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Financier Bernie Madoff entered a guilty plea today to swindling more than 50 billion dollars from people across the county in a massive Ponzi scheme. Madoff is in jail awaiting sentencing. Many in Florida lost their live savings. One of them was Florida House Democratic Leader Franklin Sands. “As to whether or not there will be restitution, I have no absolutely no idea” says Sands. “ We will find out in a time to come. As far as his pleading guilty, obviously he is guilty, He plead out, so he will be sentenced at some point and we’ll go forward”

Question:” He’s in jail now. He’s been ordered to jail. Is that any comfort”?

Sands: It’s so totally irrelevant, but that’s where he belongs”.

Sand lost and estimated four million dollars which was has been reported to be all of his  retirement savings.

There are 300,000 empty homes in the state’s housing market. The houses represent a two year surplus, which is one reason why many builders are out of work. As Whitney Ray tells us, a legislative plan to boost home sales by reducing property taxes is gaining support in Tallahassee.

The sounds of nail guns and buzz saws, noise pollution to some, the sound of money to others. Florida Training Services President Jeff McGinley remembers 2006 when the sound of construction was common around the state.

“It was crazy time, but it was good for a lot of companies and now of course it’s pretty much all down right now,” said McGinley.

McGinley and representatives from Florida construction groups met with Lawmakers Wednesday to discuss creating jobs. Representative Carl Domino has a plan to boost construction by increasing home sales.

“Last year housing values went down in the state about 15 percent. If there were more buyers the prices wouldn’t go down,” said Domino.

Domino wants to give a 50 percent property tax cut to anyone buying their first house in Florida.

If this home sold for 200,000 dollars under the plan, the home owner could save as much as 2,000 dollars in property taxes the first year alone.

The saving would decrease 20 percent each year over the next four years. By year five the tax would level out. The Florida Association of Realtors says it’s a good investment.

“If we put one dollar into housing the ripple effect is ten dollars into the economy,” said FAR Spokesman John Sebree.

If lawmakers approve the plan, it would go on the 2010 ballot as a constitutional amendment. Sixty percent of voters would then have to approve the tax cut.

The economic stimulus plan offers first time home buyers an 8,000 dollar tax credit. The credit will expire before this property tax cutting plan could go into effect.

Mental health and substance abuse workers are asking lawmakers to spare them from the budget ax.

The state spends 26 million dollars on mental health care and substance abuse programs every year. Advocates for the programs say the money is used to reduce crime and to help the mentally ill and drug attics re-enter the work force. Bob Sharpe, the president of the Florida Council for Community Mental Health said if lawmakers cut his budget, sick people will end up in prison.

“We’ll have more forensic placement, we’ll have more jail admissions, we’ll have more recidivism in prisons, we know 30 communities would lose services. We know 22 facilities will close or lose a portion of programs that they provide to their communities,” said Sharpe.

Florida ranks 48th in the nation for per capita spending on mental health services, and 35th for state funding for substance abuse treatment programs.

About half a million Floridians have problems recognizing their friends and families.

Alzheimer’s disease is becoming more common as baby boomers begin to retire. State representative Elaine Schwartz wants to create more awareness for the neurological disease. Schwartz filed legislation requiring the state Department of Elder Affairs to create a public education program to promote early Alzheimer’s screening. Victoria Hughler specializes in elder law issues and said early screening will help Alzheimer’s victims better prepare for the future.

“If we can catch this disease at its earliest point then people will understand that they have a need and they can take charge of their lives, they can do the planning that the need to do such as planning their advanced directives, living wills, their powers of attorney, to avoid the unfortunate process of appointing guardianship later,” said Hughler.

As many as one out of every ten people over the age of 65 suffer from Alzheimer’s. About half of people over 85 have the disease.

Florida schools face a billion dollar loss next year because of falling property values, but that isn’t stopping some lawmakers from suggesting more property tax cuts. Republican lawmakers say Floridians should be allowed to keep more of their own money, but as Whitney Ray tells us, cutting taxes could come at the expense of seniors, students, and first responders.

Teachers, firemen and police officers depend on your tax dollars to provide education and protection. The core services have already been reduced because of dwindling sales and property tax revenues. Governor Charlie Crist is supporting legislation that could cut revenue even further.

“When property taxes don’t go down there’s less money in the pockets of Florida families,” said Crist.

Representative David Rivera is pushing a constitutional amendment to cap property taxes at 1.35 percent of a home’s value.

“We need to create jobs. We need to put money back in taxpayer’s pockets. That’s exactly what this proposal does,” said Rivera.

After state economists read the economic tea leaves later this week, Florida could see five billion dollar budget shortfall. The shrinking budget is causing distress among educators.

