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If you voted for a ban on fracking, expanding Medicaid, or against school choice – you probably didn’t get a high mark from one of the most politically influential advocacy groups in Florida. As Matt Galka tells us, their conservative friendly report card does show a riff with the Governor’s policies.

Florida lawmakers take thousands of votes every legislative session. From committees up to the final one.

And while plenty of advocacy groups throughout the state make report cards – one of the most conservative ones is keeping score.

“We endeavored to create a dynamic scorecard for the free market policies we tried to tackle this year that we thought were the most meaningful policies, reforms for Floridians,” said AFP Florida Director Chris Hudson.

The Americans For Prosperity – a Koch brothers funded advocacy group – released their 2016 scorecard Tuesday.  36 Republican lawmakers got an A+

But the group doesn’t see eye to eye with every policy championed by a conservative.  AFP strongly opposed Governor Rick Scott’s push for 250 million dollars worth of job incentive money.

The priority ultimately failed.  They gave Republican Senator Jack Latvala a ‘C’ – the lowest Republican Senator grade – for pushing the issue in his chamber.

“We communicate our policy positions clearly, and frankly, at a level that every activists understands and can take, arm themselves with, and then can say hey, elected official, next year can you take a better look at this corporate welfare spending piece,” said Hudson.

A majority of Florida Democrats received a D or an F grade because AFP says they took votes against economic freedom.

The group also showed where lawmakers scored in past years – with many Republican Senators receiving lower marks last year for supporting Medicaid expansion.

A Donald Trump victory today in Indiana could all but seal Trump’s nomination, and as Trump gets closer to the nomination, Trump himself, as Mike Vasilinda tells us, has suggested Florida Governor Rick Scott could be in the running to be his Vice Presidential running mate.

Over the weekend, Trump fueled speculation Scott was being considered as a potential  Vice Presidential running mat. Trump praised Scott in a New York Times interview. And a Washington Post story listed Scott as one of the top 5 choices Trump Should consider,  Scott confidante Melissa Stone says it isn’t going to happen.

“I think the Governor  has made it clear. He has the job he wants. He has a lot more work to do and he’s not leaving it” says Stone.

“But what about the old adage, if the nominee asks, it’s hard to say no?”

”Well” responded Stone, “the Governor is a big supporter of Mr. Trump’s. He’s clearly the right man to run the economy around. He would love to give him advice  just like he’s done in Florida to turn the economy around. How to do that with a national economy, but he has the job he wants and he’s staying here.”

The Group, Americans for Prosperity tangled with Rick Scott over corporate subsidies this past seen and won, killing one of the Governor’s top priorities. that battle aside, State Director Chris Hudson says Scott would be good at the VP job,

“We think the Governor has done a pretty dynamic job of creating a pro jobs climate here in Florida” says Hudson.

As Bob Graham was finishing his term as Governor, the worst kept secret here in the Capitol was that Graham wanted a seat in the US Senate.  But all that Graham would ever say is that the best resume for the job you want , is doing a good job with the job you’ve got.

A call to the Florida Democratic Party was not returned. A spokesman has been quoted as saying “We could not be so lucky.” They probably aren’t.

Under Florida law, Scott could run for Vice President and if he loses could remain Governor. If Scott were to run and win, LT. Governor Carlos Lopez-Cantera would take over…unless he wins his US Senate bid, in which case, the Governorship would go to Attorney General Pam Bondi.

The state’s Department of Corrections is under fire for choosing not to renew the contract of a South Florida prisoner re-entry facility that teaches inmates valuable lessons on rehabilitation and helps keep them from going back to prison.  – and a Bradenton facility could be next. As Matt Galka tells us, lawmakers are now putting heat on the Department of Corrections and even saying they’ve been mislead.

The Fight to keep the Broward Bridge prisoner re-entry facility open in South Florida escalated Monday.

The contract for the The Bridges of America transitional program for prisoners expires May 16^th. Senator Greg Evers says the programs are supported by the Governor and a valuable tool to cut into recidivism.

“This past session, I was afraid for this program and actually put language into the budget that would have protected this program,” said Sen. Evers (R-Pensacola).

But then he made a scathing accusation against the state’s Department of Corrections.

“I was told there was no need, that they weren’t going to close this program.  So I got off the tractor today, put on a suit and come to Tallahassee, because I was lied to,” he said.

