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Destination resort casinos, the future of greyhound racing, and renewing the compact that allows blackjack in certain places around the state. All were topics of discussion for lawmakers today, and as Matt Galka tells us, the odds are against getting many of the proposals to pass.

A four hour long workshop saw legislators diving into a heated gambling debate.  They heard from dozens of stakeholders on what’s best for the future of gaming in the state.

Outsiders said putting a Las Vegas type strip wouldn’t corrupt the state.

“Make no mistake, the tribal facilities in Florida are Las Vegas style casinos. The one in Tampa does a billion dollars in revenue a year, one of the most profitable in the world, the sky did not fall when they opened up. Crime rates didn’t increase in Hillsborough County,” said Nick Iarossi with the Las Vegas Sands Corporation.

But John Sowinski with anti-gaming group “No Casinos” says expansion would ruin the family friendly Florida brand.

“To say that casinos don’t create more crime in that zip code is like saying cigarette factories don’t increase cancer rates around the cigarette factory, this is a problem people take home with them,” said Sowinski.

The workshop comes at a time when the state is trying to renew its compact deal with the Seminole Tribe – an exclusive deal that allows their tribes casinos to run blackjack and other table games.  The deal has brought $1 billion dollars to the state and expires in July.

“I encouraged them to participate in this work shop today but they determined they were not going to do that,” said House Majority Leader Dana Young (R-Tampa).

Young is pushing a comprehensive gaming bill that could pave the way for more casinos in the state and create oversight.

She said it’s too early to determine how many members supported it.

“This is a gaming bill and gaming bills never come up until the last couple days of session,” said Rep. Young.

The bill would force the Seminoles to give up their exclusive gaming rights, something they’re not on board with. The talks have reportedly been stalled since January.

There’s another dog in the gambling fight: the Florida Greyhound Association. They don’t want to see the legislature decouple – which would allow them to operate poker and slots without having to run dog races.

A turf war over your health care options is heating up at the State Capitol. As Mike Vasilinda tells us, it has to do with giving Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioners more authority at the expense of doctors.

Elizabeth Markovich isn’t a doctor, but she has a Doctorate degree in nursing and more than 15 years experience.. She treats patients but can’t prescribe most medications. “I can’t prescribe that without waiting for a signature from our calibrating physician” says the nursing veteran

At the state Capitol this committee room was packed with white coats representing just about every facet of medicine…all of them but one in favor of giving nurse practitioners autonomy from doctors and allowing them prescribing authority. The one group opposed: the Flordia Medical Association and its President Dr. Alan Pillersdorf. Pres. FL Medication Association

“We don’t want to divide the care of a patient and put in compartments” Pillersdorf told the committee.  Committee members, including Rep Jose Oliva (R-Miami) a future House Speaker, had strong words for the MD’s and their opposition.

“Lets continue to let the supervision happen, but lets make it illegal to charge for that supervision and lets see how long that motivation would remain” says Oliva

The legislation passed. Afterwards, Sponsor Dr. Cary Pigman took issue with the need for supervision’ “It’s not the kind of supervision you would like to think,  where there is cooperation back and forth.”

“So the current system is kind of a sham?”

“I”m afraid it is” responded Pigman.

Jean Aertker of Tampa has been a nurse practitioner since 1984.

“and this will help clarify some of the outdated laws” she says.

Even the sponsor, who is a doctor, concedes this is going to be a multi year effort. And that means Compromise may be in the air…giving ARNP’s more prescribing authority, but keeping a doctor in the loop.

Florida is the most restricting state in its regulation of Advanced degree nurses. A typical supervising doctor may charge as many as 5 ARNPs fifty thousand dollars a year and still operate a medical practice.

Take a look at this. He’s called a bag monster and he was walking around the state Capitol today to dramatize the harm done by plastic bags. According to the Surfrider Foundation, the average family uses 500 plastic bags a year that end up in land fills or in our waterways.Holly Parker says the Foundation would like to see an end to a state ban on any local anti bag ordinances.

