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State lawmakers are pushing the trustees of a Panhandle college to return a tainted six million dollar appropriation that became the grounds for two indictments.  As Mike Vasilinda tells us, the six million was disguised as a classroom complex when it was really destined to build an airplane hanger for a political crone.

Northwest Florida State College President Bob Richburg and former House speaker Ray Sansom were indicted last week for allegedly disguising six million dollars for an aircraft hanger for a friend as a class room project.

Now the prosecutor is calling for the six million to be returned.

“We looked at the appropriation and the way it was done, truthfully, if people want to do what’s right, that six million dollars ought to be returned to the people of the state of Florida,” state prosecutor Willie Meggs said. “ It’s their money.”

The Governor says the prosecutor is on track.

“I think he’s right,” Crist said. “It seems justified.”

A bid for the project clearly shows the intent is to build a hanger.

While lawmakers here fight over every nickel and dime, that six million dollars is enough money to let 100 teachers keep their job.

College trustees are holding an emergency meeting next Tuesday. Hometown Senator Don Gaetz says the six million is poisoning the air in Tallahassee.

“This is a toxic issue right now,” Gaetz said. “It’s an issue that keeps coming up whenever Northwest Florida issues come up. I think it would be the better part of valor to say, gosh, you know we’re not going to go forward with the project now.”

Construction on the hanger hasn’t started yet, but the college has spent 300 thousand dollars on design. That’s money tax payers may never see again.

The Grand Jurors also took aim at the state budgeting process, saying it needs to be more open. That is a message lawmakers are ignoring.

Despite reports that 21 polo ponies which died over the weekend were given vitamin shots prior to their match, the state says it still has no conclusive evidence on what killed the horses.  Agriculture Commissioner Charles Bronson says he should know something by the end of the week.

“There have been some recognition of a few physical issues,” Bronson said. “Nothing of substantial amount that would indicate why the horses would have died according to what I was told. However, the blood serology will take us until probably Friday or so, before all of that work is done. That’s a very slow, tedious process as it is in human investigation or animal investigation.”

Local and state investigations are underway. Even when the cause of death is known, officials may not be able to determine if the deaths were accidental or not.

State lawmakers have declared April Sexual Assault Awareness Month.  At a news conference today in Tallahassee advocates said one in nine women will be sexually assaulted at sometime during their life. Representative Audrey Gibson says the number may be even higher and the public needs to be aware.

“They need to know the statistics,” Gibson said. “They need to realize that it is probably even bigger than the numbers that we’re putting forth because many women don’t come forward and we need to let women know that they do need to make sure that they tell somebody.”

Many times women do no come forward because they blame themselves. Gibson says that is a fear that must be overcome.

An estimated nine Floridians overdose and die every day from prescription drugs. Florida is one of only 12 states without a prescription tracking system. Drug dealers from all over the Southeast are driving to Florida to load up on painkillers. As Whitney Ray tells us, legislation to monitor prescription drug sales could help change the state’s reputation as a pill hub.

Powerful painkillers like Vicadin and Oxycotin… are attracting drug dealers and pill addicts to Florida. Florida is just one of dozen states without a prescription drug monitoring system. Senator Mike Fasano has been fighting a seven year battle to create an electronic databases to track people abusing the system.

“The monitoring system is going to be available to every physician, every pharmacist, and to law enforcement if there is an ongoing investigation,” said Fasano.

Out-of-towners traveling to Florida and loading up on hundreds of pills at a time. Cancer Researcher, Doctor Jerry Goodwin said the abuse sickens him.

“These medications are important to cancer patients too, so we want them controlled and we want them used right,” said Dr. Goodwin.

Several bills were filed to fight the problem. Stricter legislation that would require more rigorous identification checks is being postponed until there’s more money.

The failed legislation would have required pharmacies to purchase fingerer print and eye scanning machines.

“The technology that was to be used there is very new and very expensive and this year we don’t have the budget dollars to do that,” said Fasano.

Fasano’s bill would have an upfront cost to the Department of Health, but the money would be reimbursed through federal grants and private donors.

In years past privacy issues have held up the creation of the database. Fasano’s legislation protects the prescription records of people who aren’t gaming the system.

Cancer specialists are asking lawmakers to pass a one dollar tobacco tax in order to fund cancer research. Doctors from all over the state joined the sponsor of the tobacco tax Tuesday in Tallahassee to push the increase.

The tax would generate an estimated 800 million dollars for the state. Dr. Jerry Goodwin, The Director of the Sylvester Cancer Center at the University of Miami said the increase would keep research alive during the economic downturn.

“Universities across the nation are having a hard time making ends meet and research of course suffers in that kind of an environment. We’re just in the middle of our budget cycle at Sylvester right now, and I’m really hoping we can move forward with an investment like this,” said Goodwin.

The tobacco tax passed through the Senate last week on a unanimous vote. The House isn’t including the increase in its budget proposal.

