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The Department of Children and Families is trying to raise awareness about human trafficking. Countless thousands of women, children and migrate workers are being forced to work against their will here in Florida. Many are sold as sex slaves. Governor Rick Scott signed a proclamation designating January as Human Trafficking Awareness Month. DCF Secretary David Wilkins says his department is helping more than a hundred former child sex slaves recover and is being helped by a network of communities throughout the state.

“We now have human trafficking work groups and support functions in just about every community in the state and that new awareness and those new individuals who see this as a call to action is exactly what we need, to not only identify the problem but to get more people engaged in helping those who are in trouble,” said Wilkins.

Last year the state legislature passed a bill creating safe houses for people caught in the sex trade and another bill to exempt sex slaves from being prosecuted on prostitution charges.

They’ve already helped the state save 3.5 billion dollars and today, Florida TaxWatch was back at the capitol pitching more cost savings ideas.

The government watchdog released a list of 25 cost savings measures that could save the state an additional one billion dollars. TaxWatch Chairman John Alexander says one way to help the state budget is to collect sales taxes on internet purchases.

“Online vendors have an unfair advantage over the citizens of this state who have invested their money in bricks and mortar stores,” said Alexander.

Other ideas include more cuts to Florida’s Bright Futures Scholarship program by raising the grade eligibility criteria, and putting more non-violent offenders on house arrest.

The president’s gun control announcement isn’t being received well at the state capitol. The GOP controlled Florida legislature has a long history of opposing gun control measures. As Whitney Ray tells us, Republican lawmakers say it’s not the president’s job to make laws and his orders should have been put before Congress.

With children by his side, President Barack Obama announced a series of executive orders aimed at stopping mass shootings.

“In the days ahead I intend to use whatever weight this office holds to make them a reality,” said President Obama.

Obama’s 23 executive orders include strengthening background checks before gun sales. Increased funding for schools to hire more resource officers and giving mental health workers more authority to report patients they deem a threat.

Minutes after the announcement, I broke the news to lawmakers here at the state capitol, most of which said the president’s action were out of bounds. Republicans, who have a majority in the state House and Senate, say Congress should have had a say-so on the measures.

“There’s no reason why the President should be treating this issue any different than any other piece of legislation he wants to champion,” said Representative Jimmy Patronis.

“That’s circumventing another branch of government and that’s the legislature and you know he may not be happy with certain aspects of Congress, but he ought to deal with them,” said State Senator John Thrasher.

Senate Minority Leader Chris Smith supports the actions taken by the president.

“I think it’s fabulous that he’s doing that. He’s not just looking at guns but looking at it as a holistic approach,” said Smith.

But says gun control measures in the state legislature don’t stand a change.

“The NRA has such a strong grip on the Florida Legislature that it is going to be hard for us to pass anything,” said Smith.

Not all Republicans thought all the executive orders were bad ideas, but they doubt the measures will stop even one deranged gunman bent on murder.

Republicans in the Florida House and Senate also take issue with the president using kids to make his announcement. They called it a cheap political stunt. Democrats, say the kids belong on stage because they are the ones the President is trying to protect

Superintendents from around the state told a Senate committee in Tallahassee today they want more money for security.

Right now most districts split the cost of their school resource officers with their county sheriff’s office. Volusia County Deputy Superintendent Robert Moll says more officers could help stave off some massacres, but admits nothing the legislature does will make schools 100 percent safe.

“You have all kinds of scenarios that can take place in schools so the best thing you can do is try to put as many obstacles in the way to not let that happen,” said Moll.

Because of Florida’s climate, many schools have open air campuses making it difficult for just a couple of officers to guard all the entry ways.

The New York State Legislature passed the toughest gun laws in the country and the President plans to follow suit with a series of executive orders. Today Florida lawmakers meet in Tallahassee to find ways to better protect students from deranged gunmen. As Whitney Ray tells us, gun control isn’t expected to be part of their solution.

