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Three bills aimed at stopping abortion in Florida are headed to the House floor.

The bills would require women to get an ultrasound before they could have an abortion, criminalize stem cell research, and would only allow doctors who own clinics to perform abortions. House Democrat Mark Pafford says the bills are only moving because the GOP has a supermajority.

“We’re doing this, this year because we can. Again, it’s not necessarily that it’s great policy, it’s that this is a grab like so many other things that we’re doing,” said Pafford.

Representative Liz Porter, the sponsor of the ultrasound bill says abortion doctors aren’t giving their patients all the information.

“Clinics are not going to be inclined to share the kind of information that may and will affect their bottom line,” said Porter.

The bills are just three of 18 filed in Tallahassee that would change the way abortion doctors and clinics do business.

One year ago tomorrow a busted oil pipe in the Gulf of Mexico killed sea life and scared tourists away from Florida beaches. Today, Florida’s fishing and tourism industry is starting to rebound and as Whitney Ray tells us, the governor and state cabinet are trying to spread the word that Florida’s beaches are safe.

Business is booming at Eastern Ship Building. The panhandle company received five new contracts to build cargo ships. Things weren’t looking so good last year after the BP oil spill placed the contracts on hold.

On the eve of the one year anniversary of the spill, Governor Rick Scott toured the company and highlighted their recovery story.

“The good news is from the downturn of the oil spill to where we are now, this shipyard is adding jobs,” said Scott.

From the shipyard, the governor headed here to downtown Panama City where just one year ago these store owners jobs were in jeopardy because of the oil spill. People stopped buying rods and reels at Ronnie Groon’s sporting goods shop.

“Our fishing business has been down and we felt the effect of it, but things are picking up,” said Groon.

Tuesday Ronnie met the governor and sold him a fishing license. Down the road, Scott bought a chocolate cupcake. The cupcakery opened its doors in the midst of the oil spill. The owner says business has been great and is getting better.

“Opening up your own business is the American dream and if you have a dream and what to open your own business, I say go for it,” said Owner Stephanie Morrison.

For lunch, Scott sucked down Apalachicola oysters at a local seafood restaurant. Commissioner of Agriculture Adam Putnam joined him. They want people to feel safe eating Gulf Coast seafood.

“We have found absolutely nothing for the public to be concerned about and so today is an opportunity to show that off,” said Putnam.

The elected officials hope the tour will convince tourists to return. Helping the cause is 30 million dollars from BP for marketing. The governor’s tour continues tonight with a fishing expedition until seven and a fish fry at eight o’clock central time.

More than half of all votes in the two thousand eight election were cast early or by absentee. But legislation to be considered this week in Tallahassee would cut early voting down from two weeks to six days.

In 2008, long early voting lines from one end of Florida to the other caused then Governor Charlie Crist to keep polls open not eight…but twelve hours a day. In making the announcement, Crist said “Early voting sites will be open from 7am to 7pm.”

More than half of the votes cast in 08 were cast early or by absentee. Current law allows local supervisors to set the days, locations, and times of early voting over a two week period. But pending legislation sponsored by Rep. Dennis Baxley would cut early voting down to just 6 days before an election.

The intention, really, is less days with more complete hours, and I think that’s the direction we’ll see this move”, says Baxley.

The bill also says students could no longer change their address from one county to another on election day.Under the proposed changes, neither the media, party activists, or a candidate could talk to any voter in line, anywhere.

As the anniversary of the worst oil spill in US history approaches many coastal businesses are still hurting. Along with the oil came a stigma that scared tourists away from Florida and forced some businesses to close or downsize. As Whitney Ray tells us, it’s been a slow recovery.

Just weeks before oil began gushing into the Gulf of Mexico Jimmy Mosconis expanded his business.

He built a new bait and tackle shop at his fishing lodge. Then business dropped more than 20 percent as news of the worst oil spill in US history began to dominate the airwaves.

“The oil spill just really threw a lot of people on their heels last year. A lot of people,” said Jimmy.

