Jobless Floridians will start getting an extra $25 per week in their unemployment checks, Gov. Charlie Crist announced today.

“We are at a high-water mark, if you will, as it relates to unemployment in the state – about a 16-year high,” Crist told reporters today. “It’s important to extend unemployment benefits as much as we possibly can to help people get through this tough time.”

The extra dough is part of a $345 million to unemployment benefits included in the federal stimulus package. The weekly boost will continue through next July for claims filed before December of this year.

The increase went into effect Feb. 22, and those receiving unemployment benefits at that time or later will also receive a retroactive payment without having to apply for it.

The state will have whopping $3 billion budget gap next year if it only spends money on “bare bones” items, according to Senate budget chief J.D. Alexander.

That would mean paying only for fluff-free things like constitutionally mandated programs and those required to bring in federal dollars.

And that’s including the addition of more than $3 billion in federal stimulus money over the next two years.

That leaves lawmakers no other choice than to raise revenues, the conservative citrus baron said, even if they cut back on spending.

And adding in Gov. Charlie Crist’s recommendation to take more than $200 million from the Seminoles from a gambling compact and sweep trust funds still leaves Crist’s budget proposal more than $1 billion short.

“I think it will be very difficult to find sufficient recurring cuts to make this $3 billion, or $2.5 if you count the compact revenues, without some revenues,” Alexander, R-Lake Wales said. “I tend to think we’ll ultimately have to have a mix of revenues and some reductions.”

Florida is moving closer to launching a federally mandated website to let the public know how and where its $13-plus billion share of the federal economic stimulus package is or will be spent.

Thirty-five other states, including Sunshine State neighbors Georgia and Alabama, already have their recovery websites up and running.

Florida’s should launch “early next week,” Gov. Charlie Crist said during a meeting of his federal stimulus team this morning.

Crist’s “stimulus czar” Don Winstead, who met with Vice President Joe Biden and others in D.C. last week to discuss recovery plans, said that the nation is “learning from Florida’s example” regarding open government.

The White House has promised an “unprecedented level of commitment to reporting in a way that is open, accessible and I think the nation is really learning from Florida’s example,” Winstead said. “It’s very appropriate with this week to see that.”

Winstead was referring to Sunshine Week, a celebration of the state’s broad open government laws, that began Sunday.

Crist said Florida’s recovery site should be up early next week “which will be great.”

“Yes sir. We’re within days of that. That’ll be another great step forward,” Winstead replied.

The latest grim news about the state’s emaciated economy is making it harder to get the federal stimulus money aimed at boosting Florida’s finances on the streets.

State transportation officials are taking longer to get their list of $1.3 billion worth of road projects to lawmakers to sign off on so the projects can get moving because economists predicted Friday that revenues would drop by another $3.4 billion by the end of next year.

That means a (coincidentally) $1.3 billion cut to the state’s five-year road plan. Transportation officials are now trying to figure out what that impact would be on the stimulus-backed projects.

Lawmakers had hoped to pass a budget bill to spend the federal money as early as this week, but chances of that happening now are unlikely.

Senate Democratic Leader Al Lawson pushed Senate budget chief J.D. Alexander to expedite the release of Florida’s share of the federal economic stimulus package to get the state’s jobless back to work.

Alexander agreed that lawmakers need to move quickly to get the money already available for road and water projects that could create jobs the fastest.

He said he’d like to get the budget committees working on passing bills as early as tomorrow to appropriate the federal funds for the construction projects and for Medicaid spending. Depending on the House’s position, the legislature could pass the budget amendments as early as next week, he said.

Gov. Charlie Crist appointed Don Winstead to act as the state’s “recovery czar” last week.

But despite the necessary legislative approval for the spending to begin, Winstead has yet to meet with Alexander.

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If unemployment above 14 percent in some regions and a one out of 10 Floridians on food stamps isn’t bad enough, now unscrupulous spammers have launched stimulus scams on unsuspecting web surfers.

Florida Agriculture and Consumer Services Commissioner Charles Bronson issued an alert today warning Floridians about Internet ploys involving federal stimulus money.

One of the scams sent by e-mail promises grant dollars and asks consumers to provide their bank account number and other personal information that could result in identity theft, Bronson cautioned.

Another swindle asks consumers to pay an up-front fee for a grant or list of available grants.

“It’s clear that criminals are preying on the public’s desperation and using the stimulus plan to con people out of their hard-earned money,” Bronson said in a press release. “They should just delete these emails as quickly as possible and understand that the federal government is not providing stimulus money over the Internet.”

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Senate Democratic Leader Al Lawson is pushing the powerful Senate budget chief to expedite use of the state’s economic stimulus money.

Lawmakers can spend some of Florida’s share of the package – aimed at helping cash-strapped states and creating jobs – by passing a special budget amendment or having a legislative committee approve it.

That would be much quicker, Lawson argued in a letter to Senate Ways and Means Committee Chairman J.D. Alexander, R-Lake Wales, sent this morning.

The money includes $1.4 billion for road projects that transportation officials say could create or save about 30,000 jobs. But when the shovels meet the dirt is unknown, The Palm Beach Post reported in a web story this weekend.

Passing a spending bill will allow lawmakers to amend the package of road projects and introduce a potential political battle that could slow down the process, Lawson argued.

“You and I are far too familiar with the political posturing and machinations that can occur when billions of dollars are at stake and individual lawmakers are deciding where that money is to go,” Lawson, D-Tallahassee, wrote. “I fear for the little guy when the big guys are calling the shots.”

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Florida’s neighbors Georgia and Alabama are among the 26 states with Web sites keeping the public informed about where and how they plan to spend federal stimulus dollars.

But the Sunshine State appears to have a problem illuminating its own recovery road map.

Gov. Charlie Crist’s office has yet to create a federally mandated Web site revealing how Florida’s $12.4 billion will be spent.

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