The Public Service Commission on Monday approved a $196 million rate increase for Florida Power & Light. The "early cost recovery" hike boosts the utility's revenues to plan for two new nuclear reactors at Turkey Point, south of Miami. The PSC is also considering a rate adjustment for Progress Energy, which wants to build two reactors in Levy County. Full story upcoming.

The governor's office has started to post photos of the ongoing Enterprise Florida trade mission to Brazil headed by Gov. Rick Scott on the governor's Facebook page. Here is a sample of what is online.

What are they smoking over at the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee? The DCCC attacked an economic plan proposed by Rep. Tom Rooney, R-Tequesta, as "repackaging the same failed Republican policies." But Rooney's Restore America Act -- which calls for less regulation, more domestic energy production and closing corporate tax loopholes -- is a serious departure from the policies of this and previous administrations. While the DCCC critique lacks originality, it does raise two key questions:

John Sununu helped George H.W. Bush bounce back from a disappointing third-place finish in the Iowa caucus to win the New Hampshire primary in 1988. Former Gov. Mitt Romney hopes that the old Sununu magic can help him win the Republican presidential nomination in 2012.

With Gov. Rick Perry of Texas getting ready to unveil his flat tax proposal on Tuesday, he won the backing of a former Republican presidential candidate on Sunday -- publisher Steve Forbes. Forbes called for a flat tax in his two bids for the Republican presidential nomination in 1996 and 2000. Forbes will serve as an adviser to the Perry campaign.

Speaking to CNNs Candy Crowley on Sunday, Vice President Joe Biden said his chief political task was to get President Barack Obama re-elected in 2012 -- but he left the door open for making a third bid for the White House in 2016. I wonder when you look around, if you ever thought, Umh, four more years, 2016. Have you totally ruled that out in your head? asked Crowley. You tried two times to run for president.

With demand up, gas prices in Florida ticked up an average of 4 cents a gallon in the past week. The trend should continue through the end of the month. But where prices are heading could depend heavily on the Eurozone. AAA spokesperson Jessica Brady said talks of a potential solution to Europes debt crisis have tempered the rise. But that could soon change.

The team behind former state House Majority Leader Adam Hasner, now running in a crowded Republican primary to take on Democratic incumbent U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, launched a Web video on Monday. In the video, the Hasner team rips Nelson for being in public office for almost 40 years and note that he has backed tax increases and supported President Barack Obama on 98 percent of votes in the Senate.

State Rep. Kathleen Passidomo, R-Naples, has again filed legislation that could expand where people are prohibited from smoking HB 143, which failed to be heard in the 2011 legislative session, would amend the Florida Clean Indoor Air Act to allow municipalities and counties to restrict smoking in public areas, including beaches, within their jurisdiction.

After bad-mouthing Florida for moving up its primary date to Jan. 31, Nevada Republicans backed off a scheme that would have forced the New Hampshire primary into early December. Nevada agreed to set its first-in-the-West caucus for Feb. 4, thus allowing Iowa to maintain its Jan. 3 caucus date and enabling New Hampshire to keep its Jan. 10 slot, and settling the electoral calendar. By consenting to vote after Florida, Nevada earned some perks from the Republican National Committee.

Gov. Rick Scott made 10 judicial nominating commission appointments Friday. In the 1st Circuit, which includes Escambia, Okaloosa, Santa Rosa and Walton counties, Scott reappointed Stephen A. Pitre and appointed A. Benjamin Gordon. In the 3rd Circuit, which includes Columbia, Dixie, Hamilton, Lafayette, Madison, Suwannee and Taylor counties, John J. Kendron was reappointed and Andrew J. Decker IV and Joel Foreman were first time appointments.

Florida lawmakers want to know what business regulations businesses find oppressive. The Legislature has set up an online survey titled YourVoice to gather background on burdensome rules and regulations.

State Sen. Lizbeth Benacquisto, R-Fort Myers, wants to make it illegal for protesters to get close to any military funeral in Florida. Benacquisto filed a bill Thursday that would expand the state's existing law against protesting at military funerals by setting a 500-foot buffer between the funeral and those protesting.

Gov. Rick Scott released his weekly address on Friday afternoon and, as he did during the 2010 gubernatorial campaign, he focused on jobs.

State Rep. Reggie Fullwood, D-Jacksonville, has filed a bill that would allow students who are legal citizens, but are children of undocumented immigrants, to pay in-state college tuition. House Bill 441, End Tuition Discrimination, would allow the students to pay the less expensive in-state tuition if they graduated a Florida high school and are seeking a four-year degree.