Bolstering a Goldman Sachs report on the Sunshine State's improving economy, Business Week listed three Florida cities as having the best prospects for tech-job growth. Jacksonville, Miami and Tampa ranked fourth, seventh and eighth respectively in the national survey. See slideshow here. See Florida jobs story here.

Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney unveiled hisAgriculture Advisory Committee on Tuesday -- and Florida Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam will serve as the co-chairman of the organization. Putnam endorsed Romney for the Republican presidential nomination back in October.

With 172 delegates on the line, the California Republican presidential primary can still be important despite being held on June 5 -- fairly late in the procession of states that will determine who will take on Barack Obama in November.

U.S. Rep. John Mica turned up the heat on the Transportation Security Administration Tuesday, prodding the agency to allow more airports to privatize their screening operations. Speaking at Orlando-Sanford International Airport, whose "opt-out" application was denied by the TSA last year, Mica said the federal agency "attempted to shut down this cost-effective and more efficient screening model." Sixteen airports operate under the Screening Partnership Program, and others are interested in doing so, but Mica said the TSA has dragged its feet.

Seems I'm not alone in my concern for the direction and sustainability of Florida's retirement system. Robert McClure, a Ph.D. member of Floridians for Sustainable Pensions (FSP), has just released a statement on the opportunities lawmakers missed to deal with the crisis during the 2012 legislative session.

After a court fight over redistricting, the Texas Republican presidential primary was moved to May 29. A new Rasmussen Reports poll of likely Texas GOP primary voters released on Tuesday finds a close battle brewing in the Lone Star State with Mitt Romney leading with 32 percent followed by Rick Santorum with 30 percent. Newt Gingrich stands in third with 19 percent while Ron Paul garners 9 percent. Seven percent are undecided and 3 percent back other candidates.

Floridas seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in January 2012 was 9.6 percent, the lowest since March 2009 when the rate also was 9.6 percent, according to the state Department of Economic Opportunity on Tuesday. The states unemployment rate was down 0.3 of a percentage point from December 2011. The U.S. unemployment rate was 8.3 percent in January. More to come. Read about Florida's private-sector job growth here.

Rick Santorum is battling in the Alabama Republican presidential primary on Tuesday-- and he just got some last-minute support when Gov. Robert Bentley announced on a radio show that he had voted for the former senator from Pennsylvania.

Restaurant executive Craig Miller is running in a crowded -- and competitive -- Republican primary for the new congressional seat stretching on the Atlantic Coast from Ponte Vedra down to Volusia County. Miller announced on Tuesday that he had signed a pledge to repeal the death tax being circulated by the American Family Business Institute.

Rising gas prices could doom Democrats in November. The presidents party has lost control of the presidency in three of the last four elections in which gas prices have risen significantly during his time in office. And over the last 36 years, the presidents party has never made significant gains in Congress in an election year in which the price of gas rose significantly. More often than not, it has lost double-digit seats.

Members of the Senate Reapportionment Committee will travel to Tallahassee for a single meeting this week to hear what the state Supreme Court found wrong with the Senates plan to redraw their boundary lines. Senate President Mike Haridopolos, R-Merritt Island, released a schedule for senators to respond to last Fridays ruling by the states top court.

Through his Reclaim America PAC, Florida Republican U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio is starting to engage in politics in the national level as the group made its first national endorsement. The PAC announced on Monday that it is backing Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel for the Republican nomination to challenge U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, in November.

Gov. Rick Scott has ordered flags to be lowered to half-staff Tuesday at the Brevard County Sheriffs Office, West Melbourne City Hall, and the Brevard County Courthouse for Brevard County Sheriffs Deputy Barbara Pill. Deputy Barbara Pill, who had 30 years of law enforcement experience, was shot and killed March 6 after she stopped a car driven by two people suspected of stealing items from a nearby hotel. The flags are to be at half-staff from sunrise to sunset.

We might speak the same language, but when it comes to social conservatism, don't even. Get this: Members of Parliament are about to fight a case at the European Court of Human Rights in which two British women want their right established to display the cross at work. Did you get what I'm saying here? These British ministers will argue against the women.

With an eye on the expanding global shipping trade, highlighted by the continued widened of the Panama Canal, state legislators upped the amount of money that will be available to upgrade the states seaports. Legislators increased the nondesignated port funding from $117 million in the current year to $135 million for the next fiscal year and created a $35 million port investment initiative.