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Some state workers could lose their jobs or see pay reductions as lawmakers look to fill a three billion dollar budget hole.

There are 150-thousand state workers in Florida costing taxpayers more than seven billion dollars in salaries and benefits. Senate President Jeff Atwater says the layoffs have to be part of the budget balancing conversation this year.

“I don’t believe we could get through at this early stage of assessing where we will go in the budget that there will no be further reduction in state spending that could impact our work force or salaries, I think that would be a very difficult commitment to make,” said Atwater

State workers beat a two percent pay cut last year and have gone without pay raises for the past four years.

New poll numbers show Attorney General Bill McCollum leading his democratic rival for governor by double digits.

McCollum’s ahead of Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink, 41 to 31 percent, according to a Quinnipiac poll released today. Pollster Peter Brown says besides name recognition, Sink is also being hurt by the country’s growing distaste for Democrats.

“Well obviously this has not been a good few months for Democrats around the country. Probably has worn off a bit on her but we have a long way to go and voters don’t really know much about either gubernatorial candidate. It’s certainly better to be ahead by double digits than behind by double digits but we still have a long way to go in that race,” said Brown.

The poll also shows McCollum crushing his primary opponent, State Senator Paula Dockery 44 to 6 percent.

In just eight months Former House Speaker Marco Rubio has managed to erase a 30 point lead to inch ahead of one of the most popular politicians in Florida history. The latest Quinnipiac Poll shows Rubio leading Governor Charlie Crist in the race for the US Senate, 47 to 44. Even though the lead falls within the margin of error, as Whitney Ray tells us, Rubio has the momentum.

Last June Governor Charlie Crist was considered a shoo-in for US Senate; his challenger, former House Speaker Marco Rubio, a speed bump at best. But the tables have turned.

Crist’s 30 point lead has evaporated. The latest Quinnipiac Poll shows Rubio up three points among Republicans.

“On the question about who is the most consistency conservative Mr. Rubio scores double digits better,” said Quinnipiac Pollster Peter Brown.

Crist’s appearance with President Barack Obama last February, a nationwide war on incumbents and the sinking economy are partially to blame for the turnaround.

The poll shows Crist’s job approval rate falling as unemployment increases.
In a news conference Tuesday Crist pointed to the economy for his recent misfortune, then renewed his commitment to Florida.

“I’m going to govern and my first responsibility is to be the governor of the state of Florida and to work hard for the people every single day,” said Crist.

A campaign manager for Rubio said the former speaker was too busy to talk on camera about his lead in the poll, but added the news is encouraging.

Despite losing the lead in the poll, Crist is still dominating the fundraising battle. Crist outraised Rubio in fourth quarter of 2009 and has 7.5 million dollars to spend getting his message to voters.

The state is wasting millions of dollars ordering new office supplies instead of sharing among agencies.

The state spends 47 million dollars a year on paper clips, pens, notepads and other supplies. Florida’s Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink says the state could save 14 million dollars by pooling surplus supplies. Sink saved 200-thousand dollars in her office alone and found they had 500 pounds of paperclips in her office.

“One of my friends here in Tallahassee told me he got an email, saying can you believe she’s making us count paperclips. You darn right I’m making you count paper clips. And when I told a couple of my business friends that we were counting paperclips in my department amazingly enough just last week two large fortune 1000 companies said we count paper clips too,” said Sink.

Sink is creating the CFO Depot, a website with a list of extra supplies available to state workers.

Florida’s largest business lobby is making funeral arrangements for Florida’s economy.

Associated Industries of Florida says stricter water restrictions set to go into effect in October will kill business and hurt families. AWI claims the new regulations will cost households and average of 62 dollars more a month on their water bills. The funeral will be held one day before President Barack Obama’s Tampa Visit. Funeral organizer Barney Bishop hopes the message reaches the President.

“We want him to understand that while he’s talking about creating jobs, his own federal EPA and Carol Brown are right there in the White House Purposely screwing Florida’s Economy by imposing unscientific regulations as a result of the lawsuit where the EPA capitulated with the plaintiffs to take Florida down this path of increasing our water rates,” said Bishop.

The new regulations are meant to improve the water quality and cut down on toxins.

Governor Charlie Crist says if he can find time in his schedule he will visit President Barack Obama in Tampa Thursday.

Last February Crist appeared on state with the President to rally support for an economic stimulus package. The move has hurt Crist in his race against Marco Rubio for US Senate. Crist says if his meeting with the University Systems Board of Governors wraps up quickly he’ll attend the Presidents event.

“Currently I have plans to be in Tampa on Thursday for the Board of Governors, we are going to announce the new membership. If we can work it out logistically, I’ll be with him,” said Crist.

The last time Mr. Obama was in Florida, Crist said he didn’t even know the president was visiting.

Florida lawmakers have already spent almost 3 hundred thousand dollars on the effort to redraw the state’s legislative and congressional districts, and the redrawing won’t take place for another two years. As Mike Vasilinda tells us, two new proposals to make the process more fair could result in millions more being spent.