The Department plans to turn the Broward facility into office space. A spokesman responded to Evers’ claim by saying the conversations between the Senator and DOC concerned where funding for the programs would come from.

Former prisoners who have gone through the programs say they’re not sure where they’d be without them.

Polk County’s Dianna Love spent two years in a Bradenton re-entry facility which could also be on the chopping block this summer.  She says the program helped her re-enter society after spending a decade behind bars.

“If you’re in that program because you want to make a change and a difference in your life, you don’t want to go back out and do the same things or be the same that you were before,” she said.

Senator Evers says he anticipates the Governor will be getting involved in the situation in the near future.

The Bradenton Bridge program’s contract expires in July. Supporters of the women’s facility will hold a rally tomorrow (Tuesday) to plead with DOC to reconsider.

LEXINGTON,, KY- Hemp and Cannabis Research was illegal until 2014 when Congress allowed it in the Farm Bill. A little noticed provision of the new medical marijuana law in Florida allows state universities to conduct research. That’s a first for Florida, but as Mike Vasilinda tells us, not for other states like Kentucky, which is leaps and bounds ahead of Florida when it comes to this emerging industry.

Later this month Farmers in Kentucky will put their hemp third crop into the ground. Ryan Quarles, the state’s agriculture commissioner, the youngest statewide elected official in America, sees a bright future.

“We know it will grow well in our state. we have a long history in our state, but we want to see what sort of products and processors we can attract here and approach industrial hemp as an economic development iniatitive” says Quarles.

Florida is hoping to get into the action. The next to last line of the medical marijuana bill this year allows Florida colleges and universities with agricultural programs to research Hemp and Cannabis. Florida A&M is ready to jump on the bandwagon says Tim Moore, the schools Vice President for Research.

“What we’re going to do is do research on it to make our industry more competitive, make our industry more effective and more ecological sound. Those are the traits we’ll bring to the table” says Moore.

Just outside Lexington, This Hemp research Campus has taken over this old tobacco facility,

“It crushes the seed and the oil comes out here” explains owner Andy Graves.

And politicians, farmers and researchers here believe that the future of hemp is so bright, that it will eventually be the biggest cash crop here in Kentucky.

“These are completely full of processed hemp material” Graves said as we walked through a

another warehouse stacked floor to ceiling with plastic containers of crushed hemp, grown on just a hundred acres and ready to be processed into hemp oil or CBD…better know as Charlotte’s web.

“it’s better than or equal to in soybean production or corn production in terms of net dollars per acre” Graves says.

Kentucky is one of more than two dozen states who are activity researching hemp, which means Florida has some catching up to do. Kentucky is expected to have four thousand acres of hemp growing this year, and While Florida is slow to embrace this emerging industry, the advantage it has over other states is climate. Here, farmers could sow as many as three crops a year, while others are limited to one or two.

AUSTIN, TX- Massive solar activity or terrorist nations could bring down our electric grid with little or no warning is the message coming out of a conference in Austin Texas attended by some Florida lawmakers, and as Mike Vasilinda tells us, as bonkers as the idea sounds, it is very real.says

ATM Machines will stop spitting cash, Stoplights won’t wort, water wouldn’t run, and goods wouldn’t move if the state or nations electrical grid goes down for a prolonged period.

200 or so concerned scientists, politicians and even a former leader of the CIA were in Austin Texas this week thinking about the unthinkable, which Dr. Peter Vincent Pry says could nearly wipe out nearly everyone in America.

“it will cost 90 percent of our population if they pull this off” Pry said of terrorists.

The unthinkable would be caused an electro magnetic pulse generated so strong that it knocks out the electric grid. It happened briefly in 1859,  long before near total dependence on electricity. The EMP could come from a strong solar flare, or a low grade nuclear device set off in the atmosphere. It could be the warfare of the 21st Century and its possible today says Dr. George Baker.

“North Korea or Iran, if they thought they could get away with it, they would do it tomorrow” says Baker.

State Representative Mill Hill of Pensacola calls the conference and eye opener.

“What I am hoping to bring back to Florida, first of all, the threat that is there and very real. and how must react to that” says Hill.

Coming up with an estimated cost to fix the problem is tough, but it ranges from three dollars for every person in America, to as much as forty.

For CIA Director James Woolsey told the audience no one wants to second guess the cost of doing nothing.

Hardening the grid against attacks could take as long as three years, but experts in Austin say major steps could be taken in as little as six months.