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The Florida Chamber of Commerce joined lawmakers at the Capitol today to announce a plan aimed at jumpstarting the state’s economy. Lawmakers are sponsoring a bill that would allow the state to reinvest 2 billion dollars from the retirement fund. The bill urges the state’s financial leaders to invest the money in Biotech or other cutting edge businesses. Representative Frank Attkisson says by investing in high-tech companies the state would get more high paying jobs.

“We have an economic crisis worse than we’ve ever seen. The only way to get taxpayers to pay more money is to give them more dollars, so they can take the great American dream and invest and go explore,” said Attkisson.

The bill would also award small business owners grants if they met certain criteria.

Governor Charlie Crist continues to receive a favorable rating from a majority of Floridians.  The latest Quinnipiac Poll says 59 percent approve of the job he is doing. The rating is down, but pollster Peter Brown says that to be expected.

“There’s very little partisan difference in how voters perceive Charlie Crist. By and large, they all like him and that’s unusual,” Peter Brown, a Quinnipiac University Pollster said.  “Again, he used to be in the 70’s but that kind of drop is not unexpected and frankly, again, given the state budget system, the general worries about the economy, the fact that he has such a positive job approval rating is highly unusual in a two-party state.”

The poll also found that a majority, 55% to 40% approve of using gambling revenue to off set school budget cuts. Floridians also say, by a margin of 69 to 29 percent, that it’s a good idea to raise the tax on cigarettes by a dollar and use the money for health care.

A St. Petersburg man who spent 24 years in prison is now 1 million 250 thousand dollars richer. Governor Charlie Crist signed the legislation proving compensation for those years behind bars, But as Mike Vasilinda tells us, Alan crotzer says no amount of money can repay him for the years lost.

The document that set Alan Crotzer free hangs prominently on his living room wall. He knows exactly how long he was behind bars.

“24 years, 6 months, 13 days, and 4 hours– wrongfully convicted,” Crotzer said.

Since his release after DNA proved Alan Crotzer innocent, he has been working as a land scape artist in Tallahassee. His freedom is something his mother never got to see. She died in 2001.

“From the beginning, she asked me ‘son, do you know anything about it?’ And I said no,” Crotzer said. After that, she began to talk to me confidently, saying ‘Please don’t worry about it. God’s gonna fix it.”

2 years 2 months 18 days and 5 hours after his release, the state did it’s best to make up for the mistake.

“Without further adieu, I want to sign this into law,” Governor Crist said.

Governor Charlie Crist’s signature makes Alan 1.25 million dollars richer.

The settlement works out to about 50 thousand dollars a year. But Crotzer says it can’t make up for what he lost.

“I was thinking about being in the Coast Guard,” Crotzer said.  “I was thinking about a lot of things. I wanted to travel, I wanted an education. Nothing can give you back 25 years of your life.”

For now, Alan is keeping his job, but the claims bill also provides tuition for Alan at a state university.  And that is likely next on his agenda.

Pressure on lawmakers is mounting under grim reports of a dwindling budget. Finger pointing in Tallahassee is creating tensions between Democrats and Republicans. As Whitney Ray tells us, Democrats blame Republicans for cuts targeting the needy, but Republicans say Democrats had their turn.

Hear it here: Tensions Mount Over Budget Cuts

The mood was jovial outside the Capitol Wednesday, as the governor served an oversized paella to all comers. But everyone’s mind was on the debate inside.

“Doing more with less, that’s what this is all about,” said Governor Charlie Crist. “We don’t have a choice.”

With a starving budget, there are grim predictions of elderly (dying) without Hospice, criminals being released from prison, and children who can’t compete because schools are getting less money than last year. House Democrats say cutting sales tax exemptions like those on bottled water would save programs that help the needy. Democrats blame Republicans for protecting tax exemptions while cutting health care funding, schools, and prisons. An editorial in a respected newspaper called lawmakers heartless.

“You tell me whose being cold hearted when we have a Republican leadership saying these are the cuts that we will make,” said House Democrat Joyce Cusack.