A claims bill for a man injured in a car accident with a Broward County Sheriff’s Deputy passed an important Senate committee Tuesday.

Ten years ago, Eric Brody suffered brain damage after an off duty officer plowed into his car. A judge awarded the Brody’s 30 million dollars, but the state legislature has to sign off on the deal. The claims bill is moving through the Senate, but isn’t scheduled to be heard in the House. Eric’s mom Sharon Brody says she’ll keep fighting for her son.

“It is what it is. We’ll keep fighting year after year. It’s no different. As long as it takes to get what he deserves,” said Sharon.

A Senate committee amended the bill so that if the governor signs it the money would have to come from the insurance company of the Broward County Sheriff’s Office, not taxpayers.

Oil rigs could begin appearing off Florida’s cost in as little as 18 months under legislation approved by a legislative council today in Tallahassee. If this is the first you’ve heard of the idea in recent months, you’re not alone. As Mike Vasilinda tells us, the idea caught environmental opponents by surprise when it was filed late last night.

Fueled by fears of four dollar a gallon gas, an amendment to allow oil drilling in the gulf off Florida appeared at 9:00 Monday night. It is being driven by one of the most powerful members of the Florida House and caught environmentalists by surprise.

“We’re a bit confused why, such an important issue that deserves a great deal of dialogue, and we have no objection to the dialogue, why this thing is coming on us so quickly,” Eric Draper with Florida Audubon said.

But the oil and gas industry came prepared with a poll, an economist who says it’s worth big bucks, and a comparison to Texas, which earns 7 billion a year from oil and gas.

“What does Florida get? A big, fat zero,” Louis Sessions, an oil industry attorney, said.

The measure passed 17 to 6 with just one Democrat voting yes.

Sponsor Dean Cannon says the measure doesn’t allow drilling, only the opportunity for it to be considered.

“Right now, given the current statutory prohibition, there’s no way you can even have the conversation or anyone would be able to submit a proposal,” Cannon said.

But the environmental community says the oil industry is trying to exploit Florida’s budget crisis.

It wasn’t until a week ago that the oil industry hired some of the most powerful lobbyists in town to try and push this thing through.

Governor Charlie Crist is already on record favoring the idea. Under the plan being pushed, he’d have the final say.

The grand jury that indicted former House Speaker Ray Sansom was even more critical of how the state spends your tax dollars. The jurors were shocked to hear that as few as six members of the 160 member legislature have a final say-so on what gets into the state budget. As Whitney Ray tells us, the jurors are calling on lawmakers to bring the whole budgetary process into the sunshine.

With a single phone call, Former House Speaker Ray Sansom slipped six million dollars into the state budget to build an airplane hanger for a donor. A Grand Jury indicted Sansom Friday. They issued this report.

The grand jury report cites testimony comparing the 6 million dollars to quote “a gnat hitting a windshield.” It goes on to critique the budgetary process and says “no wonder Florida is financially broke.”

State Senator Dan Gelber agrees.

“Lots of decisions are made outside of the public and we ought to make all decisions inside a noticed meeting,” said Gelber.

House Budget Chairman David Rivera said the Grand Jurors got it wrong.

“I think maybe it reflected a lack of personal understanding or firsthand understanding of the process. When you go through a conference process, you have dozens and dozens of members involved in that process,” said Rivera.

Governor Charlie Crist said the process could be more transparent.

“The more open the process can be, the more individuals have a change to review it, journalists, the executive branch, what have you, the better it is going to be for everybody,” said Crist.

The governor has the authority to nix spending he doesn’t agree with but he let the six million dollars for the hanger disguised as a school building slip through the cracks. Crist says he would have vetoed the six million dollars Sansom doled out to the donor had he known more about it. Still, TaxWatch, a government watch dog group, called the spending into question in a highly a publicized annual report.

Drastic differences in the House and Senate’s budget proposals could force lawmakers to extend the legislative session.

A joint meeting to begin hashing out the differences was canceled Monday to give each chamber more time to review the proposals. The Senate bill is about a half a billion dollars higher than the House proposal. It also relies more heavily on gambling money and higher cigarette taxes. House Budget Chairman David Rivera says his chamber is ready to negotiate.

“All the issues involve revenues and expenditures. There is nothing that is necessary off the table. I think everything is under discussion and that’s the biggest part of having good faith negotiation making sure you’re open to those types of discussions,” said Rivera.

Governor Crist says with a three billion dollars budget shortfall the state can’t afford to waist money extending session.

“I think that people are anxious to wrap up and get done on time; that saves the taxpayers money when the legislature finishes on time and I think they will get there,” said Crist.

The governor is asking lawmakers include two billion federal stimulus dollars that is waiting in limbo in their budget. If Florida is denied the money, lawmakers would have to call a special session to make up the shortfall.

A Public Service Commissioner accused of championing higher rates for utility companies was reconfirmed by a senate committee Monday.