Jimmy filed a claim with BP last year. They’ve yet to pay.

Spring break provided a boost for businesses along Florida’s gulf coast… But things are a long way from normal. Some people are still afraid to eat seafood caught in these waters.

Not Brownie Parkman. The fishing guide caught two Monday. His business dropped off 40 percent after the spill. Things are still slow.

“Cancelations were on the books and they just decided not to take the risk of getting oiled on,” said Parkman.

The oil didn’t keep Irl Long away last year. He’s back again and ready to eat his catch.

“Been eating a bunch of them since the oil spill and I haven’t noticed any difference,” said Irl.

Lawsuits from the state and people who lost business in the spill are still a possibility… Whether or not things get that far will depend largely on how much BP is willing to pay. Tomorrow Governor Rick Scott will tour parts of the panhandle and talk to business owners still feeling the effects of the oil spill.

Florida’s unemployment rate has fallen to 11.1 percent, a 16 month low. Since Governor Rick Scott took office it’s down almost a whole percentage point, but as Whitney Ray tells us, it may be too early for the jobs governor to take credit for the falling unemployment rate.

Governor Rick Scott hurried into the room, made this announcement.

“Florida’s unemployment rate for March is 11.1 percent,” said Scott.

And left without taking one question about his role in lowering the unemployment rate.

Florida’s unemployment rate is down almost one percentage point from the time Scott took office. He seems to be taking credit for the drop… but even the chief economist for the state’s unemployment office can’t identify his contributions.

“It’s certainly it’s been the beginning of additional hiring by employers and all of those factors we don’t have the reasons why they’re all increasing,” said Rebecca Rust, AWI Chief Economist.

State lawmakers say the rate would have dropped no matter who was in office.

“This is something that would have happened whether Rick Scott or Alex Sink or whomever would have been governor,” said Sen. Mike Fasano.

“To attribute it to the first 100 days of Governor Scott is probably a little premature,” said Rep. Alan Williams,

The good news is more than 50-thousand jobs have been created since March of last year and the unemployment rate is at a 16 month low.

But a million people are still looking for a job… Scott recognizes he has his work cut out for him.

“We still have more than a million people out of work. That’s why I’m working everyday to create job and grow Florida’s private sector,” said Scott.

Scott promised to create 700-thousand jobs in seven years time. Economists say a million will be created in the same period as the state recovers from the recession. Scott says his jobs will be in addition… to the million… it’s just not clear yet how to separate the two.

The Governor’s Press Office says it’s too early to tell how Scott’s policies have affected the job market. But they believe some of what Scott’s has done so far has helped create a jobs friendly environment. They also point out that Scott has plenty of time to reach his goal of 700-thousand jobs.

After two weeks on pins and needles, disabled Floridians and their caregivers are breathing a sigh of relief. Governor Rick Scott cut funding for agencies providing in-home services to disabled Floridians April 1st. But after protests, phone calls, and letters decrying the cuts… Scott changed his mind. State Senator Mike Fasano says Scott never should have cut their budget to begin with.

“Governor Scott, sometimes will make a decision without realizing the true impact and the impact would have been horrendous for those with disabilities throughout the state of Florida. I’m thankful he stepped up to the plate, our leaders stepped up to the plate and these individuals will not be sacrificed,” said Fasano.

Scott made the cuts because the Agency for Persons with Disabilities was 170 million dollars in the hole. He restored the money once lawmakers found a way to cover the deficit using money from next year’s budget.

Against the outcries of supervisors of elections and nonpartisan voter registration groups state lawmakers advanced a bill changing Florida’s election laws. Under the legislation voters who update their registration information on Election Day would have to cast a provisional ballot. There would also be a shorter deadline for voter registration groups to turn in voter registration applications. Leon County Supervisor of Elections Ion Sancho says the changes will cut early voting in half.

“The fact now that the Republicans have the gall to try to remove 50 percent of the access to it, just underscores the political motivation which is motivating the Florida legislature today,” said Sancho.

