Welcome to

The buzz over who will run for US Senate in 2010 continues and Florida’s Chief Financial Officer isn’t doing anything to quiet the speculation.

Republican Senator Mel Martinez announced earlier this week that he’s not seeking reelection. Almost immediately after the announcement some of the biggest names in Florida politics were being tossed around as possible replacements. CFO Sink threw her hat in the ring, and she doesn’t plan to take it out anytime soon.

“My goal is to serve our citizens and use my background and experience to help run our state better and to also look at the options of going to Washington potentially and serving our state from a Federal perspective. There are lots of people to talk to. There are many, many family considerations that I have. It’s a challenge but I’ll be making a decision sometime in the future,” said Sink.

Sink said she’ll wait until January to make a decision about running for US Senate.

Florida’s Chief Financial Officer says lawmakers shouldn’t rule out taxes as a source of revenue to balance the budget. Florida is facing a two billion dollar deficit.

Lawmakers could be called back to Tallahassee as early as January to fill the budget hole. CFO Sink said lawmakers should look at eliminating tax loopholes and other tax options, but only after they cut state spending.

“I think we should do like any family would do: sit down around the kitchen table and say ‘what are the bills we have to pay.’ What are the ones that are discretionary and what are the luxury items and be sure that we cut out all the luxury items and have some conversations about the things that are discretionary and impact people,” said Sink.

Governor Charlie Crist says he’s waiting on an agreement among legislative leaders before he makes a decision about a 40,000 dollar a day special session.

CFO Alex Sink continues her push for a special session. But she’s not embracing any tax hikes just yet. She likes the idea of a Federal stimulus and she says she will decide on the US Senate race around the first of the year. You can hear it here: Alex Sink12.04.08

Governor Charlie Crist says Jeb Bush is a “Great Floridian” when asked about his possible candidacy for the Senate. He also says he’s focused on the wedding and Florida…so he didn’t really rule the job out for himself. You can hear the full gaggle here: charliecristraw1203

A state hotline, for low income families try to change their Medicaid coverage is flooded with calls. People dialing into the call center are often greeted with a busy signal. As Whitney Ray tells us, staff and hours have been added, but right now the demand is exceeding the state’s resources.

Hear it Here: Medicaid Hotline Flooded with Calls

Once a month 82 year-old Frances Hyatt visits her senior center for a free medical check up.

“For people who can’t afford to pay for having it done they can come here and it won’t cost them,” said Frances.

Frances has her medical expenses covered through Medicare and the Capital Health Plan, but around the corner at the center Pearl Fuller relies solely on Medicaid.

“I would really be in trouble without it because it helps a lot,” said Pearl.

The number of Floridians relying on Medicaid for health care coverage has skyrocketed. 100,000 people were added to the state’s Medicaid rolls this year alone. The increase is bogging down the state hotline for people trying to change their plan. We called the hotline five times, and five times we received a busy signal.

The Agency for Health Care Administration has added operators and extended hours to keep up with the demand.

“Please be patient. Continue trying the line and at various times through out the day and if at some point say they’ve tried continuously in the morning and that’s unsuccessful try in the afternoon or maybe even try on a Saturday,” said Fernando Senro, a spokesman for AHCA.

People who can’t get through to the call center are assigned a plan; it just may not be the coverage they want. People automatically enrolled in a Medicaid plan have 90 days to switch their coverage.

Florida’s First District Court of Appeals has ruled a state commission given the authority to approve charter schools is unconstitutional.

The Florida Schools of Excellence Commission was created in 2006, and was immediately challenged by several local school boards. Attorney Ron Meyer represented the School Boards in the case and successfully argued local school boards have the constitutional power to approve or deny a charter, not the state.

“When you simply set the school board aside and run over it like this commission had the potential to do, you offend the constitution and that’s what the First District Court of Appeals said,” said Meyer.

For now local school boards will have control over granting charters but the decision could be appealed to the Florida Supreme Court.

The guessing game over who will run in place of US Senator Mel Martinez continues. Martinez announced yesterday he won’t seek reelection in 2010. Some big names in Florida politics haven’t taken their names out of the mix of possible replacements. Speculation about Governor Charlie Crist running for the seat has circulated, but Crist said he’s happy being the governor.

