Here’s our interview with Florida Education Commissioner Eric J. Smith this morning after a ceremony for “Children’s Week” at the state Capitol.

In this 5-minute podcast, Smith says he expects the waiver application for the state’s school-related stimulus money to arrive from the feds tomorrow morning. If that happens, he said the state would return the application by the end of the week. Smith said the U.S. Department of Education has promised a two-week turnaround on the application. (This story details what the application is expected to include.)

He also weighs in on the Senate proposal to fund K-12 schools this year with Seminole gambling money and a proposed constitutional amendment that would weaken class-size restrictions and increase state sales tax by a penny to pay for schools.

Listen to the podcast here (Or click here to go to our podcast directory)

Florida’s seasonably adjusted unemployment rate was 9.4 percent in February, up from 8.8 percent in January, according to the Agency for Workforce Innovation.

That’s 1.3 percent higher than the national rate and 4.2 percent higher than a year ago.

About 500,000 Floridians currently receive unemployment benefits.

St. Lucie County’s unemployment rate climbed to 12.7 percent, nearly double from the previous year.

Read more here.

GOP state lawmakers are at odds over whether to accept $444 million in federal stimulus funds that would expand the number of unemployed workers eligible for unemployment benefits.

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Gov. Charlie Crist earlier today urged lawmakers to consider expanding the types of workers eligible for unemployment compensation so the state can draw down $444 million in federal stimulus aid to pay for the benefits.

He said that House Republican concerns that taking the money would hike businesses’ taxes long after the stimulus money dries up could be resolved by passing a bill that agrees to undo the expanded benefits after a certain length of time.

But within hours, staff at the Agency for Workforce Innovation, which handles unemployment claims, released requested information cautioning against taking the money.

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Gov. Charlie Crist encouraged House Republicans to take $444 million in federal stimulus money that would give 40,000 more jobless workers unemployment benefits.

House Majority Leader Adam Hasner is balking at taking the money because he believes that it would cause businesses’ unemployment taxes to go up after the stimulus money dries up.

But a national employment group found that businesses’ taxes would go up anyway and taking the money would actually be a saving for them in the long run.

Crist said he’s sympathetic to the House’s worries about the impact on businesses.

But, he went on: “They’re lawmakers though. Maybe they could come up with a law that would say we’ll take the stimulus…for x amount of years and not have to continue and then keep the rates down.”

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.

House Democrats reached into their transitive property bag today to paint Republican Leader Adam Hasner of Boca Raton as against the federal stimulus package and therefore against Gov. Charlie Crist and Florida’s families.

To do so, Democrats pulled a quote from this Post story, which, ironically, was a report about the bipartisan finger pointing in the House and the chamber’s reluctance (just like Crist) to support deep cuts or new revenues to deal with a $3 billion shortfall.

Hasner, meanwhile, defended his own honor with this press release. He insists Crist and the legislature are on the same page, and that lawmakers are just waiting for the Obama Administration to release details about the federal waiver needed to collect stimulus money for schools. Hasner writes:

“Until the Obama Administration gives their final answer on a federal waiver, the Legislature cannot accept stimulus dollars that have not been offered.”

So does this mean Republican leaders will wait to put $1 billion in stimulus money into their K-12 budget proposal until the stimulus arrives? We’ll find out this week when House lawmakers begin assembling the 2009-10 budget this week.

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President Obama, in a speech this afternoon to the National Conference of State Legislatures, said state budget writers should avoid using federal money for dog parks. From the prepared speech:

Let me be clear: I don’t have anything against dog parks. What I do oppose is building them with funds from the Recovery Act – because that is not how we will jumpstart job creation and that is not how we will put our economy on a firmer footing for the future.

The White House today also released this letter from Vice President Biden to Miami Mayor Manny Diaz, the president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, asking to spread the word that stimulus dollars cannot be spent on projects “such as casinos or other gambling establishments, aquariums, zoos, golf courses, and swimming pools.”

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UPDATE: This blog was updated to included the latest projections at 2:35 p.m.

St. Lucie County is already pacing the state in foreclosure and unemployment rates. Today, schools Superintendent Michael Lannon is telling 331 teachers they’ll be laid off and three two schools will shut down because of state budget shortfalls, according to fellow Palm Beach Post blog, Treasure Coast Talk. The school district, with about 5,000 employees, is the largest employer in the county.

Told of the development, Gov. Charlie Crist said, “I would encourage the superintendent to contact the U.S. secretary of education and get this waiver.”

Asked if he would veto a state budget that included a property tax increase for schools, Crist said, “Probably.”

Florida is not eligible for about $2.5 billion in federal stimulus money earmarked for schools, because of recent cuts to the state’s K-12 budget. Crist and others are waiting for the U.S. Department of Education to release this information about how the state can get a waiver from the requirement.

Georgia and Alabama have had their federally mandated Web sites up for days and Florida joined the group today when Gov. Charlie Crist unveiled FlaRecovery.com.

Crist billed the site as “a one-stop resource for citizens interested in learning more about assistance made available by the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.”

Press release here.

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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Already frustrated jobless Floridians have more angst in store when trying to deal with the agency responsible for unemployment.

The Agency for Workforce Innovation can’t answer the phones and isn’t handing over the extra $25 a week to those receiving unemployment benefits. Agency officials said yesterday the weekly payments should begin by the end of March.

The 10,000 telephone calls coming into the agency have so overwhelmed the 1,012 phone lines that help-seekers end up getting nothing but busy signals. Lawmakers okayed an emergency $6.3 million to set up a private call center to handle about 5,000 calls a day that go unanswered.

But jobless folks shouldn’t start dialing yet.

The call center won’t be operational until July 1, agency officials said.

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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The $1.3 billion in federal stimulus money approved for Florida to build new roads is purported to create or save 30,000 jobs. The federally-funded transportation projects are expected to be the first out of the stimulus to actually put unemployed workers back on the job.

But the 800,000 out-of-work Floridians banking on getting one of those construction or engineering jobs may be sitting on the sidelines until late summer or fall at the earliest before they start cashing in stimulus-related paychecks.

State officials are anxious to get shovels in the dirt and machines moving, but government bureaucracy may slow down the process.

Read the story here.

Gov. Charlie Crist this morning reiterated that he’s not feeling “warm and fuzzy” about a cigarette tax increase, but indicated his feelings may change Friday, when state economists give lawmakers an update on the budget.

“I’ll give a clear direction at the appropriate time,” Crist said.

Some argue that direction should have come during his state of the state speech last week (see some discussion about that speech here).

But today Crist said he was trying to strike an appropriate balance in that address.

Florida would secure $2.4 billion in stimulus money for public schools if state officials can prove that education spending has not dropped faster than the total state budget, The Palm Beach Post has learned.

The state needs the option because of a requirement in the stimulus plan that education money be reserved for states that have maintained school spending levels. Florida’s K-12 budget was cut by $1 billion, or about 6 percent, over the past year.

But if Florida shows it has maintained proportional school spending in recent years, the U.S. Department of Education would waive the requirement, an adviser to U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan said.

Public schools spending, known as the Florida Education Financing Program, or FEFP, has grown from 26.5 percent of the state’s total budget in 2006-07 to 27.6 percent this school year. That’s because the overall state budget has dropped by about $6 billion in that time while lawmakers have relied on property taxes prop up the K-12 budget.

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