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The Emergency Managers from all of Florida’s 67 counties were in
Tallahassee today. The occasion..to get to know their counterparts from
around the state so they can put a face with the name when they are
facing real emergencies. The state’s emergency manager, Craig Fugate,
says the face to face meetings are essential.  “You get a better handle on what’s going on. You get to ask your questions, you get to put people and their names and faces together. You also get to share a lot of information; a lot of it is formal in the
presentations. A lot of it is informal during the breaks.”

The expiration of Florida’s no-fault auto insurance has left hundreds of thousands of suspended drivers with a gift.  They can drive again.  As Chris Casquejo tells us, other drivers don’t like the idea of sharing the roads with them.

Here it here: PIP License Loophole

Until October 1st, Florida drivers had to prove that they carried personal injury protection insurance, or PIP.  But since that law expired and won’t be back until January at the earliest, hundreds of thousands of drivers who didn’t have PIP or could not prove they had it are now free to get behind the wheel.

“Under the PIP law, there were some three hundred to four hundred thousand drivers who had suspensions or pending suspensions” said David Westberry, the deputy executive director of the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles.  “The Department no longer has the authority to sanction them.”

The Department knew this was going to happen, but examiners behind the counter aren’t making much of an effort to tell those drivers they have their licenses back. 

Many of the drivers getting their licenses renewed weren’t aware of the temporary lapse in enforcement.  And they believe someone whose license was suspended for lack of insurance equals someone who should not be on the road at all.

“With no license they most likely don’t have insurance,” said Sam Wilson.  “It’s just bad for everybody.”

“Because they are not responsible, they need to not be driving” said Ihesha O’Neal.  “That’s why their licenses are suspended.”

The reinstatement is a gift for hundreds of thousands of drivers unless they get pulled over after January 1st, thanks to lawmakers who couldn’t find a way to save PIP before October 1st.

Florida lawmakers have put the final touches on a plan to cut more than $1 billion dollars from the budget.  At-large budget committee co-chairs Representative Ray Sansom and Senator Lisa Carlton ironed out some minor differences between the two chambers’ plans.  Carlton says the education budget was not hit as hard as once feared.

“Hopefully, we have worked together in such way that minimizes the impact on services to people, especially in the (health and human services) area,” said Sen. Carlton.  “And I believe when you look in the final tally, the education cuts that we had to make have been very minimal compared to where we started out.”

Staffers will iron out the final appropriations, implementing and conforming bills as early as Tuesday morning.  After that, the budget will enter the mandatory 72-hour “cooling off period” then is expected to be passed by the House and Senate on Friday.

The state and the Seminole Tribe are working to meet a deadline of October 15th from the federal government on a gambling compact.  An agreement would allow slot machines and some table games, but not roulette or craps, at Indian casinos.  The state would receive a minimum one-time payment of $50 million and minimum payments of $100 million every year.  But the tribe’s attorney says a deal would likely bring the state a lot more, maybe $1 billion dollars over five years.  But the state and the tribe still have some differences.

“It’s the issue of when, of what stages, and how much will be distributed to the state,” said Barry Richard, the tribe’s attorney.  “So for example, the amount that the state, the percentage of revenue that the state gets, changes as we reach certain plateaus, the percentage increases so that the state’s percentage gets higher.  And it also increases over time.

The Department of the Interior has given Florida and the Seminole Tribe a deadline of October 15th.  But the tribe’s attorney says that deadline is not a hard and fast one, provided that the state and the tribe continue to show progress in their talks.

A 5 percent tuition increases for students at Florida’s public college and universities is closer to reality. Both the House and Senate overwhelmingly voted in favor of the measure. As Chris Casquejo tells, despite his veto earlier this year, Governor Charlie Crist’s opposition is softening.

Here it Here: Tuition Hike Closer to Reality

Beginning in January, students at Florida’s public colleges and universities will likely dig deeper into their wallets. On average, they’ll pay 55 dollars more next semester.

