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Governor Charlie Crist signed three bills aimed at speeding up economic development.

The measures make it easier for developers to challenge impact fees, encourage businesses to invest in poor communities, and shorten the wait time for companies trying to take advantage of tax incentives. Crist said the legislation is exactly what the state needs.

“The legislation I will sign here today will keep Florida’s economy moving forward, strengthen our economic development efforts, and also help boaters. It will level the playing field for property owners and the impact fees they may have to deal with, also encourage and promote Florida business. It is commendable and exactly what we need to be doing to sustain prosperity,” said Crist.

Crist was scheduled to sign legislation to lower the cost of developing land in urban areas by eliminating road fees. Opponents of the measure say it would lead to more traffic congestion and urban sprawl. The signing was postponed to give Crist more time to review the bill.

A legal battle over water that began in 1990 is closer to ending. A
Federal Judge in Jacksonville is now considering whether to order the
Army Corps of Engineers to begin releasing more water from dams in
Georgia for use in Alabama and Florida. As Mike Vasilinda tells us, a
drought saw more water going to supply Atlanta while fish stocks in
Florida suffered.

Freshwater flow into Apalachicola Bay is crucial for oyster, shrimp, and
fish production. The bay produces 10 percent of the nation’s oysters.
Estuaries hatch many of the fish found in the Gulf.

But as Atlanta faced drought conditions, the water flow in the river has
been cut. It’s a battle environmentalists have been fighting for decades.

“A drought is a natural, recurring event in nature,” David McLain, founder of Apalachicola Riverkeepers said. “If you have a
recurring event in nature, you can plan for it. And it hasn’t been
planned for by the people who are the water users upstream. Their only
plan is to take more cheap water out of the Chattahoochee, and that
water then doesn’t come down here to us.”

Last summer’s water reduction was felt almost immediately.

“You’ve got to have the perfect conditions,” oyster processor Darren Guillotte said. “Perfect water, perfect environment for the oysters to grow.”

A senior federal judge in Jacksonville is now considering whether the
Army Corps of engineers exceeded its authority when it water to Atlanta
without congressional approval.

The judge’s decision could be devastating for a way of life and an
ecosystem dependent on a delicate balance of fresh and saltwater.

“There ought to be some way, based on science, to adjudicate competing
demands,” McLain said.

While still facing drought conditions, Lake Lanier Outside Atlanta is
rising, taking some of the pressure off water managers, but offering
little in the way of a long term solution.

Recent Federal appeals court decisions, and a US Supreme
Court decision support Florida and Alabama’s claim to a fair share of
the water that has been diverted. From the bench last week, the Federal
judge said the decision would result in some “happy” and some “sad” people .

Agriculture Commissioner Charles Bronson today bowed to pressure from GOP leaders and concerns from his family and will not be a candidate for the Governor’s job in 2010.

The State GOP party chairman has endorsed rival Bill McCollum and worked to keep insiders from donating to Bronson if he made the race. Bronson says he may reconsider if the presumptive nominee McCollum falters, although he doesn’t believe that is likely.

“I’m just saying, at this time, that I will not be a republican candidate for governor in 2010,” Bronson said. “If something were to happen, or something down the road made me want to think I should get back in, then I could always do that.  If I come here today and tell you I’m absolutely without a doubt not going to be in the race, then if that was to happen, and it’s kinda unlikely I think that it would happen, then you’d say, well I thought you said you weren’t going to run. I know how you guys operate.”

Bronson says he worries about the apparent lack of a primary will have on the rank and file party. Bronson has 18 months left in his current job. He served previously in the state Senate.

Legislation to extend unemployment benefits is awaiting the governor’s signature. Governor Charlie Crist says he wants to review the plan before making a final decision on whether or not to sign off on the plan. As Whitney Ray tells us, if Crist does signs the bill, 250,000 Floridians will receive and extra 20 weeks of unemployment pay.

Until this month Rossie Foushee, his wife, and daughter were scraping by on unemployment. Rossie was just hired as a security guard. His wife is still receiving unemployment pay.

“She’s almost at the end of her term almost at the end of her money,” said Rossie.

