U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, considered for many months a vice presidential possibility, praised Mitt Romney's selection of Rep. Paul Ryan as his running rate.

The governors office released the following statement on the Enterprise Florida trade mission headed by Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll to Trinidad and Tobago:

Florida insurance regulators intend to reject a 2.2 percent rate decrease proposed by Praetorian Insurance Co. for its property collateral protection program. The Office of Insurance Regulation has issued a notice of intent to disapprove the May 4 rate filing as not going down enough. The office had determined a reduction of 35 percent to 36 percent was instead warranted. Property collateral is imposed by lenders on those who fail to secure homeowners insurance for their property as required by the mortgage or lending document.

Judge Thomas P. Crapps of the Florida Division of Administrative Hearings will issue a final ruling in two weeks,regardingimplementation of a controversial new elections law. He announced his intention after adjourning the latest hearing Friday, at about 2:15 p.m. The disputed provisions of the law are:

Bermuda-based Validus Reinsurance Ltd. has been signed as the 20th foreign company to offer reinsurance by the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation. Florida allows ceding insurance companies to receive full credit on their financial statements for reinsurance purchased from non-U.S.-based reinsurers that are highly rated and financially sound. Validus reported capital and surplus of $3.3 billion on its year-end financial statement, exceeding the states $250 million requirement, according to the OIR.

An administrative law judge is hearing a suit later today against the Florida Department of State's implementation of a new elections law in 62 counties. The disputed provisions of the law are:

A pair of Miami-Dade men collectively face up to 340 years in jail after being charged with fraudulently billing more than $1.5 million in personal injury protection claims to insurance carriers, the office of Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater announced Friday. Robbie N. Chamoun, 30, and Nazih Boulos Chamoun, 74, owners of Sky Imaging in North Miami Beach, have been accused of operating an unlicensed accident clinic and grand theft.

Gov. Rick Scott will join an education round-table Friday at Lake Mary High School in the Central Florida community of Lake Mary. The morning event is part of back-to-school activities Scott has been promoting. The round-table is to include students, teachers and administrators.

Violations of the states Do Not Call list, people seeking contributions, and landlord-tenant issues continue to dominate the complaints received at the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. More than 4,800 complaints were filed by consumers in July to the 1-800-HELP-FLA consumer hotline, during which time the department also received 35,026/39,394 calls and 4,049/11,641 emails for consumer assistance and information.

University of South Florida may have lost one branch, but that isnt slowing growth beyond the main campus. A little more than three months since Gov. Rick Scott signed into law the Sen. JD Alexander-backed effort to cast USF-Polytechnic into the independent Florida Polytechnic University, USF Sarasota-Manatee leaders have announced their own ambitious expansion plans.

The Navy Federal Credit Union, in announcing 700 new jobs, is the first company picking up $680,000 through a legislative act directed at assisting businesses along areas of the Florida Panhandle impacted by the 2010 Deepwater Horizon spill. Navy Federal Credit Union in the Pensacola area is receiving the funding through the Industry Recruitment, Retention & Expansion Fund Grant Program, administered by the University of West Florida Office of Economic Development and Engagement.

Gov. Rick Scott signed executive orders on Thursday calling for special elections on Nov. 6 to fill two seats on the Municipal Service District of Ponte Verde Beach board of directors in St. Johns County and three vacancies on the Lake Padgett Estates Independent Special District board of supervisors in Pasco County. No one filed to run for any of the vacant seats. On Tuesday, Scott issued executive orders for special elections on Nov. 6 for seats on the Charlotte County Airport Authority and the Loxahatchee River Environmental Control District.

Gov. Rick Scott is more than a little miffed. Nearly a month has passed, according to a statement from his office, since the U.S. Department of Homeland Security agreed to grant Florida access to the federal citizenship database (also known as the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements database, or SAVE). But Florida still cannot access the SAVE system. That means with less than three months to go before the general election, the state remains unable to identify and remove noncitizens from the voting rolls.

In a couple of weeks, Judge Kevin Carroll of the 2nd Judicial Circuit Courtis expected todeterminewhether nurses and other state employees may proceed with their present lawsuit against the Florida Department of Corrections (DOC), or whether they will need to file an entirely new one in their long-ranging battle against privatization of prison health services.

Gov. Rick Scott has made surpassing Texas in terms of job creation -- and in the eyes of Chief Executives magazine -- a priority.On Monday, Scott will take his friendly competition with Texas Gov. Rick Perry out onto the Gulf of Mexico. The governors office announced Thursday that the two governors will embark on a midday fishing expedition with service members from Harbor Walk at Emerald Grande, Destin.