Following unsuccessful attempts in the Legislature to bring resort gambling to Florida, a newly formed group backed by a huge casino interest appears to be gearing up to take its battle to the ballot box in 2014.

Created in April, "New Jobs and Revenues for Florida" has already spent nearly $600,000 toward what appears to be an effort to put an initiative before voters, according to campaign finance records filed with state election officials that were made public Friday.

The United States turned 236 years old this week and Americans celebrated the founding of a nation, an annual summer hiatus that translated into a slow week in Florida's capital city.

But the week was not totally relegated to barbecues and corn on the cob, producing some fireworks as the debate over Obamacare continued and the courts weighed in on a host of issues from guns to insurance.

OBAMACARE: WEEK 1

A provision in a 2008 law restricting the ability of public insurance adjusters to contact homeowners immediately after a storm was struck down Thursday by a unanimous Florida Supreme Court.

Prompted by claims that public adjusters were taking advantage of distraught homeowners following the 2004 and 2005 hurricane seasons, the Florida Legislature passed an insurance industry-backed effort to limit adjusters' activities, including contact between public adjusters and customers within the first 48 hours following a hurricane, tornado or other major storm.

A much anticipated ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court sucked the air out of the room this week as all eyes turned to the nation's high court, which bucked odds makers and rejected Florida's challenge to President Barack Obama's ambitious health care overhaul.

A 5-4 decision, which came the last day of its current term, ended weeks of prognostication, posturing and expectation over the sweeping decision that, for now at least, shifts the course of health care delivery in the United States.

Frustrated but not surprised about a lack of progress on property insurance issues during an election year, a pair of key legislators on Tuesday began preparing for another push once the dust settles in November.

More than three months after lawmakers failed to make meaningful changes to the state's property insurance landscape, Rep. Bryan Nelson, R-Apopka, and Sen. Garrett Richter, R-Naples, released a three-part position paper they say highlights the hidden risks all insurance policyholders face in the event of a devastating storm.

Florida's voter registration purge headed to court this week as state and federal agencies traded lawsuits in the politically charged effort to remove ineligible voters from the critical swing state's voter rolls.

In contrast, U.S. and Florida environmental officials appeared harmonious in their joint effort to restore portions of the Everglades after federal officials signed off on a revised plan to clean up water entering the region by reducing phosphorus levels and restoring flow.

The field is set for the 2012 election after candidates made their intentions officially known this week by qualifying for races including 160 legislative seats and 27 congressional spots up for grabs following the once-a-decade redistricting exercise.

Candidates weren't the only ones stewing over the upcoming elections. Gov. Rick Scott this week took the initiative in a simmering battle over voter rolls in Florida as he continued his joust with the Department of Justice over Republican-led efforts to keep noncitizens from voting in the fall.

Buying in bulk, renegotiating leases and using proven private market companies to provide services from desktop computers to cell phones could save the state millions and increase productivity, the governor's efficiency czar told a task force Wednesday.

Speaking to members of the Government Efficiency Task Force, Department of Children and Families Secretary David Wilkins named earlier this year to also be Gov. Rick Scott's chief operating officer for government operations -- said savings from such efforts would allow the state to spend those funds on critical services.

With its policy count near 1.5 million and growing, officials of the state-backed property insurer went to Tampa Friday to get ideas on how to reduce its exposure and send customers back to the private market.

They found out from industry representatives that the goal is laudable, but also a tall order.

Florida education officials crisscrossed the state this week offering a series of apologies over the admittedly botched roll out of tougher writing assessments that, if taken at face value, showed that seven of 10 Florida students did not make the grade.

Following the release of the FCAT writing assessment results the week before, Department of Education Secretary Gerard Robinson went on the road to explain why the number of students making satisfactory scores on the test fell from over 80 percent last year to as low as 27 percent.