While leaders in the Legislature are crowing over their success in crafting together a budget that does not raises taxes, one member of the House came out in favor of raising taxes today. Calling her measure a no free lunch effort, Rep. Michelle Rehwinkel Vasilinda, D-Tallahassee, attempted to amend a bill providing assistance to National Guard members by adding a 5 cent tax on gasoline to fund veterans assistance programs and transportation and energy projects.

The Senate has voted out Gov. Charlie Crist's nominees, and Crist is none too happy about it. Here's his message to the lawmakers:

Rallying around concerns that Gov. Charlie Crist's nominees were neither professionally qualifiied nor diverse enough, senators refused to confirm Ben Stevens and David Klement for seats on the Florida Public Service Commission, the state agency charged with regulating utilities. Senators voted 21-17 against Klement, former editorial page editor of the Bradenton Herald, and 23-14 against Stevens, past president of the Florida Institute of Certified Public Accountants.

Despite his prominent opposition to two redistricting amendments on the November ballot sponsored by Fair Districts Florida, Sen. Gary Siplin, D-Orlando, won reelection as chairman of the Florida Black Legislative Caucus. It is an honor to continue to lead this esteemed Caucus as it proceeds to advocate on behalf of the African American communities all over this State, said Siplin.

If Gov. Charlie Crist still cares about firming up his conservative bona fides, he might want to say something serious about immigration. Rival Marco Rubio and former Gov. Jeb Bush left the field wide open on Tuesday with squishy comments about the need for immigration "reform." That's D.C. speak for legalizing illegal aliens. Some even call it "amnesty" and appeasement to migrant activists' upcoming May Day demonstrations.

Members of the House now have copies of the $70.378 billion budget sitting on their desks. The 72-hour cooling-off period started at 2:59 p.m., with copies of the budget on the desks of all members of the Legislature, the governor, the chief justice and all members of the Cabinet. The final vote will be Friday.

While there have been some representatives who took time out in their farewell remarks to offer thanks to former House Speaker Ray Sansom, Baxter Troutman went above and beyond that. Sansom resigned in disgrace in early 2009. Besides offering prayers and thoughts for Sansom, even saying that his heart was broken, Troutman said Sansom was the victim of a needless Salem witch hunt. Sansom is currently facing theft and conspiracy charges.

Is Jacksonville in play in the U.S. Senate election? U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek, the leading Democratic candidate, seems to think so. Meek is in Jacksonville tonight to complete his paperwork to qualify for the election. Meek, the first candidate for statewide office to make the ballot by petition, will be hosting an event tonight in Firefighters Local 122 Hall tonight.

House members spent the morning debating whether to allow the state's four largest investor-owned utilities to raise their rates by as much as $376 million over the lives of renewable energy projects, only to have the measure's sponsor postpone a vote at the last minute.

Businessman Rick Scott has clearly made an impression in his campaign for the Republican gubernatorial nomination: the Democrats have opened fire on him. "Since disgraced businessman Rick Scott wants to be judged by his results, Floridians should know that Scott's company paid the largest Medicare Fraud fine in history and he was forced to resign in scandal, said Eric Jotkoff, spokesman for the Florida Democratic Party, on Tuesday. In this case, Rick Scott's 'results' truly speak for themselves.

The Susan B. Anthony List Candidate Fund, a group of more than 280,000 pro-life activists who back female candidates, endorsed Republican attorney general candidate Pam Bondi on Tuesday. "This year, attorneys general races are a top priority for the pro-life movement, said Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the fund. Pam Bondi's 18 years of experience as a prosecutor make her an exceptionally qualified woman to defend the pro-woman, pro-life legal position -- especially when it comes to abortion funding in healthcare.

While most of the focus today in the Legislature is on the budget to which House and Senate leaders agreed last night, the lawmakers are tackling other issues during the session's final week. One case in point is the debate in the Senate over debit card fees.

Leaders in the House and Senate agreed to a $69 billion following an 11pm conferencing meeting held on Monday night. While the final budget was closer to the Senates initial proposal than the Houses first draft of $66 billion and relied on additional Medicaid funding that the House initially resisted, House Speaker Larry Cretul, R-Ocala, was pleased with the final result.

Attorney General Bill McCollum and law enforcement could soon have a bigger stick to crack down on Medicaid fraud. On Monday afternoon, the Florida Senate unanimously passed Senate Bill 8, which will coordinate efforts and focus resources on detecting and deterring Medicaid fraud. It also adds resources for tackling public assistance fraud. "None of our state's limited resources should ever wind up enriching those who would prey on our friends and neighbors receiving Medicaid," said Sen. Joe Negron, R-Port St. Lucie, the bill's sponsor.

How do we love thee, Dave Aronberg? Let us count the ways: You're an accomplished state senator, quite good-looking and Harvard-educated. Is it really any surprise that people are falling all over themselves to endorse you for attorney general? Nah. The surprise is in how they're doing it.