Republicans say Democrats had their chance.

“A lot of the issues we have today probably were created before the Republicans were in leadership,” said Eduardo Gonzalez, a Republican Representative.

While education and health care fought a losing battle in the chambers, an optimistic Governor continued to serve paella. Wednesday, lawmakers adopted amendments to the budget proposals. Both the House and the Senate will vote on the plans later this week.

The gun battle is almost over and when the smoke clears the Governor will declare the NRA the winner. A bill allowing people to keep guns in their cars while at work passed through the Senate Wednesday. For three years, the NRA fought with the Florida Chamber of Commerce over the issue. The Florida Chamber said business owners should have the final say so about what to allow in their parking lots. The NRA said people need to keep guns in their cars for protection.

“The importance of the bill is it maintains the right of protection no matter where you park your car,” said Marion Hammer, Former NRA President.

“I’ll probably sign it. The second amendment is very important, I understand there are competing interests, there always are in this process, but people being protected is most important to me,” said Governor Charlie Crist

The Governor has a week to sign the bill. If signed into law, it will go into effect July 1st of this year.

Politicians and the powerful from Miami Dade County turned the Capitol plaza into a fiesta Wednesday. Paella for 3,000 was the dish of choice. Hundreds of people stood in a line that wrapped around the courtyard, just to get a taste. The people’s governor rolled up his sleeves and proclaimed the spicy concoction “The People’s Paella.” Firefighter Manny Gelabert helped serve up the dish and said it had everything anyone could want.

“There’s chicken, there’s green peppers, red peppers, few hundred, about 500 pounds of rice, just a ton of stuff of seafood in here everything that everybody wants,” said Gelabert.

Billed as the world’s largest Paella, Miami Dade Days is one of the favorites for Capitol insiders. The event was cancelled last year for fear of violating the gift ban, but after lawyers said it was okay, this year’s event was back on the schedule.

Allstate has until Monday to ask a court to let it keep selling new policies. The company remains at odds with state regulators over what documents it is required to turn over. And as Mike Vasilinda tells us, the companies 1100 independent agents feel like they are caught in the middle.

Hear it here: Allstate Agents Meet with State

Their faces grim, a handful of Allstate agents and their association executives came to the Capitol to plead their case to state insurance regulators.

“We’re here to just urge the parties to work it out,” Tim Meehan with the Fl. Assn. Of Insurance and Financial Advisors said. “Allstate agents are small business men and women, getting caught in the middle.”

An hour later no one was smiling. No one was claiming a truce was on the horizon.

“Having the agents not be able to produce business, actually bankrupt some of our members,” Dan Brown, president of the FAIFA said.

Agent Carolyn Hersh from Pasco County says her customers are calling with questions.

“My Customers, thankfully I have a personal relationship with most of them, that they can come to me and say ‘ok, what is going on? Is my current policy in jeopardy?’ And I can say no, your current policy is not in jeopardy and I am happy to continue to service you,” Hersh said.

Still at issue is whether the company can claim lawyer-client privilege on a 196 page list of documents the state wants to see.

Allstate has until Monday to ask the appellate court for a rehearing. And every day of delay gives the company time to write new policies

The agents got no sympathy from the governor.

“They oughta work for a better company, that’s more ethical and more honest and not so damn greedy,” Crist said. “No, I’m not happy at all. Bad Hands.”

In a statement, the state says the Allstate agents should express their concerns to the Allstate corporate office.

Two bills in Tallahassee would require online dating services to tell subscribers whether or not they’ve screened other members. As Whitney Ray tells us, lawmakers say the legislation is about safety, but others say it’s an advertising ploy by sites that already do background checks.

Hear if here: Dating Services Under Fire, Lawmakers Push For Disclosure

Online dating sites may be the newest pickup hot spot, but they’re not for everyone. Some people are afraid of who they might meet online.

“People can change who they are and you don’t really see who they are. They’re just behind the computer screen,” said Lesley Lynn from Orlando, FL.

Senator Ronda Storms fears predators are using dating sites to find victims. Storms is sponsoring a bill requiring sites like Match.com and EHarmony to tell subscribers they don’t run background checks.