In the wake of the Sandy Hook shooting, lawmakers are looking for ways to better protect Florida students, without harming gun owners.

Tuesday state senators meet with superintendents in Tallahassee to discuss solutions. Senator Bill Monford is the Vice Chair of the Senate Education Committee. He says the committee will explore its options, but gun control isn’t likely to be one of them.

Monford: Gun control is not on the agenda.
Reporter: Do you expect it to ever come up in this conversation this session?
Monford: I doubt it. It may very well if the chair wants to put it on the committee I think it would be appropriate.

The fix getting the most attention is beefing up school security. But the cost of putting more armed police officers in Florida schools is 100 million dollars. Creating a funding problem, because many of the lawmakers charged with making the decision have also signed a pledge not to raise taxes.

Governor Rick Scott has signed the pledge. He’s also heavily endorsed by the NRA. I asked him what measures he supports. Taxes and gun control were absent from his answer.

“We want our schools to be safe. We want our students to be safe, our teachers,” said Scott.

The Florida Legislature has a history of killing gun control bills, but many of the new measures to muzzle the 2nd amendment are coming from Washington and are out of the state’s control.

One superintendents shot down an idea that’s been hanging around ever since the Sandy Hook shooting. They told committee members, teacher should not be armed.

Governor Rick Scott is vowing to work with black lawmakers on issues important to their constituents.

Scott met with Florida’s Legislative Black Caucus today. They discussed problems with the 2012 election, Scott’s opposition to the Affordable Care Act and judicial appointments. The hour long meeting was tense at times, but there was a moment of levity when Scott promised he’s always available to hear their concerns, and Senator Arthenia Joyner called him on it.

Joyner: I called for you three times but nobody ever got back to me, but I’m going to say what we said last year, you and I will have to deal with that because I respect you.
Scott: and I respect you.
Joyner: We need to be able to talk. We differ on a lot of things.
Scott: You’re kidding.
Crowd: laughs.

Two other issues the caucus would like to see the governor focus on are minority graduation rates and the high minority incarceration rate.

Ten percent of the nation’s oysters come from Florida’s Apalachicola Bay, but there’s trouble on the Forgotten Coast. Drought, record low river flow and a battle with Georgia over waterways that feed the bay are threatening the industry. Today the Senate Agriculture Committee began exploring ideas to save the oyster industry. They listened to experts, including UF Professor Karl Havens who has been working with oysterman to try and find a way to save their industry and the ecosystem.

“We’ve been looking at what happened with the bay to cause the collapse and what are the things we can do to help with the recovery. To a large extent we’ve been working with the oyster industry to help them figure out how can they fish the oyster community in a more resilient way,” said Havens.

Havens hopes to develop a system that keeps the oysterman employed and allows the bay to recover and says having the state’s support is key.

Governor Rick Scott is catching, maybe some unwarranted attention over a dog he adopted in 2010. Scott adopted a rescue lab and let Facebook fans name it. They chose Regan, but according to a Florida newspaper article nobody knows where the dog is now. Scott was asked about the missing pooch while talking to reporters in Tallahassee this afternoon.

“During the campaign, we adopted a rescue lab. I think he was about seven years old and he was the sweetest dog you could imagine. When he got to the mansion he did not like everyone carrying things around so he barked loudly at people so I gave him back to his prior owner.”

Scott has since adopted a new rescue dog and named it Tallee.

For the first time tonight, we are getting an explanation directly from Governor Rick Scott about his controversial Medicaid expansion estimate. The expansion is optional for states under the Affordable Care Act. As Whitney Ray tells us, Scott’s figure is 23 billion dollars higher than an estimate released by health experts in his own administration.

Playing it safe or playing politics, however you explain Governor Rick Scott’s estimate of a Medicaid expansion one thing is for sure, it’s creating controversy.

State economists put a 10 billion dollar price tag on the expansion made optional by the Affordable Care Act. One figure from the Agency for Health Care Administration lowers the cost to three billion, but Scott made national headlines last week by touting a 26 billion dollar estimate.

