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National news reports are calling Florida “The Ponzi State” suggesting lending practices in the Sunshine State were the beginning of the nation’s problems. State regulators were lax and allowed convicted felons to become mortgage brokers, bilking banks out of millions. Today at the state Capitol, legislation was filed to give Florida’s Attorney General more authority to prosecute fraud in the lending industry. Attorney General Bill McCollum says right now there is little he can do.       

“This gives us enough and we believe that we will be able to go after folks and prosecute them in the future, that we never could have before. And we’ll be able to use the office’s civil side, with Scott Palmer and Trish Connors, to really dig into this and go after cases aggressively when we see them,” McCollum said.

The Office of Financial Regulation currently has authority to charge brokers with wrongdoing, but the agency has few staff to carry out the job.

State lawmakers grilled Visit Florida executives today over money the tourism office spent on jobs outside of the state that could have been spent creating jobs here. Visit Florida receives 35 million state tax dollars. As Whitney Ray tells us, lawmakers say much of that money is wasted on salaries, bonuses and travel.

Hear it Here; Visit Florida

Visit Florida executives were called on the carpet by lawmakers after spending 600-thousand dollars hiring a Kansas City call center to promote tourism.

“Taxpayer funded agencies are shipping jobs to Kansas City. That represents a fatal flaw in your judgment,” Senator Ronda Storms said.

To add insult to injury, one senator called the Kansas City Company several times, four out of the five operators he talked to couldn’t tell him where our state capitol is located.

Visit Florida has a 99 million dollar budget; 35 million comes from taxpayers. About a million is used to pay executives. Only 1 in 5 dollars goes to advertising.

“If any dollars go to Visit Florida there not going to be used for bonuses and they’re not going to be used for travel purpose,” said Senator Mike Fasano.

Visit Florida’s President Bud Nocera, who makes 220,000 before bonuses, says he’s not worried about losing his job.

“I’m concerned more about our budget,” said Nocera.

Governor Charlie Crist passed the buck to lawmakers.

“One of their most important roles is to exercise that kind of oversight. I realize that as a former member of the state senate so any concerns they have we would like to entertain and help out with,” said Crist.

Just last month Crist saved Visit Florida from a 5 million dollar spending cut. Crist says he expects Visit Florida will see less money in next year’s budget.

House Democrats met with the Seminole tribe today to discuss the gaming compact.

The tribe wants lawmakers to renew the compact the State Supreme Court ruled invalid in July because it lacked legislative approval. Now other casino owners want in on the action. They say it’s not fair for the Seminoles to have blackjack if they don’t. Seminole Tribe spokesman Max Osceola said the compact isn’t about putting their competitors out of business.
“We’re not here to destroy the pari-mutuels. They’ve been in business since the beginning of Florida. We’re in the business too. So we are both in the same business. So we’re not here to hurt them,” said Osceola.

Christian Ulvert, spokesman for the pari-mutuels, wouldn’t says if the business has been down since the Seminoles got blackjack almost a year ago.

“We are in a downturn economy. I think all our members right now are taking an impact,” said Ulvert. “Obviously it’s a new game, a new product that is not allowed to the pari-mutuels right now and we want to make sure lawmakers understand that.”

The state could receive 288 million dollars if it enters into a new agreement with the tribe. Pari-mutuels said if the new contract keeps the playing field off balance, they’ll lose money, layoff employees, and ultimately the state will lose millions.

Florida’s Attorney General is ordering 16 Flash Foods gas stations to pay 42-thousand dollars to customers who were ripped off at the pump from September 12th through the 20th. As Whitney Ray tells us, oil companies who supply gas to the stations could be next in line to cough up cash for price gouging.

Hear it Here: State Investigates Gas Wholesalers

In September, as Hurricane Ike Ripped through the Gulf of Mexico, Floridians rushed to the pump to fill up their tanks, some angry customer paid more than 5 dollars a gallon.

More than 15,000 calls poured into two state price gouging hotlines. The Attorney General’s office has settled with three gas retailers. The latest Flash Foods, will have to pay back customers 42,000 dollars… but the investigation doesn’t stop there.

Attorney General Bill McCollum is working to reach a settlement with TransMontaigne, for raising the cost of its fuel 1.50 dollars a gallon.

“We are cautiously optimist we can reach a reasonable settlement with them, but if we can’t we will be in litigation,” said McCollum.

The State’s Consumers Services Department has already met with TransMontaigne once.

“They are supposable going to met with them a second time to provide us some answers and then we’ll reach a conclusion on where we go with the case,” said Department Spokesman Terry McElroy.

