Siding with Big Tobacco, Associated Industries of Florida wants the Legislature to place a 40-cent-per-pack fee on Miami-based cigarette maker Dosal. In a statement issued Monday morning, AIF said it supports "legislation that would require all tobacco manufacturers that sell cigarettes in Florida to pay their fair share toward the states burgeoning Medicaid costs." Under the state's 1997 Tobacco Settlement Agreement, the major manufacturers agreed to pay the state hundreds of millions of dollars annually to help defray some of the states health-care costs.

Republican U.S. Rep. Ander Crenshaw, who represents the First Coast and parts of North Florida in Congress, praised the U.S. House for passing a continuing resolution on Saturday that will keep the federal government running till the end of September -- and noted that the new GOP majority helped trim its cost.

Florida Republican U.S. Rep. Cliff Stearns weighed in late last week after the House backed an amendment he filed on cutting federal funding for renovations of the U.N. building on Friday night.

A bipartisan coalition in Congress helped beat back proposed amendments to eliminate federal funding of Radio and TV Marti, the stations broadcast to Cuba. Members of the Florida delegation -- including Republicans U.S. Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, U.S. Rep. David Rivera and U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, and Democratic colleagues such as U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz -- helped keep the funding in place. Rivera sent a letter to his fellow freshmen in Congress, urging them to keep backing Radio and TV Marti.

Sen. Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey, is looking to subject the assets of convicted pain mill operators to the Florida Contraband Forfeiture Act. If the rules and regulations that Florida has put into place have not scared off pill mill operators, passage of this law will, said Fasano on Monday.Failure to register as a pain clinic will allow law enforcement to impound all assets of the pill mill. Without the building, land and equipment needed to operate, the pill mill operators will shut down and leave the state.

Tea party groups will rally in front of Sen. Bill Nelson's Orlando office Monday afternoon in support of Gov. Rick Scott's budget. Rick Scott and other courageous governors, like Chris Christie of New Jersey and Scott Walker of Wisconsin, get it," said Ron McCoy of the West Orlando Tea Party. And they need to know that we stand with them and support them in their work to get us out of this mess.

Tea Party to the rescue for Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker! The governor's Lipton-loving best friends arrived by bus, by car, by taxi from throughout the region Saturday, nearly matching the number of teachers, students and public-service employees protesting Gov. Walker's controversial proposal to trim benefits and curtail collective-bargaining rights for many of Wisconsin's unionized workers.

If you listen to the National Education Association, Florida teacher pay has fallen to No. 37 among 50 states and the District of Columbia -- and it's falling further. The average teacher salary in the Sunshine State last year was $46,708; the national average, $55,202. Poor Florida teachers, the union laments. An NEA report released last week estimates Florida's average 2010-11 teacher salary will drop to 47th on the list, behind every state in the Southeast and ahead of only Missouri, North Dakota, South Dakota and Utah. But, wait a minute here.

Voters in Florida's 7th Congressional District should count out their representative, John Mica, when it comes to voting down high-speed rail funding. House Appropriations Committee Chairman Hal Rogers wants to rescind $7.25 billion in unspent HSR-stimulus money as part of an ongoing federal budget reduction. But Mica, an old-guard Republican who heads the House Transportation Committee, is going in the opposite direction with a plan to circumvent Gov. Rick Scott's rejection of $2.4 billion in HSR-stimulus funds.

After leaving a comment at the end of my Monday column challenging its accuracy, South Florida Water Management District Chairman Eric Buermann invited me always to get "accurate and meaningful" info from him. Directly. From him. Right there he made me an offer I couldn't refuse.

In his weekly radio address, Gov. Rick Scott laid out his reasoning for rejecting $2.4 billion in federal funds for a high-speed rail line that would have connected Tampa to Orlando. He cites costs overruns and overly optimistic ridership studies in his decision, and says he wants to improve existing ports, highways and rails infrastructure, but does not say how much state money he is willing to spend on such improvements. Here is the text of his address:

The Florida Education Association (aka "teachers' union") on Friday directed its members to contact members of a Senate committee "today and for the next five days" to oppose two pension-reform measures. Ahead of Tuesday's scheduled meeting of the Senate Governmental Oversight and Accountability Committee, the FEA e-mail states, "It is extremely URGENT that we begin a full court press to contact the Senate committee members, TODAY, AND FOR THE NEXT FIVE DAYS,especially those who live in your own area."

Michael Steighner, president of the Florida Association of Nurse Anesthetists, sent a letter to Gov. Rick Scott and legislative leaders Friday urging him to reconsider his position on eliminating the state's prescription drug database designed to help doctors track patients' prescriptions.

Gov. Rick Scott applauded the decision of Senate President Mike Haridopolos, R-Merritt Island, to reject $2.4 billion in federal funds for a high-speed rail project that would have connected Tampa to Orlando:

Members of the House Economic Affairs Committee lodged their complaints Friday with oil spill claims head Kenneth Feinberg. Feinberg acknowledged problems with transparency and responsiveness within the Gulf Coast Claims Facility, but stated that the system was working. He disputed claims that he is deliberately delaying or denying claims in an attempt to pay out the least amount of claims as possible, pointing to a report from BP, the oil company that caused last year's spill in the Gulf of Mexico, alleging he has been too generous in paying claims.