Paul A. Gigot, the Wall Street Journal's shrewd observer of American politics, gives Marco Rubio's team high marks for its handling of the recent revelation that Rubio was a baptized member of the Mormon church when he was a young boy, when he joined with his mother and other family members while living in Las Vegas.

The final stumbling block impeding budget conference sessions from moving forward between the House and Senate has been cleared, House Speaker Dean Cannon said Tuesday afternoon. Hopefully, well begin sometime this evening, Cannon said of the talks to reconcile the approximately $70 billion budgets from each chamber. A news release a short time later set the first conference meeting at 7 p.m. Tuesday.

Leon County Circuit Judge Jackie Fulford, at the center of the dispute between state employees and the Legislature over employee contributions to the Florida retirement system, will be out until next week because of injuries she suffered in a biking accident, her office said Tuesday.

With Arizona and Michigan holding their Republican presidential primaries on Tuesday, the race for the GOP nomination moves on to Washington state, which holds its caucus on March 3, and 11 states that hold caucuses and primaries on March 6 -- including delegate-rich Ohio. With 66 delegates at stake, the Buckeye State, which holds a primary, ranks second behind Georgia as the biggest prize up for grabs on March 6.

Earlier this month, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubios team sent out an e-blast claiming: "Everyone from President Obama's press secretary, to Senator Harry Reid, to Obama's liberal campaign machines funded with millions of special-interest dollars [has] put Marco at the top of their enemies list.

The Tallahassee Democrat today is running a column from Los Angeles Times writer Doyle McManus about the allegedly pernicious effect of too much money -- that's how libs refer to that thing the rest of us call "free speech" -- in American politics. It contains this unintentional, I'm sure, howler of a line. "Wealthy Americans are popping up all over to fund the new super-PACs, including liberals who might have been expected to oppose the idea on principle."

Gov. Rick Scott has signed the warrant for David Alan Gore to be put to death for the 1983 rape and murder of a teenage girl on the Treasure Coast. Gores execution is scheduled for April 12 at 6 p.m. at Florida State Prison. The death-row warrant is the fourth for Scott.

The Senate is looking to extend the regular session to complete the $70 billion budget if the House proposed cuts to higher education are approved. With budget talks stalled between the House and Senate, senators told President Mike Haridopolos, R-Merritt Island, on Tuesday that they continue to support him if the Legislature should return after the session ends March 9. What is more important is we do it right, said Sen. Andy Gardiner, R-Orlando,

The House, with members noting a staff analysis that called the deal potentially unconstitutional, rejected an amendment that would have provided a tax cut for the Miami Marlins' 5,700-space stadium parking garage complex.

While he has stumbled in February with a series of losses and is facing a close battle to win Michigan on Tuesday, most voters continue to think that Mitt Romney will emerge with the Republican nomination, according to a poll released by Rasmussen Reports on Tuesday. In the national poll of likelyvoters, 54 percent of those surveyed think that Romney will go on to win the nomination. Rick Santorum is the second choice, with 24 percent thinking he willbe the GOP nominee.

Gov. Rick Scott tweeted Tuesday that the annual dues of $176,000 to the National Governors Association are not an appropriate expense. NGA yearly dues of about $176,000 are not an appropriate expense for the state of Florida at this time. http://bit.ly/ys0742 #sayfie In addition to Scott, governors from Texas, Ohio and Idaho have declined to pay the annual membership dues. Dues vary by the size of the state.

U.S. Rep. Thad McCotter of Michigan, who waged a brief campaign for the Republican presidential nomination, weighed in on the current contest -- spearheading a last-minute push for Mitt Romney, who is battling Rick Santorum in what is expected to be a close Michigan primary on Tuesday.

A constitutional amendment that would let judges remain on the bench until the age of 75, five years more than currently allowed, cleared the full Senate Tuesday. SJR 408 would change a 39-year-old provision in Floridas Constitution that requires judges to retire once they turn 70.An amendment was added to the resolution on Tuesday that would allow judges older than 75 to serve temporary assignments or to complete a term.

Democratic National Committee Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz will be the keynote speaker at the annual fundraising banquet of a Muslim group with some controversial connections. EMERGE USA -- which is aligned with the Florida-based Center for Voter Advocacy -- is headed by Khurrum Wahid, a South Florida attorney. According to the Florida Bar, Wahid has defended individuals charged with allegedly committing or conspiring to commit acts of terrorism.

Senators want slow-moving drivers to get out of the left-hand lane, but the House may be blocking the flow of the bill. Faster-moving motorists will have the right of way in the left-hand lanes of Floridas roads under a bill, SB 244, backed by the Senate Tuesday. Senators say the bill will prevent road rage and reduce high-speed accidents by requiring motorist to yield the left lane when being overtaken on a multilane highway.