As Florida's state representatives and senators continue to debate just how the Sunshine State will implement several provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA, "Obamacare"), The James Madison Institute (JMI), a free-market think tank based in Tallahassee, today released its latest policy brief, "Floridas Best Medicaid Option Under the PPACA: Expand the Reforms, Not the Rolls."

While the Florida Senate majority office is busy trying to lure golfer Phil Mickelson to Florida via Twitter, they could add the comments of a notorious Jupiter Island resident to the sales pitch. Fellow golfer Tiger Woods told reporters at a press conference Tuesday at Torrey Pines Golf Course in La Jolla, Calif., that he moved from the Golden State to the Sunshine State in 1996 in search of better tax rates.

The states new education czar highlighted the need to prepare technologically savvy students and advised everyone to get behind the new Common Core education standards that are being crafted for Floridas schools. Appearing before the Senate Committee on Education, Commissioner of Education Tony Bennett said Florida must be able to prepare students to meet an expected cultural divide on technology.

The Astronauts Memorial Foundation is planning a public 10th anniversary remembrance ceremony for the crew of the Space Shuttle Columbia STS-107 at the Space Mirror Memorial at Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex on Feb. 1. The crew -- Commander Rick D. Husband, Pilot William C. McCool, Payload Commander Michael P. Anderson, Payload Specialist Ilan Ramon, and Mission Specialists Kalpana Chawla, David M. Brown and Laurel Blair Salton Clark -- perished when the Columbia broke apart during re-entry on the morning of Feb. 1, 2003.

Florida Rep. David Richardson, D-Miami Beach, has filed the House companion bill that would fulfill Gov. Rick Scotts proposal to have an inspector general position created to oversee Citizens Property Insurance Corp. Richardsons bill, House Bill 433, joins the bill filed last week by Sen. Joseph Abruzzo, D-Wellington, Senate Bill 386.

Gov. Rick Scott will appear at Ocoee Middle School in Central Florida on Wednesday to announce his plans to increase pay for teachers. The announcement, where according to the governors office, Scott will announce his plan to invest in education and support pay raises for public school teachers, is set for 3 p.m.

As the Florida Senate Ethics and Elections Committee deliberated on a historic elections reform bill that would overhaul existing state employee ethics laws, a tweet from the League of Women Voters of Florida added some drama to the proceedings. "Sen. Darren Soto expresses concern about revolving door issue at the FL Attorney General's office and asks for regulation," tweeted the League at 4:24 p.m. (EST).

The 13-member (eight Republican, five Democrat) Florida Senate Ethics and Elections Committee has just approved, by a unanimous vote, what chairman Jack Latvala, R-Clearwater, called the most sweeping electoral reform attempted by the Legislature in 36 years.

After getting endorsed by President Obama last month, U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Weston, was re-elected for another two-year term as chair of the Democratic National Committee on Tuesday. Today I proudly accepted the nomination to stay on as DNC chair -- to continue what we do best: out-work and out-organize our way to victory, Wasserman Schultz tweeted.

The Florida Senate majority office has invited golfer Phil Mickelson to consider Florida after criticizing the growing taxes he pays in California. We hear you on taxes! Florida has no income tax & some of the world's best golf courses, the Senate majority office tweeted to Mickelson on Tuesday.

The Florida Department of Agriculture announced today that Commissioner Adam Putnam, in partnership with the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, will host a panel discussion commemorating 500 years of agriculture in Florida on Jan. 24.

Florida recorded 15.8 percent more existing single-family home sales closed in December than in the month that closed out 2011, the Florida Realtors reported on Monday. At the same time, pending sales -- contracts that have yet to be completed or closed -- for existing single-family homes was up 39.7 percent in a year-to-year match-up. Statewide, single-family homes sold for a median price of $154,000, up 14.1 percent in the same time frame.

The Sun Sentinel reports on a new survey that shows that 58 percent of Florida business owners are optimistic that the health of their businesses will be better off after one year than they are today, this after 2012 proved to be a year of improved health for their companies. The survey was performed byCPA firm Kaufman, Rossin & Co.

Reuters reports that sources sayApollo Global Management and Six Flags are both exploring the possibility of purchasingSeaWorld Parks & Entertainment, which is presently owned by the Blackstone Group. Blackstone hasn't decided whether to sell SeaWorld to a private company or put it on the stock market as a public offering.

The Wikimedia Foundation has announced that Wikipedia and other services are moving their primary operations from their Tampa-based data center to one in Ashburn, Va., though the Tampa location will continue to be used as a backup center. One of the reasons for the move is said to be the lower risk of hurricanes in Virginia than in the Sunshine State.