“I’m love being the governor of Florida. It’s a privilege. To be honest with you the only things I’m thinking about over the next two weeks are Carol, the impending wedding and Florida,” said Crist.

While the Governor Crist said he is focused on Florida and his December 12th wedding, Former Governor Jeb Bush hasn’t taken his name out of the mix. Attorney General Bill McCollum and Florida’s Chief Financial Office Alex Sink are also leaving their names in the pot.

New House Speaker Ray Sansom is catching a lot of heat for his new job at Northwest Florida State College.

Last year Sansom steered 25 million state dollars to the school. Now the school is paying the high ranking Republican 110,000 dollars a year for part time work. The state’s Democratic Party is calling on Sansom to resign from the state legislature or quit his job at the college. Spokesman for the Florida Democrats Eric Jottkoff said Sansom is setting a bad example.

“He’s making more money on the state’s budget and it’s ridiculous and that’s why he should step down from one or both and show true leadership in this time of economic crisis. Show that he’s making sacrifices such as not accepting this 110,000 dollar paycheck for the part time job with our taxpayer money,” said Jottkoff.

Sansom fired back saying his focus is on the state’s needs, not partisan politics.

Governor Charlie Crist seems closer to a decision about whether or not to call lawmakers back to Tallahassee to balance the state budget. Florida is facing a two billion dollar budget shortfall. Crist said he wants to make sure legislative leaders are on the same page before he orders a 40,000 dollar a day special session. Crist said if he calls lawmakers back it wouldn’t be until 2009.

“I’ve been in contact with the speaker and the senate president and trying to take their temperature about the timing of what they think would be appropriate for that my gut is it will probably be around January,” said Crist.

State lawmakers will get a half day long briefing on the budget shortfall in December. Florida law requires the state to keep the budget balanced.

Governor Charlie Crist is still waiting on word from the President-Elect after asking Barack Obama for a seven billion dollar handout.

The money would go to road construction projects and Medicaid programs. Crist joined governors from across the country yesterday to ask the president-elect for a combined 176 billion dollars. Crist said he feels good about the seven billion dollar request he made.

“I’m pretty optimistic. It was a great meeting with the president-elect. He talked about the idea of being able to sign the stimulus package on inauguration day, January 20th. He was optimistic about the areas of infrastructure you referred to, as well as Medicaid funding which could help our budget significantly, maybe to the tune of about an additional billion dollars,” said Crist.

President-Elect Obama hopes pumping money into state governments will create jobs and increase revenue.

Governor Charlie Crist joined other governors in a closed door meeting with President-Elect Barack Obama in Philadelphia today. The governors are asking the president-elect for a combined 176 billion dollars. As Whitney Ray tells us, Governor Crist is seeking money to protect Medicaid programs and speed up road construction.

Hear it Here: Governor Seeks Federal Dollars

Florida has seven billion dollars in road projects ready to go but not enough money to get moving. Governor Charlie Crist is asking President-Elect Barack Obama for money to speed up construction. Doug Callaway, the President of Floridians for Better Transportation said building roads is the best way to boost the economy.

“For every one dollar you invest in transportation it yields a 5.60 return, you think good gosh, why aren’t we putting all of our money into transportation right now,” said Callaway.

Pumping money into road projects would also create thousands of jobs. On the campaign trail in September, Obama said improving transportation was part of his plan to fix the economy.

“Let’s put people back to work rebuilding our roads, rebuilding our bridges,” Obama said.

While Obama seems poised to fund road projects, the governor’s wish list doesn’t stop there. Beside’s meeting with the president-elect face to face, Governor Charlie Crist also sent him this two page letter, outlining Florida’s economic situation and asking for a billion dollars to fund Medicaid programs.”

AARP Spokesman Dave Bruns said without more money, health care programs for the working poor could be cut.

“Without Federal assistance Florida legislators might find themselves in a position where they’re going to be asked to cut these programs,” Bruns said.

While Obama told the governors he would offer assistance, how much and how soon are questions that still haven’t been answered. Giving billions of dollars to state governments is just one part of President-Elect Obama’s economic rescue plan that could total as much as 700 billion dollars. Obama is expected to pass the stimulus package during his first week in office.