“Florida is currently the only state that has a preemption on regulating plastic bags at all, which is really unfortunate since we have so much coast line. You would think we would be  leader on this issue. Hawaii has almost a statewide ban and other states are following in that process. Other states have communities banning bags locally.”

The ban was enacted five years ago and was led by newspapers who feared they would have no way to protect their papers from wet mornings. Other states have limited the ban to grocery and other stores. Whole Foods grocery stores offer a charity donation or  ten cent refund to people with reusable bags.

A pirate stormed through legislation offices today passing out beads and posing for pictures with lawmakers and staff as part of Hillsborough day in the State Capitol. The annual fest fed cuban sandwiches to more than a thousand people and offered stunts from the Museum of Science along with exhibits from the Lowery Park Zoo and Busch gardens. County Commissioner Victor Crist says the county has to be in the Capitol to compete with other regions.

We’re developing the downtown are of Tampa and certainly the University of South Florida’s new medical school would be a crown jewel to have there. There’s a laundry list of other issues that are going on in Hillsborough County, we’re up here fighting for out cause.”

The events were funded by local businesses.

The boom of ride sharing services through smart phones has ruffled some feathers in the traditional cab company community.  As Matt Galka tell us, taxis say ride sharers are breaking the rules, and the legislature is trying to fix that.

Tom Villaverde says he used to work 80 hours a week selling cars.

“And I missed the first year and a half of my son’s life,” he said.

Villaverde made the change to catering, and started working for Uber – a smart phone based ride sharing service.  He’s not a traditional cab. He has his own car and works when he wants. But companies like Uber are causing some road rage within the taxi community.

“Their language in their thing, they don’t guarantee you a safe ride, they don’t guarantee you a safe car, they don’t guarantee you insurance, they don’t guarantee you anything,” said Louis Minardi, President of the Tampa Yellow Cab Company.

Cab and limo companies say Uber’s playing by different rules and that their insurance requirements are a grey area which puts taxis at a disadvantage riders at risk.

Rep. Matt Gaetz says the companies are worried about a competitor.

“If someone develops a better mousetrap and innovates a new technology, they oughta get benefit as a result of being able to capture more customers,” said Rep. Gaetz (R-Shalimar).

Gaetz is backing a bill that would require an insurance policy of at least $1 million dollars when a driver is transporting passengers for ride sharing to address some of the concerns.

Villaverde says he doesn’t think he’s doing anything wrong and it comes down to money for the traditional companies.

“If somebody didn’t pick me for a team, yea I’d be upset, I’d call names, but they want more people on their side, and they want less uber drivers so they can capitalize more,” he said.

Cabs say both companies can exist, but they’re pushing for 24/7 insurance coverage. Not just coverage when the app is in use. Florida law currently requires limos and cabs to maintain insurance policies with minimums of 125,000 dollars per person in case of accident or injury.

Governor Rick Scott is facing some opposition to his plan to cut 673 million dollars in taxes this year., so he kicked off what he is calling his “Cut My Taxes Week”  with a booth in the state Capitol. Even the Governor is adding to the confusion with a TV spot in which he says he wants a tax cut of 500 million dollars.

Rick Scott said it in his inauguration.  “We’ll cut another one billion dollars in taxes.”

Then again in his State of the State, “Let’s keep cutting taxes”

Three weeks ago he said it in TV Spots His Let’s Get to Work Committee is spending more than a million to air across the State. Now working with your legislators, we plan to cut taxes by half a billion dollars.”

The actual tax cut the Governor wants is 673 million. And The fact a sitting governor, just reelected is running TV spots to push his agenda has some in the legislature scratching their heads.

“Ultimately, we have to draft a budget that balances and we have to make sure we are comfortable with what we do here.” and so the Governor is totally within his right to do what he wants” said Senate President Andy Gardiner.

The Senate President says its too early to put a number on a tax cut package.

