Florida Public Service commissioners zeroed in on three candidates Tuesday for the regulatory bodys vacant executive director position.

After receiving more than 100 applications at the beginning of the summer, the five commissioners narrowed their search to 15 candidates in previous meetings. The candidates were interviewed on the phone and in person -- 10 of them were in PSC offices Monday. Tuesday, commissioners voted on their top choices for a longer, in-depth interview.

The recent tumult over the debt ceiling deal, the subsequent S&P downgrade of U.S. debt and resulting stock market rollercoaster ride have Florida finance officials patiently weathering the storm.

National markets exhibited a Jekyll and Hyde act last week, plunging hundreds of points down one day then hundreds of points up the next, as traders attempted to make sense of the domestic debt deal, Europes debt crisis, the fallout from the earthquake in Japan and the persistent discord in the Middle East.

If Florida lawmakers cant fix the states skyrocketing, fraud-ridden personal injury protection (PIP) insurance system, it should be abolished, Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater said Tuesday.

Its my thought that in this session (2012), if we cant come up with a package we believe will be able to arrest the growth rate of premiums on the people of Florida ... that we need to consider the alternative, Atwater said after a Cabinet meeting.

In a 5-2 ruling, the Florida Supreme Court struck down an executive order issued by Gov. Rick Scott halting all new rules and mandating executive approval before their implementation.

The order was Scotts first, issued in January in the early days of his term. He wanted to decrease the amount of new and existing rules and regulations promulgated by state agencies, saying they impede job creation. But the Supreme Court ruled his executive order encroached upon the legislative branch and the authority of the Legislature to enact policy and direct rule-making procedures.

Florida consumers picking up clothing and gearing up for the new school year wont be paying a sales tax this weekend.

The sales tax holiday begins at 12:01 a.m. Friday and runs through 11:59 p.m. Sunday, and applies to most clothing items under $75 and school items under $15. Click here for a list of tax-exempt items.