Republican Party of Florida Chairman Lenny Curry dismissed as lacking specifics the response to Gov. Rick Scotts budget proposalreleased Thursday from Senate Minority Leader Chris Smith, D-Fort Lauderdale.

The leading Democratic super-PAC has already set its sights on U.S. Rep. Steve Southerland, R-Panama City. House Majority PAC listed Southerland as one of 10 they are targeting as vulnerable incumbent Republicans in 2014, with the focus on those holding competitive seats.

Gov. Rick Scott was awarded the Florida Sheriffs Association Legislative Champion Award during the associations winter conference.

Florida Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater continues his push to revamp the states contracting system. In a release, Atwater announced he will ask legislators to reform contracting in the coming session:

The Florida Supreme Court has just published its ruling inBob Graham v. Mike Haridopolos, confirming that it is the Legislature that has the soleprerogativeto determine tuition costs in state universities. Former Democratic governor Bob Graham and others argued that the authority to set tuition rates instead lay with the Florida Board of Governors. The Supreme Court's ruling was a unanimous one, with the opinion authored by Justice Barbara Pariente.

Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi today announced that her office, and that of 46 other attorneys general, has reached a settlement of over $120 million with Lender Processing Services, Inc. and its subsidiaries, LPS Default Solutions and DocX, after an investigation led by her office.

With Gov. Rick Scott set to announce his 2013 agenda Thursday afternoon in the Capitol that will include a call for legislators to add $1.2 billion to K-12 education, the governors office has highlighted some support that has already come in for the proposal. Florida State Board of Education Chairman Gary Chartrand

National Review's published an interview with U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., on hisnewfoundrole as spearheader of federal immigration reform. Robert Costa suggests that one reason Rubio's ideas are receiving such warm reception among the conservative base is the junior Florida senator's ability to articulate his plan in terms of preventing amnesty.

Florida Senate President Don Gaetz, R-Destin, emphatically told reporters at the Capitol today that no legislation proposing any restrictions on citizens' right to bear arms would have his support in the upcoming session. "All laws certainly should be looked at, but I don't plan to vote for any repeal of 'Stand Your Ground' or any weakening of the Second Amendment," he said.

Appearing together at the Associated Presss annual pre-legislative session gathering, Senate President Don Gaetz, R-Niceville, and House Speaker Will Weatherford, R-Wesley Chapel, released a joint agenda that includes the revamping of how money is spent in campaigns and giving the state Commission on Ethics greater power to enforce and collect fines. The agenda that the two expect both chambers to support focuses on ethics reform, campaign finance reform, higher education reform, pension reform and a review of the states election rules.

Gov. Rick Scott will propose a $1.2 billion increase to K-12 education when he releases his agenda for the 2013 legislative session on Thursday. The funding request, which includes his pay hike of $2,500 per student, would boost per-student funding about $400, to around $6,800. Scott, appearing before the media at the Capitol on Wednesday, credited budget and regulation cuts legislators have made in the past two years for the improved economy that should allow his request.

Senate President Don Gaetz, R-Niceville, will take part in a trio of Florida Department of Transportation announcements coming Thursday on the Panhandle. A release from the presidents office states the announcements will address a number of important roadway changes impacting each city. Panama City

"Fired" implies just what it says -- marching orders, employer to employee. Brian Burgess apparently was not fired. When asked specifically, the highest ranking director of the Republican Party of Florida told Sunshine State News the RPOF did not fire his communications director.

The American Law magazine reports that theKaye Scholer law firm is moving some 100 staffers from New York, Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C., to a new office in Tallahassee, Fla.

Read the book. Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush says, "It is not [immigration] law enforcement but the law itself that is broken." In case you didn't know, Bush and Goldwater Institute Vice President Clint Bolick collaborated on a book, it's just out and it couldn't be more timely: "Immigration Wars: Forging an American Solution."