“Either you do it or you don’t do it. That’s all. It’s transparency. Interesting it’s so opposed by the industry. And it is vigorously opposed by the industry,” said Stoms.

True.com claims it’s the only online dating site running background checks. Opponents of the bill say it’s simply about one site wanting its competitors to admit they’re not as good. Opponents said if sites start claiming they run background checks, the disclaimer could give users false hope.

“My concern is that if you have something on there that says ‘we do back ground checks’ we don’t know what that means and it might give people who use the thing a false sense of security,” said Senator Charlie Justice.

While the bill targets online dating, it does nothing to regulate social networking sites like Myspace and Facebook. Still proponents say you’ve got to start somewhere. The bill would allow the state to sue any dating service that didn’t let its users know its members hadn’t been subjected to background checks.

Governor Pushes Insurance Plan for Florida’s 4 Million Uninsured

Governor Crist says he’s not a fan of big insurance companies, so he’s offering up his own plan. In a sit down meeting with Floridians who have run into obstacles trying to get insurance, Crist vented his frustration. Crist wants the legislature to approve his plan to provide Florida’s 4 million uninsured the option of buying insurance for about a hundred bucks a month.

“By sharing your stories you create urgency and the reason that this is so damn important, pardon my French,” said Crist.

Crist’s plan is moving through the Senate. It’s facing heavier opposition in the House.

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Nurses say they’re breaking their backs caring for Florida’s sick. About a hundred nurses gathered at the Capitol today, to support the Safe Lifting Act. Representative Ronald Brise helped demonstrate a lifting chair that allows nurses to easily move patients. The Safe Lifting Act would require hospitals to us machines like the lifting chair of come up with other plans to help nurses move patients. SEIU Health Care President Martha Baker said some nurses don’t have any other options, but to move patients by themselves.

“In the ICU I work in we have to turn them every two hours. If I don’t have help I’m going to do it because I want the patient to be turned and to not get bed sores. And we’ll turn a two or 300 pound person, that’s not a dead lift, but that’s lifting way more than 50 pounds,” said Baker.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, nurses suffer more back injuries than people in any other profession.

Despite the state’s rising crime rate, the Department of Justice could be forced to eliminate thousands of jobs under proposed budget cuts. About 1,800 prison guards could be let go, but probation officers may suffer the biggest blow. The state employs less than 3,000 probation officers. Three hundred positions would be cut under one budget plan. Correctional Probation Officers Chapter President Richard Gordon said if the cuts happen the state wouldn’t be able to keep track of everyone on probation.

“The cases that were supervised by those officers would have to go to other officers and when you do that you’re going to impact public safety because that officer is going to have his case load bloated were he’s not going to be able to affectively supervise them,” said Gordon.

Adding to the work load for probation officers, a plan to release hundreds of prisoners if funding isn’t available to keep them behind bars.

A St. Petersburg man is just a signature away from collecting more than a million dollars. Alan Crotzer spent 24 years in prison for a rape he didn’t commit. In 2006, DNA evidence proved his innocence. A Bill that would award Crotzer 1.25 million dollars passed through both chambers and is awaiting the Governor’s signature. Another bill to set guidelines for compensating people who’ve served time for crimes they didn’t commit is facing opposition in the Senate. Governor Charlie Crist supports both bills.

“I think it is important to have a plan across the board that provides for people who have been wrongfully, convicted wrongfully incarcerated. I can’t imagine the gross injustice of somebody who served 25 years for something they didn’t even do. We have to provide for those people,” said Crist.

Crist is expected to sign the Crotzer Compensation bill later this week.

Investigators for Florida’s Attorney General spent 5 hours on line this morning and chatted with at least 20 people who crossed the line and could soon be arrested. But as Mike Vasilinda tells us, budget cuts may keep some perpetrators on the street and behind their keyboards.

Hear it here: Cyber Crime Fight in Jeopardy

Captain Cla Parker is a retired police officer. But online, he is a 14 year old Florida Girl.
And for an hour and a half, he chatted with a much older man.

