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Governor Charlie Crist will spend Memorial Day weekend in Arizona as the guest of the Presumptive GOP nominee, Sen. John McCain. Mitt Romney is also expected to be there and as Mike Vasilinda tells us, insiders say Crist is definitely on the short list to run as McCain’s Vice President.

Hear it Here: Crist on Short List for McCain’s VP

While winning Florida is considered a must for the GOP to win the Presidency, Democrats believe they can lose Florida as long as they win in Ohio.

Charlie Crist has been in office less than 2 years.

But a change in law this year would let Charlie Crist run for Vice President and keep the governor’s job if he loses. The law was crafted for just such a possibility. Florida’s Republican Party Chairman has said Crist is on a short list of two or three names for the job. Crist himself has been asked the question more than a dozen times. The answer is almost always the same.

“What I said before is the truth,” Crist said. “I’m focused on Florida. It’s very flattering to be in the discussion of it, but frankly, it’s premature. It’s not something I’m focused on, it’s not something I think about, and I’m working on being the best Governor I can”.

Patsy McConnell thinks the bipartisan Governor is a natural for the job.

“I’m a Democrat, but I think if McCain were elected, he would probably make a pretty good President, and that I think I can’t help but like Crist,” McConnell said.

And veteran Democratic strategist Jon Ausman says Crist on the ticket could make the Democrats job of winning in Florida that much harder.

“He could help, yes,” Ausman said. “Probably having a governor on the ticket is worth one to three points”.

The question John McCain must ask is whether having Crist on the ticket helps in other states or if helping him win Florida is enough.

While winning Florida is considered a must for the GOP to win the Presidency, Democrats believe they can lose Florida as long as they win in Ohio.

Florida Governor Charlie Crist is reportedly on John McCain’s short list for the Vice Presidential slot. Crist will spend the weekend with McCain in Arizona at a Memorial Day BBQ. Florida law lets Crist keep his job if he accepts the offer and loses. Democratic insiders say having Crist on the ticket could make it harder for their nominee to win Florida, but Democratic National Committeeman Jon Ausman says a Crist win does not make winning the Presidency impossible.

“I also think that the Democratic nominee should pick Governor Ted Strickland of Ohio, also a freshman governor like Governor Crist for exactly the same reason, so that Democrats could carry Ohio’s 20 electoral votes,” Ausman said. “It’s a trade-off. They can have Governor Crist for Florida, we’ll take Governor Strickland for Ohio. We’ll win the presidency, then we’ll get to keep Governor Crist here doing a fine job for Florida.”

The question for McCain with whether Crist will make a difference outside Florida and whether that matters.

There is another challenge to the Democratic National Committee’s continued refusal to seat Florida’s delegates this morning. A lawsuit was filed in Federal Court in Miami today by non committed super delegate State Senator Steve Geller, and two other super delegates, one each for Clinton and Obama. The difference between this suit and previously unsuccessful efforts is this suit claims the party has violated its own rules and has treated different states differently. The suit claims the national party did not sufficiently investigate how Florida came to have an early party as required by party rules, and that Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina all moved their primaries up before the agreed starting dates and were given a waiver, while Florida was not.

Soon people in Florida will be able to buy health insurance for about 150 bucks a month. Governor Charlie Crist signed his Cover Florida plan into law today. As Whitney Ray tells us, people living without insurance have mixed fillings about the plan.

Hear it here: Governor Signs Health Insurance Plan, Uninsured Wonder If They Can Afford It

Tattoo artist Grady Johnson has his own tattoo parlor, but he doesn’t have a health insurance plan.

“Its too expensive even owning your own business. It’s hard to pay for,” said Johnson.

While Grady’s work with ink hasn’t brought him enough fortune to buy health insurance, a different kind of ink, used by the Governor Wednesday, could do the trick. Crist signed a bill aimed at providing health insurance for 150 bucks a month. The idea is to offer bare bones coverage in order to lower cost.

The Governor’s been working out the details of the plan with eight different insurance companies. Florida has the 4th highest uninsured rate in the county, with nearly four million going without. Beautician Barbie Strickland is among the millions. She said 150 dollars is still too expensive.

“Starting out as a beautician, it’s kind of hard to make money,” said Strickland.

Amity Williams just received notice that her health insurance premium is going up. Williams said she would buy the Governor’s plan.

“I’m a healthy individual with no problems and I don’t see why I should have to pay exuberantly more for something I hardly use anyway,” said Williams.