A complaint against Commissioner Lisa Edgar was recently filed with the state’s ethics commission. State Senator Mike Fasano drilled Edgar about her support of recent rate increases. Fasano was the only committee member to vote against Edgar’s confirmation. Committee Chairman Jim King said some of the complaints against the commissioner were unreliable.

“A lot of the information being circulating, not in this meeting but on the blogs, was unsigned and I think most of us are very sensitive to the fact, we’re a little bit leery of anybody who give a comment adverse to us or anybody and doesn’t sign it,” said King.

Edgar has to face one more committee stop this week before she is reconfirmed for service.

FSU football star and Rhodes Scholar Myron Rolle will spend part of his summer working with foster kids.

Rolle is partnering with the Department of Children and Families to host a leadership camp for a hundred foster kids. The camp will be held in Starke, Florida and will focus on physical health and leadership. The camp will be named after Rolle and will feature several NFL players. Rolle said the camp will help teach kids to become leaders in their communities.

“These 12, 14-year olds, they’re going to be the ones taking care of us and leading the country in the future and we want to make sure that we provide them with the ample opportunity and the skills to do just that,” said Rolle.

The camp will be held June 15 – 19th. 50 boys and 50 girls from Florida’s foster care system will receive invitations to the camp.

A bill to reform the state’s election laws is causing outrage among voter’s rights advocates.

The bill does nothing to improve early voting but it does penalize groups that don’t rush to turn in application within two days of a voter registration drive. The bill was introduced late in the legislative process. House Democrat Janet Long said supporters of the bill are trying to sneak the legislation through.

“I encourage everyone to wake up. This is how it starts, in this insidious little tiny way, one step at a time. Shut down the people who don’t agree with you. I won’t have it and this is not what I was elected to do,” said Long.

Governor Charlie Crist said he doesn’t like the legislation, but stopped short of saying he would veto the bill if it reached his desk.

Legislation to install more cameras at Florida intersections is getting the green light from lawmakers.

The bill would allow cameras to be placed on state roads. The cameras take pictures of cars that run red lights. The owner of the car is then sent a 150 dollar ticket for the violation. The legislation has failed several years in a roll, but the three billion dollar budget shortfall has lawmakers looking for more loot. Bill sponsor Ron Reagan said the legislation is about money.

“If I had my way hopefully there would be no revenue because people would stop running red-lights, but in reality that hasn’t happened. We’re in a situation where there is potential for revenue. We had almost 400-thousand violations of red-light laws last year that police officers actually wrote citations for and they estimate that less than five percent of the cases are even looked at or reviewed,” said Reagan.

41 Florida cities already operate red light cameras on local roads. The legislation was drafted after the wife of a man killed by a red-light runner began looking for ways to prevent traffic accidents.

The state’s unemployment rate rose to 9.7 percent in March according to
statistics released today. The demand for unemployment benefits is so
great, the state is adding another call center to process claims. As
Whitney Ray tells us, the state is using some stimulus dollars to keep up
with the need, but lawmakers are leaving half a billion more federal dollars
unclaimed.

20 thousand Floridians lost their jobs in March. The unemployment rate for Florida is now 9.7 percent. Operators at the state’s unemployment hotline are being bombarded with calls. The state is adding a call center to keep up with the volume.

“The overflow call center is intended to designed to take an additional
10-thousand calls every day,” said the Interim Director of the Agency for Workforce Innovation.

The center will be operated out of Orlando… through a private contractor.
It will create 180 jobs and is being paid for with stimulus money.

Despite this news. half a billion federal stimulus dollars for the state’s
unemployed are still going unclaimed.

In order to claim the money state lawmakers would have to lighten
unemployment qualification standards. Governor Charlie Crist is urging them
to find a way to secure the dollars. The governor also says signs of life
in the housing market are an indicator the state’s work force could rebound.

“There are other indicators that tell us things are on the upswing.
Hopefully that will start to hit the unemployment sector sooner or later
because I feel for those people,” said Crist.

It’s been 33 years since the state’s unemployment rate has reached 9.7
percent. 900,000 Floridians are now looking for work. Construction jobs are no longer taking the largest hit.

Now professional and business service workers are now leading the pack. Lawyers, accountants, engineers and others in the professional and business service sector account for a 117-thousand of the state’s unemployed.

There may soon be a plan to repair thousand of Florida homes with toxic
materials. Some drywall imported from China to build homes between 2004 and
2007 contain dangerous levels of sulfur. People living in the effected
homes report problems breathing and an egg oder throughout their homes.
State Senator Dave Aronberg is calling on the state to adopt a plan to
repair the homes.

“Consumers will only be protected if we all come together to solve this
problem using real science, using real experts and using representatives of
consumer groups to actually fix this problem and not leave it to a pack of
inconsistent rules and regulations depending on where you live in the
state,” said Aronberg.

Aronberg says if the state doesn’t adopt standards, local governments will…
and the plans could differ from city to city.