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Are charities using the money that is donated to them for the right purposes? As Matt Galka tells us, Florida has learned from past mistakes and is cracking down on the charitable organizations that aren’t giving back.

The Allied Veterans of the World Internet Café scandal changed the way charities are viewed in the state. Then Lt. Governor Jennifer Carroll resigned because of her ties to the $300 million dollar gambling operation posing as a charity. The internet café group actually gave very little to veterans.  The legislature passed a bill this year to try and stop history from repeating itself.

“There was a need to crackdown on some of these charities that were taking money from people who were giving their hardworking money to the charities and then them not giving it to the causes,” said Dept. of Agriculture Press Secretary Erin Gillespie.

The Department of Agriculture says this bill could have helped stop the internet café scandal before it got out of control.

“It would certainly have made it more difficult. It does request more information from charities especially those that take in more than a million dollars. It also bans charities in Florida that had problems in other states which we were not able to do before,” said Gillespie.

11 Florida charities landed on a nationwide “50 worst charities list” last year. State Senator Jeff Brandes sponsored the charity crackdown bill.

“That’s just unconscionable that we would literally steal money from people. They’re saying it was a charitable contribution and they’re just using it to line their own pockets,” said Sen. Brandes (R-St. Petersburg).

Professional solicitors who use telemarketing to collect funds would need to provide fingerprints and background checks and report to the state the contributions that will be used for the charity.

The legislation is awaiting the Governor’s signature.

The Governor signed off on a bill this morning granting in-state tuition to Florida students in the country illegally. But as Matt Galka tells us, anti-immigration groups are raising questions about costs, and Democrats say this is an election year stunt.

Undocumented students from around Florida made their presence known at Florida’s Capitol this year, and their persistence paid off.  Florida’s Governor signed a bill into law providing in-state tuition for Florida students living in the country illegally.

The Governor touted the legislation at a campaign event in Fort Myers.

“We have the funding now to be able to pay for our education, we continue to grow our economy, as more people move to our state, we’ll be able to fund the education we want,” said Gov. Rick Scott (R-Florida).

The new law will save some students thousands, but what isn’t clear is how much it will cost the state.

The Federation for American Immigration Reform, or FAIR, says it will cost the state more than $20 million dollars. Legislature analysis on cost was indeterminate.

“This will be another 22.7 for people who aren’t U.S. Citizens. There’s no guarantee that these illegal aliens will stay in Florida. They can’t even get a job legally. They don’t have  a driver’s license, they don’t have a social security card,” said anti-immigration advocate Dave Jaye.

While the costs get figured out, Florida Democrats say the Governor backed the bill so he didn’t cost himself any Hispanic votes.

“The wakeup call where he’s actually looked around the state and said ‘wow’ there’s a lot of Hispanic votes. I need to make sure I can speak to something they care about,” said Florida Democratic Party Chairwoman Allison Tant.

Illegal students who have attended Florida High Schools for three consecutive years will be eligible for tuition waivers starting July 1^st

The bill also freezes tuition increases for all colleges except the University of Florida and Florida State University. But the bill does lower their ability to increase tuition from 15 percent to 6 percent.

Hundreds of Africanized bees swarmed a 91 year old South Florida woman and stung her repeatedly, sending her to the hospital.  As Matt Galka tells us, beekeepers say that no matter where you live, you need to be aware of a potential bee problem.

Master Beekeeper Roger Twitchell has been harvesting honey bees for 9 years.  He says Africanized bees could be a problem anywhere, especially south of Interstate 4.

“They’ll settle in much smaller spaces, water meters, basic lamp posts, things like this, so they’re in very close proximity to humans, and that is the problem,” said Twitchell.

His honey bees have no interest in attacking anyone, but if they were Africanized, it would be a much different story. An unsuspecting person can set off a swarm of Africanized bees at a moments notice.

“If you were to walk within 40 yards of an Africanized hive and you were to agitate them, you would have 100’s of them come out to warn you,” said Twitchell.

The Department of Agriculture says a person shouldn’t try to handle a bee problem by themselves.

“If you see a high number of bees, get away from them as fast as possible, call a licensed pesticide or bee person,” said Department Spokeswoman Erin Gillespie.

