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The state’s attorney general is waging war on companies that promise to eliminate or consolidate debt but don’t deliver. Complaints against debt relief companies in Florida are up more than 60 percent this year. As Whitney Ray tells us, the AG’s office is taking legal action against five of the companies and investigating 31 more.

Hear it Here: Waging War on Debt Companies

Eric Monroe wants to pay off his debt. A debt relief company called his cell phone. Eric turned down their offer.

“I’m alright. If it’s up to me I won’t put myself in any more debt than I’m already in,” said Eric.

Chances are Eric avoided a scam. Many companies are promising to eliminate debt for a few thousand dollars up front. Attorney General Bill McCollum says some of them are taking the money and running.

“If someone is promising to reduce your debt and they’re not a reputable debt counseling service and they’re asking for an upfront fee, chances are, it’s too good to be true,” said McCollum.

The AG’s office has received 1,400 complaints against debt relief companies this year alone.

The webpage for United Debt Solutions claims it can cut your debt in half, and a customer can be debt free in as little as 8 months. United Debt Solutions is one of 5 companies being subpoenaed by the AG’s office. The Florida Public Interest Research Group says the debt companies won’t tell you all the options

“They fail to tell consumers that they might qualify for bankruptcy and they should talk to a bankruptcy attorney. If they’re so deep in debt they’ll never work it down,” said Florida PIRG Spokesman Brad Ashwell.

The state also filed lawsuits against two other companies this week. The AG’s Office settled with one fraudulent debt company. New Leaf Associates was ordered to pay the state 320,000 dollars over a debt elimination scam and was forced to shut its doors.

Governor Charlie Crist is ordering the state DOT to speed up construction on 179 projects costing 1 point 4 billion dollars. The Projects have already been paid for by taxpayers and are in the planning, design or development stages. He emphasized no environmental permit corners will be cut, but says the speed up will result in nearly 39,000 jobs being created, with the impact reverberating across the economy.

“Every dollar that the state of Florida spends on transportation project, Floridians experience a five dollar and 60 cent return on that investment. So what does that mean? That means that these projects will generate and this is an incredible number, 7.48 billion dollars in economic stimulus to Florida,” said Crist.

The projects are located in central, southwest and southeast Florida. Some north Florida road builders are upset more projects aren’t being accelerated in their part of the state.

As many as one in four voters are expected to cast their ballots by absentee or through early voting. The increase in early voting is changing the political landscape for candidates buying advertising. Still, the Governor, who will vote on Election Day, said it is important for candidates to build excitement right up to the end.

“I think a lot of people have already made up their minds, but it’s always good to have a strong finish and run through the finish line. You all are in the business of information distribution and the more you can communicate with the people who are about to vote, who are waiting on Election Day, like a traditionalist like myself, I like to go vote at the poll. It’s important to go get that information to people,” said Crist.

Early voting begins next Monday, and most large counties have already sent out and received back thousands of absentee ballots.

Florida’s Secretary of State was drilled by members of the state cabinet today about what he’s doing to ensure a smooth election. As Whitney Ray tells us, cabinet members offered Secretary Kurt Browning more staff and asked him to call for a voter fraud investigation.

The possibility of 30,000 ineligible voters casting ballots on Election Day caused a stir among members of the Florida Cabinet. Attorney General Bill McCollum asked Secretary of State Kurt Browning to order an investigation into voter fraud.

“We don’t want a single person to be voting who is ineligible, a convicted felon, an illegal immigrant, someone who is not eligible, because that waters down my vote,” said McCollum.

Voter fraud is only one of the concerns. State Cabinet members fear newly registered voters may not be able to cast traditional ballots, long lines at polling sights could keep voters waiting for hours, and election officials may not be prepared to handle a possible record turnout.

Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink offered Secretary Browning a helping hand.

“Do we need to consider permitting some of our state employees to go and provide some extra staffing in those counties that you deem may be potentially to have issues on voting day. We just don’t need to have disruption this time,” said Sink.

Secretary Browning says he’s confident things will go smoothly in Florida.

“We’ve been working very closely with supervisors of elections. They know what the mission is. My department knows what the mission is, and we have done everything that we possible can in a very loose environment to assure success on Election Day,” said Browning.

Guaranteeing success in state with a history of election mishaps may be easier said than done.

Efforts to purge ineligible voters from the rolls before Election Day are unlikely to succeed, but anyone who is ineligible to vote and does, could be guilty of a crime.

Florida lawmakers are meeting with insurance executives and health experts to come up with a plan to provide healthcare coverage to children with developmental disabilities. This spring the state mandated coverage for children with autism and challenged insurance companies to find ways to cover other disorders. State Representative Andy Gardiner says the goal is to offer parents better options.