Legislation to extend benefits for Rossie’s wife and 250,000 other Floridians is awaiting the governor’s signature. The plan would pump 418 million federal stimulus dollars into the state’s economy.

“I’ll probably sign it but I want to review it and make sure the implications of it are all good. I believe that they probably are,” said Crist.

The Agency for Workforce Innovation is preparing to send out notices and applications to people who might qualify for extended benefits.

“In anticipation of this becoming law, the agency has been working very diligent to get our computers updated to get our systems ready to go,” said AWI Spokesman Robby Cunningham.

Checks could begin going out as early as July. While Crist will have the final say so on this legislation, a bill that would have added another half a billion dollars to the unemployment fund was never taken up.

The state has until September of 2011 to claim the money. In order to grab the cash lawmakers will have to vote to allow more people on to the state’s unemployment roles.

The Agency for Workforce Innovation has already posted information about the extended benefits on its website. If the extension is approved people will be able to apply for the benefits online. To access the webpage go to www.floridajobs.org and click on the Extended Benefits Button on the right side of the screen.

Governor Charlie Crist says he won’t stand in the way of legislation to raise the state’s tobacco tax.

Lawmakers voted to raise the state’s cigarette tax by a dollar a pack earlier this month. Crist has opposed new taxes his entire term as Governor and has the authority to veto the legislation. Surrounded by health care workers at a bill signing ceremony this morning Crist told reporters he likes the plan.

“Here we’re talking about a hospital and the irony isn’t lost on me. The health care cost that would be saved, and I think obviously a reduction in the people that would smoke, that would be a good thing,” said Crist.

The tobacco tax is expected to generate 900 million dollars for the state, and keep thousands of teens from ever lighting up.

On September 22nd, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, freeing the slaves, but the news didn’t make its way to Florida until May 20th, 1865.

Wednesday in Tallahassee at the same house were the proclamation was read 144 years ago an actor dressed as a Union soldier reenacted the reading. Governor Charlie Crist attended the event and says the state and the nation has continued to build upon the example Lincoln set all those years ago.

“Lincoln embodied the greatness of America even though he did not live to see the passage of the 13th amendment to end slavery. While some in Florida oppose the ideas of freedom during Lincoln’s lifetime, I believe that our state and our nation can be enormously proud of the progress that we are making toward equality today,” said Crist.

Ancestors of former Florida slaves were on hand for the reenactment.

The American Heart Association is honoring Florida for its efforts to save people who suffer heart attacks.

The association presented an award to the state health department for promoting the use of AEDs or Automated External Defibrillators. AEDs are portable and can save lives if used during the first few minutes of a heart attack. Bob O’Kelley said an AED saved his life. A year ago O’Kelley had a heart attack while playing tennis.

“My tennis buddies performed CPR. One called 9-1-1, one called my wife and another went to the club house to get the AED. A doctor and four lifeguards bring in the AED and rushed out to my court. The doctor organized things on the court, and one of the lifeguards used the AED. It brought me back to life. Needless to say, I would not be here without the AED,” said O’Kelley

The survival rate decreases by ten percent every minute a heart attack patient goes without treatment. The American Heart Association says if more businesses had defibrillators hundreds of lives would be saved every year.

A two million dollar public service announcement featuring Florida’s Attorney General and Gubernatorial hopeful Bill McCollum has Democrats in an uproar. The PSA was taken off the air Friday. McCollum announced his campaign for Governor two days later. As Whitney Ray tells us, Democrats say McCollum is using taxpayer money to promote his political career.

Attorney General Bill McCollum is staking his career on keeping Florida kids safe from online predators. McCollum spent two million state dollars to produce and air a public service announcement to inform parents about cyber safety.

The PSA began running in different parts of the state in October. It stopped playing Friday, just two days before McCollum announced he would run for governor. Democrat opponent Alex Sink calls the timing of the PSA is interesting.

Attorney General Spokeswoman Sandi Copes said the PSA has nothing to do with McCollum’s political aspirations.

“The timing is addressed in the contract. It was for a contracted length of time that was addressed several months ago,” said Copes.

The Florida Democrats said the PSA looks too much like a campaign ad.

