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A new report shows Florida’s 18 to 29 year olds vote less often, are less engaged in their communities and volunteer less than young adults in other states or other age groups in Florida. The study was published by the Florida Joint Center for Citizenship, the Lou Frey Institute of Politics and Government at the University of Central Florida, the Bob Graham Center for Public Service at the University of Florida. As Mike Vasilinda tells us a new voting law may make it harder to turn the situation around.

Florida’s millennial generation, those 18 to 29 are voting less than the same age group nationally and are less involved politically and in civic endeavors than young adults in other states or older age groups in Florida.

The Florida Civic Health Index is a study by Former US Senator Bob Graham’s Center for Public Service and the Lou Frey Institute of Politics, among others.

“We found that Florida was 46th out of the 50 states in terms of its indicators of good citizenship,” says Graham.

The Report shows that besides voting, political action among Florida’s young adults is almost non existent. Involvement by students at Florida State runs the gamut: We talked to five students with five very different responses:

“Just this weekend there was a show with a bake sale going on, bringing people together.
“for this girl with Leukemia. We made about nine hundred dollars this weekend.”
“Ah…do I have to answer the question.”
Do you volunteer, do anything else? “ah…no.”
“I join clubs.”

But New legislation under court challenge makes it harder to register to vote or work to register others. Bob Graham says the law won’t encourage millennial’s to get more involved. “I think that’s going in the wrong direction. And that bill, unfortunately, particularly will affect the 18 to 29 year olds,” says the former Governor and US Senator.

One bright spot in the Report: Race is not as significant in determining civic engagement among 18 to 29 year olds as it is in older age groups.

The four levels of involvement measured in the latest study include. registering to vote, voting, non electoral political engagement such as going to meetings or meeting with elected officials, joining a group, and volunteering in the community.

Restoring the Everglades and a summit on water policy was the focus of a lunch and afternoon panel that included US Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, Governor Rick Scott, legislative leaders and Former US Senator Bob Graham. Funding for restoration was cut dramatically last year and decision making sent to Tallahassee. Bob Graham says the focus for the day was public awareness of why the Everglades need to function.

“The Everglades took some heavy shots at the 2011 session. What we are trying to do today is educate people about the consequences of those, ask the legislators not to do any more damage, and to consider reversing some of the decisions” says Graham.

Graham and others also want to resume land purchases for water reclamation that were halted when the economy soured. The state is in the process of potentially selling some properties and using the money to buy more environmentally sensitive lands.

Nine people arrested last November for voter fraud in rural Madison county, 50 miles east of the state capitol, filed a lawsuit today alleging excessive force, intimidation, and false arrest. All nine are accused of altering absentee ballots in a school board race won buy a black woman over a white man. Attorney Benjamin Crump represents one of those arrested and says the arrests have nothing to do with voter fraud.

“The real fraud is in disenfranchising peoples right to vote and conducting investigations in which elderly women are harassed and intimidated with guns pointed at them, and coerced to provide statements. This doesn’t have anything to do with voter protection.  Again, I tell you, this is about voter suppression.”

Judy Crumitie is one of those facing four counts of voter fraud. “I was just trying to vote. Like Martin Luther King, and like the civil rights wanted us to do. But I was arrested by FDLE; they come into my house with a gun, and arrest me. I was scared. I didn’t know it was against the law to vote.”

The NAACP is involved in the case and points out that only absentee ballots for the black female candidate were scrutinized by law enforcement. They say votes for the white candidate should have also been examined.

Should college students who major in more expensive subjects like chemistry, engineering and technological fields pay higher tuition? It’s a question being asked of lawmakers by leading state university administrators. As Whitney Ray tells us, the idea is being considered as a way to help fund state schools losing public money.

STEM, an acronym for science, technology, engineering and mathematics, is the focus of the state’s plan to improve education and the workforce. The governor and business leaders want more students to pursue STEM degrees, but paying for those degrees may soon cost more.

FSU’s President Eric Barron has been telling lawmakers, charging STEM students more could raise money and the quality of higher education.

“I think this is a good market based argument without a cost to the state,” said Barron.

UF’s President is echoing Barron’s sentiments. The House Education Committee is taking heed.

“We’re not the only state going after STEM. There is going to be competition for people capable of teaching it, for graduate students participating in it,” said Committee Chairman Bill Proctor.

Under the plan science and engineering degrees would cost more than English and history degrees, mainly because the equipment is more expensive and hiring the top professors in those fields costs more.

We caught up with students at a Martin Luther King rally at the state capitol Monday. They say raising the cost of those courses would discourage students from pursuing those degrees in Florida.

“I think that really we should be rewarding people entering those types of professions because they have been dominated by non-Americans,” said Byron Morrison, a senior at FAMU.

The degree based tuition plan comes after four straight years of double digit tuition increases and a 17 percent drop in state funding for public universities. This week presidents of the remaining nine state universities will testify before house and senate committees about ways to improve higher education in Florida.