“Universities and community colleges were talking about freezing enrollment,” said Sen. Evelyn Lynn. “They were talking about increasing class size. All the things we don’t want for a top quality system in the state of Florida.”

While many students oppose the tuition hike, others realize that it could actually help increase the quality of their education.

At Florida State, students say the number of faculty has not kept pace with enrollment increases.

“There are classes I’m required to take,” said Florida State sophomore Briana Toole. “And sometimes I can’t register for them because they’re already full. So if they’re going to increase tuition, I’d like to see more teachers, more academic advisers.

Lawmakers passed the same 5 percent tuition increase earlier this year, but Governor Charlie Crist vetoed it. This time around, his opposition is not as strong, thanks to a recent meeting with university presidents.

“The argument he made to me was that 30 percent of the 5 percent increase, he understood would be dedicated to those who can’t afford to go to college,” Gov. Crist said. “That mitigates it for me.”

While the governor continues to listen, he says his mind is not made up.

Florida’s universities rank near the bottom in tuition rates nationally.

Most motorists have gotten a notice that Personal Injury Protection, or PIP coverage went away October first. Expect a new notice telling you it’s back. Today, as Mike Vasilinda tells us, Florida Lawmakers acted with lightening speed and sent legislation to the Governor re enacting PIP.
Hear it Here: PIP Lives

Between now and January 1st, the question of who pays when there’s a car accident could get confusing. No fault auto insurance went away last Monday,

Rep. Martin Kair asked bill sponsor Ellyn Bogdanoff, “Do you agree that it may be a significant amount of people might be on the road without PIP after a three-month period?”

Bogdanoff replied, “No, actually I would disagree. It’s probably not going to be a lot at all.”

But thanks to a vote of the state legislature, No Fault is coming back with the new year.

The comprise legislation attempts to curb fraud by keeping doctor-owned clinics from treating patients and running up charges.

But the big question now is what happens if you are in an accident before the new year?

Bill Sponsor Ellyn Bogdanoff says that depends.

“If you’re in the No Fault system, if both of them are in the No Fault system, it’s clear. It’s what we had before, it’s No Fault,” Bogdanoff said. “But if you have two people that are in the tort system, because they don’t have No Fault, because they are not required by law to carry it until January 1, then it’s going to be a pure tort system.”

Governor Charlie Crist is almost singlehandedly responsible for the comeback after working the phones into the night.

“You’d rather have somebody have ten thousand dollars worth of coverage than none. Kind of a straightforward view,” Crist said.

Insurance backed groups that wanted PIP to go away say now you’ll pay.

“You’re going to have to pay that extra premium that you weren’t going to pay because you were no longer required to pay for the no fault,” Alison North Jones with Floridians for Lower Insurance Costs said.

There are an average of 700 vehicle wrecks every day in Florida. That will leave insurance companies with a lot to sort out between now and the new law taking effect January first.

If you are unclear about your insurance status, the state’s Chief Financial Officer suggests you call your agent to make sure of your coverages.

Florida school districts will lose 138 million in the budget cuts proposed in Tallahassee. Community colleges and State Universities also lose millions. Today, Democrats in the state house tried to shift money from the state’s rainy day fund in an attempt to keep schools from losing anything. Rep. Martin Kair (Care) of Davie tried to appeal to his fellow house members by siting how poorly Florida ranks nationally.

“Right now we’re number forty-nine in the nation when it comes to funding public education. If you take another two hundred thirty-six million dollars away, we may be number fifty,” Kair said. “Let’s do the right thing. Vote for this amendment. Hold education harmless so we can insure that our kids have the best education possible and we can insure their futures.”

The GOP led House refused to go along in a voice vote, with House leaders suggesting the states savings accounts might be needed early next year to off set what could be another round of budget cuts.

By resounding votes in both the State House and State Senate, a rewrite of No Fault Auto Insurance was sent to the Governor less than a day after many presumed it would be dead. The mandatory no fault insurance expired on Monday, the new legislation will make it a requirement for drivers beginning January first.  Bill sponsor Ellyn Bogdanoff of Ft. Lauderdale says the new system will do more to crack down on fraud.