Scott entered politics to defeat the new health care laws, but a failed lawsuit in the nation’s highest court and a defeat for Republican in the 2012 presidential election left him little choice but to play ball, except when it comes to extending Medicaid to an additional 900-thousand Floridians. Each state can opt out of the extension. Democrats think Scott is inflating the cost to build a case against expansion.

“By overestimating it, it will seem like a weight to the people of Florida and at the same time something that’s not sustainable and fundable,” said State Senator Eleanor Sobel.

Last week the women Scott picked to lead AHCA refused to explain the conflicting estimates. So Monday we caught up with the governor and asked why.

“The Florida Agency for Health Care Administration has put out different numbers based on assumptions, now the questions is, is the federal government going to fund what they’ve said they are going to fund?” asks Scott.

Since the feds have already agreed to pay a huge portion of the expansion, to get to the 26 billion dollar mark, Congress would actually have to change the law. Scott cites the recent fiscal cliff battle as proof it’s possible.

Both the House and Senate held committee meetings today about how Florida will participate in the Affordable Care Act. Those committees will have to decide which estimate to accept before they make a decision about whether or not to expand Medicaid. And of course if lawmakers do choose to expand that decision would then have to approved by Governor Scott.

Call it rhetoric, spin, or just playing it safe, but whatever you call the 26 billion dollar price tag Governor Rick Scott is putting on the Medicaid expansion, one thing’s certain, it’s getting a lot of attention. The state now has three different estimates for the optional potion of Obamacare and as Whitney Ray tells us, Scott’s still touting the highest one, even after his administration released a much lower figure.

One of the harshest critics of the Affordable Care Act, Governor Rick Scott entered the political conversation with one goal in mind; defeating Obamacare.

But a failed lawsuit in the US Supreme Court and a Republican defeat in the 2012 presidential election left Scott with little choice but to play ball, or so it seemed.

Florida has to go along with most of the new health care laws, although Scott will have to decide whether or not to participate in a Medicaid expansion and this is where his math gets tricky.

Originally state economists put a 10 billion dollar price tag on the expansion over a 10 year period. Then Scott, through the Agency for Health Care Administration, released a new estimate; 26 billion dollars. The new figure caught the ire of health care advocates and, after some bad press, AHCA changed its estimate to 3 billion.

Reporters questioned AHCA’s secretary about the conflicting numbers, but no explanation was given.

“At this point in time we’ve put out our numbers, our assumptions are there and I really don’t have any more to say about it,” said Secretary Elizabeth Dudek.

Health Care advocates say Scott is using the highest estimate to build a case against expanding Medicaid, even though the federal government has vowed to pickup the lion share of the cost.

So how did Scott come up with 26 billion dollars? The expansion would allow an extra 900-thousand Floridians claim Medicaid benefits. Scott’s estimate assumes every eligible person will enroll, then accounts for extra operating costs and a reduction in the amount of money the federal government pays. By the way, it would take an act of Congress for the feds to cut the contribution rate.

The state is responding to criticism from the feds over the way it cares for disabled kids.

In September the Department of Justice chastised the Agency for Health Care Administration for allowing 220 disabled kids to live in adult nursing homes. AHCA responded by visiting all the children. They also met with the parents who made the decision to move their kids into the adult facilities. AHCA’s Secretary Elizabeth Dudek says the kids share a property with the adults, but their care is much different. To improve the situation Dudek says the department will enhance communication with the parents.

“Clearly it is difficult to have a child who has a medically complex situation. It’s clearly sometimes difficult to make decisions about what are we going to do and how are we going to do that. We want to have a personalized face they can talk to,” said Dudek.

The department is doubling the frequency of in person visits to the six homes where the kids live. There are also more case workers available to meet with the parents to advise them of their options.

Moderately severe; that’s how Florida Surgeon General John Armstrong is describing the state’s flu season.

Dr. Armstrong gave an update on the flu to members of the capital press corps this afternoon. Armstrong says it’s been 10 years since Florida experienced a flu season this severe, and already it’s worse than last year.