“Cyber safety experts have called us because they say these ads are the least effective they have ever seen, because they air a politician not an expert,” said Eric Jotkoff.

The Attorney General’s Office said the PSA has driven thousands of Floridians to their website, where tips can be found about how to keep kids safe from predators. The Attorney General’s Office said the ad triples the amount of traffic to its cyber safety website in areas where it plays.

Florida’s financial business is now easier to access.

Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink posted the state’s checkbook online. People can log onto the site called “Florida’s Checkbook,” to check the state’s balance and see how taxpayer dollars are being spent. Sink said the site will make government better by providing more transparency to the process.

“Fiscal watchdogs out there who get frustrated about not being able to find anybody who can tell them where their tax dollars are going and how much we have in the bank account, and how much we have left to spend now have some where to look,” said Sink.

You can access “Florida’s Checkbook” by going to MyFloridaCFO.com/Transparency.

Consumer advocacy groups are asking Governor Charlie Crist to veto legislation that allows doctors who don’t belong to PPO networks to receive insurance payments.

The groups say allowing out of network doctors to receive insurance checks would raise premiums. Brad Ashwell with the Florida Public Interest Research Group said the legislation could lead to surprise charges.

“This bill will likely lead to more cases of patients going to out of network doctors who charge more for service than in network doctors who will then take the check from the insurer and recoup the different directly from the patient,” said Ashwell.

Governor Charlie Crist has yet to receive the legislation. When he does he’ll have 15 days to either sign or veto the bill.

Governor Charlie Crist’s decision to run for the US Senate last week has opened a flood gate of potential candidates for 5 statewide offices in 2010. CFO Alex Sink became the first Democrat to say she was running for Governor last week, and this morning, Attorney General Bill McCollum became the first Republican to seek the state’s top job. As Mike Vasilinda tells us, with the McCullom and Sink announcements, comes of long list of statewide wannabes.

Not since Lawton Chiles walked from one end of the state to the other, and Reubin Askew was a dark horse from Pensacola in 1970, has there been this much upheaval in statewide politics.

5 Statewide offices are up for grabs, and there are plenty of people reaching out.

As many as 6 people say they could be Attorney General
A Former CFO may want the job back, but three others want it too.
Even the Agriculture Commissioners job has sparked some heat.

Political Scientist Lance DeHaven Smith says all of the interest will make the competition for campaign cash fierce.

“Everything is tight these days”, says deHaven Smith, “and companies and PAC’s and lobbyists don’t have as much money as they would have normally“.

Ironically, Both parties are trying to limit primary competition for the state’s top job.

Democrats are uniting behind Alex Sink. The GOP is pushing Bill McCullom.
Party insiders have told Ag Commission Charles Bronson to stay out, but he’s still considering his options.

“I’ve got to finish up my calls and get my final marching orders from the commanding general at home, who has been with me through a lot of battles, to see if I can convince her that we ought to do this” says Bronson.

Democrats out number Republicans by 6 hundred thousand, but 2010 is an off year election, which could drive down turnout.

Commissioner Bronson says he will make an announcement on entering the Governor’s race before the week is up.

County commissioners and environmental groups are asking the governor to veto legislation aimed at speeding up development. The bill would lower cost and eliminate state government oversight on large scale building projects. As Whitney Ray tells us, opponents of the bill say the legislation would cause more traffic jams.

Before builders can begin the cutting and hammering, they first have to pay for water, sewer and roads. Lawmakers say the upfront cost is impeding growth. Developers building big projects in Florida cities often have to fix and widen roads.

The legislature passed a bill eliminating the road fees to speed up the process. The Florida Home Builders Association said lowering the cost will attract more businesses to the state.

“Sometimes companies choose other states because you don’t have that high impact fee. That cost of doing business up front and so while growth should certainly pay for growth it needs to be fair,” said David Hart with the Florida Home Builders Association.

But The Florida Association of Counties says eliminating the fee is anything but fair. They’re asking the governor to veto the plan.

“A development now is proposed to come into an area that is already heavily congested, the transportation infrastructure that needs to be in place to support that development doesn’t have to be in place,” said Eric Poole with the Florida Association of Counties.