Lawmakers and the Governor have decided the plan is a step in the right direction. Now it’s up to the state’s uninsured to decide. The earliest the Cover Florida plan could be available is January 2009.

The future is looking bright for the state’s third graders. Reading and math FCAT scores were released Wednesday. Results show 72 percent of the state’s third graders are reading at or above grade level and 76 percent are at or above the national level in Math. Both scores are up over last year. Department of Education Spokesman Tom Butler credits teachers for the increase.

“It’s a direct result of the hard work of our teachers. They’re doing a phenomenal job of preparing our students and making sure they’re able to progress to different grade levels and succeed in life,” said Butler.

Individual scores will be released to parents online Friday.

As Barack Obama kicked off his Florida tour, the state’s Republican Party leader took a few shots at the presidential hopeful. Republican Party of Florida Chairman Jim Greer said the state’s democratic delegate fight will hurt Obama in the general election. Obama signed an agreement not to campaign in Florida after the state was penalized for moving up its primary. Greer said voters won’t forget Obama’s pledge and extended a sarcastic welcome to the Democratic front runner.

“I want to welcome him back to Florida. I’m glad he found us on the map. And you know he hasn’t been here for a year and a half except to take our money,” said Greer.

Greer said attempts to spin a Senator John McCain presidency as four more years of George Bush won’t hurt McCain in November.

Governor Charlie Crist will travel to the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. On Thursday, he will sign legislation that was the business community’s top priority in the 2008 session. The legislation uses almost two billion in excess pension funds to invest in the stock of companies who move to Florida. The Governor said the idea just makes sense.

“It’s important to grow our economy. I think the notion that Florida invest in Florida is terribly important. I think that Senator Ring understood that very well and I look forward to being with him tomorrow,” said Crist.

While in New York, the Governor will also participate in an adoption fundraising event.

The price of college textbooks has risen at twice the rate of inflation over the past 20 years. A bill aimed at making the books more affordable is on the Governor’s desk. As Whitney Ray tells us, lawmakers voted to hold professors more accountable when choosing books for their classes.

Hear it Here: Students Get Angry About Textbook Prices, Lawmakers Vote to Lower Cost

FSU Senior Julie Shott spends about the national average on books which is about 500 dollars a semester. She likes used books because they’re cheaper, but some professors require the latest edition, some students say isn’t worth the money.

“The only difference is like pictures or a couple of phrases,” said Shott.

But a bill awaiting the Governor’s signature requires any new edition to be significantly different and it requires professors to give students notice of a change.

The 5th edition of one geography book we found had been on the shelf less than a year when the 6th edition came out. According to the table of contents there doesn’t appear to be much of a difference. Publishers are constantly pitching new books to professors.

“The publishing companies stay very closely connected to faculty. They advise us when new editions are coming out,” said FAMU Assistant Professor Gina Kinchlow.

The legislation also bans professors from taking gifts or kickbacks from publishing companies. The bill requires colleges and universities to post the titles of textbooks that will be required for each course on the web.

Autistic children will now be eligible for up to 36 thousand dollars a year of intensive therapy designed to help them learn to live normally. As Mike Vasilinda tells us,
The new legislation caps a decade of effort and forces insurance companies to offer the coverage.

Hear it Here: Autism Bill Signed Into Law

14-year-old Zach Zepp arrived at the Capitol with his mom and dad on what is one of the happiest days of their lives. They were invited by the governor to be part of a bill signing because Zach has been working for legislation to help Autistic children since he was 7.

“[I’m] real excited. Because this bill has finally been passed after so many years,” Zepp said.

With the stroke of his pen, Charlie Crist ended a fight by parents, some of them famous, to get help for their children. Zach got the first pen. Former Dolphins Quarterback Dan Marino calls the legislation historic.

The new law requires insurance companies to provide up to 36 thousand dollars a year in life altering therapy for very young children. The governor calls the mandate the right thing to do.

“Whenever there’s a time to do the right thing, and you have to, like, force people to do it, we’re willing to do that,” Crist said.

Supporters have been wearing blue bracelets like this one. It contains five words beginning with ‘e’ and supporters say the words are as much about the child as they are about the disease.

“Enable him. Expand him, so he could express who he was. It had a dual purpose, it kept us on task,” Zach’s mother, Victoria Zepp said.

The legislation is important because the therapy must occur in the first years of life.

The new law also caps benefits for children at a total of two hundred thousand dollars before age 5.