“He takes me through a masturbation section, where he has me masturbate myself for his pleasure, and says we can do this on a regular basis if I’ll be his friend,” Parker said.

At lunch 338 other people were logged on to the same chat room. A click and a few key pecks away was another suitor, this time a woman.

“‘Burnout’ is the screenname.” Parker said. “She actually wanted me to get a candle and light it and touch it to various parts of my body.”

Every new chatter was told they were speaking to a 14 year old girl. Some danced around the obvious. Others jumped in with both feet, and what they wrote was too racy to show you here. Supervisor Maureen Horkan says it is almost too easy.

“It’s like shooting fish in a barrel,” Horkan said. “Like I said today, we could have issued twenty search warrants, just today.”

One reason for the demonstration, the program is facing budget cuts.

New offices in Tampa and Pensacola may not open and, offices in Ft. Myers and Tallahassee have already been scuttled.

Horkan says the cuts put kids at risk.

“Every single time one of these guys is put in jail, scores of children are saved from their abuse,” Horkan said. “It wasn’t a one-time thing.”

While legislators say the program is worthy, they also say they can’t spend money they don’t have.

One of the state’s most dangers jobs could get even more dangerous. Lawmakers want the state’s prison system to operate with about two thousand fewer correctional officers. As Whitney Ray tells us, correctional officers fear they’ll have to guard the state’s baddest inmates with fewer good guys.

Hear it here: Budget Cuts Could Make Dangerous Job Worse

James Baiardi has spent 22 years of his life keeping an eye on Florida’s most violent criminals. During his time as a correctional officer Baiardi has been bitten, had his tooth knocked out. He was even stabbed with a pencil.

“Over the years I’ve seen some violent acts. I’ve actually seen one inmate kill another inmate,” said Baiardi.

On the day of the killing in 1990, Baiardi had to take down the killer who was still armed with a shank.

“I had to disarm him from the weapon, I actually stuck the weapon down and secure the weapon,” Baiardi said

Stories like Baiardi’s could soon become more common as lawmakers follow through with plans to cut 1,800 correctional officers. The Senate’s latest plan would eliminate money to build new prisons. The Department of Corrections says with less money it wouldn’t be able to keep the prisons it has open.

“If we are forced to make significant budget cuts to our prison system, like eliminating the 1,800 correctional officers, more than likely what we would like to do is close down a prison,” said Gretl Plessinger a spokesperson with the Department of Corrections.

Which means some prisoners would be free. Under the cuts about six hundred probation officers would also lose their jobs.

Mothers who lost loved ones in drunk driving accidents want laws changed. Mothers Against Drunk Driving, also known as MADD, gathered at the Capitol Monday to persuade lawmakers to crack down on drunk drivers. One bill MADD supports would require some first time DUI offenders to have a device put in their cars that would keep them from starting the engine if they’d been drinking. The device is commonly referred to as a ‘Blow and Go.’ Anna Redgate lost her daughter to a habitual drunk driver. She said if the laws were different at the time of the accident, there wouldn’t have been an accident.

“Statistics show that giving people education and penalties is not the only thing. You really need to utilize technology because freewill is freewill,” said Redgate.

Reports show one in every nine drunk drivers involved in fatal crashes had a prior DUI and about a third of all drivers arrested for DUI are repeat offenders.

Just hours after a court decided to uphold a suspension against Allstate, the insurer released coveted company documents. Friday the First District Court of Appeals in Tallahassee upheld the state’s right to suspend the insurer from writing new policies until it turns over documents the state wants to see. Since then Allstate posted some of the documents on its website. The State Office of Insurance Regulation wonders why it took so much litigation to make Allstate turn them over.

“What they went through to protect those documents from us and from others, even court in Missouri where they have accrued up to 4 million dollars in fines and penalties and contempt, and not until their license was suspended in Florida, have they decided to issue those documents,” said Ed Domansky a spokesperson for the Office of Insurance Regulation.

Allstate has fifteen days to file an appeal to the courts decision.