No big surprise here but, during an appearance on Mark Levins radio show on Monday night, former House Majority Leader Adam Hasner announced that he was entering the crowded Republican primary to take on Democratic U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson in 2012. Hasner had already filed paperwork establishing his candidacy. David Catanese over at Politico has an excellent piece on how Hasner is looking to take a page from Marco Rubios successful U.S. Senate campaign in 2010.

On Monday, Florida Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Rooney cheered the news that the U.S. Department of Defense was pulling the plug on adding an extra engine to the F-35 fighter plane.

Rep. Denise Grimsley, R-Sebring, chairwoman of the House Appropriations Committee and Speaker Dean Cannons, R-Winter Park, point woman on the budget, weighed in on the continued budget negotiations with the Senate-- and placed the blame for the increasing frustrations squarely on the Senate.

U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio said on Monday that he had fellow Florida Republican Gov. Rick Scotts back in the states dispute with the federal EPA on water standards.

Florida taxpayers are funding the salaries of 126 communications department workers in state agencies earning a total of more than $7.3 million annually, and 71 legislative affairs employees earning more than $4.3 million a year, Florida TaxWatch reported Monday. Details upcoming.

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday issued a one-sentence order declining to review a lower court ruling declaring Obamacare's individual mandate unconstitutional. In the view of some legal scholars, that's a win for the administration. Theyre probably breaking out the champagne in the White House today, but its too soon to read negativity into the courts ruling," said Maureen Martin, senior fellow for legal affairs at the conservative Heartland Institute. Explains Martin:

Pastor Terry Jones got support from a fellow Florida minister Monday in the reverend's ongoing duel with Michigan authorities and Islamic extremists. Rev. Mark D. Boykin, senior pastor of Boca Raton's Church of All Nations, said, Although I do not agree with Pastor Terry Jones' actions to burn copies of the Quran, he does have the constitutional right to protest.

The Judicial Nominating Commission for the 1st District Court of Appeal last week submitted seven names to Gov. Rick Scott to consider for filling two vacancies created by the resignations of Judges Charles K. Kahn and Peter D. Webster. The seven are --

On Monday, Gov. Rick Scott appointed Christopher Nocco to replace Bob White as sheriff of Pasco County. Before receiving the appointment, Nocco had been a major in the Pasco County sheriffs office. White, a veteran of almost three and a half decades in law enforcement, had announced back in March that he would be retiring from the position which he has held since 2001. Nocco will assume the new position on May 1 and his term ends on Jan. 7, 2013. Legislative leaders weighed in to praise the appointment on Monday.

Though Tuesday is, technically, the drop-dead day for bills to clear committee and get to a full floor vote, a highly placed source tells Sunshine State News that the Senate Budget Committee will hold a special meeting Thursday to hear a backlog of bills. Senate Bill 2040, the E-Verify immigration measure approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee, reportedly is among the bills that will be heard by the budget panel Thursday.

Florida Republican U.S. Rep. Allen West came out swinging on Monday against the idea of raising the federal debt ceiling. West quoted President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., against raising the debt ceiling in 2006. I think we clearly get the picture here of duplicitous hypocrisy of the greatest degree, West noted. We are at this point due to the over $5 trillion of new debt added by the Obama, Pelosi, Reid machine. Leadership is about making the tough decisions, not situational ethics.

A plan to reduce corporate taxes was heard in a Senate committee Monday at the prompting of Gov. Rick Scott, who has pushed the cuts and eventual phase-out of business income taxes as a way to produce jobs. The bill, however, was temporarily postponed, and the bill's sponsor, Sen. Garrett Richter, R-Naples, admitted that there is little time to get it through the Legislature this year before the end of the regular legislative session. "I'm not ready to throw the towel in but I'm realistic and we're running out of time," said Richter.

Florida Republican U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan stepped into state politics at the end of last week to praise the Florida House passing a bill taking aim at prescription drug abuse and pill mills. I applaud the members of the Florida House for taking action on such a critical issue, said Buchanan. Now, more than ever, we need to shut down these pill mills that bring untold misery to our children, our families, and our communities.

Even thinking liberals are jumping off Obama Rail. Writes Richard White in The New York Times: "It is hard for liberals like me to find good news in the latest agreement to cut the federal budget, but there is at least one silver lining: subsidies for high-speed rail have been sharply reduced. Why is this good news? In his State of the Union address, President Obama compared high-speed rail to the 19th-century transcontinental railroads as parallel examples of American innovation. I fear he may be right.

Scandalized South Florida Water Management District, largest by far of the state's five water management districts, isn't waiting around for the Legislature to dictate how its $1.1 billion budget should be cut. On Friday it released a plan to slash its 2012 budget by 40 percent -- down to $639.9 million. That cut is actually 10 percent deeper than even Senate budget chief J.D. Alexander called for.