Now, it’s up to Gov. Charlie Crist.

TALLAHASSEE (FBW)—With a new, more moderate governor and increasingly moderate Florida Senate, Florida Baptist Convention legislative consultant Bill Bunkley expected a tough legislative session for pro-family advocates in the state capital.

TALLAHASSEE (FBW) – A Florida House panel approved April 30 a measure allowing the introduction of video lottery terminals (VLTs) at pari-mutuel facilities across the state, stunning Florida Baptist Convention legislative consultant Bill Bunkley.

TALLAHASSEE (FBW) – As the Florida Legislature heads for its final week of the 2007 regular session, Florida Baptist Convention legislative consultant Bill Bunkley sent an urgent e-mail April 28 “sounding the alarm one last time for this session” warning “gambling will be expanded in your area if you do not act Monday morning” and requesting citizens to call legislators in the Florida House of Representatives urging opposition to pending pro-gambling legislation.

All the tell-tale signs are there—the inability to deal with reality, the belief that the big pay-off is imminent, the delusion that they can indeed get something for nothing, the obsession with money. That’s right, the politicians in Tallahassee have a gambling addiction and it appears few are aware of their problem.

TALLAHASSEE (FBW)—Pro-family interests were handed a mixed bag last week as members of the Florida Legislature considered card room legislation, video lotteries, stem cell research and a tightening of parental notification laws.

TALLAHASSEE (FBW)—As the Florida Legislature enters the mid-point of its two-month annual session, pro-family leaders are closely watching developments in both houses with cause both for concern and hope.

TALLAHASSEE (FBW)—Ronda Storms, who earned the scorn of liberal critics in the Tampa Bay area for her efforts against obscenity and homosexual rights when she was a member of the Hillsborough County Commission, has taken her fight for family values to the Florida Senate.

TALLAHASSEE (FBW)—After being in existence for six years, the Community Issues Committee of Bell Shoals Baptist Church in Brandon took their first trip last week to Tallahassee to learn about the legislative process and meet with their legislators.

I’m pretty sure I’ve never been accused of being politically correct or an advocate of multiculturalism. That may change with this editorial.

TALLAHASSEE (FBW)—With Florida’s newly-elected Governor Charlie Crist on board, social conservatives will be eyeing the governor and Florida’s lawmakers closely in the next two months—keeping watch especially on the Senate which has shifted to a more moderate stance after last year’s election.

Contrary to the fears of Tallahassee pro-life leaders—and to the consternation of embryonic stem cell research advocates—Florida Gov. Charlie Crist announced Jan. 31 that he would not support legislative efforts to provide state funding for embryonic stem cell research (ESC), in spite of campaign pledges to favor such efforts. Crist’s reversal was a huge surprise to both sides of the debate, but it wasn’t exactly a change in position. Crist has proposed in his budget $20 million of state funds for stem cell research from non-embryonic sources-other than embryonic stem cell lines in existence in August 2001 when President George W. Bush issued a ban on federal funding of embryonic stem cell research. (For more on Crist’s announcement, see page one.)