Next week a group of a thousand parents and teachers will be here at the capitol to rally against further spending cuts to education. Advocates for children and seniors say the vulnerable will pay the price of more tax cuts.

“I don’t think that’s what a majority of Floridians want for their children, for their grandparents, for their parents and the future of the state of Florida,” said Child Advocate Karen Woodall.

Another plan to cap government spending, known as the Taxpayer Bill of Rights, is being pushed through the Senate. Florida’s Chief Financial Officer called the plan “Dangerous.”

Another property tax cutting plan facing less opposition would provide property tax cuts to first time home buyers. The Florida Association of Realtors and the Florida Home Builders Association are supporting the legislation. The groups say the plan would help absorb the 300-hundred thousand empty houses currently on the market and put builders back to work.

The Florida Senate will spend half a million taxpayer dollars to shed light on state spending.

The Senate is building a website to provide in depth details about how the state is using your tax dollars. The website will be called “Transparency Florida,” and will be accessible to anyone with a computer and an internet connection. Senator J.D. Alexander said as the economy gets worse people want more bang for their tax buck.

“In these tough budget times when we have close to ten percent of Floridians out of work, we’ve got close to ten percent of people on food stamps, I think we owe a duty to Floridians to make sure every dollar we get is spent as effectively as possible,” said Alexander.

The site will go live this summer.

Florida’s Chief Financial Officer is backing legislation to keep insurance agents from ripping off seniors by twisting their annuities.

Twisting happens when an agent convinces a client to take money out of one investment and put in a new one for the sole purpose of making a commission. The switch normally costs the investor a huge fee. Legislation to make twisting a senior’s investments a felony is gaining support in Tallahassee. Florida Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink said agents involved in twisting can rip off dozens of people before they’re caught.

“The bar is set very very high to identify. It’s kind of like you know them when you see them. The guys who are out to scam seniors, they’re not out scamming one, there is a pattern of behavior here and so it’s pretty easy. The line is not that fine,” said Sink.

Since Sink began pushing this legislation dozens of seniors have reported being ripped off by their agents. Just this week two Florida men accused of cheating seniors out of thousands of dollars were arrested.

The Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation is enlisting teens in the fight against underage drinking.

The department asked students ages 14 – 20 to make videos about why drinking on spring break is a bad idea. Andrea Likens and Kiersten Lampe from Deltona High School won second place. Kiersten said she hopes their video will inspire her classmate to stay away from alcohol.

“We really wanted to get the message out. Being in high school we hear about a lot sororities that go around our peers and what they do on spring break, so with this contest we though we could deliver a strong message about why not to drink and why it’s so important not to drink alcohol on spring break,” said Kiersten.

The students won Best Buy gift cards. They plan to buy laptops for college with the prize. The winning videos can be seen at www.myfloridalicense.com.

Florida leaders are calling for improvements to the state’s mental health system after receiving low marks from a national advocacy groups.

A report card released today by the National Alliance on Mental Illness gives Florida a ‘D’ for the treatment of mental health patients. Advocates say Florida is spending too much money locking up the mentally ill and not enough money providing treatment. Department of Children and Families Secretary George Sheldon said the state is wasting money locking up mental health patients.

“A quarter of a billion dollars we’re spending on deep-end beds at a 140,000 dollars a bed is insane. We can’t do that. But if we can take 10 or 12,000 dollars to provide that person treatment in the community, it makes sense. As our budgets start to get more and more tight, it’s the practical thing to do,” said Sheldon.

Mental health advocates and Secretary Sheldon are supporting legislation that would use money from the criminal justice budget to create more community based care programs.

An African American who decided to become a lawyer on the night Martin Luther King was assassinated today became Governor Charlie Crist’s fourth pick for the Florida Supreme Court. As Mike Vasilinda tells us, the new judge says he doesn’t want his views pigeonholed.

The sun was shining brightly as Governor Charlie Crist named Circuit Judge James Perry from Seminole and Brevard counties to be his historic fourth pick to the Florida Supreme Court.

“This is a man who is humble”, says Crist. “A man from rural roots in North Carolina, a generous heart, a dedicated hard working man who truly believes in justice”.

Perry is also the fourth African American to be named to  serve on the high court, which has never been more diverse. The new judge says diversity comes in many forms.

“Diversity doesn’t necessarily mean color. It means the difference in people who have a different life time experience to have a different perspective on things” said the nominee.

No other Governor has had four appointments in their first term, but unless one of the current judges resigns, Charlie Crist may not get another appointment, even if he wins another term.

Crist’s first two picks were ultra conservative. Long time court watcher Larry Spalding from the ACLU says Crist could have turned the court sharply right and didn’t.

