition by providing tax breaks for corporations funding the scholarships.  Around 70,000 students are currently benefiting. Parents from around the state with kids in the program travelled to the courtroom and said public schools weren’t the right option for them. Marlene Desdunes, a South Florida parent with children in both public school and using the scholarship program, said one of her daughter wouldn’t have thrived if she didn’t have the choice of where to send her.

“The benefit is having individualized instruction, an opportunity for her to be in a small class learning environment where she is able to get one on one instruction,” she said.

In 2006, the state’s Supreme Court declared the Opportunity Scholarship voucher program unconstitutional because it was using tax money that could have gone toward public schools. The teacher’s union says the same thing is happening now, but the state’s lawyers say there’s plenty of differences.

“Absolutely there are differences, in 2006 the Supreme Court said you can’t use the public treasury to produce an alternative to the public schools. This is not using any funds from the public treasury,” said attorney Raoul Cantero.

While the state was seeking a dismissal of the case, the judge did not choose to rule from the bench due to the case’s complexity. Monday’s case came a day before former Governor Jeb Bush, and potential 2016 presidential candidate Jeb Bush, is scheduled to hold an education summit in Tallahassee. The summit will push Bush policies including school accountability and school choice.