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Protesters greeted lawmakers at the state capitol on a day full of customs and celebration. A group of immigrant protesters and their supporters came to warn lawmakers they’re ready to rally if discriminatory immigration legislation is filed. Melissa McGuire, an immigrant advocate, says lawmakers need to consider the needs of illegal residents.

“When ever they pass bills they need to take into consideration immigrants. They are part of our community and even though they can’t vote, yet, they still have family members who can vote so they have to treat them like any other constituent,” said McGuire.

A group of hoodied protestors lined up near the doors of the House Chambers asking lawmakers to remember Trayvon Martin, the teen shot dead in Sanford last year by neighborhood watch captain George Zimmerman. Ciara Taylor with the Dream Defenders helped organize the protest of about half a dozen college students.

“The Dream Defenders are here to remind legislators to remember Trayvon Martin when they make legislation that can disproportionally affect black and brown youth in the state of Florida like Stand Your Ground, Zero Tolerance Policy, the privatization of our prison system,” said Taylor.

And finally a group of voters with cardboard signs called on lawmakers to reform state election laws. Marilyn Carter says she waited four hours to vote in Duval County.

“I live in a predominantly minority community and a lot of our precincts were condensed or relocated. The information was kind of slow about coming out. I notices that some of other the more affluent areas had shorter waiting times,” said Carter.

All three groups say they made the trip to Tallahassee for the one day organizational session to let their elected official know, they will be watching.

Teachers are calling on lawmakers to throw out a new system of evaluating their performance.

They say the recently adopted Value Added Model, which bases half of a teacher’s performance evaluation on their students test scores and learning gains is flawed. Third grade teacher Margaret Goodwin says she was considered a highly effective teacher before the new system was put in place. Now Ms. Goodwin’s been labeled an ineffective teacher.

“It’s belittling. It’s awful. It’s a label that I wouldn’t wish on anybody, but I have it now and I’d like it to come off,” said Goodwin.

The Florida Education Association, the state’s largest teachers union, brought the group to the capitol. FEA has also sent a letter to Governor Rick Scott asking for his help in changing the evaluation process.

The months of foot dragging are finally catching up with state leaders once determined to defeat Obamacare. We reported last week, Florida would miss the deadline to set up its own heath care exchange. Now the feds are giving Florida another shot. Whitney Ray caught up with Governor Rick Scott today and asked what it would take to get him onboard.

LaTanya White is a small business manager with big future plans.

“Our projections look at creating 41 new fulltime FTEs,” said LaTanya.

Her business Concept Creative Hospitality Group helps coordinate events, train bartenders and wait staff, cater and dozens of other services. The company’s plans include providing health care to their new employees.

“It’s about really taking care of the people who take care of your organization,” said LaTanya.

When the time comes for expansion, LaTanaya will have the benefit of a health care exchange to find the best deal on insurance, but whether state leaders here in Tallahassee or bureaucrats in Washington run the exchange has yet to be decided.

Last week the state missed a deadline to announce plans to run the exchange, but the feds extended the deadline to December 14th. Now Governor Rick Scott, a onetime Obamacare foe, has requested a meeting with the feds about state participation.

“How do we make sure that anything we do at the state level, at the federal level, reduces the cost of health care for all Floridians? We want to make sure everybody gets health care,” said Scott.

The exchange is expected to cost the state more than 90 million dollars to set up and millions more every year to run. Legislative leaders want to know if exchanges already in existence, Like Florida Healthy Choices, could be expanded to meet the federal criteria.

Either way the state will have an exchange. If state leaders don’t meet the December deadline, the feds will move forward with plans to set up an exchange for Florida. So far about a dozen states have chosen to set up their own exchanges.

Former Notre Dame Coach Lou Holtz says FSU should be ranked fourth in the nation, not tenth where current BCS data places the Noles.

Holtz was in Tallahassee today giving a pep talk to state leaders at the request of Governor Rick Scott. We caught up the college football analyst after he gave his pep talk. He’s still riding high from Notre Dame’s climb to the top of the BCS and thinks FSU should be ranked higher.

“When Notre Dame is on top there’s much more interest, much more enthusiasm and I can say the same thing about Florida State. I think Florida State is vastly underrated. I have them as number four in my poll and I think that’s justifiable so,” said Holtz.

