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Supporters of the Equal Rights Amendment packed a Senate Committee Tuesday to push the state to ratify the 1970’s amendment. Three more states are needed to ratify the amendment, but there is some legal question as to whether the timeline for ratification has passed. Supporter Sandy Oestreich said the state legislature shouldn’t be worrying whether the timeline for ratification has passed.

“It’s not up to this committee to decide what congress is going to do with it. This committee just has to say yes to equality for all regardless of gender, It’s a simple moral value. American value. Equality for all. That’s what this is about, nothing more,” said Oestreich.

The ERA has been heard for the last three years and has not passed more than a committee. It stands a slightly better chance of passage this year because its sponsor is retiring from the legislature.

Fifty or so former felons rallied on the steps of the state capitol Tuesday, asking the state legislature to automatically restore their civil rights. The state has taken big steps in notifying nonviolent offenders on how to apply for their rights, but in many cases, they still can’t get a professional license. State Senator Frederica Wilson has a bill that would make the restoration automatic and grant professional licenses while an application is pending.

“These are people who have gotten college degrees and everything, and because they did not have, in many cases, proper representation, their rights will never be restored and they can’t work,” said Wilson.

Similar legislation has failed the last two years.

Carnival Cruise Line customers may have a refund or credit sailing their way. The cruise line joined Royal Caribbean in settling a suit with the state over fuel surcharges. The companies began adding the surcharge to cruises November 1st, but in many cases, passengers booked the cruise much earlier and were not told their fares were increasing. Attorney General Bill McCollum said the amount of refund or credit will depend on the length of the cruise.

“It’s pretty much a standard fee for all Carnival cruises. You’ll have to ask them to make sure, but it is five dollars a day. One point one million bookings is what they have given us,” said McCollum.

If you think you are entitled to a refund, McCollum said wait a few weeks to be contacted. But if you do not hear from the cruise line, call his hot line at 1-866-No-Scam.

Lawmakers and health workers joined forces to point to what they say is an obvious solution to fill part of the budget gap. Florida has one of the lowest Cigarette taxes in the nation. The tax hasn’t been raised since 1990. Under the legislation smokers would have to cough up an extra buck for a pack of cigarettes. Lawmakers say the money would be used to fund health care.

“By increasing this cigarette user fee by one dollar, we will have the opportunity to prevent the massive cuts, the elimination of entire programs that we’re facing in the state now, close to a billion dollars in health care cuts,” said Senator Ted Deutch.

Supporters of the bill say raising the cigarette tax is a proven method to motivate smokers to kick the habit.

A bill to allow police officers to take bikers’ motorcycles is speeding along in Tallahassee. Under the bill, bikers caught going 30 miles of more over the speed limit three times could have their bikes confiscated. The bill was drafted to cut down on Motorcycle fatalities, but bikers say the bill would have the opposite effect.

“People are going to die, that’s the thing. If I know you’re going to take my bike, I ain’t stopping, more people are going to die,” said bike Robert Conroy.

The bill also increases penalties for motorcyclists who pop wheelies on Florida’s Highways.

Strict regulations on Florida’s nursing homes could be temporarily weakened to save money. The Florida House of Representatives just released its budget recommendations. As Whitney Ray tells us, health care workers fear weakening the standards could put nursing home patients at risk.

Hear it here: Nursing Home Cuts Worry Health Care Workers

Budget cuts have nursing home workers in a frenzy over the safety of their residents. Last week a house budget committee considered temporarily axing standards put in place to regulate quality care. Healthcare workers say the proposed cuts could shut down nursing homes across the state.

“The last time they had funding cuts so large you saw several providers go out of business and that’s what I fear now,” said Chuck Cascio the executive director of Heritage Health Care Center.

Nursing homes receive state money for meeting minimal standards. State law requires nursing homes to provide 2.9 hours of personal care to every patient every day. It also requires one certified nurse for every 40 patients.

The standards were written into law in 2001 in an effort to better regulate Florida’s nursing homes. Monday, after dozens of reports highlighting the negative impact of eliminating the standards, lawmakers decided to simply weaken the mandates instead of cutting them completely. The new House budget will require nursing homes to provide 2.6 hours of care a day instead of 2.9. Nurses say the cuts still hurt.

“That’s like 18 minutes per patient, in 18 minutes they could go to the bathroom, they could eat, we could talk to them. There’s a lot of things that could go on in 18 minutes, they could fall. It’s very serious,” said nurse Amy Runkle.