There are going to be some key issues that continue to come before the court where these appointments could make a bug difference” says Spalding.

Age forced two of the judges Crist replaced into retirement. Two others left to practice law. After practicing law for 21 years, Justice Perry was appointed to the bench by Governor Jeb Bush in 2000. His wife of 37 years is a professor at Stetson University in Deland.

Thousands of Altel cell phone users have had their calls to the states unemployment hotline blocked.

The agency became aware of the glitch last week and it has been fixed. Robby Cunningham at the Agency for Workforce Innovation says the agency is checking to see if other companies have been blocking the calls as well.

“It appears this was going on since April of last year” says Cunningham. “Which means hundreds if not thousands of people who tried to call from their cell phones to our 800 number to get information about their unemployment claim could not get through to the line”

“and if they only had a cell phone?”

“If they only had a cell phone they had their calls blocked at times.

If you have had trouble reaching the unemployment hotline, the agency suggests you check on your claim on line at www.floridajobs.org

You may be eligible for unemployment benefits if you are placed on an unpaid furlough. You must meet all of the requirements such as having worked in four of the last five quarters and earned a specific amount of money.

You also won’t get paid for the first week you are on furlough, although, Robby Cunningham from the Agency for Workforce Innovation says you can file the claim anyway and have that first week be what is called a “waiting week” so that if you are laid off later in the year, you won’t have to wait another week to receive payments.

“If you are laid off or furloughed for a short time, you may be able to receive unemployment compensation payments”.  If, as Cunningham says “You fall under the same guidelines as anyone who was actually terminated. So you would have to meet certain criteria, like the number of weeks you have been working for this company or organization, the amount of wages you have received from them, You have a waiting week like all unemployment compensation recipients have as well”.

Applications for unemployment can be made at www.floridajobs.com

Lawmakers are looking at adopting random drug testing for people who apply for unemployment benefits. People who failed the drug test would be denied unemployment. As Whitney Ray tells us, the unemployed fear random testing would slow down the payment process.

With half a million Floridians receiving unemployment benefits, lawmakers want to make sure none of the money is used to buy drugs. Senator Mike Bennett filed legislation to create drug testing for people seeking unemployment.

“I do believe that the people who are taking that money should be qualified and ready and able to work. I want to make sure that we’re not supporting somebody else’s drug habit who is not willing and able,” said Bennett.

The bill requires random testing for one out of every ten people who apply for unemployment. The drug tests cost about 30 bucks. The person applying for benefits would have to foot the bill.

The unemployed fear drug testing would slow down the process and increase the waiting time for benefits.

Ether Hunter was laid off from her house-keeping job two months ago. She says random testing isn’t fair because the people who have been laid off have paid into the plan shouldn’t be barred for any reason.

“I’m not a drug person, but I can say, I don’t think it’s right people got to go through that just to get the money they worked for, I don’t think it’s right,” said Ether.

Governor Charlie Crist said the idea is worth debating.

“Whether or not it’s a good idea, I think it is certainly worth considering,” said Crist.

One consideration lawmakers will take into account is whether or not the state’s unemployment fund can keep up with the growing number of jobless and if drug testing could save the fund money.

There’s 860 million dollars in the state’s Unemployment Compensation Trust Fund. Last week the fund paid 60 million dollars in claims. Unemployment benefits are a federal entitlement program, so if the fund runs dry, people would still get their money.

Governor Charlie Crist says he’s fine allowing the rate freeze to expire on Citizen Property Insurance.

Policy rates for the state-run property insurer have been frozen since 2006. Lawmakers don’t seem poised to take up a bill to extend the freeze until 2010. Crist said lifting the rate increase ban could make Citizens stronger.

“I’m confident in Citizens, I think they are viable. I think they are stable. I think they are a lot better than some other insurance companies, but I want to make sure they continue, that’s all,” said Crist.

If the freeze sunsets Citizens’ rates could go up 20 percent next year.

Republican Lawmakers are trying to resurrect a tax cap plan, killed by the State Supreme Court last year.

The Senate Community Affairs Committee passed a joint resolution today aimed at allowing the plan on the 2010 ballot. If approved by the legislature and voters, property taxes would be capped at 2010 levels. Then, yearly increases would be limited to 1.35 percent a year. Resolution sponsor Mike Bennett said capping taxes would boost housing sales.

“You have a huge glut of houses in our market. We want those people from Illinois and Michigan to take that inventory off the market and if they know their property tax increases are going to be capped at some level, it provides a little more certainty in their life,” said Bennett.

Many County and city governments, as well as schools, oppose the plan because it could reduce their budgets.