“We have a provision in there that limits payment for doctor-owned clinics, which is huge. Because a lot of the fraud takes place in these fly-by-night clinics that kind of pop up on street corners,” Bogdanoff said. “So there’s a lot of good provisions in the bill and plus, we’ve kind of cleaned up a lot of the abuses and we’ve tried to streamline the process to reduce cost within the system. So it’s not everything that I think we could have done to eliminate fraud. You will never completely eliminate fraud in any insurance system but we’ve gone a long way to reduce it.”

If you are uncertain if you are still carrying No Fault Personal Injury Protection Insurance, you should call your agent.

The Florida Education Association says the state’s voters are not as concerned with property taxes as they are with homeowner’s insurance.  The FEA polled 800 likely voters, asking what their bigger concern was, property taxes or homeowner’s insurance.  50 percent of them said they were more concerned with homeowner’s insurance than property taxes.  37 percent said property taxes were their biggest concern.  The FEA believes lawmakers need to shift their focus away from property taxes.

“They can’t sustain the services that people have come to expect, schools, police, fire, unless they come up with another revenue source somewhere along the way,” said Mark Pudlow of the Florida Education Association.  “You can’t do it by cutting fat.  You’re not cutting fat anymore.  You’re cutting muscle.”

Lawmakers plan another special session later this month to tackle changing property tax law. Last month, a judge threw out a January 29th vote on a constitutional amendment that was scheduled for January 29th, because it was too vaguely worded.

U-S Senator Bill Nelson along with Congressman Alcee Hastings filed suit against the Democratic National Committee today in an effort to make the national party seat Florida’s delegates at the national convention. The DNC is refusing to recognize delegates selected in the January 29th primary because the date was moved up and violates party rules. But as Mike Vasilinda tells us, the suit claims Florida Democrats had not choice but to go along with the early date.

Hear it Here: Nelson & Hastings Sue DNC
It was mid morning when a lawyer representing US Senator Bill Nelson walked into the Federal court house and filed the law suit. Attorney Ron Meyer is arguing Florida Democrats had no control over the rescheduling of the primary and that the national party’s action violates the equal protection clause of the constitution.

Meyer told reporters, “Florida, more than anywhere else in this country after what happened in 2000, has to be very cognizant of the right of all electors to vote.”

Many Florida Democrats are unhappy about this lawsuit. Party Chairman Karen Thurman had just a one-sentence response and that’s that she’s “working to make all the votes count.

From Washington, Nelson and Congressman Alcee Hastings called the suit a necessity. “Please excuse me, tell me what the issue is in New Hampshire that is more important than the issues in the state of Florida.” said Hastings with indignity.

Nelson Continued, “You mean we shouldn’t be able to have our people find out, when they choose a presidential nominee of our party, what their stand is on off-shore oil drilling?”

The two have a surprise ally, Governor Charlie Crist. “You know, I’m a Republican. I hope our next president is a republican but I also realize, you know, that if it happens to be a Democrat that I want our Florida people that are Democrats, I want their vote to count, ” says Crist.

The suit is asking the Federal Court to force the Democratic National Committee to seat the lawfully elected  Democratic delegates.

Today was the second full day of committee hearings on budget cuts and Personal Injury protection insurance.  Many of the decisions about what to cut and how much were made behind the scenes by GOP leadership in the legislature. Democrats are complaining that the cuts should be more thoroughly studied and examined in the open. They are threatening to vote against the budget cut legislation, but the Governor says they need to be team players.

“With all do respect, I think that what’s happening is a very good, productive process. It’s difficult to have reductions. We’re not really cutting, we’re just reducing what the increase would have been and I think that’s important for your viewers to know too.  But, you know, these people work incredibly hard, I’m very proud of them. You know, we can whine or we can work and I think we need to work.”

The first test of Democrat’s strength comes tomorrow, when the House and Senate will take the budget bills up on the chamber floors.

State lawmakers are closer to cutting about one-billion dollars from the state budget.  The House Budget and Policy committee voted along party lines to approve the plan.  But as Chris Casquejo tells us, lawmakers really have their sights set on property taxes.