So on Tuesday, Scott engaged in a little political theatre, inviting people to bring their cable and phone bills to the Capitol and see how much they would save under his plan.

Twice we asked the Governor why he was turning to TV to sell his tax package. The answer was identical both times.

Q:Governor, I’m still a little unclear why you are on TV?”

A:” Well, its because, one, we have a great state and I want to make sure we are letting people know how many great things are happening in our state, but on top of that, make sure everyone knows why its a great state. We have record funding for K-12 education and we are going to see another 673 million in tax cuts.”

Q:It isn’t about another campaign is it sir? “

To which there was no answer.

Right now the House and Senate are over 4 billion dollars apart on the state budget, and how large a tax cut may depend on how the two chambers solve their differences on health care.

5 people were inducted into the Veterans Hall of Fame today, but controversy continues to swirl around three who were nominated but not chosen because they served in the Confederate army. The law as written says they must have served in the US Military. One of them was David Lang’s great grandfather, who went on to found the modern National Guard in Florida. Land called the decision political.

“They came back from the war, they became citizens and they went forward from that point. In 1885, 20 years after the war, my great grandfather was appointed the adjutant General of the State of Florida” says Lang.

Dale Landry of the NAACP says the Conferate soldiers do not belong in the same Hall of Fame. “These were folks who fought in opposition. They killed veterans, they killed members if the United States Armed forces, you see, so, the confederacy fought against the United States armed forces.”

State lawmakers are planning on revising the law to allow the inclusion of all three who were omitted from the Hall of Fame today.

The Governor and Cabinet today authorized the Hurricane Cat fund to explore buying up to two billion in Hurricane reinsurance on the private market. The move could save billions more if the state is hit with a catastrophic storm this coming hurricane season. Ash Williams told the states executives that there has never been a better time to try and limit future losses.

“The idea here is for us to go into the market, take advantage of potentially take advantage of historically low reinsurance rates, together with the fact the Hurricane Catastrophe fund is in the strongest financial position it has ever been in.”

Two of the reasons reinsurance costs have come down is the fact of storm activity, and more capital in the market looking to sell reinsurance because of the lack of storms.

The Governor and three Cabinet members all have private attorneys representing them in a law suit brought by media groups alleging they violated open meetings laws when the former head of the Dept of Law Enforcement was forced from office. Today, taking pains not to violate the same law, they agreed to search for a private attorney to represent all four as a group. Attorney General Pam Bondi will lead the search effort.

“We are all named defendants in separate law suits, and we are all represented by our general counsels.”

The group will hold a conference call next Tuesday to choose a lawyer. They authorized spending up to $50,000.The public will be allowed to listen to the call.

The state’s deal with the Seminole Indians allowing them to operate banked card games like black jack runs out in July. The Tribe is running its third TV spot in as many weeks to convince lawmakers to keep the current deal. Rick Scott has been negotiating with the Indians, but some lawmakers say he has turned that authority over to the legislature. Senate President Andy Gardiner says that hasn’t happened yet, but says the Senate is willing to take it on if necessary.

“You know, how we are in the Senate is we’re not afraid to take on big issues and we may just do that. But I’ll leave it to the Chairman’s decision if he wants to get in the middle of all that”

If the agreement expires, the Tribe has 90 days from July first to stop the card games that pay the state more than a billion dollars a year.

The Florida Senate took the first steps in making sure gun owners, who don’t have concealed carry permits, can take their firearms with them during a hurricane evacuation. As Matt Galka tells us, it’s a change from last years stance.

It’s been nearly a decade since Floridians were forced from their homes because of a hurricane. If and when there’s a next time, the Florida Senate wants to make sure a gun owner doesn’t have to leave their weapon at home.

Sen. Jeff Brandes/(R) St.Petersburg

“You’ve got your kids, your dog, you put them in the car, you grab your personal belongings which may include a firearm, you bring those with you and so that you don’t get charged with a felony for being out of compliance of Florida’s gun laws,” said Sen. Jeff Brandes (R-St. Petersburg) who sponsored the legislation.