The elections bill passed a Senate Committee this morning. Supporters, mostly Republican lawmakers, say the changes will deter voter fraud. Little to no voter fraud has been reported during the last two statewide elections.

13 years ago a Broward County Sheriff’s Deputy plowed into Eric Brody’s car paralyzing the 18 year old. Now Brody is 31, living with his parents and finding it hard to pay his expensive medical bills. A judge said he’s entitled to more than 30 million dollars, but the money has been tied up in the legislative process for years. Today Brody is one step closer to receiving some of his settlement. His lawyer Lance Block was there as a Senate Committee approved a 23 million dollar claims bill.

“It’s been one fight after another with an insurance company that just doesn’t want to see to it that Eric Brody ever gets justice. They’ve hired 25 lobbyist and they’re paying them millions of dollars to fight Eric and prevent him from finally being adequately compensation,” said Block.

The bill will still have to be approved by the full Senate and the House. Working against Brody is the 3.8 billion dollar budget deficit.

Last August, the Florida Supreme Court found three amendments authored by state lawmakers misleading, and ordered them removed from the ballot. Today, the state House approved three bills dramatically changing the structure of the state’s highest court. As Mike Vasilinda tells us, if the Senate follows suit, the final decision will still be up to voters.

House Speaker Dean Cannon personally argued before the Supreme Court to keep three amendments on the ballot last year. He Lost. Now Cannon is leading the effort to split the court in two, add three justices, and take away its rule-making authority.

Republicans say the changes will make the court more efficient.

“It’s a complicated state and it’s grown quite a bit since the constitution was originally passed,” Rep. Chris Dorworth (R-Seminole County) said. “So, allowing for that difference, and splitting will allow it to be more efficient.”

The idea is sweetened by increasing court funding. But Democrats say call it what it is: court packing.

“Here we have a Florida Supreme Court that struck down several constitutional amendments passed by the 2010 legislature, over many of our objections,” Rep. Darren Soto (D-Orlando) said. “In the very next session, here we have a bill that is trying to change the make-up of the court.”

The move is reminiscent of 1937, when then-President Franklin Roosevelt tried to add judges to the U.S. Supreme Court to get favorable rulings.

The nation rejected the issue then; but what happens next in Florida is up in the air.

Until now, the effort to split the court has been driven almost entirely by the House Speaker. But this week the Senate got on board, and that makes passage of the proposal more likely.

Even if lawmakers approve the changes, voters will still have the final say in 2012. Unless the court itself does what it did last year, which was to find the legislative amendments unclear and misleading.

Weeks of protest rallies and prayers may finally be paying off for immigrants and their supporters. Reports of a compromise on immigration reform legislation are beginning to emerge from the state senate. As Whitney Ray tells us, support among GOP lawmakers is still strong, but opponents say they’re gaining ground.

As lawmakers debated immigration reform legislation in a House committee Thursday. Hispanic members of the audience dropped to their knees and began to pray.

The legislation passed the committee, just two votes shy of being defeated.

Afterward the opponents rallied, and thanked God for the close vote.

“Basically what we saw was the power of God. A lot of people were praying,” said Juan Pablo Chavez, an organizer

While the group’s efforts may have only secured moral victories in the House… in the Senate they may produce a compromise.

Wednesday, as state senators prepared to take up the legislation that would pave the way for local law enforcement officers to act as immigration agents.

A crowd of more than a 100 began to pray outside the committee room.

Erika Escamilla, a naturalized citizen living in Clearwater, is afraid the bill would lead to police harassment for people with Hispanic features.

“It’s going to be very difficult with our skin color to even go out on the street,” said Escamilla.

Senate debate on the bill was postponed, twice. The House Sponsor says a deal maybe in the works.

“It doesn’t appear to me that they have arrived yet at language they can pass,” said Representative William Snyder.

The Legislation won’t come up again until after Easter. By then it may be watered down, when the question will be whether campaign promises are more powerful than protestors.