“A child with a disability, whether it’s autism or a related disability, it’s a very difficult time on a family and sometimes it can be overwhelming. What we have to do, I believe, as a state is to say here are all your options. You’re going through a difficult time. We’re going to try to work with you. The insurance companies are going to work with you to help you get your child to the point to the point were they are a productive citizen for the state of Florida,” said Gardiner.

Lawmakers will meet once a month to fine tune their plan for next year’s legislative session.

Just a few months ago Charlie Crist was flying across the country to campaign for Presidential hopeful John McCain. Crist’s time in the national campaign spotlight has dimmed since then. National pundits say the Governor’s pull back from campaigning for McCain is a sign the Republican nominee is losing. Crist says he is still working for McCain, but his first obligation is on Florida. Despite the recent scale down Crist offered his two cents on what McCain needs to do tonight to win the debate.

“He needs to connect with the American people and speak from his heart and reassure people about the great strength of his leadership. He is certainly a guy who is a fighter and can come back strong. He certainly did it in Florida,” said Crist.

Crist says he’ll be along side McCain on Friday when the presidential hopeful visits Melbourne.

Floridians may have a chance to vote for a government spending cap. The National Federation of Independent Business launched a campaign aimed at placing a tax cap on local government spending. The cap would limit budget growth to the rate of inflation. The plan would require a majority vote by citizens to allow governments to raise taxes. Small business owner Kimberly Abelon says the plan would allow citizens to hold local governing officials accountable.

”Politicians that do a good efficient job of spending our money aren’t going to have any problems convincing 51 percent of the population to agree to a tax increase, but politicians who are inefficient and wasteful are going to have a greater challenge. As a small business owner, my customer demand accountability and efficiency from me. Shouldn’t I receive the same thing from my local government,” said Abelon.

The campaign is hoping to get enough support to place its plan on the 2010 ballot as a constitutional amendment.

More than thirty-thousand felons who haven’t had their civil rights restored are registered to vote in Florida. The state says it doesn’t have enough time or manpower to investigate every case before Election Day. As Whitney Ray tells us, several thousand ineligible voters will probably have their votes counted.

Hear it Here: Ineligible Voters Heading to the Polls

State law bans ex-felons from voting if they haven’t had their civil rights restored. But that hasn’t stopped more than 30,000 ineligible voters from registering. Some signed up because think they’re in the clear.

The confusion may have been caused by a 2007 state cabinet decision to grant automatically civil rights restoration to some non-violent offenders.

The Secretary of State’s office hasn’t been able to do background checks on all the questionable voters and with time running out some will slip through the cracks.

“We want to air on the side of the voter. We want to make sure people who are eligible are protected and we’re going to examine those case files very thoroughly to make sure they’re felons before we advise a supervisor to remove them,” said Secretary of State Spokeswoman Jennifer Davis.

Supervisors of Elections say if ineligible people vote the results could be challenged.

“It lays ground work for further legal challenges and that’s something none of us want to see in the elections process,” said Leon County Supervisor of Elections Ion Sancho.

Human Rights activist Mark Schlakman said it’s time Florida stopped banning people from the polls.

“There are 1,000’s of ex felons who are conceiving residing in Florida who have completed their sentences and are barred from voting. That’s unconscionable,” said Schlakman.

Everyone who registers to vote in Florida signs a statement swearing they are qualified to vote. People who lie on the form could be charged with a felony.

Seven-thousand-five hundred disabled Floridians will have their in-home services scaled back this week due to state budget cuts. More than half of the people losing services are challenging the state’s decision to cut back their funding. Some say cutting in-home services will actually increase the cost to the state. Deborah Linton, the Executive Director of the Florida Association of Retarded Citizens said people who have their services scaled back may have to turn to other state funded treatment options.

“It costs a great deal more to put someone in ICF or an institution than it does to give them these services at home. What we try to do in the wavier program that we’re are talking about that are getting these cuts, is support families in supporting their family members so it’s much more cost efficient for the taxpayer,” said Linton.

Those not challenging the decision will see a loss of services this week. For the 4,550 people who did file a timely challenge, there is at least a 90 day reprieve while the state sorts out who will be getting what.

The State Supreme Court is working to fix a water leak that has already destroyed more than 11,000 law books. A fence is being built around the building and dehumidifiers were placed in the basement. Several cracks in the basement’s walls are causing the leaks. The books destroyed by the water were worth more than 37,000 dollars. State Supreme Court Spokesman Craig Waters said some of them were more than 100 years old.

“The books definitely had historical value and many of them are books that were done back in the day when they had leather binding or were very nicely done books and they unfortunately became full of mold and so you would open them up and they would be blue,” Waters said.

Luckily the state was able to back up all the books on electronic media before they became unusable.

Open enrollment for a state program allowing parents to lock in college tuition rates for their kids is just around the corner. As Whitney Ray tells us, Florida prepaid college plans help Florida families save thousands on higher education.