The bill allows anyone to travel with their gun if they’re forced to evacuate, including those without a concealed carry permit. They’d have 48 hours before they’d be breaking the law.

The bill passed 29-10 with all no votes being Democrats.

“Why in the world would we want to increase anxiety by having a lot of guns next to children and families?” asked Sen. Audrey Gibson (D-Jacksonville).

Sen. Chris Smith (D-Fort Lauderdale) suggested getting rid of other laws if they’re going to get rid of this one.

“There’s a lot going on I agree, so why don’t we take out reckless driving, because when they’re driving away from this hurricane and trying to get away, they could get arrested for reckless driving, so lets just get rid of that,” said Smith sarcastically.

Brandes said it’s highly unlikely the bill would even have to be put into effect.

“I live in Pinellas County. I think I’ve faced a mandatory evacuation once or twice in my entire life,” he said.

Supporters cited Hurricane Katrina where people were charged for having their guns on them while evacuating.

The legislation was opposed by law enforcement last year but they got behind the proposal after the 48 hour limit was tacked onto the bill.

It was the first law in the country passed to protect confidential informants being used by police, but as Matt Galka tells us, the family of the murdered girl the law was named for is back this year trying to strengthen it.

Rachel Hoffman was only 23 and had recently graduated from Florida State when she was murdered will working as a confidential informant for the Tallahassee police.  She was doing the work in exchange for leniency on a marijuana and prescription pill charge.

Hoffman was killed while attempting to buy drugs and a gun from two men in the 2008 sting operation. She had virtually no training and hadn’t been able to consult with anyone before agreeing.

Her father, Irv, and their attorney Lance Block are back at the Capitol trying to strengthen Rachel’s Law.  Put into effect in 2009, the family says the bill didn’t go far enough.

“Rachel was not suitable to be a confidential informant, she broke almost all the guidelines of being a confidential informant,” said Irv Hoffman.

Rachel was in a court ordered program which forbade her from being around drugs even though she was sent out to buy them.

“Sending them out there to do police work is wrong, you wouldn’t send alcoholic into a bar for help so why would you send a person with an addiction problem to buy drugs,” said Hoffman.

The proposed revisions to the law include putting in more safeguards for confidential informants as well as prohibiting minors in taking part. Any law enforcement violating the provisions could be faced with a felony.

Attorney Lance Block said annual reports from police departments about informant data are also necessary.

“Most importantly, we don’t know how many people are being killed or hurt while being involved in these types of transactions,” said Block.

FDLE would required to put out an annual report if the changes to the law pass.

Informants would no longer be able to go undercover to buy drugs if they’re involved in a drug treatment program. They would also be allowed to speak with a lawyer before agreeing to do the police work.

Hard alcohol could be getting a spot next to beer and wine at the grocery store. As Matt Galka tells us, the proposal is getting mixed reviews in the Capitol.

Keeping liquor away from the lettuce in the grocery aisle has been on the books for 80 years. Representative Greg Steube’s proposal would change that.

“It’s been something that’s been in place since 1935, obviously we should go back and see if it’s still necessary,” said the Sarasota Republican.

Currently, grocers or convenience stores need to have a separate door to go into the main store, where you could buy beer, and the liquor store, where you could buy other hard alcohol.

But the Senate isn’t as ready to tear the wall down.  Sen. Kelli Stargel filed an amendment that would still keep the liquor store separate from other stores.

“My opposition to the bill as a whole, was that I don’t want to have liquor store, hard liquor on the shelves in the regular store. I think they need to be a separate liquor store. I think this bill accomplishes that, it is still a separate liquor store, it just gives the convenience of a door,” said Sen. Stragel (R-Lakeland).

Her proposal would allow a direct door from a grocery or convenience store to the liquor store instead of having to go outside.

“They watered it down, I mean, basically what they did was allow a door in the wall, but staff’s interpretation of it is that it wouldn’t allow you to go in there and purchase it after you’ve been in the main store,” said Rep. Steube.