“Because that peak has shifted early we anticipate there will be increasing cases of Flu. So say the peak form last year has already occurred and so now we are going to eclipse that peak,” said Armstrong.

The flu season runs from October through May. Armstrong says there’s no shortage of vaccines. He’s says it’s not too late to get a flu shot.

Hunters grab your guns. The state is offering cash prizes to whoever bags the most Burmese pythons or kills the longest snake. As Whitney Ray tells us, The 2013 Python Challenge is an effort to help rid the state of the invasive species.

The state has declared war on Burmese Pythons and now it’s enlisting a militia.

On a recruitment video produced by Florida Fish and Wildlife tells the story of how the snakes are destroying the Everglades.

The Burmese Pythons were brought here as pets, but many grew too big and their owners released them into the wild. Now, with no natural predators, the snakes are taking over.

“Obviously they are eating something down in South Florida so we know that they probably are impacting our native wildlife,” said FWC Exotic Species Section Leader Kristen Sommers.

The solution; The 2013 Python Challenge. The state is offering 15-hundred dollars to the hunter who bags the most snakes, and a thousand to the person with the longest python.

But precipitants will have to be onguard, the snakes are huge and one misstep could turn the hunter into the hunted.

“Going out with somebody else is always a good option and making sure you are being cautions when you are out in these wild areas,” said Sommers.

More than 640 people have already signed up. Participants must pay a 25 dollar entrance fee and take a 30 minute online training course.

Despite the precautions, the hunt is already drawing the ire of animal rights groups. Rules are complete with a chart showing how to kill the snakes, X marks the spot where hunters should shoot. But the rules also allow for decapitation.

There’s no exact count on the number of Burmese Pythons in Florida, but experts believe there could be tens of thousands. The challenge is seen as a way to contain the spread of the species. The hunt begins Saturday with a kickoff event in Davie and ends February 16th with an awards ceremony.

The state is in the process of calculating yet, another estimate of how much a Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act would cost.

Originally state economists put a 10 billion dollar 10 year price tag on the expansion. Then The Florida Agency for Health Care Administration put the price tag at 26 billion. Governor Rick Scott has been touting the higher number. Social Service Advocate Karen Woodall says, Scott’s using the AHCA estimate deliberately to build a case against the expansion.

“It’s really not confusion, its intention change in the assumptions that the numbers come from,” said Woodall.

The number Scott is touting includes the assumption that everyone who qualifies for Medicaid will enroll and also allots for a change in the amount the federal government has promised to cover. This afternoon AHCA announced it will draft another estimate.

Casey Anthony is appealing four convictions for lying to police in the case of her dead daughter. Anthony’s attorneys were in Daytona Beach today telling an appeal court their client is innocent because she lied to cops before she was read her Miranda rights. As Whitney Ray tells us, those lies spawned new legislation creating tougher penalties for people who knowingly mislead police.

A free woman. This is video from 2011, when Casey Anthony was released from jail, acquitted of murdering her two year old daughter Caylee.

Anthony didn’t get off Scot-free. She was convicted on four misdemeanor counts of lying to police. She was sentenced to four years and released on time served.

Parents were outraged, and so were state lawmakers. They quickly drafted a bill stiffening penalties for lying to police.

In October, lying to police in the course of a missing child investigation became a felony carrying a five year prison sentence for each count. Had the law been in place during the Anthony trial, Casey could be in prison serving a 20 year sentence.

The bill was originally called Caylee’s Law, but legislators dropped the name to send the message that it would have a much broader impact. Since its passage the Florida Department of Law Enforcement has no record of anyone being charged under the new law. Investigators hope no one ever will.

Only time will tell if the changes save lives, but what is known is it’s too late for little Caylee. One of the lies Anthony told police was that her babysitter kidnapped Caylee. Of course there was no babysitter and the name Anthony made up, belongs to a woman who is now suing Anthony for damages.