TransMontaigne isn’t the only wholesaler being investigated. The state is investigating 20 other companies, but not releasing the names of wholesales until they have more evidence.

Flash Foods customers looking to be reimbursed for their charges can contact call the Attorney General’s fraud hotline at 1-866-966-7226 or visit the AG’s website http://www.myfloridalegal.com. To qualify customers need a proof of purchase.

Mental health and drug addiction advocacy groups are lobbying lawmakers to save treatment services from spending cuts.

The groups are at the state capitol today and tomorrow for the annual Behavioral Health Days. Florida is 48th in the nation in per capita spending on mental health service and 35th in substance abuse treatment. Florida Council for Community Mental Health President Bob Sharpe said if the state doesn’t fund treatment programs, it will pay higher cost to lockup people who can’t afford help.

“When they make a decision not to fund mental health services, it’s not that they are making a decision not to fund something. What they have chosen instead is to fund prisons, jails, hospitals and other deep end services,” said Sharpe.

The groups say if lawmakers cut their budgets in March, 24,000 people with mental illness and substance abuse problems will lose essential care.

The man convicted of killing a 15-year-old Tampa girl 25 years ago is scheduled to be executed Wednesday evening. Florida averages just over 2 executions a year at a cost estimated to be 50 million dollars. As Mike Vasilinda tells us, the expense has some questioning whether the death penalty is still cost effective.

Hear it Here: The Cost of Executions

Wayne Tompkins has spent 25 years fighting his death sentence. Now on his 3rd death warrant, the convicted killer has been in court at least 2 dozen times, including three trips to the US Supreme Court. The Florida Catholic Conference says the death penalty is costing Florida 50 million dollars a year, mostly in legal and court costs.

“They have found that, again, it’s below 50 percent, those who support it once they’ve realized that life in prison without the possibility of parole is a possibility,” Shelia Hopkins with the Florida Catholic Conference said.

Last week the Florida Supreme Court heard nine cases. Eight of them involved the death penalty.

The state Supreme Court is estimated to spend 60 percent of its 10 million dollar budget on death cases and add to that the lawyers on both sides, all of which is paid for by taxpayers. As lobbyists walk the Capitol hallways looking for money, one suggests the 50 million would pay for 830 teachers.

“That translates, if you want to get down without the support personnel, probably to something in the neighborhood of about 30 to 32 elementary students and 5 honors students each,” Palm Beach schools lobbyist Vern Crawford said.

But the death penalty is an emotional issue. Senator Victor Crist calls the idea of ending the ultimate penalty “ridiculous”.

“The death penalty is not about the price tag, it’s about paying the ultimate price for the ultimate crime that is committed,” Crist said.

Florida has 391 people on Death Row.

The cost of housing an inmate is 72 dollars a day…or about 1.3 million for 50 years.

Read the Tompkins Procedural History here:tompkins-history

Florida’s Blind participated in the second annual “Vision Caucus” held in the State House Chamber Tuesday. 

Seventy-seven house members have joined the caucus, which is designed to shed light on problems facing the visually impaired.  Speakers called for better transportation and for the blind to be looked at with respect.  Representative Kurt Kelly of Ocala says making the sight impaired productive is good for everyone.

“They’re citizens. They are absolutely citizens,” Kelly said. “They certainly have an impairment, but the reality is they can be an absolute viable, they can be a productive member of our society. Quite frankly, it makes a lot of sense when we take a person who may be on state assistance and move them into becoming independent and move them into becoming a productive member. They become a taxpayer, they become one who provides services.”

More than three percent of Floridians are legally blind, and one in twenty is visually impaired.

Florida’s hotels and restaurants are fighting legislation that would raise the bed tax from four to five cents and use the money to help Floridians buy homes.

The Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association isn’t against the increase, it just wants the money to be used to promote tourism. Right now the counties use the money they collect to attract visitors. The association’s president Carol Dover says if the state doesn’t pump the money into tourism, the budget deficit will widen.

“If we don’t get the tourist in the state, think about how many sales tax dollars we’re losing on top of the bed tax revenue. What about sales tax and all the other sales tax collections that we’re missing,” said Dover.

An estimated 85 million people visit Florida every year, although tourism has been on the decline over the past 12 months.

Insurance newcomer Security First jumped the gun last week when it announced it would rewrite State Farm policies in every zip code in Florida. The insurer had to work out details with the state about how it would insure homes threatened by sinkholes. As Whitney Ray tells us, the insurer is weighting the risk and is willing to play ball, for a price.