FSU will have a chance to prove Holtz right. They take on the fourth ranked Gators on Saturday. Both teams have just one loss.

Florida’s unemployment rate continues to fall. Labor Statics released today show the state’s jobless rate falling to 8.5 percent from 8.7 percent a month ago. A year ago, the unemployment rate was 10.2 percent. As Whitney Ray tells us, spurring on the recovery are two of the state’s largest industries.

While things are improving in Florida, the state’s unemployment rate is still point six percent higher than the national rate of 7.9 percent. And if you factor in the underemployed and people who’ve stopped looking for work, the rate rises to 16.4 percent.

You can thank Mickey Mouse, Florida’s beaches, and the holiday shopping season for the latest drop in the state’s unemployment rate.

Florida’s jobless rate of 8.5 percent is the lowest it’s been in nearly four years.

“The state is heading in a positive direction and we are thrilled,” said Department of Economic Opportunity spokesperson Carolyn Gosselin.

Contributing to the recovery is an increasing number of tourists. 22 million of them visited Florida this summer, a 3.5 percent increase over the same time period last year. Industry experts say the tourism rebound has created 15-thousand jobs.

“Increases in Visitors means an increase in jobs and that’s obviously very significant as we’ve had continued record years. The hospitality industry has carried our fair share in terms of increased employment in the State of Florida,” said Acting CEO of Visit Florida Will Seccumbe.

Retail is also expecting a surge, with economists predicting a 5.2 percent increase in holiday sales. Statewide stores are expected to hire 42-thousand seasonal workers. And many retailers expect sales to be so good, they will be able to hirer some of those seasonal workers full-time.

At Sears in Tallahassee, 40 people were added, most with good resumes and retail experience.

“The way the economy is today, we had a lot of great applicants, great qualified associates and it was actually easy to hire this year,” said Tony Fischler, GM at Sears in Tallahassee.

Retail and tourism are two of the state’s largest industries, which means growth in those sectors is a good sign Florida is on the right track.

Florida Retailers are expecting a slightly better holiday shopping season than last year’s. They’re predicting a 5.2 percent increase in sales. As Whitney Ray tells us, the prediction comes as gridlock in Washington moves the country closer to the fiscal cliff and threatens to raise taxes on Florida families.

Karen Long and her granddaughter Ayana are perusing the mall in search of Christmas presents.

“I think she is going to cost me a little bit, but I’m still going to try and stay within a budget for sure,” said Long.

Donna Mobley saved all year to buy gifts for her family.

“I won’t spend as much because right now I budget for things that they need verses what they want,” said Mobley.

The Great Recession has changed people’s shopping habits. The trend has been to spend less, but this year retailers say people are more optimistic about the economy.

“Americans are feeling more confident about their financial situations,” said Rick McAllister, president of the Florida Retail Federation.

The Florida Retail Federation is predicting a 5.2 percent increase in holiday shopping. They say the average shopper will spend 750 dollars on gifts, up 10 bucks from a year ago.

The prediction comes as gridlock in Washington brings the country closer to the fiscal cliff. If Congress and the President can’t reach a deal by the end of the year, Florida families could see their taxes increase by 35-hundred dollars.

But shoppers say it’s too early to be worried.

“Not before Christmas, we’ll see what happens after Christmas,” said Long.

And retailers have this message for Washington.

“What a great Christmas present for all the citizen of American, if they could get together and solve this problem now,” said McAllister.

While consumer confidence seems unphased by the looming crisis, reaching a deal sooner than later can solidify the mood. Democrats are pushing for eliminating tax breaks for families making over 250-thousand dollars a year. Republicans want cuts to entitlements. President Barack Obama will meet with House Speaker John Boehner tomorrow to begin the negotiations.

He fought it tooth and nail, but now it looks like Governor Rick Scott will have to begin working with the federal government to implement Obamacare. Scott signaled Tuesday he’s willing to make some concessions, but as Whitney Ray tells us, those concessions are too late to meet a fast approaching federal deadline.

For many, Mitt Romney’s presidential defeat was about more than the White House. It was a last ditch effort to beat the Affordable Care Act.

In 2010, Republicans failed to win enough Senate seats to pass a repeal bill. Earlier this year a Supreme Court challenge of the new health care law fell flat.