If you are stung, don’t pinch the stinger because that could release more venom. Instead, try to scrape a stinger out with a credit card.

It’s also easier said than done, but if you do find yourself being attacked, don’t panic.  Try to get away from a swarm and cover yourself with a sheet or blanket.

Comments from Florida’s Attorney General on same sex marriage have ticked off LGBT advocates. As Matt Galka tells us, the state says voters wanted it this way.

Florida’s Attorney General is fighting to dismiss a challenge to the state’s same sex marriage law. But the wording she used has rubbed Equality Florida the wrong way.

“It’s the wrong decision, the wrong thing to do,” said Jim VanRiper, a member of the group’s board.

Attorney General Pam Bondi said that “disrupting Florida’s existing marriage laws would impose significant public harm.”

“She chose to take the political angle instead of the personal people angle. This has nothing to do with anybody except people in same sex marriages, and instead, she chose politics over people,” said VanRiper.

The Attorney General released a statement on the issue. Bondi reminded voters they passed a constitutional amendment to define marriage being between a man and a woman in 2008.

The Attorney General said she was “keeping her sworn duty to uphold the laws of the land” and “defending the wishes of the voters.”

The American Civil Liberties Union filed the federal lawsuit in March.

19 states have legalized gay marriage. The state is digging in to try and stop Florida from becoming the 20^th.

There has only been one constitutional convention in our country’s history, but State lawmakers passed a call for Congress to authorize a Constitutional Convention. While lawmakers sought to limit the subject matter, scholars say it could be a dangerous proposition.

Under the US Constitution…34 states can ask for a convention to  make changes to the document.  A resolution by Florida lawmakers was filed with Florida’s Secretary of State on Thursday, seeking the convention. Rep. John Wood of Winter Haven pushed the issue during the legislative session.  “We are prepared to fix what is broken in Washington” is what Wood told House members just before the vote in April.

A national movement called Citizens for Self Governance is pushing the measure in all 50 states. A well done web video says this about the iniativive: “That gives WE the People the opportunity to make some long overdue structural adjustments. Maybe term limits would be a good place to start.” It also features pictures of Barack Obama and Nancy Pelosi.

Spider Webb pushed for the resolution in Florida.  He wants to limit the scope of bills Congress can pass. Two other resolutions seek a convention for a  balanced federal budget and term limits. Webb says all are ideas Congress isn’t likely to take up. “It would be very unlikely that Congress would propose that amendment” says Webb.

Legislation would impose criminal penalties for delegates who vote for anything not authorized by the state. But once a convention is called Constitutional scholar and FSU Law Professor Mark Seidenfeld says anything goes.  “You can throw people in jail if they voted the way you didn’t want them to vote, but once the vote is in, the amendment ratified, there’s no court in the world thats going to say it was an illegal act.”

And that would leave delegates free to vote on virtually anything. Like abolishing the first amendment, or even the second. There is one safeguard;  it would take 38 states to agree to abolishing one of our basic freedoms.

Georgia and Alaska have also called for Constitutional conventions. Three other states have resolutions pending. The resolution passed by state lawmakers was filed with the Secretary of State today for forwarding to Congress.

How strict is too strict when it comes to school nutrition requirements? As Matt Galka explains, standards set by the federal government could be getting scaled back, and that will impact what your child is eating between classes.

Call it a food fight in Washington.  School nutrition standards put in place in 2010 could now be relaxed.  The Florida School Nutrition Association says it’s the right move.

“Programs have lost money, children aren’t eating the food that’s being offered now, so we really want to be able to catch up,” said Frances Gilbert with the FSNA.

The school food lobby group says school lunch participation dropped off in Florida by 15,000 meals a day because of the nutrition requirements.

“What they see is children not eating these fruits and vegetables, throwing away food, you can have the most nutritious meal in the world, if the children throws it away and doesn’t eat it, it has not been nutritious for that student,” said Gilbert.

Stricter nutrition guidelines would mean 100 percent whole wheat grains next year and more fruits and vegetables.

The state’s Department of Agriculture is providing free meals for kids throughout the summer. Cathy Reed is one of the administers of the program in Leon County that feeds more than 3,000 kids a day

“Change is hard, but it’s necessary, I just think we could use a little more time to implement the changes we need to do,” said Reed.

