Palm Beach State College has become the 12th school in the Florida College System to take up Gov. Rick Scotts challenge to create four-year degree programs that cost students under $10,000.I appreciate the governors efforts to make higher education more accessible and affordable for all Floridians, Palm Beach State College President Dr. Dennis P. Gallon stated in a release.

Rep. Mia Jones, D-Jacksonville, has formally filed to be speaker of the House in the 2015-2016 session, which could set up a clash with Rep. Daryl Rouson, D-Tampa, for future minority leader. Whoever wins will have a hard time landing the speaker role. Democrats were able to erase the Republicans supermajority in the House this past election, but the GOP continues to hold a 76-44 seat advantage.

Attorney General Pam Bondi issued the statement below inresponse to the Drug Abuse Warning Networks Drug-Related EmergencyDepartment Visits Involving Synthetic Cannabinoids report. Cathinones,commonly known as bath salts, and cannabinoids, commonly known as K2 orSpice, are synthetic drugs that reportedly cause seizures,hallucinations, paranoid behavior, nonresponsiveness, and more.

Florida has a stable economic outlook, but the pending Florida Supreme Court decision on the 2011 law that required employees to pay 3 percent of their salary toward their pension could change that, Sen. Joe Negron, chairman of the powerful Appropriations Committee, said Wednesday. The Stuart Republican said one goal of the budget for 2013 will be to increase the states reserves from $1 billion to $1.5 billion to maintain the states credit rating and as a brace in case the states top court rules in favor of the unions that opposed the pension law.

Florida Commissioner of Agriculture Adam H. Putnam will deliver the commencement address to the Fall 2012 graduating class of Flagler College in St. Augustine. The ceremony is set for 9 a.m. on Saturday in college gym.

Secretary of State Ken Detzner and an elections team will travel next week to supervisors in counties that have received more than their share of attention after the general election: Lee, Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach and St. Lucie. The meetings are in part a fact-finding effort to find out what happened to create long lines or other Election Night counting problems.

House Speaker Will Weatherford, R-Wesley Chapel, has accepted the recommendation of the Florida House Democratic Caucus to appoint 22 Democrats as ranking members of committees and subcommittees. I am pleased that Speaker Weatherford agreed substantially to our Democratic Caucus leadership teams recommendations for ranking member appointments, Minority Leader Rep. Perry Thurston, D-Fort Lauderdale, stated in a release.

Judge John Cooper of the2nd Judicial Circuit Court of Floridahas struck down a September decision by the Legislative Budget Commission to privatize prison health care in three regions of the state, insisting that the move required approval by the full Legislature. Privatization in a fourth region, approved by the Legislature in 2010, can go forward. More to come ...

The eyes of Senate President Don Gaetz, R-Niceville, Florida voters and the nation, Sen. Jack Latvala, R-Clearwater, said Tuesday are on the Senate's Election Committee. Latvala, who chairs the Senate Ethics and Elections Committee, noted that Florida always seems to be one of the last states in the nation to make a decision in these close political races and that the committee must determine if the problem is systemic or because the state is ideologically evenly divided.

Gov. Rick Scott will meet with Colombia President Juan Manuel Santos at the Palacio de Nari on Tuesday as the nearly 200-strong Enterprise Florida five-day trade mission continues in the South American nation.

[UPDATE: Check out Sunshine State News' full coverage of the Senate Obamacare committee meeting: "Obamacare: Tea Partiers Say, Nullify It; Democratic Senator Says, Who Cares if It's Constitutional?"] The Democratic Party's antipathy toward America's founding documents -- and basic American historical literacy -- was on full display at the inaugural meeting of the Florida Senate's Select Committee on Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare).

The Florida Senate's Select Committee on Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) launched its first meeting Monday, withChairman Joe Negron, R-Palm City, assuring his fellow legislators and citizen attendees that no votes would be taken that day. "I've always believed it's good to have a trial first, before a verdict," Negron announced. The Committee is considering what the Florida Legislature's official response will be to the Obamacare Act, which comes into full effect in 2014.

Gov. Rick Scott has given state employees an early Christmas gift: a paid day off before the holiday.

No word on how this is affecting sales of vodka and babushkas, but CNBC reports that a growing share of Miami's real estate market is falling into the hands of Russia's er-wealthy:

Roll Call reports that, contrary to popular myth, it is the Democrats who are the nations Party of the Rich, at least in terms of congressional wealth. On Sunday, the newspaper published its annual 50 Richest Members of Congress. Thirty-one of the 50 are Republicans, but seven of the 10 richest are Democrats.