A few hundreds students, community leaders and elected officials marched to the state capitol today to celebrate Martin Luther King Day.

Participates carried banners and sang protest songs. Jeremy Speak marched and says today is a day to remember the sacrifices men and women have made for equal rights.

“Today’s march is a symbol of Dr. Martin Luther King and all he’s done for the African-American culture, minorities and just bringing about civil-equality to everybody,” said Speak.

Groups used the event to register voters. Organizers of the event say to keep the dream alive, minorities need to have there voices heard at the polls.

Last March the US Drug Enforcement Administration banned chemicals used in synthetic drugs. Florida’s Attorney General followed suit with a state ban on bath salt, a PCP-like drug once sold legally at gas stations. But drug manufacturers have found yet another loophole. As Whitney Ray tells us, new synthetic drugs are showing up in gas stations and in at least one case in the system of a dead Florida teenager.

After smoking Jazz, a synthetic drug sold legally at gas stations, 19 year old Logan Kushner was found unconscious in a creek. His death is a wake up call to law enforcement who thought they were gaining ground in the synthetic drug war.

After passing legislation last year to ban bath salts, which are PCP-like drugs, and a federal ban on chemicals used in synthetic marijuana products lawmakers though they had the problem under control. But drug manufacturers wasted no time slightly altering the chemicals in their products and now they’re back on the shelves at gas stations and tobacco shops.

Products like Jazz and Barely Legal are being marketed as herbal incense. Their labels read not for human consumption. Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi says they won’t be legal for long.

“We are working with law enforcement to do everything we can to ban all these compounds that create these synthetic drugs that are killing our young people,” said Bondi.

Bondi’s Pill Mill Czar Dave Aronberg admits it’s hard to stay ahead of the manufactures.

“We are not allowed just to say all of it is illegal because it would be unconstitutional so we have to do what we are allowed to do under the constitution. It is a priority for the Attorney General to make these drugs illegal,” said Aronberg.

The Attorney General’s Office is working with lawmakers on legislation to outlaw the current wave of new synthetic drugs this legislative session. It’s hard for the state to police the companies that make these drugs because most of them are in Asian countries.

State lawmakers voted this week in support of limiting the number of consecutive years congressmen and US Senators can serve.

Congressional term limits have gained more popularity in recent months, as the approval rating for Congress dropped below 10 percent. Representative John Julien is co-sponsoring the Florida House memorial that urges Congress to adopt term limits.

“We as elected officials are supposed to serve the public and be public servants. You can’t be a public servant if you are in the system so long you forget that you are there to serve,” said Julien.

For the first time since the 90’s there are bills in both the US House and Senate to limit the number of consecutive terms. Both Ron Paul and Mitt Romney have voiced support of the limits while campaigning for the Republican Nomination for President. Advocates for limits have conducted polls claiming three out of every four voters supports capping the number of years.

Lawmakers are considering basing the price of tuition on the degree a student pursues.

The issue came up this morning while the House Education Committee spoke with the president of the University of Florida and Florida State University. FSU President Eric Barron says degree based tuition would help raise funds for state universities without costing taxpayers more.

“This is a good market based argument without a cost to the state,” said Barron.

House Education Chairman Bill Proctor says raising the price of science and technology degrees would help Florida universities hire the top professors in those fields.

“There is going to be competition for people capable of teaching it, for graduate students participating in it, for the grantsmanship that is going to have to take place,” said Proctor.

Under the plan, science and engineering degrees would cost more than English and history degrees, mainly, because the equipment is more expensive and hiring the top professors in those fields costs more.

Florida is one of only nine states without some sort of ban on texting while driving. A bill to prohibit the practice has failed in the last two legislative sessions. This year may be different. As Whitney Ray tells us, the bill has to pass just one more committee before heading to the Senate floor and lawmakers are just three days into the 60 day session.

Every year about 6-thousand people are killed in car crashes caused by distracted drivers. One of the main distractions is texting. There’s no ban on the practice in Florida, but state Senator Nancy Detert is trying to change that.

“The behavior of a person texting while driving is the same as the behavior of a drunk driver. They are coming into your lane,” said Detert.

This is her third attempt to pass a bill banning the practice. Detert’s bill passed its second senate committee Thursday. Chairman Andy Gardiner voted for the bill.

“We need to address the issue and you know as technology changes statutes need to change,” said Gardiner.

The bill makes texting a secondary offense. That means police couldn’t pull you over for texting, but if you were pulled over for something else, you could then be fined for texting.

Opponents of the ban say Florida already has a reckless driving law and if its enforced it will catch the worst offenders. State Senator Joe Negron cast the lone no vote against the bill.

“The examples that are used, of someone weaving down the road while they are texting, if a law enforcement officer observes that, the person can be given a careless driving citation under existing law,” said Negron.

For Governor Rick Scott the issue is personal.