The federal proposal would allow schools losing money to be granted a waiver from the program.

Higher scholastic requirements will keep thousands of graduating high school students from receiving Bright Futures scholarships this fall. The dwindling scholarships have already become a political football in this years gubernatorial campaign.

At its peak in 2008, Bright Futures was costing the state 429 million with average awards of 25 hundred dollars. At the height of the recession In 2011, lawmakers raised test score and GPA requirements, cutting a hundred million dollars. The average award dropped to just over 19 hundred dollars.

Now in a Web Only ad, Democrats are criticizing Rick Scott for the cuts. In Gainesville for a campaign event, Governor Rick Scott responded..sort of. “Bright Futures is a great program. As you know we have historic funding, this year, for K-12 State Colleges, for universities. We’ve got a lot of projects around universities. I want to continue to fund Bright Futures” Scott told WCJB-TV.

Higher standards from 2011 kick in this fall. With the higher requirements, 26 thousand fewer students are expected to walk through that classroom door with a Bright Futures Scholarship. That’s expected to save the state just over 50 million dollars.

We met Toni Morse on the FSU campus as she was waiting for her daughter, who is an incoming freshman. Her daughter has the lower tier Bright futures, but Toni worries her tenth grade son will be shut out. “Well, I’m definitely a little nervous for him. I think that his opportunities are not going to be as open as they are for her, and even for her they’ve definitely decreased over what I’ve seen in the last few years” says the Coral Springs mother.

And as thousands of incoming freshmen are touring college campuses across the state, thousands more will be staying home, wondering how bright their future may be.  This fall first time Bright Futures recipients must have , an ACT scores of at least  26 for the minimum award. That’s up from a score of 22 last fall.”

A 12 day trial into whether state lawmakers purposely drew political maps to benefit Republicans ended today in the State Capitol.

A ruling that could order the redrawing of the maps is expected before the end of June. Both sides claimed victory. Former Supreme Court Justice Raoul Cantera represented the State Senate. “And Senate staff, House staff, all saying under oath in court, for the first time in the history of this state about the legislative process. And they have all said they did not intend to favor any party or incumbent.”

But David King, who represents the League of Women Voters is equally confident, telling reporters “We thing we proved our case. We think we proved the map is unconstitutional and ought to be set aside. We’re very confident of that.”

No matter which side wins, an appeal is considered a certainty. If maps are eventually to be redrawn, it would not be until the 2016 election.

The federal Government wants Florida to cut back on emissions and clean up the air.  As Matt Galka tells us, environmentalists are praising the move.

Florida gets about 20 percent of its energy from coal. Scientists say burning fossil fuel contrbutes to climate change. The Environmental Protection Agency wants the state to cut its emissions by 38 percent.

“The Florida Department of Environmental Protection will review the EPA’s proposal and will work to continue to protect Florida’s environment,” said D.E.P. Press Secretary Tiffany Cowie.

The Governor’s office says Florida emissions are lower than they have ever been, but environmentalists have railed against the Governor’s energy policies.  Governor Rick Scott has also been dodging questions lately about whether or not he believes climate change is man made.

“I’m not a scientist – I can only do whatever I can to help the environment,” said Gov. Scott (R-Florida) earlier in May.

While the state decides how to tackle issue, clean energy advocates hope this leads to alternative sources of power.

Eric Draper with the Audubon of Florida environmental group says the state has to act now.

“Sea level rise is already being experienced and recognized throughout the state as a relatively shallow and coastal state we should really worry about this so we should be the first to move forward with solutions,” said Draper.

And environmental attorneys at Earth Justice say consumers shouldn’t worry about an energy bill spike

“This could actually save people money depending on how it’s implemented,” said Earth Justice Staff Attorney Alisa Coe.

The state could have until 2018 to submit a plan on how to cut power plant emissions. The E.P.A. wants the emissions reduced by 2030.

For the first time in four years, public schools in Florida are receiving maintenance money from the state, but as Mike Vasilinda tells us, it is not nearly enough to meet years of neglect.

Leaky roofs, faulty air conditioners and chipped paint have gone unattended in schools across the state.  Maintenance was one of the first thing to go during the recession.  Over the last three budgets, public schools got nothing for repairs. Over the same time Charter Schools got 90 million in the current budget. They’ll share 75 million in the coming year.