The new house budget anticipates a shortfall of nearly 5 billion dollars. Lawmakers suggest looking to health care to make up nearly a billion dollars of the deficit. House Speaker Marco Rubio says it wasn’t easy deciding where to make the cuts. If the house budget is approved, the weakened standards would be in place for at least two years. Last week lawmakers proposed eliminating a Medicaid program to help senior buy eyeglasses, hearing aids, and denture. In the new budget proposal, lawmakers found the 14 million dollars to save the program.

Kids from across the state will visit the Capitol this week to learn about state government and try to influence lawmakers. The United Way kicked off its Children’s Week campaign, Sunday, by hanging picture in the rotunda of the Capitol. United Way workers said it’s more important now than ever for kids to meet with lawmakers.

“We hope to remind legislators that it’s important to take care of Florida’s parents and kids. There’s a lot of budget cuts going on and cuts are pending and you know we are bringing thousands of advocates together right now to speak to lawmakers and remind them that these programs are important and we need to preserve what we can,” said Jason Zaborske the Children’s Week Coordinator

Later this week kids will set up a mock cabinet and hold a pretend cabinet meeting, they’ll also get to meet the governor.

The state House released its budget proposal for next year and lawmakers say the deficit is even worse that previously predicted. Earlier this year a revenue estimating committee forecasted a 3 billion dollar shortfall. The new budget proposal prepares the state for a 5 billion dollar deficit. House Speaker Marco Rubio joined speaker designate Ray Sansom to answer questions about their budget proposal.

“We have a pattern now of not generating a little bit less revenue than what was anticipated through our estimations, so if that’s the case then lest be reasonable,” said Sansom.

The new budget also gives the governor access to tap into a portion of the state’s rainy day funds.

Seeing better, hearing, and eating may soon become more difficult for thousands of Floridians on Medicaid. As Whitney Ray tells us, state lawmakers want health services to bare a third of the brunt of budget cuts.

Hear it here: Proposed Cuts Keep Thousands of Seniors from Affording Dentures, Glasses

Several times a week these pool sharks get together to knock around a few balls. Some of them couldn’t enjoy the crack of the cue striking the 11 or watch a shot drop into the corner pocket without Medicaid paying for their glasses or hearing aids.

“A lot of elderly folks can’t afford it,” said Bruce Boone, a Medicaid user.

Lawmakers want to save 32 million dollar by cutting a Medicaid program that pays for glasses, hearing aids, and dentures. Mary Smith has been paying into Medicaid for decades. She needs dentures and fear the cuts will leave her eating soup. Medicaid isn’t the only program on the chopping block. Lawmakers are also looking at cutting metal health services, providing less funding for county health departments, and eliminating the state’s only hospital for tuberculosis patients. Representative Luis Garcia says the proposed cuts are atrocious and should send a message to his colleagues across the isles.

“The last time it rained this hard Noah built an arc,” said Garcia.

Garcia wants to dip into the state’s four billion dollar rainy day fund. Democrats say the cuts wouldn’t be so sever if corporations paid their fair share. Sunday the state House will release its budget cut proposals on its website at www.myfloridahouse.com.

A member of a group charged with coming up with ideas to revamp the state’s juvenile justice system was awarded for his work. 26 year old Alexander Arnold served on the Blue Print Commission, with some members twice his age. Earlier this year the commission offered recommendations to improve the state’s juvenile justice system. Arnold heard about the commission and though he could help, because less than a decade ago he was serving time in a juvenile detention center.

“I did have a past. I once was in the system,” said Arnold. “I felt it could be beneficial for other youths to hear from someone who had been in the system, to actually know and relate to what was going on. I felt that my views and my points were very, very, very important.”

Arnold works for DHL. The delivery company gave Arnold the award and made sure he had time to attend the Blueprint commission meetings.

The AARP is taking the state’s budget battle on the road. Lawmakers want to cut Medicaid programs that help senior citizens. Today in Tallahassee, the AARP unveiled its Champ-mobile. The audio-video booth on wheels will allow people across the state to record their concerns about issues that affect them the most. Florida AARP members pin pointed several of those issues today, including the proposed budget cuts and concerns about a lack of affordable health care for seniors.

“Something serious is wrong in America when a lifetime of hard work and achievement can be wiped out by one serious illness. Something is wrong in America when a lifetime of contribution to your company and to your community can count for little or nothing when you are older,” said Lori Parham the Florida AARP Director.