One of Governor Rick Scott’s top priorities was to repeal Obamacare, but with no options left, he’s now changing his tune.

Scott told reporters Tuesday, he’s now willing to negotiate with the federal government, about how best to implement the changes. His staff even went as far as promoting Scott’s role reversal emailing this article to reporters.

But Scott’s change of tune comes as a crucial deadline approaches. The state has until Friday to come up with a plan for its health care exchange.

Incoming House Speaker Will Weatherford says Florida won’t meet the deadline.

“I don’t think the state is going to be in a position to have a definitive answer of what our plan is by next Friday,” said Weatherford.

Missing the deadline means the feds will launch an exchange for Florida. The next choice that has to be made is whether or not to expand Florida’s Medicaid roles. Social service advocates say that discussion needs to begin soon.

“We’ve got a million very low income people who would benefit from that,” said advocate Karen Woodall

Before the court challenge, states that didn’t expand Medicaid could be penalized. The penalty was thrown out, so now Florida has options about how to proceed. And that deadline is 2014. The feds are offering to pay Florida 27 billion dollars over the next 10 years to extend Medicaid to a million more families. Scott’s worried about what happens after the money stops in 2024. Social service advocates say if Florida doesn’t expand its rolls the money will go to another state.

To fix Florida’s election problems, including six hour voting lines and slow results, the state’s top elections chief is holding a closed door meeting. This afternoon Secretary of State Ken Detzner met with members of the Florida State Association of Supervisors of Elections. Our cameras weren’t allowed inside. We were told elections supervisors from Clay, Duval, Escambia, Martin, Pasco and Polk Counties were in attendance. Shortly before the start of the meeting Governor Rick Scott’s office sent out an email promising more meetings after the election is certified next week. No word yet on whether or not those meeting will be open to the public.

Tonight the State Capitol will be awash with blue light in recognition of World Diabetes Day.

Here is video from last year’s capitol lighting. The historic building is just one of hundreds around the world turning blue to raise awareness of the disease that affects 300 million people worldwide, including 1.5 million Floridians. Sixteen year old Haley May was diagnosed with type one diabetes five years ago.

“You really had to grow up really quickly because with diabetes you never really get a day off. It’s with you 24/7. So you really have to know how to count carbohydrates and learn math really quickly,” said Haley.

Type two diabetes can be prevented. It’s normally sparked by unhealthy eating habits and a sedentary lifestyle. Here are some stats from the Florida Department of Health about reducing your risk. For every 2.2 pounds of weight loss an overweight person can reduce their risk by 10 percent. Losing five to seven percent of total body weight can reduce risk by nearly 60 percent.

Governor Rick Scott is out of the state today mourning the loss of his mother. Esther Scott died yesterday. She was 84. Esther first made her debut in Florida politics in 2010, appearing in TV ads for her son and helping Scott pull off a razor thin victory. Deputy Secretary of Health, Dennis Cookro held a moment of silence today at the state capitol in honor of Ester.

“I’ve been through that in the past and it’s not a nice thing to lose your mother and I’d like to just ask for a very quick moment of silence for Governor Scott’s mother,” said Cookro.

After his mother’s passing Scott tweeted this message “My Mom… one of the only constants in my life… has passed away. Ann and I are comforted by all the thoughts and prayers for our family.”

There are calls tonight to write voter protection measures in to the state constitution.

Long lines and slow results have voter rights groups and Democrats calling for permanent changes to Florida’s election laws. As Whitney Ray tells us, the groups say changing the constitution is the only way to keep politics from dictating when and how people vote.

Could last week’s long lines that had voters waiting up to six hours to vote be a direct result of this bill? In 2011, over the cries of voter advocates, state lawmakers passed HB 1355, cutting early voting from 14 days to eight

“A lot of the problems we are seeing in this election were predicted,” said voter advocate Brad Ashwell.

Ashwell spoke out in 2011 and continues to cry out for election reform.

“I think there isn’t any realistic way to get the politics out, but we need to do our best to try,” said Ashwell.

The problem according to Ashwell is, every year after an election the party in power, and here in Tallahassee it’s the Republican Party, looks at all the data. They want to know who voted early, who voted absentee and which method gave their opponents an advantage. They then draft a bill making it harder for their opponents to vote.