Starting in July, Public schools will see the first state money in at least four years for maintenance….Still public school advocates like State Representative Allan Williams (D-Tallahassee) say charters still reign supreme in funding. “Rather than invest in public schools, Rick Scott and his allies are directing tens of millions of dollars to charter schools just interested in making a buck off of your child” says Williams.

Republican Lawmakers defend giving charter schools maintenance money but not public schools because they say public school boards can levy up to a mill and half for school repairs, and the charter schools can’t.

Kindergarten teacher Shari Genwater says her district has been good about maintenance…but  “We still have teachers teaching in portables…we have air conditioning and filtration systems that are not up to par where they should be” says the 17 year classroom veteran.

The Dept of Education was unable to provide a needs assessment for maintenance statewide…saying local districts know best.

The Florida Republican Party criticized State Representative Allan Williams in a statement, saying he shouldn’t have voted for the budget if it was so bad….Williams countered that the good in the budget outweighed the bad.

Governor Rick Scott signed the 77 billion dollar budget today, vetoing just 68 million dollars in projects. The Governor is touting record education funding, which is true when you consider total dollars but not extra costs.

Rick Scott likes to point out that Florida will spend more than 20 billion dollars on schools this coming year.  “Record funding for K-12, record funding for state colleges, record funding for universities” is what Scott said the night lawmakers went home. And It is a record for total spending, up 575 million from last year. But Ruth Melton of the Florida School Boards Association says costs and student enrollment are up as well. “But we also have 90 thousand more students than we had in 07-08. The total funds per student is less this year than it was in 07-08“ says Melton.

There are other stark differences from pre recession funding. Money for exceptional students is down 59 million. Money for classroom supplies is short 43 million, and money for buses, fuel and drivers is down 58 million. Melton says  while funding is down, costs are up. “We all know what’s happened with  not only gas prices, but tires and all kinds of things that go with transporting students” says Melton.

Both Rick Scott and Florida Democrats are making Education funding a key issue in this falls election. The GOP is out with a two million dollar ad buy talking about tuition…

“Now Governor Rick Scott is making college more affordable” Chimes Rick Scott’s latest  tv spot. And Florida Democrats have a web only ad out Monday pointing out the shortcomings of new funding. The ad features only classroom and hallway noise, but has graphics suggesting Scott cut funding and per pupil funding is still down.

For all the hype, there’s just 132 million new state dollars going into schools this coming year. That’s just one of every ten new dollars the state had to spend this year. The other 400 million plus new cash for schools is coming from higher taxable property values.

An ethics law loophole has allowed high ranking executives at state run Citizens Property Insurance to quickly work for the companies months after awarding them million dollar contracts. As Matt Galka tells us, critics are demanding the loophole be closed.

It’s a scene that’s played out far too often for Citizens Property Insurance: a high ranking-executive bolts to work for a company that was just awarded a multimillion dollar contract.

“The state ethics code had too many loopholes,” said Integrity Florida Executive Director Dan Krassner.

Krassner says one of those loopholes allows for senior executives to do this. The law bans other state employees from working for a company they’ve done business with for two years.

“The inspector general should launch a full investigation into these cozy relationships, the revolving door that these executives have with the companies they regulate,” he said.

Citizens spokesman Michael Peleier says that senior executives that have left – some as recent as January of this year – didn’t have a direct relationship with the contracts being handled.

“Those contracts were awarded through our normal procedures, a team of evaluators, a team of negotiators, the employees in question were not involved in those groups,” said Peltier.

The revolving door has prompted State Senator David Simmons (R- Altamonte Springs) – the head of the Senate Banking and Insurance committee – to call for a tightening up of ethics laws.

“We’re trying to make sure there’s a full and complete application of Florida’s ethics laws in Citizens,” he said.

Citizens says they’re not sure yet whether their inspector general will be looking into the claims. Integrity Florida sent an official letter today to Citizens Inspector General Bruce Meeks calling for an official review.

Prescription drug deaths have steadily decreased in Florida the past three years. As Matt Galka tells us, the crackdown on pill mills has helped, but new data shows synthetic drugs as the next challenge.