The Champmobile is part of AARP’s Divided We Fail campaign. The campaign’s goal is to convince lawmakers to abandon partisan politics and focus on the needs of seniors.

U.S. Senator Bill Nelson is proposing a massive election reform package.
It includes abolishing the Electoral College by amending the constitution to allow a direct election of the president, but as Mike Vasilinda tells us, the plan does nothing to make Florida’s democratic delegates count.

Hear it here: US Senator Wants Electoral College Abolished

Addressing the Florida Senate, the Democratic U-S Senator Bill Nelson was blunt.

“This election has provided further evidence that our system is broken,” said Nelson.

Nelson’s fix is to ban touch screen voting machines nationwide. He sets up six regional primaries. That ends the mess Florida is in for breaking party rules by voting early. Nelson also creates early voting nationwide, and abolishes the Electoral College.

“All of this has come to a head because here we are in Florida, over
1.7 million Democrats turned out on the Presidential primary, and now
the party is not honoring that vote,” said Nelson.

Nelson is pushing National Democrats to follow their own rules and seat half of the states delegates, so far with no luck. The next step is another federal lawsuit, filed this time by delegates and people who voted.

Negotiator and State Senator Steve Geller worries up to 10 percent of the state’s Democrats will vote GOP or not at all if the delegate issue isn’t settled.

“Not only are we going to lose the state in the presidential election, I’m afraid we’ll lose congressional elections and other seats. This issue must be resolved,” said Geller.

Another worry for Democrats is that without resolution to the delegate issue, Florida could find itself at war with the national party again in just four years because Florida’s legislature isn’t going to move the primary back. Sources say the new lawsuit will be filed next week.

A bill to give the legislature control over university tuition cleared the state Senate Thursday. Lawmakers are upset the Board of Governor’s, which oversees universities, is attempting to raise tuition without their approval. As Whitney Ray tells us, many lawmakers say the bill is about providing better education, but some say it’s simply about power.

Hear it here: Tuition Battle Rages, Some Say Because Lawmakers Are Power Hungry

There’s a battle in Tallahassee over who controls the state’s university system. Lawmakers have fast tracked a bill to give the legislature control over tuition. The Board of Governors claims the bill creates unnecessary competition among the state’s 11 universities.

“It would pit our schools in the system against one another, because depending on who’s in power in the legislature, or where the school is located, those schools are going to try to get the best thing for themselves,” said Sheila McDevitt, Vice Chair of the Board of Governor.

Senator Arthenia Joyner said the bill is about ego, not providing better education.

“Some say its about tuition, but ultimately it’s about power. It’s about control,” said Joyner.

The Board of Governors and the legislature both voted to raise tuition. A court battle is underway to decide who really has the final say. Florida already has the worst student to faculty ratio in the nation with 30 students to every tenured professor. University presidents say they need a tuition hike to hire more faculty. The University of Florida needs the extra money just to keep the lights on.

“We need it to pay our bills so our students will have teachers in classrooms to give them the education they want,” said Bernie Machen, President of the University of Florida.

Students are caught in the middle. They want a quality education, but not everyone wants to pay more to get it. Lawmakers want to raise tuition six percent. If the hike is approved, students would be paying an average of 200 dollars more a semester.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement and local agencies unveiled a
new sex predator notification system Thursday. Currently, people can go on-line and view where predators and offenders are living nearby, but the system depends on people checking regularly. Starting Thursday, you will now be able to register online and when a predator moves into your neighborhood, you will be notified immediately. Leon County Sheriff Larry Campbell said the new system should make people feel safer.

“It gives the community the opportunity to track where predators and offenders move almost immediately. That’s one thing with the system we’ve been operating on, they have a little bit of time, going one place to another, before we actually knew where they were,” said Campbell.

The notification is free. To register, go online at www.floridaoffenderalert.com

The state’s new Secretary of Juvenile Justice brought a hard hitter to the Capitol Thursday to pound home his message. NFL Hall of Famer Jim Brown joined Secretary Frank Peterman to talk about improving the state’s juvenile justice system. Brown is the CEO of Amer-I-Can, a program amid at teaching kids life management skills and keep them out of trouble.

“Always remember that your greatest power is in your education, your wisdom, your knowledge, the information that you have, and pursue that education and you’ll always be able to make decisions for yourself and be a successful citizen,” said Brown.

Fourteen schools in Florida began using Brown’s Program at the beginning of the school year.