Grocery giant Publix has strongly opposed mixing liquor and groceries – they run separate stores for each.  Independent liquor stores are also worried repealing the current law could cut into their sales.

The Senate’s version of the bill has two more stops before it could get a vote on the Senate floor.

Changing Florida’s Standardized Testing procedures will be one of the most talked about proposals at the end of 2015’s legislative session. As Matt Galka tells us, with the House already moving on their ideas and a testing debacle still fresh in the minds of many, the Florida Senate is now pushing their own reforms.

Seminole County teacher Sandra Maldonado-Ross was part of the pilot program for the new Florida Standards Assessment test.  She said it was easy to see problems coming.

“In my opinion it was horrible. I mean, like I said, the kids aren’t taught to write an essay with their computers. They’re taught to write them with pen and paper, pencil, draw on graphic organizers and that’s not what this test did,” she said.

A rollout that started with a thud is just part of laundry list of complaints lawmakers have heard about the new state standardized tests.

“We’re feeding them garbage with this Common Core curriculum,” Chris Quakenbush told a Senate committee. Quackenbush is part of a group called Stop Common Core Florida.

A day after the House passed a bill that would scale back some exams, the Senate had their crack at it.  The Senate proposal would put a 5 percent of school hours limit on testing.  It would also allow for schools to apply for a waiver of consequences if the they had too much trouble with the computer testing. Senator Don Gaetz said Florida wouldn’t back down from accountability.

“If there are people that came here hoping that we would take down the goal posts, and we simply wouldn’t keep score anymore in Florida, you wont’ be getting any support from this Senator,” said Sen. Gaetz (R-Niceville).

Technical glitches and an alleged cyber attack plagued the rollout of the Florida Standards Asessments, and that’s why the Senate bill is going to allow the state to collect damages from the vendor.

“Those monies would go back to the school district. The intent is there to offset any cost that was caused by the problems that occurred in the rollout,” said Sen. Legg (R-Lutz).

Another difference in the House and Senate bills: school start dates. The House would allow schools to start as early as August 10^th, something the Senate did not include.

Lawmakers acknowledged the differences in both bills and hope to iron them out. If they don’t, as Senator John Legg put it, then both sides would lose.

The next time your local college or university is looking to hire a new President, Dean, or Provost, you may not have any information on who is being considered until the very end.  The legislation was up in for its final Senate Committee hearing this afternoon, but lawmakers decided to take some more time.

Four state colleges in Florida are currently looking for new Presidents. The application process is open and public, in part because naming a college President is a big deal. In the case of FSU’s recently selected John Thrasher, months passed from his application to his selection, allowing opponents plenty of time to voice their thoughts.

“You need to care what we think. This is what Democracy looks like” chanted dozens of students who protested Thrasher.

But legislation at the Capitol would make searches for Presidents, Provosts, and Deans secret until finalists ..or maybe just one finalist is announced. You would never know who applied. Sen. Alan Hays (R-Umatilla) is the bills sponsor.

“We will have a much broader applicant pool to choose from if we assure them the initial applications would be held in confidence”

Open government advocates say the legislation implies that former Presidents, like TK Wetherell here weren’t the best of the best.”

First Amendment Foundation President Barbara Peterson says the legislation could also set a bad precedent when it comes to other top government jobs. “Why not school superintendents or county managers or city attorneys.”

So we asked FSU President John Thrasher how he felt about taking searches behind closed doors, given the fact he had just come off a bruising battle for FSU’s top job.

“I think it was an open process for me. (Laughs) I think pretty open. Hey, I’m agnostic about it. I think to me it’s not a problem. I think you’re gonna get good people.”

As a State Senator, now FSU President Thrasher often supported keeping records out of public view. This time.

A full Senate vote could come next week.

Similar legislation in the House has two more committee stops. A fifth state college was looking for a new President…until last night when Pasco Hernando State College selected Timothy Beard to be its fourth President.