School bus drivers employed by First Student rallied yesterday saying they want to be represented by the Teamsters. Here’s their statement:

JACKSONVILLE, Fla., March 27 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — First Student school bus drivers joined with area Teamsters today to rally outside of Jacksonville’s largest bus yard to demand fair wages, improved benefits, safe conditions for themselves and the children they transport, and respect on the job. Continued

Popularity: 46% [?]

Our weekly gas price update:

Thanks to AAA.

Popularity: 41% [?]

Senator Bill Nelson (D-Fl) spoke before the state legislature today and presented his ideas for election reform. Here’s the text of his released statement:

This morning in Tallahassee, I spoke before our state Senate on a subject that has become all too familiar to Florida—the right to vote and to have that vote count as intended.

I commended the Florida Senate and Governor Crist for banning touch-screen voting machines; last fall, I filed legislation in the U.S. Senate requiring that no vote for federal office be cast on a touch-screen voting machine starting in 2012. I also proposed a system of six rotating primaries from March to June in each presidential election year.

But these actions are just a beginning.
When I return to Washington, I will propose a legislative package that calls for early voting in every state, allows every qualified voter in every state the option of casting an absentee ballot, gives grants to states that develop pilot projects for mail-in balloting and secure Internet voting, and eliminates machines that don’t produce a voting paper trail.

And, I will propose that we amend the U.S. Constitution to abolish the Electoral College, giving citizens direct election of their president by popular vote.

Let’s not forget: it was more than 230 years ago that our Founding Fathers declared that all men are created equal. But the country still had to wait 94 years beforeformer slaves were given the vote. And it took another 50 years before women in America were allowed to vote.

This country cannot wait that long to fix the flaws we still see in our election system. The blessings of liberty cannot wait. The time for reform is now.

Popularity: 38% [?]

Sen. Mel Martinez (R-Florida) addressed the legislature in Tallahassee yesterday. Here’s what he had to say:

Tallahassee, FL - U.S. Senator Mel Martinez (R-FL) today addressed the entire Florida State House of Representatives on issues including the economy and the mortgage crisis, the environment, health insurance, and the need to work collaboratively on a national catastrophe fund.

“As Florida’s elected officials, we share a common purpose in responding to the needs of our citizens,” said Martinez. “Floridians have a building number of concerns including the quality of our environment and the financial security of our families. These problems are compounded by the slowdown in the national economy and the ongoing mortgage crisis. In Florida and around the nation, housing inventories are up and home sales are down; specific government actions are necessary if we are to avoid a prolonged economic downturn.” Continued

Popularity: 37% [?]

JACKSONVILLE- A major gift that will benefit hundreds of low-income families and hundreds of families who have adopted children in Duval County was announced today by the Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens. Families in the Florida Department of Children and Families’ Temporary Assistance to Needy Families program and families who have recently adopted children through Family Support Services of North Florida will receive free annual memberships at the Zoo.

These families will get a membership card that entitles them to free visits to the Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens any time during normal Zoo hours for one year. Over the next year, up to 1,000 families will be eligible for this special membership program. This program is being sponsored by Bank of America, which has made a significant corporate commitment. Continued

Popularity: 43% [?]

The Internal Revenue Service now has a calculator on its site that will tell you if you qualify for the economic stimulus refund scheduled to be made in May. The calculator also tells you how much you can expect to get.

Go to www.irs.gov and look for the link “Economic Stimulus Payment Calculator.” You’ll need your 2007 tax return in order to fill out the form.

Popularity: 58% [?]

Thanks to AAA.

Popularity: 57% [?]

A Florida TaxWatch Research Report released yesterday recommends that the Legislature consider reinstating the civil-filing-fee waiver for persons of indigent status. The report, Charging Indigent Floridians Civil Court Filing Fees Raises Questions of Cost Efficiency and Equal Access to the Florida Court System, concludes that the waiver system may be more cost-effective than the current system, which does not include an automatic waiver for qualified indigent individuals.

The study undertaken by Florida TaxWatch found that the collection of civil court filing fees from indigent persons was not cost-effective; in fact, the more vigilant a clerk is in his or her efforts to collect past-due fees from indigent persons under the current system, the less likely it is that the costs will be recouped by collection of the initially assessed fee. Additionally, there is evidence to indicate that the filing fee acts as a deterrent to court access in some instances. Continued

Popularity: 39% [?]

Florida’s deteriorating fiscal condition took center stage again this week. The state’s Consensus Estimating Conference revised its forecast of Florida’s general revenue collections and the economists reduced their revenue estimates for FY 2007-08 and FY 2008-09 by a combined $2.945 billion–$1 billion in the current year and $2 billion for next year.

The $27.5 billion estimate lawmakers based the current year’s budget on has now been reduced three times by a little more than $1 billion each time. Revenue estimates for the upcoming budget are now $4.6 billion less than they were a year ago. Collections next year are expected to increase a scant $110 million from the current year. Continued

Popularity: 43% [?]

State budget writers have been given some more bad news. The state’s Consensus Estimating Conference met today to revise its forecast of Florida’s general revenue collections and the economists reduced their revenue estimates for FY 2007-08 and FY 2008-09 by a combined $2.945 billion, including almost $2 billion for the upcoming state budget year. Continued

Popularity: 68% [?]