The Florida Chamber of Commerce released the following statement after the House Economic Affairs Committee backed HB 511, sponsored by Rep. Matt Hudson, R-Naples, that would limit the amount doctors can charge their workers' comp patients for dispensing prescription drugs from their office.

The Republican Party of Florida still remembers the start of 2011 when Democrats in Florida had a voter registration advantage of more than 580,000. By the end of 2011 it was cut to a little less than 503,000. But now, with numbers counted through January 2012, the Democrats' advantage is reduced to 483,869. RPOF claims its accelerated voter registration program has produced the following results:

State Reps. Steve Precourt, R-Orlando, and Kelli Stargel, R-Lakeland, issued the following statement backing Attorney General Pam Bondi in the challenge against the White House regulation to require religious-affiliated organizations, such as hospitals, schools and other community outreach programs to purchase employee health insurance that covers birth control and abortion-inducing drugs:

Attorney General Pam Bondi released the following statement to announce her office has joined a challenge against the White House regulation to require religious-affiliated organizations such as hospitals, schools and other community outreach programs to purchase employee health insurance that covers birth control and abortion-inducing drugs:

There's a fascinating piece on the website buzzfeed.com today recounting how Florida's Sen. Marco Rubio spent several years in his youth as an active participant in the Mormon church after being baptized into the faith with several members of his family while they were living in Las Vegas. The article is based on reports from Rubio's relatives who still live in Nevada -- one of them a state senator -- and a confirmation from a Rubio spokesman. The family returned to Catholicism shortly before leaving Nevada and returning to Miami.

The Florida Senate agreed on Thursday, 35-4, to designate $39 million in the next fiscal year to the independence movement of the University of South Florida-Polytechnic in Lakeland.

The Florida House approved a measure Thursday that aids the state's housing industry by maintaining the current law on implied warranty. House Bill 1013, sponsored by Rep. Frank Artiles, R-Miami, addresses an appellate decision that would expand the application of implied warranty for the first time in 40 years. Pending review at the state Supreme Court, the 5th District Court of Appeals decision is the first in the country to extend the doctrine of implied warranty to offsite improvements.

The Florida Senate approved, with a number of Democrats actually voting in support, a $71.2 billion budget Thursday. Expect there to be serious conference negotiations over college tuition and reductions in hospital payments with two weeks remaining in the regular session as the House had approved its own $69.2 billion budget package earlier this month.

What a difference a rise in pump prices makes. Speaking at the University of Miami on Thursday, President Barack Obama boasted of an agreement with Mexico that will open an additional 1.5 million acres in the Gulf for oil and gas exploration. This from a president who imposed a moratorium on offshore drilling a year ago. But this being an election year -- and the price of gasoline nearly doubling under his tenure -- Obama is now chanting "Drill, Baby, Drill" like a Texas oil baron ... or Sarah Palin.

With Sen. J.D. Alexander, R-Lake Wales, envisioning University of South Floridas Polytechnic campus in Lakeland being granted independence as the states 12th university as early as this summer, Gov. Rick Scott expressed a little more caution about backing such a plan as state universities are being asked to shift reserves to the state budget in the current year.

While he is fading in other states and in the national polls, Republican presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich is ahead in his old stomping grounds in Georgia, which holds its primary on March 6. Gingrich leads a Rasmussen Reports poll of likely Republican primary voters in the Peach State with 33 percent, while Rick Santorum places second with 28 percent. Mitt Romney comes in third with 20 percent, while Ron Paul lags with 9 percent. Eight percent remain undecided and 2 percent support other candidates.

ABC News came up with a few salient statistics to put some fiscal perspective on President Obama's trip to Florida today. Air Force One -- known in the military as VC-25 -- costs $179,750 per flight hour alone in fiscal year 2012, Maj. Michelle Lai of the 89th Airlift Wing told ABC. Obama's trip to Florida and back to D.C. today will cost at least $674,000 in Air Force One flight time alone.

This occurred to me as I was reading my colleague Kevin Derby's piece about new polls showing Americans are feeling better about the economy, but not about Obama. The piece included a line saying only 31 percent of likely voters in November believed the country was headed in the right direction.

Jeff Cohen, the campaign manager for U.S. Senate hopeful U.S. Rep. Connie Mack, sent a follow-up open letter to Republican primary rival former U.S. Sen. George LeMieux on Thursday -- pushing back against LeMieux comparing Mack to Charlie Sheen in a media event on Wednesday.

Forget Obama. The hot ticket in Miami today is the New York Knicks vs. the Heat. The NBA-leading Miami heat figure to cool off the Knicks, who have pulled their season record up to .500 on the strength of rookie sensation Jeremy Lin, Spike Lee's favorite team is now just 3 1/2 games behind Atlantic Conference leader Philadelphia.