Backing the Immigrates are several business groups including the Florida Chamber of Commerce. They fear the legislation would keep tourist from South American counties from visiting Florida.

Puerto Rican Floridians were at the capitol today celebrating Puerto Rico Day.

The annual event is marked by music, dancing and art displays. Maria Ortiz of Apoyo Network is Puerto Rican. She says the rich culture of the US Territory adds more flavor to Florida’s diverse makeup. The festivities were held all day in different rooms in the state capitol where the group presented lawmakers of Puerto Rican decent and the governor with awards today.

Red-light cameras are issuing more than a million dollars a month in fines.

A legislative study shows in the first eight months after lawmakers approved the devices on state roads more than eight million dollars in fines were levied against drivers. Representative Brad Drake has had enough. He didn’t vote for the cameras last year and this year he’s cosponsoring legislation to repeal the devices.

“Everybody says this is going to save live, but what they’re not telling you is you have to give up some liberty and freedom. We could pass any kind of legislation that would save lives,” said Drake.

Drake also has legislation that would create time standards for yellow lights. Yellow lights shorter than two seconds have been reported in some areas around the state. Drake says uniform yellow lights will make the roads safer and cut down on the number of red light violations.

As the anniversary of the Deep Water Horizon oil spill approaches so does a deadline for the state to enter into a joint federal suit against BP. Alabama and Louisiana have already filed suit but our state leaders are holding out. As Whitney Ray tells us, Florida could be entitled to billions but may miss at least one opportunity to sue BP for the money.

The work continues at the state food lab where Commissioner of Agriculture Adam Putnam visited with chemists and lab technicians Wednesday.

The lab has been testing Florida seafood for traces of oil and chemical dispersants ever since BP spilled millions of barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico last year.

The lab’s equipment is so sensitive that if that 18 wheeler was parked and running outside the lab… Chemicals from its exhaust would show up in test samples.

As for the dispersants, traces have been found in some of the samples but Putnam says they’re insignificant.

“It’s one, one thousandth of the level of concern published by the Food and Drug Administration,” said Putnam.

The lab is receiving 10 million dollars from BP for testing and another 10 million to tell the country gulf seafood is safe. 30 million was awarded to Florida tourism councils Monday to attract visitors still leery of panhandle beaches. BP hopes the gift will convince the state not to sue the oil giant for billions. So far it has.

“I want to make sure that litigation is the last resort not the first resort,” said Governor Rick Scott.

The state has until April 20th to join Louisiana and Alabama in a federal suit against the oil giant. Florida could still sue BP even if it doesn’t enter into this current suit. For now the state continues to work on a claim and is expected to receive millions of dollars from fines to be levied against the oil giant.

One reason state leaders aren’t ready to sue is because they haven’t even tallied all the damage from the spill and filed a claim. Once a claim is filed, Florida will have 90 days to sue the oil giant.

Attorney General, Pam Bondi and Governor Rick Scott honored some of Florida’s heroes at the state Capitol today. Five law enforcement officers and four victim advocates were acknowledged for their selfless efforts and dedication to helping victims and their families. Before handing out the awards, Bondi read the courageous stories of each recipient. After the awards were given each recipient met Governor Rick Scott. Scott says the pleasure is all his.

“But the positive is, there’s a lot of great people in this state that show up and take care of these victims, there’s a lot of great people that show up and make sure the individuals that do these crimes are prosecuted and sent to prison,” said Scott.

Nominations for the awards given today came statewide, including from public and private organizations.

A crowd of immigrants and their supporters crowed the hallway to a Senate committee room today hoping to change minds about immigration reform. The group of more than a hundred prayed before the committee started asking for God’s help in the fight against immigration reform legislation. The bill would pave the way for local law enforcement officers to act as immigration agents. Naturalized citizen Erika Escamilla fears she would be racially profiled if the bill passes.

“It’s only going to get worse and with these kinds of laws it’s going to be very very difficult with our skin color to even like go out on the street,” said Escamilla.

The immigration legislation will be heard tomorrow in House and Senate Committees.