Florid used to dispense more oxycodone pills than any other state in the country. A new medical examiners report says a pill mill crackdown has helped lead to a decrease in prescription drug deaths according to a new medical examiners report from the first half of 2013.  975 people died in the first half of 2013 – 75 fewer than the year before. FDLE also started tracking a new drug type for the first time.

The report says that 30 people died from synthetic drugs and more than 70 others had synthetics in their system.

Synthetic narcotics are composed of chemicals capable of producing a dangerous high.  Law enforcement says that after the attorney general bans one product, chemists produce a slightly different version.

“They change a few molecules in that formula, and then the Attorney General is back to doing the same thing, to me that is the challenge,” said FDLE Commissioner Gerald Bailey.

The legislature also passed a bill that would place store owners selling banned substances in the same class as a drug trafficker.

“it’s no different than a street level drug dealer and they’re going to get locked up if they’re selling this stuff,” said Attorney General Pam Bondi.

It’s difficult to police the synthetic drug companies. Most are manufactured overseas. The FDLE says that monitoring synthetic drug deaths will help the state monitor the impact of the narcotics, and ultimately help shape recommendations for lawmakers.

The League of Women Voters is in court attacking political maps drawn by lawmakers after voters said maps should be drawn fairly.  The trials second week was marked with conspiracy and political intrigue on center stage.

“Mr. Posada, thank you for being here. You are a college student at FSU” is how Alex Posada was greeting by House Speaker designate Will Weatherford in June 2011.

Nearly three year old testimony before a legislative redistricting committee by FSU Student Alex Posada has been the subject of conspiracy theories all week long.

“You’all done a great job here today” said Posada. It was that positive comment that led many to believe the college student help the state GOP  submit party drawn maps eventually adopted by lawmakers.

On the stand Tuesday, Republican map maker Frank Terrafirma was asked how a map submitted by Posada was identical to one Terraferma drew and circulated to GOP consultants. “Certainly it was a possibility that someone would file a map. I did not put a copyright on anything I did” responded the GOP’s House map maker.

The working theory at the beginning of the was that The GOP drew the maps, passed them on to a consultant who passed them on to the college student who submitted them at the absolute moment.

The theory changed radically when Posada was deposed. Under oath, he denied submitting the map later adopted…and says the email address used to submit it wasn’t his, even though it contained his name.

Then on Thursday, the judge took the unusual step of clearing the public from the courtroom as a GOP consultant discussed “trade secrets”

By Friday, Lawmakers began their defense of the maps…calling a USF researcher who has written extensively on black voter disenfranchisement. “Simply creating compact and contiguous districts is going to have a negative ramification on the election of minorities, both blacks and hispanics. His testimony sought to bolster GOP claims that drawing long, meandering districts for Blacks was a good thing.

The trial ends next week, with a decision due by the end of June. No matter which side wins, an appeal in this first of a kind trial is likely. If the League of Women voters can prove political influence was involved in the map drafting, they would likely have to be redrawn.

Public school supporters are speaking out against school choice. As Matt Galka tells us, groups are calling on the governor to veto a voucher expansion bill while another is condemning charter schools.

Florida’s legislature approved a voucher expansion bill – which gives corporate tax breaks to businesses funding scholarships – by combining it with another bill supporting special needs students. The Florida School Board Association says the last minute move is taking billions from other programs. They’re calling for a veto.

“Much of that money would, yes, come to Florida’s public schools, but a lot of those dollars, that 2 billion dollars that does not come in, could also be used to fund children’s services, transportation, department of corrections and other entities,” said FSBA Executive Director Wayne Blanton.

Step Up for Students runs the voucher program and gives out nearly 60,000 tax credit scholarships a year. We talked to Public affairs director Ron Matus by phone.

“All this program does, like other school choice options, is give parents more options to find something that works for their kids,” said Matus.

The League of Women Voters also stepped out against school choice, releasing a scathing report on charter schools.

The year long study blasted charter schools for having ties to for profit companies and mismanaging funds. The league says there are no outstanding differences in achievement between charter and traditional public schools.

“Why are we really spending so much money on charter schools when we’re not really seeing any significant improvements,” said Jessica Lowe Minor with the league.

The state’s biggest teacher’s union has also called on the governor to veto the voucher expansion bill.