“The political parties are telling them what they need to do for their own livelihood; they are giving them recommendations, writing bills for them,” said Ashwell.

The League of Women Voters is calling for a taskforce to explore election reform. Others are calling for a voter protection amendment in the state constitution.

Incoming House Speaker Will Weatherford says it’s still too early to tell how the problem should be solved.

“What ever the solutions are, they should reduce the fact that you have to sit in line for six hours to get your vote to count,” said Weatherford.

The legislature can vote a constitutional amendment on to the ballot, or petitioners can gather signatures for the amendment.

According to newspaper reports, House Bill 1355 was written by the same lawyer responsible for the felon voter purge debacle of 2000. The purge kept thousands of minority voters from casting ballots in that election.

Next week Representative Will Weatherford will be named Speaker of the Florida House.

Today Weatherford sat down with the capital press corps to talk about his legislative agenda. Weatherford wants to fix the state’s voting problems, improve education and get better control over secret money funding dirty political campaigns.

“Florida’s in desperate need of both ethics and campaign finance reform and I believe you can’t do real ethics reform without having campaign finance reform,” said Weatherford.

Incoming Senate President Don Gaetz is onboard with ethics reform. It’s been more than 30 years since state lawmakers have passed an ethics reform bill.

Let the bell ringing begin. The holiday season wouldn’t be complete without The Salvation Army bell ringers.

Today at the state capitol the charity group announced its annual Red Kettle Kickoff. From now through the end of the holiday season members of the Salvation Army will have their bright red kettles outside of stores across the state. Captain Julio Da Silva says the money raised over the next eight weeks has to last the Salvation Army the entire year.

“This is basically the only fundraiser we have all year. That’s why we need so badly the help of the community to get together with us and volunteer,” said Silva.

The Salvation Army is also launching its Angel Tree outreach. The trees are set up in malls across the state. People who want to help, can take an angle off the tree and then buy Christmas presents for the child who’s name is printed on the paper angel.

One point six million veterans call Florida home, and more are being added to their ranks as the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan slowly wind down. As Whitney Ray tells us, the state is offering a helping hand to veterans looking for work, education and health benefits.

A veteran of the US Air Force, Jimmy Fox wasted no time enrolling at FSU.

“I don’t worry about tuition. It’s paid for with the post 9/11 GI Bill,” said Fox.

And starting his own business.

“You’re not just going to get a free ride out of the VA, you need to have a way of supporting yourself,” said Fox.

Florida has the third largest number of veteran owned businesses in the county. More than 176-thousand Florida soldiers have started their own companies. They employ more than 300-thousand people.

The state is helping them in their business endeavors. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission is waiving rules to help soldiers become commercial fishermen.

And starting last month, The Department of Business and Professional Regulation began waiving business licensing fees for returning soldiers. There’s even more help coming from Tallahassee.

Florida State University Launched its Veteran’s Film Festival Monday. FSU has vowed to become the most veteran friendly campus in the county.

“When you come to FSU, your service is going to be respected. Your service is going to be appreciated. The student body is going to reach out and open their arms unto you,” said Colonel Billy Francis, the FSU Veterans Center Director.

With all the new help available, the problem becomes spreading the word. In September the state launched a website, floridavets.org, compiling information about state and federal programs.

More help is on the way. The newly formed Statewide Veterans Advisory Committee will hold its first meeting Wednesday in Tallahassee. The committee will focus on drug abuse and mental health problems effecting returning soldiers.

To celebrate Veteran’s Day, FSU is honoring a filmmaker helping break the silence on rape in the military. The Invisible War tells the story of female soldiers raped by their brothers-in-arms while serving overseas. This is the second year FSU has hosted its Veterans Film Fest. Colonel Billy Francis, the director of FSU’s Veterans Center says the festival is just the beginning.

“This vision is to build an ROTC building, a student veterans center and a WWII and human experience institute all in the same place on campus, a veterans legacy complex combining the past, present and future,” said Francis.

FSU has the only veteran’s film festival in the country. This year FSU President Eric Barron donated 25-thousand dollars out of his own pocket for the first every Torchlight Award. The award went to Kirby Dick, the filmmaker who created The Invisible War.