More than a million and a half signed petitions later, Florida voters will see two new ideas on the November ballot. Both require lawmakers to draw political boundaries without regard to who is in power. One applies to congress, the other to state legislature.

Bob Milligan says what we have now doesn’t pass the common sense test.

“All you need to do is flash up a map of the districts in Florida and any objective citizen would look at it and say it’s crazy,” Gen. Bob Milligan with Fair Districts Florida said.

The two ballot initiatives were certified late Friday. Big business groups are already talking about a law suit to kick them off the ballot.

“You have a confluence of groups who are left-wing for whom the entire purpose of this is to take the power away from the establishment here in Tallahassee,” Barney Bishop with Associated Industries of Florida, said.

While it is those who are in power now, mostly Republicans, but some Democrats, who are fighting the change, it is ironic that two Republicans are leading the charge.

Party affiliation aside, Milligan, who served as state treasurer for eight years says who’s in control should not matter.

“The established standards–you are trying to have a fairly large box for people to wander around in–but the standards are designed to represent the people and not the interest of the party that is in power,” Milligan said.

If the amendments survive a legal attack, they will face a multi-million dollar television assault this fall.

If the proposed amendments make it to the 2010 they’ll need 60 percent voter approval to become law.

The governor is asking lawmakers to approve more education spending to help jump start plans to overhaul the state’s school system. The proposed changes range from paying teachers based on their students’ test scores to easing class size requirements. As Whitney Ray tells us, the changes won’t come easy.

A horse named Tuffy and a popular children’s book character greeted students at the state capitol Monday, encouraging them to read. Good reading skills will be vital for these students eyeing esteemed careers, but before these kids make the jump from dreamer to doer they’ll have to graduate, a task that may soon become harder in Florida.

Drastic changes to graduation requirements, curriculum, and the FCAT are being pushed by policymakers, but the changes could cost some serious coin which is raising concern among some lawmakers confused about where they’re supposed to find the cash.”

Governor Charlie Crist is asking lawmakers to find an extra 500 million education dollars in a state budget depleted by falling sales tax revenue. Crist says gambling revenues and a freeze on class size requirements will help increase funding. Teacher Unions oppose the freeze.

“I think a lot of people are using the economy to try to kill something they never supported in the first place,” said Mark Pudlow, a spokesman with the Florida Education Association.

Lieutenant Governor Jeff Kottkamp says the economy will play a huge role in how much reform is approved this year.

“When money’s tight you’ve got to get back to the basics, reading, writing and arithmetic,” said Kottkamp.

But even the basics cost billions in Florida leaving lawmakers with some tough decisions come March. Some of the changes being championed would bring the state in compliance with the Race to the Top standards making Florida eligible for a billion dollars in federal funding.

723-thousand Floridians have lost jobs since the recession began in April 2007.  Florida’s unemployment rate hit 11 point 8 percent in December, and as Mike Vasilinda tells us, new numbers suggest Florida lost more jobs in December than any other state in the country.

After two years, Dora DeVane has had it with looking for a job in Florida.  “I’m applying for jobs in another state”. We asked: Do you think you have a better chance there?  Devane says “I have an interview Monday morning”.

Statistically, there are now 5 point 8 job seekers for every available job. New numbers suggest Florida has 16,400 fewer jobs than it did a month ago, making the state the top job loser in December.

State Labor Economist Rebecca Rust says Florida is losing jobs at the same pace as the nation. ” The number of unemployed is 1, 087,000. So Florida’s unemployment rate is 11.8 percent is higher than the national rate at ten point 0, also released for December”, says Rust.

Almost a quarter million jobs disappeared in 2009. Employers facing five and ten fold
increase in their unemployment taxes to pay claims may be adding to the problem. Richard Harris got laid off in December and can’t find work as an electricians helper. He blames the threat of higher taxes.

“Nobody is doing anything because of this new tax coming out…nobody is hiring today because they don’t know if they gonna have to pay taxes in the end of March” says Harris. “It might even cost some employees”.

The lower the educational level, the more likely someone is to be unemployed. The job loss rate is predicted to top 12 percent in coming months.  State leaders have vowed to delay an increase in unemployment taxes, but nothing is certain. The higher taxes are due March 31st.

Time is running out for parents who want to lock in today’s college tuition rates. The deadline to enroll in a Florida Prepaid College Plan is a week from Sunday, January 31st. As Whitney Ray tells us, plan prices have skyrocketed, still, more people are buying in this year than last.

Allie Fleming just opened a gym. While she’s gambling with her career, she’s not taking any risks on her son’s future. She bought a Florida Prepaid College Plan.

“It is the responsible thing to do, with the raids on the education funding, with the changes with the Bright Futures Scholarships, there’s no telling what college is going to be like in 18 years when he goes,” said Allie.

The price of a prepaid plan has almost doubled since Allie bought in two years ago, that’s because the legislature gave state universities the authority to raise tuition up to 15 percent a year. The rising cost has led to a three percent spike in prepaid enrollment.

“When there’s been significant price jumps it does get a lot of people off the fence who may have been putting it. It wasn’t their priority, but now people are really focusing on this as part of their savings plans,” said Susan James a spokeswoman with Florida Prepaid College Board

Candy Strand did the math and decided to buy a plan for her granddaughter Sophia.