FSU Junior Cathleen Chambless has a lot of the same worries as her friends like making grades or finding a parking spot. What she doesn’t worry about is tuition. Cathleen’s parents invested in a Florida Prepaid College Plan.

“I was really happy about it because I have a Bright Futures Scholarship too so It end-up working out,” said Cathleen.

With the scholarship Cathleen actually has extra money, cash she can spend on books and everyday living cost. She’s not alone. About one out of every five students at Florida’s public universities use the plan to pay for college.

The plan allows parents to lock in the cost of tuition now. Diane Hirth Spokeswoman for the Florida Prepaid College Board said parents should buy into the plan as soon as their children are born.

“If you had bought the plan for the student going to college at a Florida college this fall, if you bought it 18 years ago, the savings would have been 8,000 on your tuition,” said Hirth.

Jenn Meale started investing in her daughter Ivey’s plan just weeks after the girl was born. Jenn spends more to drive to work than she does on the prepaid plan

“The payments are about 100 bucks a month and it’s less than we pay a month on gas, so we just continuously pay that amount and by the time she’s 18 she’ll be set,” said Jenn.

All money paid into the plan is backed by the state and can be taken out any time. Of course, if you take the money out early you only get the principle back, with no interest. Open enrollment begins on October 20th. and lasts through January. To sign up go to MyFloridaPrepaid.com

An insurance company protecting some of the most expensive homes in Florida is asking the state for a 37 percent rate hike. The Office of Insurance Regulation held a rate hike hearing today in Tallahassee. Cincinnati Insurance and Indemnity has more than 14,000 policyholders in Florida. The company insures thousands of high-end properties and million dollar homes. OIR spokesman Ed Domansky said the company passed up a chance to lower its risk.

“The fact that they did not purchase the additional reassurance from the catastrophe fund and they also included an expense for that in their rate filing. So they didn’t purchase it, so the question remains one, should they have included that expense. Also had they purchased that cheaper level reinsurance would the rate they’re requesting be less,” said Domansky.

OIR is also questioning the model Cincinnati insurance used to estimate its risk. The insurer says it needs to raise rates to prepare for a major hurricane. Since January 2007 when new insurance legislation became law, the state has turned down every double digit rate hike.

Sunday is the one year anniversary of the not guilty verdict in the boot camp death of 14 year-old Martin Lee Anderson. The teen was kicked and kneed by guards as a nurse watched during the first hour of his stay in the Panama City boot camp. The state later settled for 5 million dollars with his parents. Mother Gina Jones said her life hasn’t been the same since the death, and nothing has changed her or her attorney’s mind that that guards got away with murder.

The NAACP asked for a federal investigation into whether the guards violated Marin’s civil rights. There has been no inquiry or investigation. The family is hoping a new administration may reopen the case.

Pending home sales have risen seven percent in some parts of Florida. The increase is being attributed to falling home prices. As Whitney Ray tells us, the increase in the housing market is bittersweet and things in Florida could get worse before they get better.

Hear it Here: Economic Woes Continue For Florida

With falling prices fueling a slight increase in the state’s housing market, real estate agents are chomping at the bit to get a piece of the action.

Coldwell Banker is offering a ten percent discount on some of its listing in Florida to people who buy before October 19th.

“We’re trying to gain the interest of the buyers who are there and we are. I think people are aware that there are some good buys out there,” said Ann Brockett, the Managing Broker for Coldwell Banker Hartung.

While the news is bittersweet for Florida’s real estate market, it’s all bad news on the jobless front.

In a cascade of events that started with a slow down in the construction industry and trickled down to small businesses, the state’s workforce suffered huge blows. Florida’s unemployment rate is at a 13 year high and exceeds the national average.

Governor Charlie Crist spent an hour meeting with Florida bankers. Afterward we asked if Florida is in a recession.

“The economy’s tough. I don’t know what you technically call it. You know it’s a difficult challenging situation and there’s no question about it.”

Crist says the best thing Floridians can do in these tough times is to keep spending.

A coalition of groups representing retirees, educators, and others is
launching a million dollars TV campaign to fight Amendment 2. The
amendment is titled The Protection of Marriage Act, but opponents say
the amendment has grave consequences for couples who live together, gay
or not. Pastor Brent Copeland said he is a firm believer in Marriage.

“I think marriage should be held in honor among all people just as the letter to the Hebrews says. But I am opposed to amendment 2 because it would do real harm to people who are not married. The elderly couples that feel they cannot marry for economic reasons, and to people with domestic partnerships whose health and pension benefits could be taken away if this amendment should pass,” Copeland.

In one TV spot, an older couple describes the problems that could hit
seniors who are living together, but not married, it the amendment were
to pass. Say No to 2 says it will spend as much as it can raise to
defeat the amendment.