Hear it Here: Sinkholes Won’t Sink Insurer’s Plans

Fire, water, and wind are just a few of the elements homeowners have to consider when buying insurance. If those elements don’t provide enough fear, the ground your home sits on could pose an even bigger risk.

Florida has more sinkholes than any other state in the nation. They can pop out of nowhere, and sometimes it’s hard to tell just how deep and wide the chasm will get.

Security First knew about sinkhole problems in Central and South Florida when it announced plans last week to pick up 50-thousand policies State Farm is poised to drop.

“We think we are a better neighbor. We live here. We know how to manage the risk,” said Security First President Locke Burt.

Security First said it would rewrite State Farm policies in every part of the state, then quickly froze out areas in six counties where sinkholes were common. On Friday, the company reached an agreement with the state to do business in those areas.

“Customers would have to add sinkhole coverage, and in order to do that now, Security First is requiring they now also have an inspection of their property,” said OIR Spokesman Ed Domansky.

The inspections cost 150 dollars. Security First has volunteered to pay half. Then, the decision about whether to add sinkhole coverage will be left up to the customer.

There are dozens of insurance companies chomping at the bit to pick up the 1.2 million policies State Farm wants to drop. Still, the State Farm move isn’t official and the company plans to give customers two years to shop around before it drops policies.

Shoppers are being targeted to help fund schools.

Legislation to temporarily raise the sales tax one percent for three years was filed last week in Tallahassee. The suggested increase comes as districts across the state consider shutting down schools and laying off teachers to meet budget demands. Florida Education Association Spokesman Mark Pudlow said raising the sales tax a penny would stop the budget bleeding that began two years ago.

“It would stop all the cuts that we’ve had over the last two years. It would restore them. It wouldn’t move us forward. That would be something that would still be a goal for us in the future but at least the children that are in school now wouldn’t have to suffer from loss of schools, bigger classrooms, loss of electives and those kinds of things,” said Pudlow.

Lawmakers will review the measure when they convene for regular session in March. The increase is expected to raise 3.5 billion dollars for education in it’s first year alone.

Lt. Governor Jeff Kottkamp will reimburse the state $12,974 for his families travel on state planes. But as Mike Vasilinda tells us, the cash is just a small part of the expense Kottkamp has run up commuting from his home to the state capitol.

Hear it Here: Frequent Flyer Kottkamp

When Charlie Crist chose Jeff Kottkamp for his running mate at a news conference outside Kottkamp’s Ft Myers home, few people realized that once elected,  Kottkamp would continue living in Southwest Florida and bill the state for his commute.

Documents provided by the state show the Lt. Governor flew state planes at least 365 times since taking office, two thirds of them between his home and the Capitol.

One of the most striking examples was the day the Lt. Governor was picked up in Ft. Meyers, flown here to Tallahassee for a news conference, then flown back home.

A newspaper report pegged the cost at 425 thousand dollars. The state says that includes other state employees as well.

“So, it’s somewhat egregious to make it sound like this is kind of an irresponsible amount of money to be spending on air travel, when you’re thinking about all the state employees included in that travel,” Cathy Schroeder, Management Services Spokesperson, said.

At the state air pool, we were allowed onto the secure tarmac, but then were told that we couldn’t take pictures of the lone state plane inside the hanger. The other plane was in the air.

Kottkamp is also reimbursing the state just under 13 thousand dollars for travel by his wife and son. The agency responsible for collecting the cash is taking the heat    .

“This was the agency’s oversight,” Schroeder said. “This was not an oversight by the Lt. Governor.”

A spokesman says that both Kottkamp and the Governor are using the planes less as the economy  gets cloudier.  Here’s the spreadsheet showing the flights: lgov-air-use-jan07-dec08-012009

Lawmakers will consider raising the cigarette tax, temporarily increasing the sales tax by a penny, and collecting taxes already owed on internet purchases. As Whitney Ray tells us, lawmakers are weighing their options to find ways to balance a potential four billion dollar shortfall in the state budget.

Hear it Here: Taxes, Taxes, Taxes

With the state staring at a third straight year of dwindling revenues, lawmakers will consider a temporary one cent sales tax increase. Lawmakers are also looking at a higher cigarette tax.

The Federal cigarette tax is already slated to go up 61 cents, which could make the state increase a harder sell. Collecting taxes on internet sales already owed could raise billions for the budget. Florida TaxWatch said the state is missing out.