Republican Senator Mel Martinez won’t seek reelection. The first term US Senator made the announcement today in Orlando. Recent polls showed support for the Republican senator waning indicating a tough reelection road in 2010. The list of people who haven’t ruled out replacing Martinez include former Governor Jeb Bush, Former House Speakers Marco Rubio and Allan Bense, and Attorney General Bill McCollum. Republican Party of Florida Chairman Jim Greer said there’s no shortage of people who want to take over.

“It’s been about six hours since Senator Martinez has announced he’s not rerunning and I can tell you my phone has been ringing off the hook. So I do anticipate a lot of people looking at this seat, but when they find out what it’s going to take to win not only from a financial stand point, but also from a statewide office, you’re going to see people reconsider,” said Greer.

Greer said it will likely cost 25 million dollars to run a successful campaign for the senate seat.

The State Environmental Regulation Commission voted 6 to 1 today to set tough new emission standards for cars sold in Florida, but as Mike Vasilinda tells us, the tougher standards are still a long way from reality.

Hear it Here: Environmental Regulation Commission Votes to Set Tougher Emissions Standards

Under the proposal, by 2013, every car sold in Florida will have to meet or exceed 35 miles per gallon. The last day of testimony before the Environmental Regulation Commission brought out car makers and car dealers who argued business was already bad enough and tougher standards would only make it worse.

“Vehicles will go up in price,” Auto Nation Spokesman Ron Book said. “Is it three thousand dollars? Is it five thousand dollars? Or is it up to nine thousand dollars, the number that has many times been used?”

The dealers concerns forced state regulators to defend the standards.

“These cars will still save consumers money over the life of the vehicle. They will,” Joe Kahn with the Department of Environmental Protection.

The standards would be identical to California’s, but would not change if tougher emission standards are approved in that state. Eric Draper from Florida Audubon says Florida can’t wait any longer.

“We’ve got to start reducing our greenhouse gases, those are the chemicals that cause global warming,” Draper said. “And if we don’t, our cities are going to be underwater.”

State lawmakers must also approve the standards, and environmentalists acknowledge getting a yes vote from a business backed republican leadership will be difficult.

Environmentalists do say it will be an uphill battle to convince lawmakers, but their secret weapon is strong support from Governor Charlie Crist.

Governor Charlie Crist and the state Bankers Association today announced there would be no new foreclosures for at least 45 days, but as Mike Vasilinda tells us, there are strings attached.

Hear it Here: 45 Day Foreclosure Halt

Governor Charlie Crist says homeowners facing foreclosure may have some breathing room. He has been asking the states banks to be more consumer friendly. “We are here today to offer hope to those who certainly deserve it and need it during these challenging economic times…an opportunity to keep their home”, says Crist.

Once described by the governor as a moratorium, the M word wasn’t used in the announcement. The 45 day hiatus applies to homesteads, not second homes, speculators, or businesses.

Alex Sanchez, President of the Florida Bankers Association is describing the agreement as a reaffirmation of a policy his members have always had in place. “Out bankers want to work with every Floridian that shows a need, lives in their primary residence, there’s been no mortgage fraud, and is willing to enter into a repayment plan”.

Florida is third in the nation in the number of foreclosures. Bank of America says the announcement will have no impact on it’s business. Mike Fields from Bank of America says his bank has already suspended foreclosures for more than 50 thousand Florida homeowners who had loans through Countrywide before the company was acquired by the bank. “Those individuals involved in sub prime and those individuals in pay option ARM’s, those were already suspended”, says Fields.

Set to expire in mid January, the halt to new foreclosures could be extended by the Governor by executive order, but banks say that could get them in trouble with regulators.

The Governor is also says the Department of Community Affairs will soon have $541 million for mortgage assistance and other financial aid to local governments that put together a plan to help homeowners in foreclosure, including $91 million for direct housing assistance. For more information, go to: www.floridahousing.org and www.dca.state.fl.us

The Consumer Federation of the Southeast today warned patients of what they are calling a dangerous practice.

Some HMO’s are switching patients from brand name or generic drugs to compounds that are similar but not exact duplicates. The practice occurs most often in drugs to treat mental illness. Walter Dartland of the Federation says the best remedy for a consumers is to call their doctor. “Ask Questions” says Dartland. “If anyone asks to switch you medication, ask a lot of questions. Ask why, especially if the current prescription seems to be doing its job”.

Patients can also file a formal protest about the switch to their insurer.