Which means more traffic jams, but the bill would do more than increase your drive time, it would also eliminate state oversight on large scale developments.

“It takes away the ability of the governor and the people who work for the governor to say, ‘no, that’s the wrong place to have a new development and we’re not going to let you do that,” said Eric Draper with Audubon of Florida.

The governor is expected to receive the legislation this week. He’ll have 15 days to make a decision.

With the 2010 campaign season heating up, state party leaders are trying to squelch some of the fire. Both the state Republican and Democratic Party’s want to dodge a brutal primary season. As Whitney Ray tells us, some Republicans are asking party leaders to step aside and let the voters pick the candidates.

Florida’s Primary Election is still 15 months away, but party leaders are already trying to limit who you can vote for on Primary day. The State Republican Party is putting its support behind Governor Charlie Crist for US Senate. The party is also backing a gubernatorial candidate who hasn’t even announced he’s running.

“Many times primaries are good for name recognition, things of that nature, but in this case Bill McCollum as the Attorney General has a great deal of name recognition, and as it relates to fundraising we wouldn’t have to spend money on a primary that could be very costly,” said Greer.

The state GOP will need a large war chest to take on the Democrats, who are also trying to avoid in fighting.

“The Democrats are organized and energized to bring change to Tallahassee, and we are going to do that by electing Alex Sink as our next governor,” said Florida Democrats Spokesman Eric Jotkoff.

But not every one is as quick to down play the primary.

Some Republicans are asking the state party to step aside and let the voters pick the candidates.”

Voters rights and public interest groups agree.

“To the extent that political parties dominate who can run and who can’t run as a candidate, we are going to see less interest in elections,” said Brad Ashwell with Florida PIRG.

But diminishing interest in voting is exactly what some party bosses would like. Primary Elections can either help or hurt a party. A hard fought primary can rally supporters or cause animosity toward the winning candidate. It can also give the opposing party fire power to uses in the general election.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement has identified the cause of death in all but five of the 31 unidentified graves near a state reform school.

The investigation started after former students came forward with stories of torture and murder at the hands of staff. The students attended the Dozier School for Boys in Marianna in the 1950s. FDLE says 24 of the graves hold the remains of people who died of illness or by accident. The department believes the five graves still in question contain the remains of people who died of a flu epidemic in the 1920’s. FDLE Commissioner Gerald Bailey said the department conducted a tireless investigation.

“The existence of the cemetery was known by the school staff and we found evidence to suggest this was a secret or hidden cemetery. In our quest to determine the identities of the individuals buried at the grave site we conducted an extensive and exhausted review of available records. Our investigators spend hundreds of hours viewing school letter and reports, retrieving death certificates, analyzing archives of news accounts and interviewing former residents and staff,” said Bailey.

Former students of the Dozier School for Boys sparked the investigation after they called on Governor Charlie Crist to take action. The men named their group the White House Boys. The White House is the building where many students were beaten, and according to the group some of the students who were taken to the White House were never seen again.

A David versus Goliath battle between independent insurance agents and the big companies is underway in Tallahassee. The independent insurers said legislation aimed at keeping State Farm in Florida is unfair. As Whitney Ray tells us, the motivation could be competition.

As State Farm prepares to drop a million Florida customers, a bill allowing big insurance companies to write deregulated policies is headed to the Governor. The legislation was designed to keep State Farm in Florida.

Under the plan big insurance companies could raise rates without state approval. Bob Lotane, a spokesman for the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors, said fewer rate hike restrictions would keep the big names from leaving.

“We’re losing companies that are willing to insure Floridians so let’s try something new. Lets give this a try,” said Lotane.

Independent insurance agents said the legislation creates an uneven playing field.

“It deregulates a small portion of the industry, but really not the larger portion that’s insuring Florida today,” said Jeff Grady, The President of The National Association of Insurance Agents.

Crist has fought insurance rate hikes since he took office in 2006. On the last day of session Crist was asked if he would veto the bill.

“Yeah, perhaps,” Crist responded.

If Crist vetoes the plan and State Farm leaves, independent agents would likely see an increase in business. Crist’s office has received more than 2,000 emails and hand written letters from people upset about State Farm’s plans to leave Florida.