“It’s fiscally and economically detrimental to the state. Fiscally, because it’s billions owed on the sales tax that’s not being collected; economically because when people buy online from out-of-state retailers, it hurts local retailers,” said Rob Weissert a spokesman Florida TaxWatch.

Jogger James Johnson says now is not the time to put an extra burden on taxpayers.

“People are having a hard time paying they bills and it’s hard for people to get back on they feet right now,” said James.

But more spending cuts may not be enough to balance the budget, and that has the Republican leadership looking at their options.

“I’m going to ask the tax and finance committee to evaluate each and every item that has been suggested and vetted thoroughly,” said incoming House Speaker Larry Cretul.

Even if the legislature passes new taxes, the increases will have to get past the governor who has been opposing new taxes since he took office. Closing tax loopholes like those on bottled water, dry cleaning, and skyboxes could also be on the table in March.

Florida’s Incoming House Speaker Larry Cretul is already making changes in Tallahassee.

Last week Cretul took over from embattled House Speaker Ray Sansom after the controversy surrounding his dealing with a state college caused his colleagues to vote him out of office. Still Cretul hasn’t ousted Sansom. Instead he’s put him in charge of the Policy Council Committee. Cretul said he’s noticed a change in the Florida House during his first seven days in leadership.

“Its a little more calm I feel. I’m feeling it walking the halls and visiting with members. They are now focused on the work they need to do and I’m a little calmer,” said Cretul.

Cretul is also creating a new committee to study the state’s economy and tax structure.

Florida went through more than a billion dollars in the last year paying unemployment benefits to a growing number of people. The fund still has cash, but as Mike Vasilinda tells us, employers will likely have to dig deeper to keep the fund solvent.

Hear it Here: State Burns Through Unemployment Cash

Florida’s Unemployment Fund is burning through cash. It started last year with 2 point 2 billion. The Agency for Workforce Innovation says it has less than half that much left.

“There’s more than a Billion dollars in the trust fund right now.” “It’s Absolutely [enough], we’re in no danger of running out of money or insolvency.”

An automatic trigger to raise the rates paid by employers should keep the fund from going broke. But without that trigger, the fund would be out of cash by the end of the year. It’s still going to be close.

There are two factors at work. There are more people collecting unemployment and they’re collecting it longer.

Benefits have been extended from 26 to a maximum 59 weeks. Economists predicted Florida’s unemployment rate wouldn’t hit 8.1 percent until August. It hit the mark in December.

Willie Bradshaw is barely making ends meet, even with the checks.

“No that’s not enough to get by,” Bradshaw said. “I struggle day-to-day to make it.”

How much more employers will have to pay won’t be calculated until June. How many layoffs they’ve had, the salaries the pay, and the balance in the fund will all be part of the calculation.

The hike for employers is almost certain. The fund balance missed the trigger point for a rate hike this past June by just over half a million dollars.

In an effort to revive auto purchases, a 90 day state tax break on car sales may be in the works in Tallahassee. Purchases have fallen 50 percent since last summer. Vehicle sales bring in billions in tax revenue. As Whitney Ray tells us, lawmakers are asking if the industry deserves special treatment.

Hear it Here: Auto Dealers Look for Legislative Life Preserver

Car sales in Florida continue to fall. Three out of every 10 customers who try to buy a car can’t get credit. Those who can, according to the Florida Chamber of Commerce, are too scared to spend their money.

“What we’re seeing right now is a crisis of confidence in the consumer, not so sure they’re going to have a job. Not so sure what the economy is going to do, and so they’re sitting on their money,” said David Daniels with the Florida Chamber of Commerce.

Car sales in Florida are down 50 percent since this summer; bad news for the 76,000 Floridians who work in dealerships. It’s also bad news for the state. One in five sales tax dollars collected in Florida is generated though auto sales. Car dealers are asking lawmakers to consider a temporary ban on the state’s auto sales tax.

“If Florida derives so much of its income from car sales and car sales are being so repressed, why not considers reducing the sales tax over some period of time. We’re saying 90 days,” said Florida Auto Dealers Association President Ted Smith.

Representative J.C. Planas said he’s not sure the industry deserves special treatment but he is willing to consider the plan.

“You have to look at what the cost to the state is to be able to do that. If all of a sudden you realize that the banks are lending money again, that might not be a bad way to kick start that boom again,” said Planas.

While a sales tax break would be left up to the state, getting banks to open lines of credit may be a harder sell. Car dealers could get a break from Washington. US Senators are considering lifting interest rate taxes on auto loans as part of the economic stimulus package.