“What college would cost when she’s old enough to go to college was enough to scare the pants off of me,” said Strand.

Families who bought into a plan 18 years ago will save an average of 8-thousand dollars by the time their kid graduates. There are several different plans available with a variety of payment options. For more information on go to www.myfloridaprepaid.com.

Florida’s unemployment rate is now 11.8%, a full one point eight percent higher than the nation rate. Florida lost 232,400 jobs over the last year, and December’s unemployment rate is the highest since May 1975 when it was 11.9 percent.

If there is a bright spot in the numbers, it is that job losses have slowed, from a negative five point four percent in March 2009 to a negative three point one percent in December 2009.

There are now 1,087,000 jobless out of a labor force of 9,180,000, but what the numbers do not take into account is the tens of thousands of people who have stopped looking for work.

A rising unemployment rate is leading to higher taxes for employers. Small business owners are now calling on lawmakers to put a hold on the March increase. As Whitney Ray tells us, if they don’t act soon, more layoffs could be in the works.

Arun Kundra owns a travel center and hotel. He’s maintained a staff of 30 people through the recession but business is still slow.

“We are just on life-support. We are just maintaining on reserves,” said Arun.

A drastic increase in the state’s unemployment tax will cost Arun 18,000 more this year than last.

“Any increases, anymore expenses hurts business. It is difficult for small business,” said Arun.

Thousands of Florida businesses are in the same predicament. The tax is increasing between 500 and a thousand percent.

Tuesday hotel owners from across Florida rallied against the tax at the State Capitol and it seems their voices are being heard.

The governor and legislative leaders are considering postponing the increase. State Senator Mike Haridopolos says if the increase isn’t stopped more layoffs will follow.

“It’s going to become a self-fulfilling prophecy if you allow this tax increase to take place because those very people who are keeping people hired are going to have to let people go to pay the tax,” said Haridopolos.

Lawmakers will have to act soon. The first payments are due March 31st. If the increase is deferred the state will have to find another way to pay back money barrowed from the federal government to pay unemployment claims. Right now the state is barrowing about 300 million dollars a month to pay claims.

State legislation requiring tattoo artists to take classes on good hygiene and blood diseases is being discussed in Tallahassee.

The bill would also ban kids 16 and younger from getting a tattoo. 17 and 18 year olds would need parental consent before they could get ink done. The bills sponsor, Representative Mary Brandenburg says her legislation is about health safety.

“One fella down in my community who operates in a flea market, I’m guessing he never even washes his hands between customers. People like that need to be operating in a way that protects the public health and that’s why we are here,” said Brandenburg.

Florida Blood Services is supporting the legislation saying the stricter regulations would allow people with new tattoos to give blood, expanding the donor pool.

Rain is wrecking havoc in North Florida.

Some roadways are flooded and have been deemed impassable. Flash floods covered cars and threatened homes. Panhandle resident Anthony Jackson rushed home from work this morning when his wife called in a panic. She was trapped inside the house.

“I came home as quick as I could. When I got home, I mean you can see now the water is up to the door, my wife couldn’t get out. They had a boat to get her out. That’s my wife’s car over there, that’s my car right there and my mother-in-law car and my brother-in-law truck. I mean the water just came up so quick,” said Jackson.

Jackson is checking with his insurance company to see if the damages will be covered. The rain is expected to subside tonight.

Tuesday’s upset vote in Massachusetts special election to replace Ted Kennedy is causing shock waves in Florida. As Mike Vasilinda tells us, the GOP victory in a historically Democratic seat shows how angry voters can be and has politicians struggling to understand that anger.

There was one word on Florida politicians’ minds Wednesday.

“Massachusetts.”

State Representative Joseph Abruzzo says the upset shows how angry people have become.

“The people of the nation, and of course Florida, want to see us working together, rather than fighting all the time,” Abruzzo said.

GOP gubernatorial hopeful Paula Dockery thinks the unrest validates her long shot candidacy.

“People are very angry and they want change,” Dockery said. “They’re hurting and they don’t think anyone is looking out for them.”

Attorney General candidate Dan Gelber thinks the anger in Massachusetts may not transfer to Florida voters, but…

“It took us a decade to get into this hole, and we’re not going to get out of it overnight,” Gelber said.

And Governor Charlie Crist says the vote shows people want what he has already been giving them.

“People want people in government to understand that they’re the boss, to work for them everyday,” Crist said. “That’s what Scott Brown talked about in his campaign, that’s what we’ve done as governor.”

The Democrats’ best shot at winning the Governor’s mansion is with Alex Sink. She says it’s clear people don’t want politicians running things.

“People are looking, I believe, for a new and different kind of leadership,” Sink said. “Somebody who understands business, who can talk to business people, who can figure out how we can turn our economy around.”

Democrats in Massachusetts learned they can no longer count on independent voters. But that is something Florida Democrats learned a long time ago.

One the election is certified Democrats no longer have supermajority in the Senate, forecasting problem with the health care reform bill.