 Hear it here: Budget Plan Heads To Floor Votes

The plan to cut more than $1 billion from the budget now heads to the House and Senate floors.  Some Republican lawmakers say education and environmental programs won’t suffer that much.

“When have a $71 dollar budget, and you’re cutting a little over a billion, nobody likes to see reductions, but it’s not like the world is coming to end, you know, said Rep. Ray Sansom.

Democrats are vowing to fight until the end for education and the water quality initiatives that are facing the ax.

“We’re just a little bit concerned about the way in which they did it,” said Rep. Jack Seiler.  “We think we can craft a budget a little more carefully, a little more cautiously.”

But lawmakers seem to be banking on two very uncertain things.  Changing property tax law and a better economic outlook year.

“We get our money because people choose to make an expenditure,” said Rep. Frank Attisson.  “They choose to buy a car. They choose to go to Best Buy. Whatever may have a sales tax.  They don’t have disposable income.”

Until they do, many Republican lawmakers believe they’ll be right back here in January, making additional budget cuts.  

Lawmakers moved closer to restoring mandatory personal injury protection insurance for Florida drivers.  The Senate Banking and Finance committed approved a bill to revive PIP on February 15th of next year.  The bill contains measures to fight insurance fraud, like staged car accidents and artificially high medical bills.  But until PIP returns, lawmakers caution that lawsuits will likely settle accidents to determine who was to blame.

“The insurance companies still want this to go away,” said Sen. Bill Posey.  “They tried valiantly, up until the end, to kill this bill.  Some of the trial lawyers still want this dead.  They tried very hard to kill this bill.”

A House committee was scheduled to take up PIP on Thursday afternoon.  After that, the issue will head to a floor vote in that chamber.

The House chamber was almost full Thursday afternoon, as lawmakers gathered for a memorial ceremony to remember Naples Representative Mike Davis.  The 60-year-old lawmaker died last month at age 60, after battling cancer for months.  Fellow House members recalled Davis’s love of motorcycles and fast cars, and highlighted his work for affordable housing.

“He was, in fact, a difference maker.  His wife, Patricia, is also a difference maker.  She’s in our school system in Naples and we all know how school teachers are in fact, angels,” said Rep. Garrett Richter of Naples.  “Mike loved his son, Christian, and he loved his daughter, Mia.  They will also be difference makers because of his leadership.”

Gov. Charlie Crist and other top state leaders also attended the 50-minute ceremony.  Lawmakers passed a resolution honoring Davis.
 

The boot camp trial is underway.  7 drill instructors and a nurse at the now-closed Bay County Boot Camp are charged with aggravated manslaughter in the death of 14-year-old Martin Lee Anderson last January.  As Chris Casquejo tells us, the trial is re-opening racial divisions.

Hear it here: Boot Camp Trial Begins 

The eight defendants are charged with aggravated manslaughter of a person under 18.  Special prosecutors will argue that Anderson died of suffocation.

“Martin Anderson died from lack of oxygen, oxygen deprivation,” said Pam Bondi, one of the attorneys for the prosecution.  “This was no accident.  This was a child who was killed.”

A position consistent with the Hillsborough County medical examiner’s autopsy.  The first autopsy from the Bay County medical examiner found that Anderson died from complications from sickle cell trait, a genetic blood disorder that the defense argues boot camp workers did not know about.  One by one, each of the eight defense attorneys made that point.

“What you didn’t see on that video that the state showed is that he’s talking, ” said Ashley Benedict, the attorney for the boot camp nurse.  “She takes out her stethoscope. He’s able to communicate.”

Protestors from the Tallahassee Youth Chapter of the NAACP gathered outside the courthouse.  The attorney for Anderson’s family once again called into question the makeup of the jury.  No blacks among the 6 jurors and 4 alternates.

“They have themselves convinced that every black person with sickle cell is going to pass out and die,” said Ben Crump.  “I wish they had a black juror.”

The trial is expected to last eight days.