Early Thursday, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, who is contemplating running for the Republican presidential nomination, offered her take on President Barack Obamas State of the Union address. The Presidents State of the Union address boiled down to this message: The era of big government is here as long as I am, so help me pay for it. He dubbed it a 'Winning The Future speech, but the titles acronym seemed more accurate than much of the content, noted Palin.

Republican U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan took to the House floor on Wednesday to repeat his call to prevent Cuba from drilling off the Florida coastline. Sign up for news alerts from Sunshine State News

While most of the leading Republican presidential candidates have been fairly quiet in their takes on President Barack Obamas State of the Union address, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who ran for the GOP nod in 2008 and is almost certain to do so again in 2012, offered his view on the speech on Wednesday afternoon.

Deriding a law that requires septic tank inspections once every five years that was passed last year as "one-size-fits-all," Sen. Charlie Dean, R-Inverness, who chairs the Environmental Preservation and Conservation Committee, said he wants to rework the law to allow for greater local control. He has filed a bill that would repeal the law, which requires the Department of Health to conduct inspections on septic tanks.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture agreed to requests made by then-Gov. Charlie Crist, current Gov. Rick Scott and members of the Florida congressional delegation to have counties across the Sunshine State declared disaster areas due to the cold weather that impacted the state in December and January.

A Florida sports executive wants Gov. Rick Scott to swing a bat for Grapefruit League diversity. Larry Pendleton, president of the Orlando-based Florida Sports Foundation, is calling on Scott to push Major League Baseball to schedule more travel across the state, according to the News Service of Florida. With a majority of the 15 spring-training teams on or near Florida's west coast, east coast teams come up short on variety.

Newly inaugurated Florida Republican U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio announced the first bill he was co-sponsoring on Wednesday -- a measure backed by U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., to repeal the federal health care law.

While Sen. Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey, did not back two constitutional amendments concerning redistricting that were passed by Florida voters in November, he urged Gov. Rick Scott to not stand in the way of a federal examination of them, calling them the will of the people.

Rep. Ari Porth, D-Coral Springs, is going to be returning to an issue the Legislature examined in 2010 -- texting while driving. Porth is sponsoring a bill that will ban texting while driving and will add points to a drivers license for those who are convicted. Its time that parents make the same commitment to stop texting while driving, Porth said on Wednesday. I implore all Florida drivers to cease texting while driving because distracted driving at any age puts all Floridians in danger.

While more attention has been paid to the legal challenge launched by Florida against the federal health care law, which more than 20 states have joined in to support, Virginia has also filed its own lawsuit against the measure. Revere America, a group with ties to former Gov. George Pataki of New York, filed an amicus curiae brief in support of Virginia on Tuesday. Pataki, who is contemplating running for the Republican presidential nomination in 2012, has led petitioning efforts for Revere America to repeal the health care law.

Florida Republican U.S. Rep. Cliff Stearns released a video late Tuesday offering his take on President Barack Obamas State of the Union address. While Stearns praised parts of the speech and had compliments for Obama, he added in the video --which runs just less than two minutes --that the president needed to focus more on cutting spending.

On Wednesday morning, Florida Senate Majority Leader Andy Gardiner, R-Orlando, offered his take on President Barack Obamas State of the Union address.

Republican members of the Florida congressional delegation joined U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio in hammering President Barack Obama on fiscal issues after the State of the Union address on Tuesday.

Republican U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio offered his take on President Barack Obamas State of the Union address.

Gov. Rick Scott weighed in on President Barack Obamas State of the Union -- and took aim at the president and his administration.