Barack Obama is spending three days in Florida this week. John McCain was here today, and Hillary Clinton will be here Thursday. The Governor says the appearance of all three candidate this week is proof positive of how the candidates view Florida.

“It says that Florida is important,” Crist said. “I think it’s great that we’re all here. There should be a focus on Florida. We had a record turnout on primary. This presidential race is important to the people of our state. It’s good for all the candidates to be here. They should be.”

Because of Florida’s importance and the believe that Republicans can’t win the Presidency without Florida, Crist is still considered one of the top VP choices for McCain.

Environmentalist are concerned that a bill they supported to save seagrasses was hijacked by developers. A last minute amendment allows developers to by development credits and creates a sea grass farm on state owned lands. The bill is waiting for the Governor’s signature, but Charlie Crist says that signature is still in doubt.

“I do have concerns about it, so I want to take a hard look at it before I sign,” Crist said.

One in 150 children is born with autism, and boys are more prone than girls. Kimberly Hill of Tallahassee is the mother of two autistic children. She and her husband have spent more than a hundred thousand dollars of their own money seeking therapy. Kimberly says hearing the words diagnosis and your child’s name in the same sentence can be mind shaking.

“Everything you’ve ever wanted for your kid is not as you know it,” Hill said. “You wonder if they’re actually going to get to go to school. If they’re ever going to speak. If you’re ever going to hear them say ‘mom’ or ‘I love you.’ If you will ever have grandchildren for them; what goes on in life. To find out that there is no help out there.”

Legislation signed by the Governor is expected to begin providing limited coverage for autism therapy by the end of the year.  Some have complained the coverage does not go far enough, or cover enough therapy choices, but the governor calls the step taken today “the beginning”.

Governor Charlie Crist signed historic legislation today, guaranteeing insurance coverage for autism therapy for very young children. The Therapy is deisned to main stream children. Former Miami Dolphin quarterback Dan Marino’s son is autistic. Marion has been fighting to help other kids for more than a decade and says they deserve the same therapy he was able to afford for his son.

Dan Marino Speaks Out

“As you know, my son Michael is 20 three days ago,” Marino said. “He is doing very well. He’s in college, doing well. He is a direct result of early intervention. He is a direct result of occupational therapies, speech therapies, things you need to do at an early age starting at two years old, maybe younger. Just think about that, he got all those opportunities and I think that’s why he’s where he’s at today.”

The insurance coverage is limited to 36 thousand dollars a year with a 200 thousand dollar maximum benefit.

Some county governments want plastic grocery sacks outlawed because of concerns about the bags filling up landfills. Lawmakers halted those plans by passing a bill banning any ban on plastic bags. As Whitney Ray tells us, some people aren’t waiting on government to bar the use of plastic bags and have already stopped using plastic.

Hear it Here: Bag Ban Barred

Major grocery store customers are given the same option at checkout. Take their groceries home in paper bags or plastic. Many choose plastic.

“They’re easier to carry and when you get older things get heavy, so they’re more convenient,” said Sally Ann Smith who was shopping at Publix Monday.

Plastic bags end up in piles with other trash but plastic takes longer to waste away. Takes more than 500 years for a plastic bag to decompose.

Some county governments in Florida want to keep grocery stores from using plastic. Lawmakers headed off attempts at a ban by passing a bill postponing any local government from taking action until 2010. The ban hasn’t stopped shoppers like Whitney Arpasi from boycotting plastic bags. Arpasi takes her groceries home in a reusable tote bag.

“This bag is actually made out of recycled plastic bags and it’s held up for about eight years now,” said Arpasi.

People who use cloth bags aren’t the only ones concerned about the environment. Bob Sanchez chooses plastic. He just wishes more people would recycle.

“It’s convenient just to save them up and return them to Publix,” said Sanchez.

For now keeping plastic bags out of landfills will be left up to customers who may choose to bring canvas or return plastic to stores. Newspapers joined the coalition to pass the ban on the ban. If the Governor signs the bill, local governments wouldn’t be able to outlaw plastic bags until 2010.

The father of slain confidential informant Rachel Morningstar Hoffman is calling on the state to set guidelines for the use of informants. The practice is largely unregulated. Hoffman was killed when her drug sting went bad almost 2 weeks ago. Governor Charlie Crist says he doesn’t know if more rules need to be adopted, but he sympathizes with the family.

“It’s a tragic case, number one. I mean how that would impact a parent is beyond comprehension,” Crist said. “So anything he would have to say we should take very seriously.”

Rachel Hoffman was buried a week ago tomorrow.