“It happened to my wife three years ago, it happened to her. Somebody back ended her,” said Scott.

Scott hasn’t seen the bill yet, but says a thoughtful ban would have his support. The fine for a first time offender would be 30 bucks. Get caught twice in five years and the fine doubles. People who cause a wreck because they are texting would have six points added to their driving record.

The state will save 90 million dollars by closing seven state prisons and four work camps. The facilities are being closed because Florida’s inmate population is shrinking. No one will be released early. Instead the inmates are being shipped to other state facilities. Governor Rick Scott says the consolidation will make the system run more smoothly.

“To get the efficiencies we need to get we will continue to consolidate inmates into fewer prisons which is good for the state,” said Scott.

The prisons will close July 1st. As many as 13-hundred prison officials could lose their jobs.

***List of prisons: Broward, Demilly, Gainesville, Hillsborough, Indian River, Jefferson and New River.

New state budget estimates were released today and not much changed. Lawmakers are still facing about a two billion dollar budget shortfall for next fiscal year. Some state lawmakers want to wait until the March estimates are out, before beginning work on the state budget. Governor Rick Scott doesn’t expect those numbers to be any better.

“It doesn’t appear the numbers are going to change a lot so I think it will be beneficial if we can get out of here on time,” said Scott.

Traditionally lawmakers use the March statistics to build their budget, but this year session began early and in order to use March numbers lawmakers would have to stay late.

State lawmakers are not expected to have much time to tackle too many big issues this session. Redistricting and the two billion dollar budget shortfall are expected to eat up most of their time. But those limitations aren’t keeping State Senator Alan Hays from trying to scale back Citizen Property Insurance. Hays filed a bill this week that would eliminate hundreds of thousand of polices from the state backed insurer.

“The sooner we can depopulate Citizens the greater diminishing we have of that financial obligation,” said Hays.

The bill would eliminate million dollars properties from Citizens in 2013, and then by 2017, nothing over half a million dollars could be insured by Citizens.

Giving false information to police about a missing child could soon land someone behind bars for a long time. Legislation heard by House and Senate Committees today in Tallahassee makes it a felony with a possible five years in prison to mislead police, but the sentences could be a whole lot longer.

Casey Anthony was sentenced on four counts of lying about her missing and dead daughter. She served just under three years. but under proposed legislation sponsored by State Senator Joe Negron, Anthony could have been sentenced to 5 years on each count for a total of 20 years.

“I think it would be utterly reprehensible for a parent to know that their child is missing and intentionally steer law enforcement in the wrong direction,” Negron told the Senate Criminal Justice Committee when presenting the bill.
State Senator Alan Hays thinks the punishment should be even tougher and said so “SenatorNegron, I’m ready to throw them under the jail and throw the key away.”

The legislation received unanimous approval in House and Senate committees on Thursday. Police say the tougher penalties are just one more bit of leverage to use to get someone to tell the truth.

Once referred to as Caylee’s law, neither bill still carries the name. Sponsors say they don’t want the focus to be on just this one case.

“But we want to make sure everyone knows we won’t tolerate people lying to the police when there is a child unaccounted for” says Negron.

14 year old Skye Henning watched from the back and was pleased with the votes. Her mom works in law enforcement. Asked why she was there, she responded “I’m my mothers daughter and because I don’t like to see police waste their time.”

And while instances of parents lying about their children being missing are rare, lawmakers say the potential of spending two decades or more behind bars sends a strong message.
While the maximum sentence for each lie will be five years, investigators say there are always multiple lies and each lie can be treated as a separate crime.

This past October, every local gun ordinance went away as the state assumed all responsibility for where guns can and not be carried with a concealed weapons permit. One County is suing and as Mike Vasilinda tells us, two state lawmakers say there are glitches in the law that need to be fixed.

Walk into a county court house anywhere in Florida legally carrying a concealed weapon and you’ll go to jail. But a block away or around the corner at a City Hall, it’s a different story.

City halls are different than courthouses; you can pack heat inside a city building, as long as you’re not going to an official meeting of a city commission.

You can’t take a legally concealed gun into a jail, a police station or a school, but you can take one into a day care or Pre-K center. State Senator Maria Sachs calls that a glitch in the law that needs fixing.

If you’re not allowed to carry a gun into a school where children are 5 years-old, I’m sure the law should extend to those who are 4, and 3 and 2,” Sachs said.

The state has always had supreme authority to say where and where not guns can be carried, but until October there was no penalty for local officials enacting tougher restrictions. But now those same local officials can face stiff fines and even removal from office.

Only one county, Palm Beach, has cried foul. It is suing the state.

“The punitive action of a governor removing someone from office, that is, we believe, a step too far,” Palm Beach County Commission Chair Shelly Vanna said.

Lawmakers who passed the change aren’t likely to give local officials more authority with a tragedy, which is what those seeking more local control say they are hoping to avoid.

More than eight hundred thousand people in Florida have concealed weapons permits.