An effort to repeal Florida's prescription drug database, which is yet to become functional, fell flat in the Senate Health Regulation Committee Monday. Sen. Rene Garcia, R-Miami, offered an amendment to a bill requiring subpoenas for law enforcement access to patients' prescription-drug information that would repeal the database altogether. "Idon't think this (prescription-drug monitoring program) should be in the hands of government," Garcia said.

The Jamaica Hospital in New York, that is.Trump, who Politico dubbed "a patron saint for the birthers," released his birth certificate to Newsmax Monday, after appearing on several television talk shows, including Fox and Friends and The View, calling for the release of President Barack Obamas own birth record. Said Trump:

Ed Moore, best known for his service as president and CEO of the Independent Colleges and Universities of Florida (ICUF), was named to the board of directors of the Childrens Home Society of Florida (CHS).

Although Attorney General Pam Bondi hasn't yet convinced Gov. Rick Scott to get on board with the state's prescription drug monitoring program, they got together Monday to announce their support for a new tool to combat pill mills -- a statewide drug strike force. Under the task force, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement will coordinate with local law enforcement officials to target doctors who liberally prescribe oxycodone and patients who "doctor shop."

On Monday, Republican U.S. Rep. Cliff Stearns received an award from theAmerican Farm Bureau Federation. A veteran of the House who was first elected in 1988, Stearns was named a Friend of Farm Bureau. I am honored that the Florida Farm Bureau nominated me for this award for my commitment to rural America and to the priorities of those in the agricultural sector, said Stearns. Americas agriculture not only feeds our nation, but much of the world as well.I am committed to working to improve the quality of life and economic future for our rural communities.

Gov. Rick Scott is no Sen. Claire McCaskill, thank goodness. While Scott personally pays for all expenses related to his private jet, the Democratic senator has billed Missouri taxpayers $88,000 for trips she takes on her personal plane. McCaskill has also run afoul of ethics rules governing such jaunts for campaigning.

An Arizona law that offers public funding to state political candidates faces a tough crowd at the U.S. Supreme Court. In arguments Monday, proponents will try to persuade the court to uphold the law, which gives candidates public funds if they face well-heeled opponents who opt out of the state election financing system. Public-financing programs have not fared well at the Supreme Court, which has repeatedly struck down or narrowed laws that restrict how campaign funds are raised and spent.

Chromalloy, an aviation maintenance and manufacturing company, will be moving its corporate headquarters to Palm Beach Gardens, where it will expand in a new Technology Center of Excellence, which has already begun construction. Gov. Rick Scott was quick to claim the scalp, and said he is working on bringing more companies down to the Sunshine State.

Progress Energy reported detecting "very low levels" of radioactive Iodine 131 in the air over its Crystal River nuclear plant on Florida's West Coast. Progress Energy spokesman Drew Elliot said the Iodine 131 was the result of nuclear leaks at the Fukushima plant in Japan. Elliot said very sensitive equipment at the utility's Crystal River nuclear plant, as well as its Robinson facility in South Carolina, detected iodine radiation in the atmosphere, but said it did not pose a health threat.

Gretchen Picotte will be handling former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlentys fund-raising activities in Florida as he gears up to make a run at the Republican presidential nomination. Picotte is no stranger to fund-raising in the Sunshine State. The owner of Political Capital, Picotte led former New York City Mayor Rudy Giulianis fund-raising efforts in the Sunshine State during his bid for the Republican presidential nomination in 2008. She also helped then-Attorney General Bill McCollums fund-raising in his failed bid to defeat Rick Scott for the Republican gubernatorial nod in 2010.

Florida Republican U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio is reaching out to the grass-roots to take on the federal health-care law backed by President Barack Obama -- and building his own base. Rubio sent out an e-mail to supporters on Sunday, calling for them to sign a petition asking for repeal of the law.

Diametrically opposed reactions by Minnesota and Florida "progressives" aren't casting the Sunshine State in a very positive light. When the Democratically controlled Minnesota Senate passed a 2005 law requiringmost local governments to disclose their three most-highly compensated officials each year, the party brass rightfully praised the action. But when Florida Gov. Rick Scott launched a personnel-compensation website -- Florida Has a Right to Know -- he drew yawns or niggling criticism from the left.

Maybe when Gov. Rick Scott sees Joel Engelhardt's compelling story in Sunday's Palm Beach Post, he'll stop sitting on his hands and make those five new appointments to the South Florida Water Management District board. God knows, the whole place needs a good scrubbing.

"Birth tourism" and other baby-delivery schemes not only drive up U.S. immigrant numbers, but create a national-security threat, according to a new report that casts a shadow on last week's Census. The 2010 Census found that births to immigrants are among the chief drivers of America's population growth (now pegged at 310 million). And not all those immigrant births are by conventional or legally admitted residents.

House members, business leaders, governor's office representatives and Florida Department of Environmental Protection staff were in conference much of early Friday -- not arguing over why the governor won't support HB 239, participants insist, but working to tweak the bill's language so it won't harm the state lawsuit against EPA. The governor's nonsupport was rumored earlier.